Until kitteh arrives and chaos rules the Cole household. Again.
Cat Blogging
Kitteh Update
Mom has informed me that she got Ariel’s shot records, and she is (they think) 2 years old, born in spring 2011, but no one really knows for sure. She is 7.7 lbs, which means she is about what Tunch weighed when he was 8 months old, so she is a very slender and agile kitty.
I’ve got new bowls and a new litter box, and plan to spend tomorrow vacuuming the hell out of the spare bedroom so it is nice and clean for her arrival tomorrow night. I’m really quite excited. My friends always mock me for living in the middle of nowhere, and ask me if I am ever lonely, and I guess they just don’t understand how impossible it is to get lonely with all these personalities running around. No matter what room I am in, there is a set of eyeballs on me and someone who wants to be pet. How do you get lonely? Who has time? I’m shocked that I don’t have carpal tunnel from petting animals all day.
I went through all the names you suggested, and here are the frontrunners:
1.) Ariel (I’m a dance with the girl who brung you kind of guy, so if it fits when I meet her, it will be Ariel.
2.) Marlena (my current frontrunner)
3.) Sybil
4.) Abigail
5.) Natasha
Really leaning towards Marlena, which I think is perfect.
Greetings from a Crazy Cat Lady
Here is a new pic of Ariel, who will be down here from Connecticut on Wednesday or Thursday. It’s harder to take pictures of her than Tunch, because she actually moves, so this is a little blurry:
I cleaned the spare bedroom, vacuumed the whole place, changed the sheets, and put the gate up, trying to get rid of the smell of Tunch so she will have her safe zone. I’m really kind of excited.
I’m also a touch worried that I really am slipping into hoarder status. What can I say, I love my animals. I took a nap today at around three after the Pens beat the Sabres, and climbing into bed, I had to lift the comforter for Lily and Rosie to get in, and as I was passing out, Tunch came for a visit. When I woke up an hour later, I heard Tunch purring next to me, Lily was snoring in my ear and drooling on my shoulder, and Rosie was nestled up next to my thigh. How does it get any better than that?
Why, by adding a cat to purr in my other ear. WINNING!
I’m not sure I like the name Ariel or Oreo (her name is Oreo, but my mom calls her Ariel because Oreo is not elegant enough- and for my mom, a dog person, to fall for a cat, you know she is a keeper.).
So, Balloon Juice readers, what does she look like to you? A Sascha, maybe?
I’m Eyeballing This
I think I may be adding this young lady to the household:
That is Ariel, who was is living with my sister in Connecticut until she can find her a forever home. My mom is up visiting, and informed me that Ariel is just the sweetest, neediest cat ever, and what can I say, she had me at needy. So I am very seriously considering heading up to my sister’s in March and bringing this young lady home and adding her to the tribe.
FYI- her original name was Oreo, but my mother thinks she is way to feminine and sophisticated to be an Oreo, so she changed her name to Ariel.
Maybe she’ll teach Tunch how to use the cat tower. Yeah, right.
Cat Rescue Bleg – Alexandria, VA Area
We’ve come to the heartbreaking decision that we need to give away our 8-tear-old tabby, Merlin. My wife got him as a kitten, and he’s in good health, gets checked out regularly by the vet, and has had a good life indoors. Unfortunately, he’s gotten aggressive in the last couple of years, and he’ll periodically get nervous and bite/scratch people’s legs and feet. We tried consulting a pet therapist, getting him more toys to help direct his aggression, and even antidepressants. None of that has really solved the problem. When he gets in one of his agitated states, it’s usually been necessary to give him a little squirt from a water bottle, but there’s only so many squirters we can place strategically around the house. Anyway, we just brought home our first little baby, and we were hoping for the best, but at this point we just don’t feel comfortable that we can give Merlin enough TLC to keep him calm while we spend our sleepless nights raising our newborn girl (her crying has made him more jumpy than usual). And once she’s old enough to start crawling around, we’re pretty worried he might get in a scuffle with her. I know the BJ community is full of kind-hearted pet lovers, so I’m reaching out in the hope they’ll help us find Merlin a loving place to live despite his challenging personality.
If you are interested in Merlin, or have any leads, email me at annelaurie (at) verizon.net — click on my name in the right-hand column — and I’ll put you in touch with Jake.
Asshole Cat Is An Asshole
Tunch is really enjoying the new cat tower I spent a hundred bucks on:
One of the biggest bits of evidence against evolution is that cats don’t have middle fingers.
Friday Night Open Thread
For the last couple years, Tunch has had to jump about 3-4 feet onto a table to access his food, because I figured it was the only exercise he got and because if I leave his bowl on the ground Rosie would weigh as much as me. At any rate, he has been meowing a bunch lately to psych himself up for the jump, and I realized the big guy will be 11 this spring, so I decided to splurge and get this:
He’ll still have to climb to get to the vittles, but no big jumps and the Rosie can’t reach, so mission accomplished.
And yes, it is 72″ or so, so he will fit. And yes, I may still bring up some free weights from the basement to put on the base of the tree just in case.