Introducing...
Aug. 16th, 2008 10:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
summer_jackelSo guys, meet Miz Kitty Nocturne.
Names: I still remain partly stuck between "Nocturne in C Flat Minor" (She's a very minor "C", after all, and does tend to make herself as flat and inconspicuous as she can) and "Miz Kitty Fantastico". (What can I say, I just finished with Buffy). The problem with the second is that it can't really shorten to anything but "Kitty", and if I have three cats named Magic, Tiger and Kitty, I don't think I could show my face in public.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
corpsefairy suggested the above compromise, and I think I'm going to go with it.
Oh, THIS cat isn't going to have attitude AT ALL. Oh, no. Can I pick them or what? :P
Tiny micropounce!
These aren't great pics, but there will be more as she settles in. The poor little thing is still quite frightened, and very young...my mom told me 6 weeks, but she also told me that the kittens were born in the middle of July, which would make her more like 4 1/2. Given how *incredibly tiny* and barely weaned she is, I'm thinking more like the latter. However, she's eating kitten kibble and tuna-for-cats now, and purrs loudly when I reach into the towel cupboard, which she has made her hiding place, instead of cringing, so we have progress. She was shivering with fear when I picked her up and brought her home, but just freezes and hides, no attempt to scratch or even run. I'd cringe too, if I was that small, and a little bit sick on top of it, and away from home so young.
So where did this cat come from and why now? Well, my mom breeds Balinese/Siamese...BADLY, I might add: I support reputable breeders with great affection but she ain't one of them. Her (thankfully) single remaining intact queen, Trucker, got out and had a fling with the neighbor's tom; some kittens resulted. Mom says he's a ragdoll; I haven't seen the tom, and while the kits are fluffy and floppy I would take this claim with several boxes of salt. The little calico, she sold as a ragdoll cross (sigh) but the remaining black 'n whites didn't sell. They are black, and this one had an upper respiratory virus; not uncommon with kittens but it can get very bad, even fatal, if not cared for properly and most people, wisely, won't buy a sick kitten. She's gotten a lot better in the 2 days I've had her, BTW, and I'll have it looked at when she has her shots.
So I made some noise about really loving this particular little fluffball when I visited mom a couple of weeks ago, because I was quite taken with her. Mom offered to let me have her, to which of course I said I was mighty tempted but didn't need more cats. Then a couple of days ago, I get a message: mom's moving (again) and overwhelmed, and if I wanted the kitten, come get her, because she's taking them all to a shelter.
So, right, moral dilemma. Since my first meeting with Nocturne, I had realized that I did, in fact, want another cat, and since my living situation has gotten completely reorganized on me, I could do it. When I realized I was considering this in any kind of serious way, I also considered picking up a shelter cat. I found that the Sonoma county shelter is so full, they're adopting them out at half price right now, fixed and vaccinated, so I could actually get one cheaper than a free kitten from my mom.
I do not want to support or enable how she has begun to care for her animals in any way. But then I realized: why take out my anger and frustration with my mother's behavior, which I can't change, on an innocent baby animal who now exists through no fault of her own and faces an uncertain future? This particular cat is a good match: I think she's lovely, and has a neat little personality, so far. A kitten is a pleasant distraction from all of the heartache I'm dealing with right now. So I took her home.
Names: I still remain partly stuck between "Nocturne in C Flat Minor" (She's a very minor "C", after all, and does tend to make herself as flat and inconspicuous as she can) and "Miz Kitty Fantastico". (What can I say, I just finished with Buffy). The problem with the second is that it can't really shorten to anything but "Kitty", and if I have three cats named Magic, Tiger and Kitty, I don't think I could show my face in public.
corpsefairy suggested the above compromise, and I think I'm going to go with it.
Oh, THIS cat isn't going to have attitude AT ALL. Oh, no. Can I pick them or what? :P
Tiny micropounce!
These aren't great pics, but there will be more as she settles in. The poor little thing is still quite frightened, and very young...my mom told me 6 weeks, but she also told me that the kittens were born in the middle of July, which would make her more like 4 1/2. Given how *incredibly tiny* and barely weaned she is, I'm thinking more like the latter. However, she's eating kitten kibble and tuna-for-cats now, and purrs loudly when I reach into the towel cupboard, which she has made her hiding place, instead of cringing, so we have progress. She was shivering with fear when I picked her up and brought her home, but just freezes and hides, no attempt to scratch or even run. I'd cringe too, if I was that small, and a little bit sick on top of it, and away from home so young.
So where did this cat come from and why now? Well, my mom breeds Balinese/Siamese...BADLY, I might add: I support reputable breeders with great affection but she ain't one of them. Her (thankfully) single remaining intact queen, Trucker, got out and had a fling with the neighbor's tom; some kittens resulted. Mom says he's a ragdoll; I haven't seen the tom, and while the kits are fluffy and floppy I would take this claim with several boxes of salt. The little calico, she sold as a ragdoll cross (sigh) but the remaining black 'n whites didn't sell. They are black, and this one had an upper respiratory virus; not uncommon with kittens but it can get very bad, even fatal, if not cared for properly and most people, wisely, won't buy a sick kitten. She's gotten a lot better in the 2 days I've had her, BTW, and I'll have it looked at when she has her shots.
So I made some noise about really loving this particular little fluffball when I visited mom a couple of weeks ago, because I was quite taken with her. Mom offered to let me have her, to which of course I said I was mighty tempted but didn't need more cats. Then a couple of days ago, I get a message: mom's moving (again) and overwhelmed, and if I wanted the kitten, come get her, because she's taking them all to a shelter.
So, right, moral dilemma. Since my first meeting with Nocturne, I had realized that I did, in fact, want another cat, and since my living situation has gotten completely reorganized on me, I could do it. When I realized I was considering this in any kind of serious way, I also considered picking up a shelter cat. I found that the Sonoma county shelter is so full, they're adopting them out at half price right now, fixed and vaccinated, so I could actually get one cheaper than a free kitten from my mom.
I do not want to support or enable how she has begun to care for her animals in any way. But then I realized: why take out my anger and frustration with my mother's behavior, which I can't change, on an innocent baby animal who now exists through no fault of her own and faces an uncertain future? This particular cat is a good match: I think she's lovely, and has a neat little personality, so far. A kitten is a pleasant distraction from all of the heartache I'm dealing with right now. So I took her home.
