We weren’t going to adopt another cat.
You know we are in trouble when my post starts off “We weren’t going to adopt another…”. And once again, it’s Irene who wedged the chisel into the cracks in my steely resolve. There were feral (semi-wild) kittens, you see, at the rescue shelter where she volunteers. And one of them was very scared, and curled up and buried his head in her sweater and purred when she was there. And it was very sad, and very cute, and couldn’t she please bring her home?
This went on for a day or so, and of course I finally relented. Irene promised the kitten would go to the vet, and there she’d confirm that it was a female kitten since that’s what Irene wanted- another girl to round out our now male-dominated family. Guess what? The kitten is a boy. But by that point, it was apparent that gender is not a good enough reason to reject a kitten that needs a home.
He was very, very terrified when we first got him. He basically was playing possum every time a human picked him up: going limp, trying to hide his face, and purring not out of comfort but out of fear. He didn’t play or do any of the kitten things you’d expect: he basically just hid.
That’s changed quite a bit in two weeks. He’s still quite nervous, but he will play with all the cute energy you’d expect a kitten to have. And if you play with him with a cat toy, he’ll let you pet him, and will purr out of happiness. And if you lie very still, he’ll come out and lay down next to you. Great progress for a kitten that met his first human just a handful of weeks ago when his Mom was torn out of his life.
We haven’t settled on a name yet, although “Nimbus” (Nim, also “nim nim”) is currently the favorite. This came from us deciding he looked cloudy: he’s a part-siamese, part grey tabby fellow, with tabby and grey points. I also thought he reminded me of a certain type of Leopard, but I see now that I have the type mixed up. I was thinking he looked like a cloud leopard, but he really looks more like a snow leopard.
