Sunday, May 11, 2008

Yesterday Was Caturday!

I'll start with the sad news. I told you a while back that Ollie had been diagnosed with diabetes and probably some other stuff it wasn't worth testing for since whatever it was it wasn't going to be something treatable. Well, for a while, we had the diabetes stabilized and he was back to eating on his own. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks ago, he stopped eating again and the vet said his kidneys were failing, so we had to let him go.

Ollie was a terrific little man for 13 years and we miss him. Witness Oliver in all of his grand regalness.


We weren't the only ones who were sad about Ollie's absence. Widget spent a lot of time roaming the house trying to figure out where Ollie was hiding. She was visibly unhappy.



So, yesterday, we went to the ASPCA in Manhattan and adopted new friends/toys/siblings/niece & nephew for Widget.

I now present the new kitties!

First, meet Lulu. This was an interesting case, since usually you go to the shelter looking for a kitten you like and then think of a name. GF absolutely knew that we were going there with the intention of adopting Lulu. It was just a matter of finding the kitten who was utterly full of Lulu-ness. The shelter thought this kitty's name was Kristen. They were wrong. This kitty is Lulu if ever there was a Lulu.



The second kitty was more difficult. At first, I picked a really lively kitty the shelter thought was named Pearl. There was added confusion because the cage had paperwork for two cats even though there was only one cat in the cage. And the collar said the kitty's name was Pearl even though the paperwork said the cage contained Clapton and Darlin'. Lo & behold, I have no idea where Clapton and Darlin' were, but it turned out that some little deaf kid already had dibs on Pearl. Stupid little deaf kids!

So I went back upstairs to look at who else was still looking for a family and I met this kitty. I'm gonna let you guys suggest names for this little man. I'll give you some helpful information about him. 1. The shelter thinks his name is Marvin. He does have some distinct Marvin-ness about him and they might be right. 2. GF thinks he's a Milo. 3. He purrs like a freight train. 4. When you adopt one kitten, they charge you $125. When you adopt a 2nd one, you only pay $25 more, so I thought about naming him D.C. (for Discount Cat). 5. Lastly, his paperwork says he's been neutered, but I'm pretty sure I detect two teeny-tiny pom-poms still riding his nether region. Anyway, suggest away. I'm not sure I'll use any of your suggestions, but I'd like to hear 'em. Update: Petey and Otis have been thrown into the hat for consideration.






Before I close, a couple more things you should know. It's not really clear from the pictures, but these little guys are tiny. They're each about 8 weeks old (from different litters) and fit comfortably in the palm of one hand. Also, I wish the pictures were crisper, but the only time they're even remotely still is when their eyes are scrunched tight and they're curled in little sleeping balls. I wanted pics with their eyes open, so you get slightly blurry, cat-not-quite-still pictures.

Oh, and how does Widget feel about all of this. Oddly enough, she's as unhappy about new furry intruders as she was about not being able to find Ollie.


She'll get over it.

20 comments:

vince said...

First, condolences on loosing Ollie. It's not easy when you lose a beloved pet.

Second, congrats on the new kittiens. They're quite cute, and I'm sure Widget will accept them over time. But his unhappiness is undertsandable. His companion is suddenly gone, and immediately there are two new beings in his space.

vince said...

Oh, and I like DC as a name.

Random Michelle K said...

I'm very sorry about your loss of Ollie.

I hope you did something nice for yourself in return.

New kittens?

CUTE! CUTE! CUTE!

Also? Better you than me! Kittens have very sharp little teeth and very small but razor sharp claws.

Also? Widget may lose some weight with the addition of these new aliens into the home. Either from chasing them around, or running away from them.

Naming is a task at which a tend to fail abysmal.

I can suggest the method my uncle used for naming their second cat (their first cat was called Wooden Man) he got some wooden letter blocks, let my cousin kick the blocks over, and picked a name from the blocks. Thus, Jif.

Tania said...

I'm sorry about Ollie's passing. Hugs to you and the GF and Widget.

New kitties! You lucky man.

I think the new one looks like Christopher Walken. Maybe "Con" for "The Continental"?

Nathan said...

I'll thank you for not comparing my adorable little new kitten to any more scary actors.

neurondoc said...

Condolences on Ollie's passing. We went through that a few years ago, and it was hard.

My name suggestion is Bezoar (pronounced Bee-zore), which is the medical term for hairball. Perhaps appropriate, eh? Or there's always Chucky -- scary, but not an actor...

Random Michelle K said...

Actually, New Cat does kind of look a bit like Wooden Man. A very very small, fluffy, clean version of Wooden Man, who was an outdoor farm cat.

Random Michelle K said...

Also, don't be afraid to give it some time.

It took us a couple years to discover that one of the large primary cats name's was "SIR".

Nathan said...

We've been referring to them as Lulu and No-Name Cat. That can't go on for long.

vince said...

I've been through the desert with a cat with no name...

Random Michelle K said...

How about:

Fur Face
Fuzz Butt
Dreamsicle, the Orange and Vanilla Cat who Is Not an Ice Cream Treat But Is Just as Soft if Not as Tasty.

Just imagine the vet writing THAT on all the forms.

Tom said...

Con-cat-ulations!

Sorry to hear about Ollie.

How about Lulu and Nono (from No-Nome Cat)? I like both Marvin and Milo. Scrunch them together for Marvo. He does look marvolous.

And you are safe from the Internet police once again!

MWT said...

Poor Ollie. :(

Yay new kittens. :) I knew a cat named "Deece" once, which was shortened from "D.C." which was short for "Damned Cat." Not that I'm good with names, but Otis looks like it fits that cat the best out of the ones suggested so far.

Chris said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Chris said...

Nathan, I'm so sorry about your lost kitty. We lost our first cat back in 2006, and the other cats could not understand where she was. They roamed around the house looking for her, and when they couldn't find her, they'd look up at us and say "Meow?" It was really sad.

On a lighter note, Widget will adjust, he just needs a little time. A lot of people recommend quarantining a new cat so the other can get used to him; but two lively kittens might not take to kindly to being locked up!

Jim Wright said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jim Wright said...

Nathan, it makes absolutely no difference what you call them, they don't answer to any except the voices in their fuzzy little heads.

No Name Cat? Perfect.

And I say this with the full endorsement of the "The Fat One" who is sitting in my lap at the moment and "helping" me type. "The White One" is curled up in a hairy ball on the back of the sunroom couch and is feigning disinterest.

(deleted and reposted because I haven't had enough coffee and well, I needed to fix something)

Unknown said...

I'm sorry about Ollie. He looked like a great companion. I had let my cat Elliott go awhile back and it's one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.

The new kitties are cute! I've got a prima donna cat, and am sure she'll freak if I introduce another one.

Good luck with yours!

Nathan said...

Widget has spent two and a half days avoiding the little monsters and hissing when they got too close. Her protests are losing vigor and I expect them to be riding her around the house within the next day or so.

Anne C. said...

Cat-dolences (doesn't work as well as Tom's) on Ollie's departure. He looked like a great guy.

The little ones (as I can see from future posts) are a handful, but it's good to get two! I got two brothers (they were 1 at the time, so not so tiny) so they know each other well. I sometimes wonder what will happen when one of them dies. They're 5 now, so I do have plenty of time (I HOPE!) to enjoy thier hijinks.

Here's to many years of hijinks with your kitties!