Hey...we're still here!

The boys are wondering why they aren't getting any face time these days. "Who is this new little girl anyway and why is she taking our place on the blog?" So...before I leave for Toronto for 3 days I thought I'd best give the boys their 15 seconds of fame. In the first photo, Angel is stretched out on my leg, fast asleep. I'm guessing he wasn't as excited about The Event as we were. Then we catch Sebastian in a relaxed pose (at least for him, that is as relaxed as it gets). He has slipped into our room to stretch out on our bed, away from that annoying woofie. He knows the woofie is too short to jump onto the bed so he is safe. And to close the trio, Spike has put on his sweet and innocent face, belying that deliciously wicked streak he has.

And speaking of the V E T

Sadie is off to meet her new vet tomorrow - a checkup and probably a couple of shots (ouch!) She will really need the comfort of her new blanket after this. We put a warm grey blanket on the bed, folded in several parts to make a little "nest" for her. It looks like she has now added another favorite sleeping spot to her list - likely no time sharing here when the others find it. And speaking of that, once the vet visit is over and she is back home safe and sound, Angel will be her first official visitor. He has been the most persistent, waiting outside her door and meowing...looking for a chance to sneak into the room. We expect him to be a real gentleman when the door is finally opened and he can visit!

I am so NOT pleased!

Some very expressive photos of our friends' cat Romeo..as he heads off to the vet with his mom and dad. Not a happy cat...and you can see how he is hanging onto mom with that "please....don't let go of me" look. The first photo shows his true feelings about his visit to the vet.

She has a name!

Finally, our new little gal has her name. I have appreciated reading the suggestions since that helped us land on agreement on an S name…then we had to come to a consensus on the name itself. I used my veto on hubby’s “Snooky” and he used his veto on “Sera”…so that left us still searching for a name. I happened to mention that I remembered the Shmoo character in the Li’l Abner cartoons (yes, I know…many years ago!) and in discussion about the Sadie Hawkins Day that originated in the cartoon, we both looked at each other and said “that’s it!” I like the fact that there is a link to her original Shmoo name and even better – the connection with the history behind the real life Sadie Hawkins Day. An excerpt from the Li’L Abner .com site says that the Sadie Hawkins Day became a “woman empowering rite" at high schools and college campuses. Since Molly, Virginia, Domino and the lady cats at the Katnip Lounge are definitely the queens of their homes and keep their boys in line, I thought that “Sadie” was really appropriate!

The door opens a crack

Yes..there has been a lot of interest from the other side of the door. Angel's paw was poking under the door several times yesterday when I was in keeping the new girl company. Sebastian has been pacing outside and will sit right outside the door. Hubby was upstairs for a little cuddle time today and heard some meowing so he opened the door to find Sebastian on guard. Since our newbie can't hear the meowing but does have a good sense of smell, you can see her nose is right at the bottom of the door, checking out the other side.

She's coming out a bit further each day.....

Fast asleep..and no worries about a camera click waking her up! She has now decided that an old office chair tucked away in the corner of the room is a comfortable sleeping spot and she is most likely to be on the chair whenever we open the door. She has willingly come over to me several times and will drape the front part of her body on my lap, waiting to be petted. It is nice to hear the soft rumble of a purr in place of the early day growls and hisses!

Day 5..and we are still "discussing" her name. Snooks sounded like a good compromise .. since I have the same distaste for the associations that go along with Snooki (I told my husband that it didn't matter that he modified the spelling to Snooky because it still sounds the same!) But there is a good chance that hubby will "accidentally" call her Snooky if we keep it a similar name. I agree with Wendy that we need a distinct feminine name for her...I like the sound of Serephina and particularly like the continuation of the S names. Younger son is suggesting Buffy (since we have Angel and Spike) but she doesn't look like a Buffy. I guess that just means more visits with her until we can agree on a name!

Next steps

New little white gal has decided the tent is worth checking out and realized that the fleece pad inside is much more comfortable than the floor of the cat crate. We have been able to look at her more closely when she ventured outside the tent when we were in the room. She has a much shorter tail than the resident males and has short legs in comparison to the main body. This might be a disadvantage for her if she races against any of the boys in pursuit of treats or toys. Mind you, we haven't had a female cat in our house for over 15 years so perhaps we don't remember the physiology of the female cat!

At this stage, she seems a bit more confident in moving around and we are hearing less hissing and growling. My "cat whisperer" younger son actually coaxed a small purr out of her so this tells us we are heading in the right direction.

