Tag: Anabel

Posted on

Welcome Home Kittens!

My kittens, Anabel and Sally, were so little when I brought them home.  Would you look at those baby blue eyes!

Anabel and Sally, 7 weeks

They were still wobbly on their feet and getting over the side of the kitten-sized litter box was a big leap.

I would sit on the floor and play with them.  They could just barely jump up on my legs, usually not without claws and climbing. Eventually (after 10 minutes) they would get tired and snuggle in for a nap.  When was the last time that you sat cross-legged on the floor for more than 5 minutes?  The kitten needle claws were nothing compared to what my hips and back had to say about sitting on the floor so much. Ouch!

I was nervous when I took them to the vet that first week. And he was a little stern with me about having such teeny kittens.  You normally would never take kitten from their mother at seven weeks.  But they were orphans.  The kitten foster lady who had rescued their whole litter (there were seven of them!) did an amazing job at not just keeping them alive but socializing them to be friendly and sweet. She could see that crazy cat lady twinkle in my eyes and knew that I would take good care of them (it probably didn’t hurt that my friend runs the rescue organization that helps her find homes for all of the kittens that she does such a good job of raising).

They were both just barely around 1.5 pounds at that first vet visit, no wonder they seemed to teeny!

Sally and Anabel, 8 weeks

I am so happy that I got litter-mates and I feel so lucky that they were so well socialized.  They have been friendly and sweet and tolerant from day one.  I sure feel some pressure to make sure that they stay that way (so far so good!).

Posted on

Welcome to Kitten Tuesdays!

This past June, I brought home two new seven-week-old baby kittens, a brother and sister. Within the previous ten months my husband, Mr. Man, and I had to put down our two beloved cats, Clementine (15 years) and Emma (18 years) and  Mr. Man was VERY against the idea of any more pets.  But have you ever heard that saying that a cat is the soul of the home?

Anabel, 7 weeks old

I’ve been crazy about cats ever since I was a little girl. We didn’t have any animals when I was little, little, but my aunt had this wonderful, big, black tom cat named Sebastian. Now, Sebastian was not interested in me in the least, but I sure thought he was wonderful and would do whatever I could to get my hands on him. Of course I had those cute kitten posters all over my walls. And the year that Santa brought me the my dream bicycle (banana seat and the basket with the plastic daisies on it) the only thing that I needed to make my life complete was a kitten to put in the basket. On my eleventh birthday, this beautiful little brown tabby kitten walked in our front door. And that is how you know that dreams come true. Even my dad couldn’t deny me this treasure. Tailer (we named him for his happy tail) was a friendly guy who was a wonderful addition to our family.

My adult life as a crazy cat lady is a testament to the power of suggestion.

I hadn’t really been thinking about cats or pets and then one night, out of nowhere, Mr. Man busts out with, “you know, you really need a cat.” I do? Hmmm…you know what, I think he’s right! I DO need a cat!  And we got Emma.  From the moment that she came into our lives, I have been obsessed.

I’ll tell you all about Emma and Clementine another day.

Sally, 7 weeks

Long story short: I was daydreaming. I told my dear friend who does animal rescue all about the kittens that I had imagined and then waited. Around mid-June she started sending me photos.  And there was the kitten that I had imagined who I was going to name Anabel!  Now the other kitten needed to be an all brown tabby (the best flavor of kitty).  Anabel just so happened to have a brother who was brown tabby.  “No boy cats!” said Mr. Man, also, “I get to name the other cat.”  My friend said there were options, so I went to meet the kittens.  Anabel was just adorable.  And so was her brother. He was the sweetest, little love bug. And they loved each other. And I brought them both home.

Mr. Man was mad about the boy kitten for about .1 of a second (because who can be mad about a sweet baby kitten).  The only problem was the name that he had picked out: Sally. Fortunately, Mr. Man remembered a scene from The Godfather, where Robert Duvall says to Abe Vigoda, “can’t do it Sally.” So our little Sally’s full name is Salvatore Tessio (even though he’s growing up to be more of a Clemenza if you ask me).

Every day these kittens do something new and delightful and I’m sure that the world will be a better place if I tell you all about it.  The good news is that I will only torture you with the kitten report on Tuesdays and I will endeavor to stick to a 500 word count (roughly).