Throwback Thursday: Newt and Maxi.
After mentioning, a few days ago, that Newt is already 10 years old (!), I thought that a good Throwback Thursday theme would be pictures of the current permanent residents one of the very first times we saw them. I’ll do a couple of permanent residents each Thursday, rather than doing them all at once.
Maxi, on the front porch of our house. The very first time we met her, she was clearly nursing kittens. Look at how tiny she is! This was back in the fall of 2006, when we’d committed to buying Crooked Acres, but hadn’t signed the papers yet.
She eventually showed up with her litter of four kittens. We (Fred) named them Fezzik, Inigo, Princess Buttercup, and Westley. They became Challenger’s House cats; we fostered them for a few weeks, and then they went off to Petsmart and were adopted.
Newt, on the stairs in the garage with Maxi’s kittens Westley and Princess Buttercup. When Maxi first showed up, she showed up alone. Eventually, Newt started showing up along with her. And then he was so good with her kittens that we assumed he was the father to them; the vet suspected that he might actually be one of Maxi’s kittens from a previous litter (which, I know, doesn’t preclude the idea that he could be the father to her kittens too). He’s the only cat Maxi can stand, and even he gets on her nerves pretty quickly.
Newt, after we brought Maxi and her kittens inside. The room they’re in (and I haaaaaaaated that wall color, by the way) is what is now my bedroom (it’s purple). He’s so TINY! I thought he was fully grown when we first met him, but that seems crazy to me now. He is clearly still just a baby!
Maxi is 12 years old this year; Newt is about 11.
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A pile o’ kittens on Fred’s bed.
Apparently Ken Adams (left) and Art Vandelay (right) make comfy pillows.
“He’s the comfiest!” says Chanandler Bong.
Everyone but Princess Consuela is present and accounted for!
The very smug Ken Adams, aka Moe.
Art and Bert get their snuggle on.
A snuggle of kittens.
::thlurrp!:: said Art Vandelay.
Princess Consuela showed up to show off her bikini.
I turned the ceiling fan on to shed a little more light on the situation, and Art Vandelay wasn’t sure what he was looking at.
There’s a family portrait! (If you’re interested, click on the picture to see the larger picture at Flickr, labeled with each of their names.)
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Sheriff Mama (aka Kara), stomping around under the blueberry bushes. I don’t know who did what, but she looks like she’s in a ticket-writing mood!
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Previously
2015: I think it’s safe to say that the kittens have found their crazy.
2014: Livia Monday.
2013: No entry.
2012: About Rupert.
2011: Crooked Acres, after the tornadoes.
2010: “Rowr?”
2009: The Seven.
2008: Killing me with the cute.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
I’ve been reading your blog since you were in the other house. So if Maxi is 12, I’ve been reading you a really looooong time!
It’s gone by in a flash, hasn’t it!
Well, you can rule out Newt as the father of Maxi’s female kittens if the girls weren’t calicos or torbies. The X chromosome carries red, and Newt’s only got one X chromosome to go around, so if he’s the dad, the girls have got to have red. Do they?
No! Princess Buttercup was the only girl, and she was a brown and white tabby. So that’s one mystery solved, thanks!
But they can have multiple fathers. So Newt could have been the father of some of the boys, no?
Maxi WAS tiny!! Kara does look like someone is in trouble….
I think someone is ALWAYS in trouble as far as Kara is concerned. 🙂
I had forgotten that both Maxi and Newt “came with” Crooked Acres. Seems so very fitting!
The Fakers have clearly reached the leggy kitten stage. Also, the phrase – snuggle of kittens — needs to be added to the dictionary. Perhaps with the opposite – a bounce of kittens.
Do you ever the play a game of poking Chnandler Bong’s perfect polka dot ???? LOL !!!!!
Sorry Sheriff Mama !!!!!
Of course! 🙂
A snuggle of kittens – love that phrase (and the kittens). I hope to remember it and use it as it fits a bunch of kittens so beautifully.
That family portrait was perfect. These kittens are so distinct (even the ones that are similarly colored) that I was able to tell who’s who w/o an issue. Such fabulous personalities!
Okay, who spotted Susie?
Susie is really really cute!
How much they’ve grown! Newt ‘s become a stud! And I almost didn’t recognise Maxi in that first picture! The babies were sucking the fat out of that girl!
I have a problem. My two cats get along most of the time, especially since Bruma spends most of the daytime outside. But sometimes when Gandalf gets his crazy pants on he likes to play rough with her and she doesn’t like it one bit. She hisses, she draws the paw of doom on him but it seems he doesn’t get that he’s not welcome. I usually break it off by clapping or ultimately taking one of the cats with me to be petted and calm the moods around the house. It seems Gandalf doesn’t understand the hissing language, isn’t bothered by it or is encouraged by it to keep seeking Bruma. I know Bruma is not hissing over nothing: sometimes she’s sleeping and he goes all wrestlemania on her. Out of the blue. I’ve also witnessed when she’s willing to play and even if they’re running all over the house there’s no hissing. How can I teach to Gandalf to stop when there’s hissing involved? We are toying with the idea of bringing another kitten but I’m scared he’s going to go all tough love on it. If it helps: Gandalf was fostered by someone that only had huskies at home. He was first introduced to cats when we adopted him at 2 and a half months old. He’s now 1 year and 5 months old. He doesn’t hiss and he barely meows (only to complain that he’s not being fed fast enough or when he’s being handled which he hates). Bruma is almost a two year-old kitty and a really talkative one! Thanks for your insight!
I’ll be honest, my first thought was that Gandalf needs a kitten to play with – it would give Bruma a break, and of course kittens have endless energy. I don’t have any other insight, though, so I’ll post your question in tomorrow’s post; hopefully there’ll be some great suggestions!
I second that, Robyn! 🙂 An older kitten – six or seven months old maybe – would still be very playful but wouldn’t be as delicate as a two or three month old kitten. Some organizations offer a trial adoption if you have other animals and you aren’t sure if it is going to work out. At the least, the organization will likely take the kitten back if it doesn’t work out.
I know one of the other fosters has eleven huge Maine Coon type cats and she sometimes lets her foster kittens run around her house. She says that when the big cats get rough with the kittens, all she says is “baby” (as in “that’s a baby”) and they back off. I don’t know how she does it! 😀
I can say “Be nice to her!”, and Sidney will flop over on his side like he was completely innocent the whole time.
I got another kitten when Sidney did this to Emma. Well, 6 years later, Sid still tortures Emma. He does LOVE LOVE LOVE Lola, though…but he has taught Lola that it is fun to chase Emma and make her “cry” (she doesn’t do it often). So, it can backfire. Be sure you want a third cat no matter what. I have not been successful at getting Sidney to be respectful. I now have four cats (shush…the forth found me). Emma is the ONLY one Sidney picks on. Sidney is a big Ragdoll (15 lbs) and my youngest is only 8 lbs. You would think he’d pick on her, but he doesn’t. He focuses on Emma, the ears lay back, and he becomes obsessed. I do what Claudia is currently doing and I can say, “Be nice to her!” and he will flop on his side like he was innocent the whole time. It is the only thing that breaks his focus. He never hurts Emma…just torments her like a rotten little brother.