home is where the cat is

[aryanhwy]

Which means, for all its positives, Durham hasn't really been home for the last six months, at least, not my home. Widget is so very much Joel's cat that even when he cuddles up with me or sits on my lap, I can tell I'm second best. It's been hard. I miss having a cat to cuddle with, and in particular, I miss having a cat to cuddle up with while Widget is sitting on Joel's lap.

But there was always one reason or another that we couldn't go out to the nearby shelters -- all good reasons, but they eventually all disappeared about two weeks ago and I gave Joel an ultimatum: I knew we had a bunch of other things we had to do that weekend, but I didn't care, we were going out and picking out our cats.

Yes, cats. Because I was selfish enough to want a cat that would be mine, but generous to know how important it was to me to grow up with a cat that was mine to know I wanted to get one for Gwen. Besides, three cats, three people, this seems eminently sane. And I figured we could get a bonded pair -- siblings, or a mother and child, or even just a pair that had lived together for a long time.

There are two shelters nearby, and one had advertised on their website a lovely pair, including one grey and white cat with a little grey nose. So we went there first, only to find the grey one had been spoken for the day before. But we looked around anyway, and in the cages for the cats that had been surrendered (voluntarily or not) that day was a sweet little male tabby, in the class black and brown tabby pattern that screams CAT to me (because that was what the first cat I grew up with was like). He had a pretty badly injured leg, so the lady took him out of the cage but then held him rather than passing him around. Despite the fact that he was clearly unhappy and in pain, he seemed very affectionate, rubbing up against her chin and always seeking out her hand for pettings.

The other shelter had quite a few more cats, including some youngish (~6 month) ones; we knew we didn't want kittens, but young cats are fun! But we wandered around and none of them really stuck out, until Joel drew me over to a quiet little female who was simply sitting in her box, a white and calico who had arrived a few weeks earlier due to the death of her owner. The lady opened the door to her cage and I stuck my hand in, and immediately she started rubbing against it, so soft, so sweet, and the next time our friend Thomas (who was our ride) looked over, he was like "yup, that's your cat." (He should know. He came merely as our chauffeur, and ended up leaving with a deposit on Figaro, an excellent little black fellow who has proved to be very much his cat.) We left with earnest money down on her, and the next morning I called back the first shelter and said we wanted the stripey one.

There was various paperwork to do, a home visit, plus waiting for the stripey one to be neutered and have his legged checked out (puncture wound that went in one side and out the other; they think it was a dog), but last Monday (first day of Easter break), I went out to fetch him. Gwen was given full rights to his name, so she declared he was Goldie (after Goldie the Fish in Peppa Pig). I decided that since he will hopefully be her friend for the rest of his life, that a good formal name would be Goldwine (from OE wine, OG wini 'friend').

So, introducing Goldwine, who clearly knows what a good situation he's landed in:





We had our home visit from the other shelter Thursday night, and thus went out Saturday to fetch my kitty home. She is an adorable fluffy sweetheart who purrs and purrs and loves being petted, but has so far spent most of her time under the dresser, so I have one photo from when I first picked her out,, and one from a brief foray onto the bed:




Note her lovely heraldic nose, Per pale argent and Or. She's currently rejoicing in the temporary name of "Nucat" (her originally appellation of Tinkerbell is not right), but I'm sure we'll figure out her real name soon.

Suddenly, the house we're renting has become a home. It feels comfortably full.

Comments

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

They look lovely. When we got Mysko I wanted a grey striped one and Rickard wanted a white and blac one, but the kitten that my ex's brother had was ginger and now we of course think that that is the perfect colour for a cat.

/eva

[(Anonymous)]

I absolutely love it that you've gotten cats! And how nice that Gwen has her own as well.
Congratulations!
Mina

[aryanhwy.livejournal.com]

My own kitty, Slinky, developed an aggressive cancer last August (she was ~15), and had to be put to sleep. I've been waiting (less and less patiently) to bring home a new sweetheart since.

[aryanhwy.livejournal.com]

Widget is ginger because I'd always wanted a ginger cat. :) Ostensibly it was Joel's turn to choose, but he'd never owned a cat before, never had had to pick, so I made sure to tell him he wanted to choose a ginger cat. :)

I've never had a calico, so that's new for me!

Gwen had been asking for a "silver kitty", which tugged at my heart strings because Slinky was grey, and I picked her out because of the dearly beloved cat I had in high school, Greystone, who was hit by a car the previous year, so I would've loved to have had another grey cat; but there simply wasn't a single one to be found at either shelter, either time we went!

[tedeisenstein.livejournal.com]

I knew I had found the right cat for my first house (and as my first cat) when I went down to the shelter, picked up a tortoise-shell, and he started to purr like an outboard motor. Yup, instant bond.

Same thing happened with George, the solid-black stump-tailed Manx, who was cat number 4, errr, no, cat no. 5. I saw him, he saw me, I picked him up, instant snuggling.

Those are always good signs.

[aryanhwy.livejournal.com]

Yup, I knew Slinky was The One the moment I saw her, small and grey and sitting in her litter box.

The funny thing with Nucat was that I walked right past her; we were looking for either a pair, or for active young cats that would do well with a small child. She was very sedentary and her info said "might do well with school aged children" but that they didn't really know. So I'm really glad Joel made me stop and spend more time with her. Especially because she seems to like Gwen quite a bit too.

[lumineaux.livejournal.com]

"Tinkerbell" is a horrible thing to do to a cat.

[aryanhwy.livejournal.com]

We can certainly do much better!

[herveus.livejournal.com]

That's a mighty tarnished "argent"...reblazon: Per pale *sable* and Or...

:)

[aryanhwy.livejournal.com]

You know, given that the field is clearly argent, and that tincture is clearly not the same as the field, I think you might be right with your reblazon!

[beckishadow.livejournal.com]

Nerds. :)

[pixel39.livejournal.com]

Home is definitely where the cat is.

[aryanhwy.livejournal.com]

I lived two years without a cat. The very first thing I did after getting keys to an apartment of my own was head to the Dane County Humane Society. Slinky came home with me the next day.

I've missed her so much. Having the new cats is reminding me of how much I still miss her, but at least now I have a cat to cuddle while I think of her!

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

I had Siameses growing up among other cats, and I knew I wanted one this time. When we picked Galen up from his cage at the shelter he cuddled into the wife's chin and she melted. She passed him to me and he cuddled into my chin, licking it. I melted. The only question after that was renaming him from "Simon".

[aryanhwy.livejournal.com]

Awwww...Yup, when you find the right one, you know!

I've always liked Siamese, but have never had one. Still, I keep ticking items off the "type of cat I've never had" list, so I'm optimistic for the future. :)

[(Anonymous)]

Aaaaaah, child with cat! How wonderful. Glad you were able to address this situation so effectively. --Bunny

[aryanhwy.livejournal.com]

The household is much, much better than it was. (I'd forgotten what it sounded like when cats play with each other.)