Over the weekend, Fred and I were watching TV when the phone rang. He checked the caller ID and handed the phone to me. It was the shelter manager, calling to see how Moonman and Moondance were doing, and then to ask me if I could take a mother cat and her three kittens. They all had crusty eyes and upper respiratory infections, so she was keeping them in the bathroom to keep them away from the other cats.
I had the option of picking them up that day (Saturday) or waiting until Monday ’til they’d been tested at the vet’s. I covered the phone, told Fred what was going on, and told the manager I’d pick them up Monday afternoon.
We originally planned to move Moondance and Moonman to the other house, but we’re not out there every day, and I preferred to keep them here, where I could go up and hang out with them several times a day, rather than having to drive twenty minutes to get to them.
Sunday, Fred and I moved the bed out of the guest bedroom and moved Moondance and Moonman into the guest bedroom. They’re very sweet, well-behaved cats and I knew that the spud wouldn’t have any problems with them (her computer is in there; I imagine when we move to Smallville and she gets to have her computer in her own room, it’ll be like Christmas for her).
Monday, in a kind of convoluted way home (we stopped in Smallville to check out a leak in the ceiling of the computer room and (the real reason we stopped) leave a snack for Maxi and Newt, who hadn’t been around on Sunday, so hadn’t gotten a snack and THEY MIGHT STARVE) then drove to the shelter, then from the shelter home) we stopped by the shelter and picked up the mom and her kittens.
The kittens are about three months old and slated to be spayed and neutered on Friday. They all have upper respiratory infections (though they already sound better than they did the first night) and all but one have crusty eyes, requiring the application of an ointment to their eyes three days a week. In addition, I’m pretty sure one has – or had – a urinary tract infection, because she’d get in the litter box and squat there for several minutes, eventually producing only a tiny bit of pee (I started her on amoxicillin yesterday and she seems already like she might be getting better).
My hands are practically raw from all the hand-washing I’ve done since we got them (we’re hoping not to spread the upper respiratory infection to our cats).
The mom is very, very sweet. A little feisty, too, but mostly sweet, and very friendly. Like all the momma cats we’ve had, she’s taken to Fred and seems to regard him as her property. Oh, and the best thing – she has a little three-inch stump of a tail that she wags, just like Mister Boogers.
There are two female kittens and one male. The females are very skittish; the male is less so. He’s a bit of a Chatty Cathy and loves to walk around the room making little peeping noises for no apparent reason. I laid down on the floor for a few minutes this morning, and he curled up against me and went to sleep. He doesn’t like to be picked up, but he’ll tolerate it for a minute or two.
Because I named the last batch of kittens (the Christmas kittens), Fred was given free reign to name this bunch. I actually kind of like the names he came up with.
Fantine, the mom.
Fantine again. She’s a tiny thing.
Javert.
Cosette (left) and Eponine.
Cosette (standing), Eponine (brown tabby), and Javert.
Yesterday afternoon I emailed Fred and said That Javert, he’s a talker.
He emailed me back with “Valjean! At last, we see each other plain. M’sieur LeMeow, you’ll wear
a doggie chaaaaaaaaaaaain!”
Make sure you keep him away from water.
Ha!
(Those names are from Les Miserables, for those of you in the dark.)
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Previously
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.