Here’s the story on Nola, an all-too-familiar one: she showed up as a stray at someone’s house, and when they realized she was pregnant they contacted Forgotten Felines. Brittany posted on the FF Facebook page looking for someone to foster. I didn’t see it, but Teresa pointed it out to me, and though I really really wanted this gorgeously floofy girl, I knew I was going to be gone for 5 days.
Luckily, a temporary space was found for her while I was gone.
I just KNEW she was going to have her babies over the weekend, just KNEW it, but luckily she did NOT (worrying that pregnant cats will have their babies before I get them is kind of my thing) and Wednesday afternoon I got my hands on her.
She was NOT loving being in her carrier on the way home, and she let me know it. But then, when I got her into the foster room and opened the carrier, she suddenly decided she’d just stay where she was, thank you very much.
I let her stay there for a couple of hours, then I thought I’d just remove the top of the carrier, and she could hang out in the bottom of the carrier and get the lay of the land. Except that once I started taking the carrier apart, she shot out and ran across the room to hide behind the big crate I’d set up.
I pulled the crate out and sweet-talked her, but she wasn’t having it. I took the big crate out of the room and left her alone for a bit longer. She stayed in that corner, but when I went back in, she got a little flirty.
She stretched out so I could get a look at her belly.
She gave me a look to let me know she wasn’t planning on putting up with much of my nonsense.
She looks tiny until she stands up, and then it’s all “WELL HELLO THERE” with the belly.
She’s not entirely sure what she thinks of me, and she’s not entirely sure what she thinks of this whole situation, but I can tell you that the instant I touch her, she purrs like crazy.
She has the sweetest little smug face.
I know y’all are wondering if she’s REALLY pregnant. What I can tell you is that this girl has got herself quite the belly – from above, she’s shaped like a football (I haven’t gotten a picture of it yet, but I’m trying!) I saw belly movement yesterday, but it’s subtle. Fred’s also seen belly movement. Here, I made a video – you decide for yourself.
I haven’t been too handsy with the belly yet, simply because she’s still nervous and I don’t want to freak her out. I have spent a LOT of time staring at her belly, and while of COURSE you never know if there are babies until you see ’em, I’m fairly confident there are.
As far as names go, since Nola is named after New Orleans, I’d like the babies’ names to be Louisiana/New Orleans-based. I’d like to go with Nola and the Cajuns as a litter name, and I kind of like JeweledSkye’s suggestions of Beignet, Jambalaya, étouffée, and Gumbo. I thought of naming them after streets in the French Quarter (Decatur, Bourbon, etc). But I’m open to suggestions. I always like seeing what you guys suggest!
Should she go into labor over the weekend, I will post on the L&H Facebook page (I’ll be posting there via Instagram anyway, of course), and will try my best to post here for those of you who don’t do Facebook.
I’m going to put it out there – just off the top of my head, I predict Monday, March 27th. Fred predicts “after Monday.” For number of kittens I’ll go with… oh, four. Fred also says four. I’m sure we’re both completely off base. We usually are!
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Late Wednesday night, I kept hearing Frankie’s big mouth. Sometimes the boy’s just got something to say and he says it repeatedly. So I went upstairs to see what was going on, and found that he was sitting in the hall. I’ve got the barrier across the foster room doorway (it’s basically a two-foot door that provides a little privacy for the foster room resident) and a towel in front of the foster room door, blocking the space at the bottom. Frankie was sitting about three feet from the barrier talking, and Nola was talking back. Neither of them sounded at all aggressive or unfriendly, they were just having a chat.
Frankie: “Heyyy. What up? Whatcha doin’ in there?”
Nola: “Oh, you know. Just brewing babies. Is this an okay place?”
Frankie: “Yeah, the daddy is awesome. The lady is kind of pushy and kisses a lot, but she means well. They like to give me food.”
Nola: “Cool, cool. Any idea how to get Animal Planet on this TV?”
Frankie: “They don’t have cable. You’ve gotta watch Netflix.”
Nola: “Ugh.”
