First and most importantly, I NEED SUGGESTIONS. We’re going with Spanish names for Isabella’s kittens (because Spanish is one of the Romance languages, and Valentine’s Day is coming up. Uh. It made sense when I thought of it. Just go with it, okay?) and ordinarily I’d call the litter as a whole Los Gatitos (Spanish for “the kittens,” see?) HOWEVER, back in 2010 I had a small litter of kittens that were born on or around Cinco de Mayo, so I gave ’em Spanish names.
SO.
Someone give me a better name for them, please. If I have two litters going by Los Gatitos, I am going to get confused. Because I am easily confused. Suggestions?
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COURTESY POST: A bonded pair in Fayetteville, TN is looking for a home!
Gabby (female dilute torti-tabby) and Cheeto (male orange tabby). They are a bonded pair. Both are fixed and up to date on shots, according to previous owner. I do not have any vet records though. They are both around 2 years old. They get along okay with other cats and also small/medium dogs with proper introductions. They came from a home that had a small dog. Please contact Ashley, if you would be interested in giving these two a home together. 931 993 0546 or ryokara (at) gmail.com
Please share!
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You had said something recently about fosters that you seriously considered keeping over the last year, if that would’ve been feasible. Totally get and respect you there. But I wondered, if conditions had been right, who were the biggest contenders for being kept?
Jacques and Francois were thisclose to becoming permanent residents. In fact, the morning I was delivering them to their new home, I had them in the car, drove about half a mile down the road, turned around and came home, discussed it with Fred (who was okay with keeping them), and then ultimately decided to do what was best for them. I don’t regret letting them go at all, but the actual act of deciding that they wouldn’t be staying with us was really hard.
The others who nearly made it to permanent resident status were Almanzo (mostly because we couldn’t stand the idea of him at Petsmart alone), Amelie (she had such a rough start, I really got attached), Antoine (such a little character), and Josephine and Gabrielle (I hated thinking of them sitting at Petsmart.) With all of them, once they had adoptions and I knew they were going to great homes, I was perfectly fine with letting them go. (The only reason I wasn’t tempted to keep Charles and Caroline and/or Margeaux and Katriane is because someone whose name sounds like Smarchie had a distinct disliking for the first two, and Alice was TERRIFIED of the second two, though they never once gave her any reason to be scared.)
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The thought of a hard of deer fleeing down your street from Fred make me snicker
He said that they were mostly just walking fast, but when he coughed, they started running! (Even typing that makes me laugh out loud.)
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A herd of deer running? Who sees that in their ‘hood? Are you close to a park or preserve?
We’re near the end of a cul de sac, at the foot of a mountain. There are a LOT of deer (and other wildlife) here!
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I am amazed your catnip comes back at all.
So am I! That pot of catnip came from Crooked Acres. I wish I could remember where I got the initial plant, whether I grew it from seed or bought a plant somewhere, because it is the hardiest catnip I’ve ever had. Year after year, it keeps coming back!
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I know it’s all relative, but your “cold and dreary” comments make me snicker
Through all of December, I was like “I am so ready for the cold weather!” and “When is it going to get cold?” and “I grew up in Maine! I like the cold!” and then we get 5 days where the temperature drops below freezing at night, and I’m suddenly all “WHERE IS SPRING.”
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What kind of vet doesn’t know that even the mellowest cats can lose their @*%( at the vet?
In the vet’s defense, Archie was SO happy and kneading and purring and just the most laid-back boy that I don’t think they expected him to go from 0 to 60 in an instant when they tried to restrain him. (Fred and I always say if I were a cat, I’d be Archie, because THAT IS SO ME.)(The 0 to 60 in an instant, not the restraining part… though I probably wouldn’t like that, either.) It’s hard, when your cat is purring and rolling around and head-butting the vet tech, for them to understand how very much that boy doesn’t like being restrained!
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People have asked how many kittens Isabella might have, and I have no idea. I always suggest to our mamas that 4 is a great number – easy to handle and a round number so, in theory at least, they could be adopted in pairs. Our mamas never ever listen to me, though, so I haven’t a clue how many kittens we’ll end up with.
As far as what colors she might have, all I can tell you is that we did have a floofy black mama kitty back in 2013, Catherine (Kate).
She had five kittens, who looked like this.
Two tuxies (Buttercup and Charming), one all-black (Jareth), brown tabby (Aslan), and silver and white tabby (Leia). Their woefully incomplete page is here, and you can see all the pictures of them in this album over at Flickr.
So in summation: no idea how many, no idea what they’ll look like. I can’t wait to find out, though, that’s for sure!
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Isabella is doing well. She seems to think of this as her safe space.
(When Margeaux was pregnant, that was her favorite place to hang out, but those beds weren’t there.)
When I walk in, she wakes up and gives me a suspicious look.
I put that cat tree there to make it easier for her to get down. I don’t like the idea of her jumping from there to the floor (though it doesn’t bother HER.)
“Awesome, lady, thanks!”
As soon as I sit down on the couch…
Snugglebug.
SO sweet.
Oh, those floofy paws.
Should she have the kittens over the weekend, I’ll post on social media, and here as well. I’ll be surprised if she makes it through the weekend without having them, given the activity level of those kittens, but the longer she waits, I think the better it is for her. She can gain a little much-needed weight and relax into the routine of being here.
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Speaking of love bugs, here’s Frankie in my lap being, y’know, a lap cat.
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Previously
2019: Caroline keeping an eye on Charles from up high.
2018: “TRYING TO SLEEP.”
2017: That girl never knew a stranger.
2016: No entry.
2015: I get the feeling I interrupted an important discussion.
2014: After a smooth start wherein they seemed to accept him with no problems, Maria and Mariette have decided that they don’t like Dennis.
2013: Tandem “not impressed” expressions, with bonus tongue from Kennebec.
2012: Check out the fearsome claws.
2011: EVERYone loves Loony Jake.
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry.
2008: Stinkerbelle gets tired of the camera action, and moves across the bed, next to Skittles.
2007: I always feel awful leaving cats at Petsmart.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.