We were visiting my parents (they only live 10 minutes away) in May and mom mentioned that her neighbor Barb across the street rescues feral cats. She has them all neutered/spayed and then tries to place them in homes as barn cats.
My mom and Barb are good friends and sit in Barb's front yard swing and chat for hours. The other day Barb mentioned that a female tortie cat had showed up last month and was unusually sweet for a feral. Mom knew we were thinking about adopting a family cat and briefly met her and thought she was cute, so the boys and I walked over to check her out ourselves.
She was tiny (only 6 pounds), skittish, and had recently been spayed. She also had one ear clipped as feral cats in Texas are marked that way when they are fixed.
I thought she was adorable, but I didn't know if Paul was ready to adopt a new family member.
I sent Paul her photo above just in case and he told me he would like to visit her after work. And of course we brought her home. Paul loves cats, we used to be a cat family (Amber and Hobbs who we had in our 20's and 30's).
To keep with our aviation theme (Hoover the dog is named after Bob Hoover Fighter Pilot and Gooney the cockatiel is named after the C-47), we named her "Kitty Hawk". She also goes by "Kitty" and "Kitty Kitty Bang Bang".
The first 24 hours she snuggled with the boys, purring and kneading her little paws. She was so incredibly happy to be inside.
We were a little worried about Hoover (you can read his adoption story here) as he hadn't been around an inside cat since we had him. But we knew he didn't have a prey drive so we introduced them the day after we brought her home. He was very interested and Kitty was a little annoyed by him always wanting to sniff her rear. But they got along.
However, Kitty decided she wanted to be the boss and wasted no time stealing his bed.
Poor Hoover couldn't even hang out with the boys alone, she had to be there.
And Kitty was able to take naps in areas that were completely inaccessible to him. Mom wasn't too happy about Kitty being on the table.
Isaac has really bonded with Kitty. In fact, he is a little obsessed with her and is constantly checking in on her and giving her little kisses. We had two black cats (Tractor and Beck) when Isaac was a baby so he doesn't even remember them. But he discovered he is a cat person and Kitty is his baby. And of course the rest of us adore her too.
Hoover loves giving her tongue baths which she will tolerate for a few seconds. They also try to play, which usually consists of kitty running around Hoover, arching her back, and then zooming off. He usually has to chase her around a few times until she hides under a chair. When she gets tired of him she smacks him with an open paw, claws out. on his nose. He gets her subtle hint.
But I don't think he really appreciate sharing the couch with her.
Or his leather recliner.
And don't even get him started on her eating his food. Thankfully she has a tiny mouth and he eats fast.
Isaac told me the other day dogs worship their humans and cats expect to be worshipped. Yep, that is exactly Hoover and Kitty.
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So cuuuuute! Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos!
ReplyDeleteThank you, we adore the little gal!
DeleteLooking forward to updates on Kitty and Hoover - they are so very cute x
ReplyDeleteThank you! We are so lucky they get along so well.
DeleteLove hearing about your family and furkids! They are adorable.
ReplyDeleteAhhh, thank you! I am blessed that I don't live with anyone that drives me too crazy!!!
DeleteWhat a beautiful story about a gorgeous kitten. She is lucky to have found you and I am sure she will be a fantastic addition to your family. I had a rescue tortoiseshell kitten too. She came to me when she was one. She had been abandoned a few weeks before with 3 kittens. The kittens soon found homes but Tallulah was going to be put down. My daughter had a friend at the Vets who told her about the kitten. She phoned me and of course I had to adopt her. She was very skittish as she had been treated badly, however, as the years passed she grew to love me. I had her for 17years and finally had to make the heart breaking decision to gently put her to sleep. She looked just like your kitten.
ReplyDeleteDannisa, I am so glad you saved Tallulah's life! I am so sorry you had to put her to sleep, I know it is so difficult. I love having a family cat again, I really missed having one. Thankfully Hoover the dog and Kitty get along so well. However, Kitty is determined to eat our cockatiel Gooney, so it is always a challenge playing with him. We have to have eyes on Kitty and make sure she is behind a door so she can't get at him. When we first got him I didn't see her and would bring him out and she would bounce out from behind the bed or couch. Since she had been feral she is a great hunter, so she is now in inside cat only.
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