“I had important things to say, lady. Nothing that involves YOU.”
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Previously
2016: “But we are so wittle and the world is so big!”
2015: Peter does a little Kravitzing. “ABNER! Come see what those wacky neighbors are doing NOW!”
2014: Angelo, toe-suckin’.
2013: Oh, girl tabby, you make me want to pop you right in my mouth.
2012: No entry.
2011: Despite challenges from Corbie and Jake, Elwood would like to assure you that he remains king of the scratcher. He knows you were worried.
2010: “Shall I run across the room like a little lunatic, or shall I take a nap? Decisions, decisions.”
2009: The Seven, named.
2008: No entry.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
Nola is gorgeous! And I love the name “Gumbo” for a kitten. I can’t wait to see her babies!
I like Gumbo, too!
You should definitely name one of them Tchopitoulas.
Or you could name them after Mardi Gras parades: Bacchus, Endymion, Rex, Muses, Tucks, Zulu, etc…
Yes! It’s close enough to Mardi Gras! (Well, OK, we’re in Lent! But still…) The all-female krewes (names!): Athena, Cleopatra, Eve, Iris, Isis, Muses, Nyx and Selena.
Yay! Friday post, I kept re-freshing my browser. Crazy how hooked I am, I felt lost this morning without having the Friday update. Nola is beautiful! I know she will have beautiful babies.
Not to be a PILL, but I didn’t see a Twitter or Facebook notice that you had updated? And I was LOOKING for it, since you gave us the Nola Tease yesterday!! WAIT, I’m lying. My Twitter one came at 8:48. And now I see it’s on FB, too. OK, NEVER MIND. I’m just impatient, I guess. LOVE NOLA!! (I know nothing about New Orleans or vampires, so you’ll be saved from my name suggestions!) She’s GORGEOUS!!
Digging the Louisiana food theme. Four other notions include Boudin (pronounced boo-dah, a sausage made of rice and pork, common in the Cajun parts of the state (Lafayette, Lake Charles, etc.), Pistolette (a roll filled with with seafood and fried (similar, now that I think of it, to an empanada)), Poboy, and Muffuletta (the last two being sandwiches).
Obviously I’m a Cajun: I really like food.
You could also go for the Cajun joke of having names that end in the “o” sound (“Shadow,” “Jambo,” etc.), but with -eaux at the end (“Shadeaux,” “Jambeaux,” etc.). If nothing else, you can use that a lot in the posts (as well as using “cher” (pronounced “sha”) a lot).
oooooohhh… yes! btw – I LOVE your last name!!!!!
Thanks. If you were wondering: pronounced “Bereo” (as though it rhymes with “stereo”). The double-l makes the “y” sound, like in tortilla (the Spanish held Louisiana around the time of the Great Upheaval).
Love your last name. I lived in Gonzales, LA for about 6 years. Was engaged to a guy with the last name of Quebedeaux. Katrina Quebedeaux has a ring to it. But alas we broke up.
I like these and the other food suggestions. I was also thinking of crawfish for an orange kitty. Or the nickname for crawfish – mudbug – for a darker kitty. There’s also praline or pecan. Chickory, they use it in coffee a lot.
Our dog is named Poydras, it’s the street that runs along the Superdome. So that’s another street name to use. It’s not in the French Quarter but it’s not too far away from it.
I’m kinda “meh” on the crawfish notion. On the other hand, southern humorist Lewis Grizzard’s beloved lab was named “Catfish.” He eventually got a puppy he named “Cornbread” (because what goes better with catfish than cornbread?).
I am grooving on Praline and Chickory so much I almost want another kitten to give them those names. (Chickory was used to stretch the coffee, and kinda became a thing.). Sticking with the beignets theme: how about Cafe Au Lait?
One more: name the feistiest after Louisiana’s only wine, Tabasco!
Yes, yes and yes. Love all of those suggestions.
Wow, I think she’ll be set for naming themes for a long time to come with all of these.
Zydeco!
