Naming Day

This batch is hard because they were totally uninterested in being named (well at least until Max had a name anyway) so I wasn't quite sure what to do.

As I mentioned last week I was thinking of going with Elie, Wiesel, and Night and then figuring out some of his family members for two more girl names, but then Max was named Max, and that seemed to be out.

I thought I might find other famous Maxes, like Max Headroom, but there weren't good girl names among that set of names. Then I thought of Miracle Max from The Princess Bride, but I already had a Buttercup and her daughter Wesley (which was so stretching it) and there weren't good girl names in that set. I thought of the Doctor Who Christmas Episode Voyage of the Damned, which I really liked, but again, lack of female characters. I was going to use Foon which I thought would be a good name Astrid is the other female in that episode, so I was going to use her real life name of Kylie and name the other boy Bannakaffalatta, which made me laugh at the idea, but it did kind of break my "if I can't spell it I'm not using it" rule.  I could learn, it's not that hard, but I knew the shelter would have a fit trying to figure it out.

So I took another look at your suggestions from post where I asked for suggested and ended up making a decision.

I would like to I introduce you to:

Max (boy)

Roman ( boy) 

Elie (girl missing foot)

Rose (girl, lighter color with reddish tinge to face)

Corrie (sandy colored female)

They are doing well. We had another bout of diarrhea at the end of last week so I took in another stool sample and they found some round work and so we dewormed them again (knock wood* and so far *knocks again* everything looks good.

The boys are basically over being feral. If you go too fast or do something weird they run, but for the most part they are out and about. Elie tends to hang out with them so she is generally in the midst and is available for patting, as long as she doesn't see your hand coming right at her.  I think her not having all four feet makes her feel more vulnerable and she's just going to take some time to realize that she is safe and she doesn't need to be on edge.

The sand colored girls were the hold outs. They told me in no uncertain terms that I was evil, and my grabby hands need to stay to themselves thankyouverymuch, and to just leave them be.  Well that's not how it works over here at Casa de Gato.  That kind of attitude means you get held more and hisses mean kisses.

Once I gave Corrie her name, things seemed to shift. She came over and sat near me all on her own. She saw the boys getting patted and purring and enjoying the attention and she mewed. I took this to mean she wanted attention, and attempted to give it to her, but my hand moving towards her freaked her out. I waited. She came back and watched the boys for another few moments and then she mewed again. I let her think about it for a minute, and then I went to pat her from the side... success. A few minutes later when I was recording her sister being silly with a piece of paper she climbed up into my lap all on her own and let me pat her.

Where Corrie goes, Rose goes (and where Rose goes Corrie goes) so Rose gave it some serious consideration. She is far less likely to step over that line on her own, but if I pick her up to give her attention she is accepting of it (for the most part)   Hopefully in the next few days things will change again and she'll have forgotten all about why she was scared of me.

How to make belled ball cat toys even more interesting

I am not a fan of belled ball cat toys, as they make a lot of noise, and they end up in a corner and are no longer considered a toy until I 'rescue' it.  A while back I put a few pipe cleaners on one which causes it to not roll as fast, so the toy doesn't make as much noise, and it takes a lot longer for it to end up 'out of bounds'

Someday my prince will come.. back..

I had such a chuckle over yesterday's post because I already knew that this little kitten's prince would come.. as he had already come to visit..

My husband had a discussion with a man he works with and it somehow got around to cats (not the first time*.. and I must say I am mighty proud of my husband) and it turned out this man was looking for a new kitty. He already has one and was thinking a companion would be nice.

Sadly he wasn't ready to adopt when the Ready Player One Kittens were available, but where as we always have kittens at Casa de Gato (or at least we always have in the past) I knew we could find him a kitty.  He wanted to come down last weekend. I was a little sad at that as I hadn't gotten all of the kittens to come around and I knew they would make a poor showing, but I also knew that it would be very good for them to meet new people, so we agreed on a time and he stopped by.  Fortunately for him, he was looking for a male kitty; both of the boys are much more social than the girls, so I hoped things would go well.

The little black kitten sold himself pretty hard.  They played together and he let himself be patted.

But by the time the visit was over, a decision had not been made..

Camouflage level expert. (if they can't see us they can't touch us)

all this avoiding is exhausting

I received word a few days later that a decision had been made, and he was going to take the little black kitten. I suggested that a name be given since they didn't have them yet, and so our little boy is going to be "Max".  I have left the door open for him to come and visit again as well as the possibility of any mind changing.  If he falls in love with someone else, that is completely okay.  Adoption day is pretty far away at this point (well it is all relative.. it will be here before we know it)

Now.. four more names to come up with. I was thinking one of the girls is going to be Elie.  I was originally thinking I could name one Elie and one Wiesel, but that is a mouthful of a name to bestow upon a kitten. I wanted to call the little black one Night.. but that's out the window too.  so, I'm back to the drawing board.

Suggestions?




*my husband recently had a discussion with a co-worker about his cats peeing inappropriately. They talked about it and it was revealed that the one doing it was the newcomer to the house (family member died and they took in the kitty) more discussion and it came about the new kitty was peeing by one window in particular.. DH asked if there might be a neighborhood cat out there and turns out it was. The new cat, secure in the house and okay with the household cats, was unsure of the interloper and what her roll was in the household with this one outside, so she was putting up an "I live here" barrier. Now the owners better understood what was going on and was able to help the cat feel more secure in her new home.

Wordless Wednesday - Someday my prince will come

Catching up with the kittens

boy

boy

girl

girl

girl

The kittens are doing well. With the diagnosis of coccidia last week and the proper medication given, things started to get better - well at least physically. They were pooping so much because of the coccidia that it was nearly overwhelming not only for them but for myself. They were filling five litter boxes daily as well as finding places to go on the floor and on the futon.  I finally gave up and removed the futon from the room.

They are starting to fill out and feel like they are of a healthy weight. I have yet to weigh them because I fear that would be too foreign and I don't want to freak them out too much.

The removal of the futon makes it a bit easier to put my hands on the kittens, which makes taming them a bit easier. I need to make sure they don't run from me when I go to pick them up and make the transition as easy as possible from floor to being held. It is slow going, but there has been some progress.

They had a visitor this weekend. Someone who is thinking of adopting. The visit didn't go nearly as well as I would have liked, but far better than I could have hoped. The black kitty is so over being feral that he enjoyed having company.  His brother was questioning and the girl with the missing foot was willing to play, but their lighter colored sisters were only willing to sit there and watch what was going on. But the fact that they were out and willing to watch was huge!

I am hoping that next week's update I'll be telling you about how they are climbing all over me.. *knock wood*