Nox is a 5-month-old black cat who is dedicated to his role as junior Lux Hileman’s emotional support animal (ESA). Nox was originally one of three kittens rescued by Hileman’s friend and fellow Elizabethtown College student, junior Cassidy Rohrman and her family. After taking in the kittens off the street, the Rohrmans fostered Nox and his siblings and worked hard to find each of them a loving home. After hearing about the kittens, Hileman decided to drive from their hometown of Somerset, Pa. to Red Lion just to meet Nox.
“It was really exciting because it was the first time I got to have a cat. He was super social so he just came up and started to love on me right away. He was so nice and lovey really quick,” Hileman said.
Anyone who has met Nox can confirm just how sweet and affectionate he is. Many of Hileman’s friends consider him the official cat of the friend group, and he is always happy to have friends visit him. He loves affection from anyone who will give it, and is very even-tempered. One thing he is known for is holding hands with people, or holding onto your finger with his paw while he purrs.
“He is very mischievous and social. He likes to see everyone and meet new people,” Hileman said.
Nox is also a very big fan of fun! He loves to play with just about anything. Some of his favorite things to play with are bugs, feet, empty bottles, plastic bags and other various items that he can find in Hileman’s dorm room. His current favorite is a Sparkling Ice bottle, which Hileman has titled “Horizontal Bottle.” Nox will not play with bottles that are sitting vertically, but there’s just something about the tall Sparkling Ice bottle when it rolls around on the ground.
Nox also gets along very well with other animals, such as Hileman’s family dog, Pepe the chihuahua, and senior Resident Assistant (RA) and Etownian Features Editor Samhar Almomani’s cat Tyga. At first, when Nox met Tyga, he was a little scared of her, but he soon warmed up to her.
“He is very small because he was the runt of his litter, so he was about half Tyga’s size. Now when I take him out to the lobby for a bit, he goes to Samhar’s door to look for them,” Hileman said.
Nox isn’t just an affectionate and fun-loving kitten, he also has a job to do. As Hileman’s ESA, he works to help them overcome anxieties, burnout, bad days and stressful situations. He does everything he can to cheer them up by cuddling, giving kisses and making them laugh with his antics.
“Whenever I have a bad day, he just makes me happy,” Hileman said.
In order to have Nox properly registered as an ESA, Hileman received help from both their therapist and Etown’s Disability Services to make sure all the paperwork was properly submitted. After some initial difficulty with the forms, Hileman reached out to Disability Services and did an interview with the department, which substituted some of the paperwork. If you need any help regarding the registration of an ESA of your own, be sure to reach out to Disability Services.