Yay! Nola is certainly beee-you-teee-foe-wah (said in my best Cajun accent) and am glad to see Ambassador Frankie asserting his best welcome wagon techniques! You have a history of April 1 babies already, so I’ma gun go wit Friday, March 31… ‘Friday’s child(ren) are loving and giving’… and I’ll go with 5 babies… And while I LOVE the idea of little Beignet, Jambalaya, étouffée, and Gumbo… New Orleans has so many words that I love – the possibilities are endless… I Love “Creole” (for a little torbie girl would be spectacular!) and “Cajun” as names, the idea of Louisiana parishes has a plethora of fun options… (all said in my best southern accent) “Beauregard”, “Claiborne”, “Evangeline”, “Feliciana”, “Lafayette”, “Sabine” “Terrebonne” and soooooo many other beautiful (and fun!) options…. just throwing it out there…. Have a WONDERFUL weekend… and again, so glad you’re back and with babies on board!
Following the facebook feed… yep, scratch ‘etouffee’… I did not know that actual meaning (‘choked’ or ‘smothered’)… not a nice name for a kitten… but love all the other suggestions coming in!
All of our pets are named with a New Orleans theme! It’s our favorite place! Gumbo, VooDoo, Myrtle (the plantation), Dixie, Jax, Trixie (burlesque dancer), Smitty (a Lucky dog vendor we met). I Also know some animals named Beignet, Liza (funky Liza, a song), Beau, Rhett, Remy, Boudreaux, Bingle, Brees, Roux, Payton, Calliope, Toulouse, Thalia, Magnolia, Rex, Zulu, Jazz, Louie, Pursy (character on A Love Song for Bobby Long)
I could go on and on and on!
Look at that gorgeous, silky long hair, very distinct coloring! Nola is gonna birth some beautiful beebees! Can’t wait to get my kitteh fix.
I’ll jump on the ‘Nola is gorgeous’ bandwagon. She definitely has the tortitude going. They will be beautiful babies!
That picture of her in the carrier looking so frightened just breaks my heart. So glad she is with you and will be safe and happy and loved and spoiled.
And I love love LOVE the idea of a tiny kitten named Beignet for some reason, and also Muffuletta.
Nola is a beautiful cat and I am glad she was able to go to Crooked Acres. I really like the New Orleans naming theme for her babies; it’s a lovely city and one I haven’t been able to visit in far too long. I think street or district names would be a good theme. Then again, I particularly like Cher, Flambeaux (especially if there’s an orange kitten!), and Praline (for a brown one) for names. Above all, the last-born or smallest kitten really needs to be Lagniappe. 😀
Nola, you have got to stop talking to strangers, that’s how you got into this predicament in the first place.
But, that said, you sure are a pretty girl, and I bet your babies will be tasty little muffins!
This Canadian girl knows very little about New Orleans/LA names, but for some reason Marie Laveau comes to mind. Then of course Sazerac, the cocktails of which my sister got hammered on by 10 in the morning once, what with all the freebies they were handing out.
What a beautiful momma. Can’t wait to see her babies.
Nola is so pretty! And thank you, Frankie, for welcoming her to Crooked Acres! And I love all the Cajun themed name ideas.
I’d love to see a kitten named Ignatius Reilly!
Yes!!
Actually, you could do a whole litter of names from that book, but I wouldn’t want to call them The Dunces collectively.
Ok, places in Cajun country like Lafayette, Mamou, just look at a map of southwest LA. Or Cajun last names like Dugas, Doucet, Fontenot, Breaux, there are a ton of those. So many good choices here!
I was born (Lafayette) and grew up (Lake Charles) in Louisiana. I went to college at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio), and met/married a girl from Indianapolis (and we settled in Cincinnati). Fun thing to do the first few times I took her down: hand her a map and listen to her (try to) pronounce places.
That is too funny. As I mentioned in the other post, I lived in Gonzales for about 6 years. From the age of 16 – 22. I still can’t pronounce even 1/2 of the names. I’ll think I’ll have it and then nope. LOL
My husband who had never even set one foot in the state but is a Saints fan (because of the Dome Patrol) was better at pronouncing the names the first time he went down.
