The Crazy Cat Lady

That would be me.

There are at this moment 10 felines in my house. We have our two grown kitties, Angel and Simba. Fleur went back to the shelter today, but her four babies are still here, free range in the house. And there are four new babies in the Kitten Room (much against their better judgment, I might add). The new babies are about five weeks old. There are three boys and one girl. The girl and two of the boys are actual siblings, who were found abandoned on the front porch of the shelter this morning. The third boy was unceremoniously dumped in the shelter parking lot just before I got there this afternoon with Fleur, without so much as a box to protect him from the cars.

Insert standard grrrr here.

The girl is a black and white bicolor, not quite a tuxedo cat I think, as I can see some tabby markings in her black and more white than normal on a tuxedo. One of her brothers is a gorgeous, very dapper looking tuxedo. The other brother is a flat-out brown/gray tabby. I think he’s probably a mackerel tabby but it’s a bit early to tell. The other boy, their new brother, is a much lighter gray tabby and white with a mostly white chin.

I was pleased that the three siblings adopted the new guy immediately into the family.

The bigger babies have been set up in the spare bathroom for now while the new guys settle in. No one seems particularly happy about this arrangement but me. Fleur’s babies are feeling a bit berefit, which is only reasonable. They want back into the Kitten Room, which had been home base for them till now. The new tabby boy has already decided that the rest of the house is the place to be and is attempting escape at every opportunity.

The little babies are very much used to people and to receiving comfort from people. In fact, the aforementioned tabby seems to want to spend every single moment, 24/7, being held. He purrs, too, quite a lot. The little girl is also especially interested in human attention.

I believe I have all the new ones named. First, the girl. One of the founding members of my women’s chorus goes by the name Nell Manycats. Someone in the chorus this evening suggested calling the new girl Nell, and I like that. The tabby boy came with the name Buddy and that’s sticking. The tuxedo boy is Fred. As in Astaire. Cause he’s so well dressed. The other boy, the singleton, was named Spencer by the shelter. That makes me think of a boy in my church who has survived leukemia and has finished all his chemotherapy. This little guy must be a bit of a fighter, too, to be handling everything he’s had to handle today, so he’ll be Spencer.

Yes, I’m clearly not going on with the alphabetical stuff. I knew it probably wouldn’t last.

Poor little ones got dumped fairly quickly into the Kitten Room when I got home, as I had to fly out for rehearsal. Then, after I got home, DH informed me that he’d found – Oh, The Horrors! – fleas. So all four new babies have been bathed. They were, not surprisingly, not happy with that. But, as usual, it didn’t kill any of them. DH only found fleas on Spencer and they were moving mighty slowly, so I think we’ve got them all. Tomorrow can only be an easier day for the little guys!

The bigger babies at first greeted the new ones with enthusiasm. Later Itsy hissed at one and Gizmo seemed to be pretending they didn’t exist, but given Buddy’s attempts to escape the Kitten Room, I suspect that as soon as the little ones seem to feel secure in their new home, we might try mingling the groups and see what happens. Of course, the little ones will have to be declared Flea Free by the Great Flea Hunter.

The bigger babies will be staying another week. The new ones will be staying three weeks. Next Monday any of the bigger ones that aren’t going to become permanent residents will go back to the shelter, and the new guys will go in for their first shots. (Always a fun experience!)

I need to head on to bed. Busy day tomorrow. DS needs new clothes, so I have to go along and write a check, plus my nail appointment, and somewhere in there working on the newsletter. Plus comforting and playing with the new guys and with the bigger babies. Much to do for a Crazy Cat Lady!