cats

We adopted another kitty. He is almost 4 months old and a flame point siamese, though all his siblings were orange tabby. We thought about bringing his sister home as well, who is a beautiful deep orange marble tabby, but decided that 4 cats would be too many. Three already puts us at crazy cat people.

Though we were originally scheduled to pick him up August 20, he was big enough for neutering sooner than that and we got to take him home August 11. After fighting traffic for 2 hours, we made it to his foster home. The drive home was less than half that time, and he didn't cry one bit.

At first I was a little sad for him because his foster home had not only his 3 brothers and 1 sister, but also 4 resident cats with whom he got along. But I don't feel bad anymore because he is adapting to life with us quite well. Though Selina is a bit hostile, especially when it comes to her food bowl, Iroh has taken a liking to the little one. Iroh plays a bit rough sometimes, so hopefully he will adjust and learn to be more gentle.

After running through many names over the past few days, we only just decided on a name last night: Tobi.

I don't feel the way I thought I would about my chickens. Don't get me wrong, I'm quite fond of them, and I enjoy having them. But I thought I would love them like I love my other pets, but the reality is that I don't. My theory is that I only have feelings for animals that are reciprocated.

This is even true for my cats. Perhaps they just show it differently, but I don't feel that my cats love me very much. Sure they like us, but I don't feel like we are all a family together. Iroh seems much more attached to us than Selina is at this point, so I return Iroh's affections and try to regain Selina's.

When I was unemployed, and Selina and I spent all day together, it was wonderful. We took naps together and played, and she drove me crazy while I tried to sew or crochet. She loved me very much and I loved her. Then I started working, we got Iroh. As if that weren't enough, we moved -- into a house that had not only a dog, but a young child as well. True, he isn't with us full-time, but he's sure rambunctious enough to make up for his absence. She's now in a perpetual bad mood most of the time, and we can pet her for all of 2 seconds before she makes an irritated noise and runs away, or even bites us. Her kneading me and sleeping on my chest is now a rare treat rather than part of our nightly routine.

Sometimes I find myself wondering if we should find another home for her, where she can be the only animal in the house. I haven't considered this seriously both for selfish reasons and because I don't know how she would react to a new home since she seems so resistant to change. But someday my parents will take Lucy, and DH and I will get a dog of our own that will likely be much larger than Lucy. How will Selina handle that? I'm not sure, but I want her to be happy. She tolerates Lucy and is actually much nicer to Lucy than she was to Iroh when we first got him. We did turn her world upside down in a matter of few months, so maybe she just needs more time. I hope that's the case.

Iroh is fine, by the way.

I came home early from work to be with Iroh and make sure he was okay. He seems a little down in the dumps. The vet likes to use the term "punky," but I'm not quite sure what that means. In any case, he had some diarrhea, so I called the vet. They said to keep an eye on him, and if he doesn't get better in a few days, we should call again.

Seeing him so blue is very sad. I hope he perks up in the next few days; otherwise this will be a long two weeks. At least on Thursday we can remove the patch that has been bothering him so much. On top of him having stitches and wearing the cone, Selina has not been very nice to him since he's been back. I've read that cats may have trouble accepting an animal who has spent a lot of time at the hospital. I'm looking forward to when we can remove Iroh's cone, give him a bath to hopefully get all the hospital smell off him, and not have to worry about his stitches getting messed up by him or Selina.

I also took the opportunity to bring the Goddesses outside for a little while again. Since they seemed hot last time, I put them in the shade this time. They were wandering around pecking and scratching away in no time! They stayed in one small area and mostly stuck together. Whenever they would hear a bird overhead or see a shadow, they would all stop chirping to look and listen. If I made any sudden movements, they would all dive for cover.

Watching them was a lot of fun, but I was only able to let them out for just under an hour since I was worried about Iroh. Once the time came for them to go back in the back, though, they freaked out a little. Most of them are getting used to be held. Even though they still try to get away from approaching hands, they don't immediately jump out of your grasp or seem as scared as before. I'm glad to see them getting accustomed to handling. Every once in a while I will inspect them to make sure everything is in order, and also just to get them used to being looked at and held. Some of them look as if they are getting their adult feathers in already. They grow so fast!