Oh, Nola and the Dome Patrol is a good name for them too. Although it’s football related and the naming scheme isn’t that so….
And there’s always A Streetcar Named Desire to go off of:
Stella, Blanche, Dubois, Laurel, Stanley, Kowalski, Belle Reve, Eunice, Mitch, etc.
Although it’s a pretty depressing story the names are nice.
BABIES !!!!!!!!!! Yes I have to scream it !!! I have been going through major kitten antics withdrawal !!! I know you are even worse than me Robyn !!
Welcome Nola to the best foster home and foster parents a girl could ask for to have her babies !!!
I really like the “foods” theme for the kittens names !!! Jambalaya for a tortie like Mama would fit perfectly. I think I squeaked when I read “Etouffee” perfect for an orange kitten !!! There are going to be a miss match bunch of colours and New Orleans is so famous for amazing food!!!
🙂 Love all the name suggestions. Food names are hysterical but the others are good too! I suggest she will have 5 on the 1st (mostly because she’s s big and I will be busy that day and won’t be able to check in).
I actually prefer the street names for kitten names — I think that’s unique and adorable and kittens are not food dammit XD But that’s just me.
Whenever she has the babies, and however many babies she has, they’ll be adorable. Would it help if the fur on her tummy was shaved so the nipples are more easily accessed? I’ve never had kittens so I wouldn’t know these things. Maybe names of Louisiana counties–er, parishes–would be a good theme.
April 2
Five kittens (3 boys/ 2 girls)
Never been to Nola so I can’t help with names
Used to live down in that area. Had a calico who was born on March 26, 1984. I named her Mardi due to her half-tone face looking like a painted mask. So I’m very excited about the possible naming schemes!
Could Frankie get any sweeter? JEEZ. He is rapidly moving up my list of fave permies.
Nola has such beautiful eyes and has already captured my heart. I hope she’s a good mama to her wee ones.
I visited Cafe du Monde and looooved the chicory coffee there so I also like the name Chicory. And someone mentioned Creole, which is also good. The street names make for good kitten nomenclatures, too.
I think you have a bunch of options at your disposal and the names don’t need to be grouped into a certain category like food or streets; you can absolutely mix and match whatever speaks to you for each of those babies as they pop out!
I think the thing that makes me happiest in this post is that, in addition to the other good things that have come into her life, Nola may have found a kitty friend. Good on ya, Frankie!
There’s a cat at Friends of Felines Rescue Center in Defiance Ohio named Nyla. 3 days ago she gave birth to 11 (!) kittens. 2 didn’t make it but 9 are doing well. I just think it’s interesting that FFRC has a mama Nyla and you have a soon to be mama Nola.
You sure are lucky whoever had her before you was willing to give her to you. 🙂 If it had been ME, I’d be like, “Nope, sorry, I’m keeping this one. You can have the next one.” 😀
I’m sure Louisiana or Louie is already on your list, but what about :
Cher (apparently a New Orleans term of endearment)
Dixie (region of southeastern US)
Storm (or something of the like) (cause, you know…)
Okay… that’s all I got! I should add that I have never been to New Orleans and know NOTHING about it. 🙂
“Cher” means “dear” in French and the feminine form is “Chère”. I think in European French lingo it’s “cherie” but same idea.
“Cherie” is a diminutive (“dearie”) whereas “chere/cher” is “dear”. 🙂
Got it 🙂 Thanks.
Beignet!!! I just think that is a great name for a little girl kitten. Especially if she has white on her, like powdered sugar!
Oh please name one of the girls Katrina.
This might be a good excuse to use Tater Boudreaux, the name you were considering for Dewey before he was named Dewey. 🙂
THAT is an excellent idea. 🙂
Ok, Frankie and Nola chatting…well that just warmed my heart. Perhaps he is willing to be stepdaddy!? (Nola is quite a hottie!)
nothing like kittens to get the comments flowing. I bet you they were talking about your shenanigans.. (how many comments in a row can I use that word and STILL misspell it?)