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Ten years ago, my beloved ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cheshcat and I were living in Arizona. Whilst we lived there, we had gotten into the habit of feeding the stay cats in the area, of which there were many. It started one evening, in July 2002, when a hungry kitty followed me home. We put out a dish of food for him... and, come the morning, it was gone. We repeated this nightly and, in time, our flat got a reputation amongst the local strays. We had several regular visitors; no matter how much food we left outside, by morning, all would be devoured. That Summer, we got to know the kitties that frequented our doorstep. The original was a sweet and petite grey tiger. There was also a black mommy cat who travelled with two of her kittens, one as black as she.
Ten years ago today, I was in Japan, getting ready to publish this paper. I received a phone call fromcheshcat; it was five in the afternoon for me and one in the morning for her. She had called to tell me that the black mommy cat had shown up at our door, as usual, but this time something was different. She was desperate to be let in, to come out of the desert heat. She also looked like she -- in cheshcat's words -- had "swallowed a basketball". Clearly, there were little kitties inside, getting ready to come out. We deliberated for some time; bringing in a stray could put our two kitties -- Foxy and Totoro -- in danger if she was carrying an infectious disease like feline leukemia. On the other hand, if she gave birth outside, not all her babies would survive the heat. Finally, we decided to take her in, segregate her in the second bathroom for the night, and get her to a shelter in the morning.
Ten years ago today, I received a second phone call fromcheshcat; I was getting ready for bed as it was one o'clock in the morning for me. I was surprised that she had called and asked her: "It is nine am there; why aren't you in class right now?" The answer was simple -- the babies had started to come out!
That's right, dear friends, ten years ago today, we went -- literally overnight -- from being a two cat household to a seven cat household. The black mommy cat had given birth to four kittens. All were fully black, same as she, leading us to suspect that her all-black kitten from a previous litter was the most likely father.
Twas our intent to keep the mother and find homes for all four kittens, once they were old enough to be separated from mom. We had great fun with a house full of kittens... but plans changed. We interviewed several people who wanted to adopt a kitten; none of them seemed like they would provide a suitable home. All too many people want a kitten when it is young and cute, not realising that adopting a cat is a lifelong commitment that can last two decades.
Five months later, we flew the black mommy cat -- who we had since named "Rocks" -- to New York, where she was adopted by the ever-awesomems_redcat. The four kittens? We kept them all.
Ten years have passed since the day that my babies were born. For the first four years, all four kitties lived under the same roof, as a family, never spending a day apart. In 2006, we moved The Boy to England, along with Foxy and Totoro. He is sitting in the next room right now, as I type this. His three sisters -- Stumpy, Chirp, and Nona -- remained at the Event Horizon, my US home, withgyades. In 2007, we gave away one of the "kittens", Nona, to a friend; we didn't want to let her go, but Nona had chosen who her favourite person was and it seemed cruel to keep them apart. This Autumn, after we empty the Event Horizon, Stumpy and Chirp will follow in their brother's footsteps, flying to England and joining him (and Giles) here at Chiron Beta Prime.
Meanwhile, what would be the point of a post about kitties if there were no pictures to go with it? So, gentle readers, for your viewing pleasure, I now present birthday pictures and baby pictures for The Boy (and sisters). Enjoy!
THEN: The Boy (front), Chirp (back) and either Stumpy or Nona (center) at eleven weeks, sprawled on the sofa in our Arizona apartment.
NOW: The Boy and I today, celebrating his birthday on the cat tree in our Oxford flat.
THEN: Close up on The Boy -- look at that face!
NOW: Same face, nearly ten years later.
THEN: Nomad, aged twenty-seven, holds one of the baby girls for the camera.
NOW: Nomad, aged thirty-seven, holds The Boy for the camera.
So a very Happy Birthday to all four of my furry babies! It has been a delight to have these kitties for the past ten years. Very much looking forward to having them with us -- happy and healthy -- for another decade!
[*] Um, for somewhat large values of "two".
cheshcat and I were living in Arizona. Whilst we lived there, we had gotten into the habit of feeding the stay cats in the area, of which there were many. It started one evening, in July 2002, when a hungry kitty followed me home. We put out a dish of food for him... and, come the morning, it was gone. We repeated this nightly and, in time, our flat got a reputation amongst the local strays. We had several regular visitors; no matter how much food we left outside, by morning, all would be devoured. That Summer, we got to know the kitties that frequented our doorstep. The original was a sweet and petite grey tiger. There was also a black mommy cat who travelled with two of her kittens, one as black as she.Ten years ago today, I was in Japan, getting ready to publish this paper. I received a phone call from
cheshcat; it was five in the afternoon for me and one in the morning for her. She had called to tell me that the black mommy cat had shown up at our door, as usual, but this time something was different. She was desperate to be let in, to come out of the desert heat. She also looked like she -- in cheshcat's words -- had "swallowed a basketball". Clearly, there were little kitties inside, getting ready to come out. We deliberated for some time; bringing in a stray could put our two kitties -- Foxy and Totoro -- in danger if she was carrying an infectious disease like feline leukemia. On the other hand, if she gave birth outside, not all her babies would survive the heat. Finally, we decided to take her in, segregate her in the second bathroom for the night, and get her to a shelter in the morning.Ten years ago today, I received a second phone call from
cheshcat; I was getting ready for bed as it was one o'clock in the morning for me. I was surprised that she had called and asked her: "It is nine am there; why aren't you in class right now?" The answer was simple -- the babies had started to come out!That's right, dear friends, ten years ago today, we went -- literally overnight -- from being a two cat household to a seven cat household. The black mommy cat had given birth to four kittens. All were fully black, same as she, leading us to suspect that her all-black kitten from a previous litter was the most likely father.
Twas our intent to keep the mother and find homes for all four kittens, once they were old enough to be separated from mom. We had great fun with a house full of kittens... but plans changed. We interviewed several people who wanted to adopt a kitten; none of them seemed like they would provide a suitable home. All too many people want a kitten when it is young and cute, not realising that adopting a cat is a lifelong commitment that can last two decades.
Five months later, we flew the black mommy cat -- who we had since named "Rocks" -- to New York, where she was adopted by the ever-awesome
ms_redcat. The four kittens? We kept them all.Ten years have passed since the day that my babies were born. For the first four years, all four kitties lived under the same roof, as a family, never spending a day apart. In 2006, we moved The Boy to England, along with Foxy and Totoro. He is sitting in the next room right now, as I type this. His three sisters -- Stumpy, Chirp, and Nona -- remained at the Event Horizon, my US home, with
gyades. In 2007, we gave away one of the "kittens", Nona, to a friend; we didn't want to let her go, but Nona had chosen who her favourite person was and it seemed cruel to keep them apart. This Autumn, after we empty the Event Horizon, Stumpy and Chirp will follow in their brother's footsteps, flying to England and joining him (and Giles) here at Chiron Beta Prime.Meanwhile, what would be the point of a post about kitties if there were no pictures to go with it? So, gentle readers, for your viewing pleasure, I now present birthday pictures and baby pictures for The Boy (and sisters). Enjoy!
NOW: The Boy and I today, celebrating his birthday on the cat tree in our Oxford flat.
THEN: Close up on The Boy -- look at that face!
NOW: Same face, nearly ten years later.
THEN: Nomad, aged twenty-seven, holds one of the baby girls for the camera.
NOW: Nomad, aged thirty-seven, holds The Boy for the camera.
So a very Happy Birthday to all four of my furry babies! It has been a delight to have these kitties for the past ten years. Very much looking forward to having them with us -- happy and healthy -- for another decade!
[*] Um, for somewhat large values of "two".
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