When Pam and Justin Ward first brought their gray tabby cat to Bridgton Books three years ago, it seemed destined.
Sergei – named after Sergei Samsonov, a Boston Bruins winger from the mid-2000s – was not happy at home.
The Wards had just moved from their old farmhouse in Bridgton to a new home in Denmark, and Sergei was lonely. The Wards’ children had all left for college. The Wards’ black Lab, Maddy, who Sergei had slept with in the bathroom every night, had died.
The Wards were away at the shop during the day, and Sergei was almost inconsolable when they got home, keeping them up all night, meowing for attention. An extremely vocal feline in good times, when stressed, Sergei was more akin to a siren than a cat.