Cute kitten, right?
I try to have a point to these posts and columns, but can today's be simply that? A kitten that is cute. Do we really need more?
Perhaps. There could be more. Cats are certainly having a good week. The first new cat species identified in more than a century, leopardus tilcayo — or the tilcayo tiger cat — was discovered in the Bolivian cloud forest.
Admit it — just reading "cloud forest" gave you a certain thrill, did it not? Our reward for pushing for something beyond "cute kitten." The very cute kitten above was one of five kittens crawling around a tractor at a farm I was visiting Friday. My first thought was to simply put out my hand and say, "I'll take this one," as my wife and I are currently catless, a condition underlined by minding, for the past month, Casper and Boo, the pair of troublemakers that belong to a certain peripatetic lad, his equally peripatetic wife and their surprisingly-peripatetic-for-a-4-month-old child (peripatetic adj. traveling from place to place).
But nobody offered me the kitten and though rich in chutzpah, I'm not forward enough to ask, remembering the demands of caring for kittens, which might involved eyedroppers and expensive vet visits and general household disruption. Plus she (or he) might not be weaned. Plus I don't think we're ready for one, the departure of Natasha still being too fresh. My wife says she's just not ready for a new cat. And I'm trying to make my life easier any way I can, not more complex.
There was a moment when all five kittens and their mom were gathered in one spot, but I was slow on whipping out my phone for a shot and they scattered. Just as well. The concentrated cuteness might be overwhelming.
I try to have a point to these posts and columns, but can today's be simply that? A kitten that is cute. Do we really need more?
Perhaps. There could be more. Cats are certainly having a good week. The first new cat species identified in more than a century, leopardus tilcayo — or the tilcayo tiger cat — was discovered in the Bolivian cloud forest.
Admit it — just reading "cloud forest" gave you a certain thrill, did it not? Our reward for pushing for something beyond "cute kitten." The very cute kitten above was one of five kittens crawling around a tractor at a farm I was visiting Friday. My first thought was to simply put out my hand and say, "I'll take this one," as my wife and I are currently catless, a condition underlined by minding, for the past month, Casper and Boo, the pair of troublemakers that belong to a certain peripatetic lad, his equally peripatetic wife and their surprisingly-peripatetic-for-a-4-month-old child (peripatetic adj. traveling from place to place).
But nobody offered me the kitten and though rich in chutzpah, I'm not forward enough to ask, remembering the demands of caring for kittens, which might involved eyedroppers and expensive vet visits and general household disruption. Plus she (or he) might not be weaned. Plus I don't think we're ready for one, the departure of Natasha still being too fresh. My wife says she's just not ready for a new cat. And I'm trying to make my life easier any way I can, not more complex.
There was a moment when all five kittens and their mom were gathered in one spot, but I was slow on whipping out my phone for a shot and they scattered. Just as well. The concentrated cuteness might be overwhelming.
Oh, there is more. That cute kitten is a farm cat, and already has a job as an exterminator. I suspect that the reason the kitten wasn't offered is the fact that it's a valuable member of the team.
ReplyDeleteProbably a he, not a she. Four out of five orange tabbies are males. It's a genetic thing. Tortoiseshells are almost always female, and calicos...Cindy explained it to me, but I don't remember. Our first tortie, Mazel Tuff Cocktail, lived with us for twenty years.
ReplyDeleteOnyx, 15, all-black with a white heart on her underside, crossed the bridge at the end of last summer. Leaving us with only Gingee, a quiet tortoiseshell of indeterminate age. She has now been alone for a year. She is probably bored...she just sprawled on the floor all summer long, when not nudging and bumping us with her head, or lying next to one of us.
After Onyx, we weren't ready for another feline. Best way to introduce them is on both sides of a screen door. We kept putting it off. Then it got too cold. Winter came and went. Spring meant we could open the door again. Still no kitty. Too chilly.
This summer we got very busy. Not the best time for a new cat. Now autumn is closing in. The door stays closed a lot more. And Gingee has been alone for over a year. I keep telling her she'll have a companion soon. But soon it will be winter again.
There are plenty of cats around. Too many. Most of the available ones are not suitable. Simply put...they would outlive us, because they're too young and we're too old. And they would inevitably need rehoming as seniors, who are always the last ones adopted.
We need an older cat who likes to socialize with humans and other felines, and who doesn't have serious health issues. But we've been just too busy, distracted, and tired to look for one.
Meanwhile, Gingee soldiers on, alone.
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