Still working on her name. Perhaps someone can mention to my hubby that Snooky really isn't a great name for a kitty ...or if he is lucky enough to get some support, maybe I'll have to change my mind!

The first glimpse

Here is one of the earliest photos. The new little girl had been settled in her room with all the necessities, including a cat tent with a fleece cat bed insert and a freshly made "human" bed with cosy flannelette sheets. The first hour she was huddled under the desk by her food looking out at us with her green eyes, emitting an occasional hiss and/or growl. My husband pointed out she had just lost her family with whom she had spent the last three years and the familiarity of their home so it was expected that she would probably feel lonely. We left her in peace for a while and then popped our heads in to see how she was doing. We found her curled up, fast asleep in the cat carrier that came with her. This was the only "smell" of home for her so hopefully was giving her some comfort.

She was named Schmoo (spelling?) by her previous family but there is a great debate here about a new name for her. We have three people weighing in and 3 different names so far. No sign of any agreement so it might be awhile before I can tag the posts with a proper label.

(And speaking of names, yes, Wendy......we might have to rethink the name of the blog!)

Looking for a cat tree...came back with a cat!

No photos yet...but here is the start of the story. I was looking through Kijiji for a cat tree last weekend. I do love the look of the Lotus cat tree recommended by Katnip Lounge..and have put that on my wish list for next year..but wanted something in the interim so Kijiji it was. I continued to click through the Pets section since sometimes ads are under the wrong heading..and happened on the cats looking for a new home. One ad drew my attention - a five year old white female cat who was deaf needed to be rehomed. I looked at the ad a couple of times that evening and then I called my hubby over to read it. I remember clearly when Spike came to us, how worried I was about being able to look after a deaf cat. Now, he is an integral part of our family and the deafness certainly was not a hurdle. So we thought perhaps there was room for one more kitty in our home. That same weekend our eldest son was moving 2 hours away to go to college so coincidentally we had a room available for the quarantine period. Hmmmm! More news to follow later on in the week.

The sleep of the contented

Angel loves to curl up in my hubby's computer chair and does not always wait until it is empty. Occasionally he is insistent that the chair is his, even if hubby is sitting in it and he will work his way into the small space at the back of the chair, pushing his paws against hubby's side until the chair is emptied!

Spike has been busy this long weekend

The little granddaughter was with us from Sunday through Monday, enjoying the long weekend with us (shopping, breakfast at McD's, dog walking, cat petting). She has one of those Jetson like strollers where the seat is raised high off the ground and it is a necessary item when we take her on long walks. In between it sits in our hallway awaiting the next outing. Spike decided to check out the stroller more closely and spent a good 10 minutes sniffing around the base. He then decided it was time to check out the comfort level and climbed onto the foot rest. We thought we had a good pose here so hubby quickly snapped the photo and headed to the computer to upload it. Of course, once hubby was out of sight along with the camera, Spike decided he would try and fit his slinky body into the seat. I turned back to see him stretched upright, head and body already underneath the grey handle you see behind him in this photo. From the big toes firmly planted on the foot rest to top of his head on his outstretched body, he managed to reach up past the top of the seat, ears brushing against the canopy. But as soon as I called hubby to come back with the camera, Spike must have thought it was time to make a quick exit, stage left!

The peaceful rest is ending quickly

Sebastian's new sleeping spot is about to be invaded. Spike, displaying his alpha cat tendencies, is getting ready to displace Sebastian. Even if Sebastian hisses, that will not deter Spike. He will simply step into the cat bed and his close proximity will be enough to send Sebastian off in search of another safe haven.

Aah...the irony!

Sebastian and the woofie still dislike each other and often I have to referee when they come too close to each other. When Sebastian comes into the dining room, particularly by this window, the woofie runs out to start barking at him. If I catch her before she gets into the dining room, she will sit on the floor at the entrance, head erect and eyes staring at Sebastian. So I am sure you can already guess that Sebastian is not a relaxed cat when he heads into the dining room. Imagine our surprise when we came home from shopping today and found him fast asleep in the cat bed which actually sits on top of the woofie's travel kennel. Well...he was fast asleep until he heard the camera coming out of its case and then he slowly stretched out his legs, looking up at us with those sleepy eyes!

He is blissfully asleep..and I am envious!

A busy week so far...several deadlines cascading together and never enough hours in the day (or evening for that matter) After seeing this photo of Spike sleeping peacefully on one of his favorite boxes I thought that would certainly be a nice way to end the week - although on a couch instead!