Welcome Baby "X"

As you will recall, our Baby Kitty (also known as Baby Kitty #1) (I've added a photo of her to the post below, "Just a Cat?") met an untimely end in May. We were devastated. However, life goes on, and we decided we needed a kitten in the house, to pep up Special Needs Kitty (who's 10 years old) (and who was the star of a previous post), and to perk us up. So, we've been looking. We looked on craigslist, we went to adoption fairs at the local pet store, we went to the humane society. After much searching, on Sunday, we went to the local adoption satellite location for the humane society. We figured it is now "kitten season" (I had no idea such a thing existed) so there was a good chance that there would be a good selection available.

We walked into the "cat room", and there was a cage (a large one) with one little, VERY noisy, black kitten. It was hanging on the side of the cage (kind of like Spidey), crying piteously. There was another kitten, in another cage, which intrigued me more, but that one wasn't too engaged. When the black one was let out, and I picked her up, she nuzzled me, cuddled me, and started purring, LOUDLY... (We were told that she had just lost her littermates, so she was a bit "needy"...) I had never even considered adopting a black kitten, and no I don't know why. But I never had. I don't have anything against black cats or black kittens, but it just wasn't something that occurred to me. But, there I was, with the cutest, blackest, noisiest kitten in my lap. My husband also held the kitten, and we both agreed that this was a suitable feline for our family.

So, fast forward about half an hour, and we're walking out of the store, with little "Kia" (the name on her adoption papers) in the cat carrier, howling at the top of her lungs. She's about as big as a minute, but the NOISE is incredible! My husband went to get the car, carrying the cat, and I swear I heard her across this huge parking lot!

We got her home, put the carrier on the floor, and let her out. She was freaked out! Luckily, we have (another ) huge pile of cartons/boxes on the floor in the living room, providing a wonderful "cat condo" for her to hide in/around/behind. She cried and cried and cried, so we ended up holding her for a couple of hours... The older cat came upstairs, saw this little interloper, and booked out of the house faster than I've seen her move in weeks! In other words, totally normal.

We've made it through two nights, with minimal crying. Baby Kitty #2 has learned to leap up/climb up onto the sofa, the cocktail table, the bed, and anything else she can get on. She found the catnip-filled "mousie" that I had bought for Baby Kitty #1, and is hunting it successfully. She flings it around, plays with it, and comes over and drops it at my feet. I then throw it across the the room, and we do this for hours. Until kitten collapses. She tries to crawl into our cereal bowls, bites our shoelaces, walks across our laptops' keyboards, and falls asleep on our laps.

We still don't have a name for her. Nothing has really occurred to us... yet... Frankly, she has the cutest little face, just like a bat. I can't call her "Dracula", probably; however, what about "Bram"? (as in Bram Stoker) My spouse thinks "Boston" is a good name. Don't ask. This is really his kitten, and I think she's identified him as "her" human. Fine with me. I'm not feeling the instant chemistry that I felt with Baby Kitty #1 -- I don't know that I'll ever feel that again... But, she's cute and she's a kitten who wants, needs and deserves a loving home, and we'll provide that.

Ya gotta love it.