kitten therapy, part 2

When we last left our intrepid heroine minion to cats…

This had happened.

The adorable, utterly snuggle-worthy, marvelous Ben, aged about 5 months 8 weeks, came to join our family.

However, this upset the balance of power in our little cat universe.

Uh-oh.

Always Acquire in Pairs

That, apparently, is the consensus from thousands of kitten-slaves throughout the world. By bringing home Ben all by his little self, I had broken that sacred law of wisdom, and poor dignified Zoe and Dusty were Not Amused. What to do, what to do…

Me being the law-abiding, dutiful sort, about ten days later, this happened.

and this.

and of course, in the end, this:

Yep. Even Dusty is Completely Dooooomed.

Because you have MORE questions

Melody has a friend whose mother, semi-retired, does her part to keep the world a happy place by fostering kittens. Occasionally, when visiting, we happen to meet these tiny beings who determinedly stagger around on quivering legs.

It would be rude not to play with the wee kitties when we see them, now, wouldn’t it? Yes it would. They need socialization. They need to get used to being (gently) handled. They need to get used to different people, different smells, different voices. They need to learn Good Kitten Manners when being picked up and petted.

They need to be kissed on their wee little fuzzy heads.

During one particular socialization session, I heard a supersonic “MEW”, and felt something small and warm fling herself against my stomach. Thanks to the thick sweater I was wearing, it was easy for her to climb up the human in order to MEW loudly and repeatedly right in the human’s face. Eventually, the MEWs became mews, and Sweater-Climber began patting my neck, first one paw, then the other. It was at this point that I realized that the Mistress of Mewing had slightly unusual paws.

Seven toes on each front paw. Six toes on each back paw. Polydigimagical Cat!

Within minutes, Little BigFoot had those ginormous soft paws on either side of my face, her arms arranged as though hugging me. She kept making intense eye-contact with me, bopping my nose with hers, and generally engaging in many forms of kitten seduction.

Love at first sight, both ways.

First, I Had to Find Her

Trouble was: Little BigFoot was a SPCA cat, meaning that I had to wait until she was available for adoption and not just take her home on the spot. Spoilsports. I spent two weeks searching the SPCA websites for her photo. I almost missed it, as it wasn’t the clearest photo in the world, but on the same page was a photo of her uniquely coloured littermate. I called right away, and about an hour later, poof, we were reunited. (goofy music ensues)

I was not allowed to put a hold on her prior to this, I had to just take my chances in the SPCA process. Her sibs were adopted within an hour of me taking Mistress of Mews home, so I am very, very lucky to have found her again.

Both our vet and I noticed that Tessa is (and continues to be) small for her alleged age (nine weeks when the second photo from the top above was taken), and discovered that she and her litter sibs had been rescued from a rather horrid hoarding situation, along with dozens of other animals, birds, etc. She was covered in The Yucky, she was hungry, dehydrated, and, by virtue of her signature supersonic singing voice, she was also letting everyone within six miles know that Someone Was Mean to a Kitten And That Kitten was MAD.

Once the SPCA cleaned her up (thank you, SPCA!), she began stealing hearts.

Such as mine.

Names, names

This little one was hard to name, partly because she had already had a couple of temporary names, and seemed uninterested in another one. Her foster home name was “Sassy”, (she is, indeed, quite the sassyface); the shelter changed it to “Rambler”. (um..??? She’s a kitten, not an SUV.)

I let her be nameless for a few days, until the name Tessa just dropped out of my mouth as I talked to her. The only connection I could come up with was that my current audiobook contains a supernatural being called “Tessa” by the humans around her. The character is mythical, enigmatic, ferocious in her love for, and protection of, small things, lost things, and helpless things.

Seemed just fine to me. Tessa likes it too.

So.

Now The Tribe is Five.

(I counted so you wouldn’t have to. See how I am? Kindness itself, that’s me.)

Project Update

The Serenity Shawl continues to mock me.

At one point, I had printed off a copy of just the chart, no other distractions. Clever me, yes? No. Not clever. I proceeded to knit two and a half repeats   u p s i d e d o w n.

I tried to tell myself it didn’t matter. I kept right on saying that as I ripped back and once again put a couple hundred wee stitches back on my needle. After all, it is really important to have convictions, to not expect perfection, and to stick to your principles as you tink back those 298 sts at 1:30 AM on Monday morning.

Well. Yes. Of course I used a lifeline. A perfectly good lifeline, wwaaay back at the end of the second repeat, aalllllll the waayyyy down near the beginning.

I started a sock as consolation.

Yarn is from Play at Life Fiber Arts, in their Jest high twist base, and the colour is “Re-Pewter”. The pattern is Kalajoki, named after a river in Finland. I liked the way the designer mimicked the twists and curves of the river the sock is named after. (Photo below copyright Tiina, who is the designer of the sock.)

CHISPAS

• There has been so much struggle and suffering and pain in the world lately, and all I can offer is this poem by Ursula K. LeGuin:
  

  Only in silence the word,
  Only in dark the light,
  Only in dying, life.
  Bight the hawks, flight
  In the empty sky.

• Feeling as though family issues are getting on your last nerve? Frustrated because your family seems so weird and twisted that it is a wonder you came out with any sanity intact? This might make you feel better.
• For all that is holey, do NOT click on this link if you (a) love colour, and (b) love gradients. (I tried to warn you.)
• If you are looking for a kitten or a puppy, or an older dog or cat (they have had time to develop a very finely tuned attitude, let me tell you!), please adopt a rescue. My local SPCA was a wonderful, caring place, where the best interests of the animals came first. As it should be.
• If this video doesn’t put a smile on your face, you need more chocolate. Also, go borrow a kitten. That oughtta do ya some good.

Till next time! There will be more Yarn in the next post. I know this, because I have already written most of it. 🙂