Happy Kitten Day!
Sep. 29th, 2013 12:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
monkey5sOn this day, eight years ago, the (clearly extremely pregnant) cat we had just taken in, gave birth to four wonderful kitties. Sadly, the oldest, Kia, died of cancer when she was five years old. I still miss her fiercely (and cry every time I think of her. sniffle).
But the other three are still going strong. Since Kia died, Corrigan, the only male, is now the oldest. I tell him his daddy was a looker, because he is such a glamorous boy. He has a beautiful black coat with a white locket at his throat, and a classy profile, which is impressive until he shows what a goofball he is. We named him "Wrong Way" Corrigan because he kept crawling over to mommy to nurse by way of around her head and over her back. Or, you know, across her back legs and under her tail. Such a silly boy.
Pansy is next, and mom named her for her pretty pansy-marked face. She got her mommy's white patches (the white fur is clearly longer than the other- which is grey tiger for her) and on her face there is a curl of white that curves up just past her whiskers, like she had a permanent smirk. When she was younger (meaning, when there were people coming around here, not me living in near-total isolation like now) she used to be very concerned with where people were, what they were doing. We used to say she was carrying a clipboard to sign people in. She has always been the one who made sure she told on whoever was in trouble (like when Kia got her head and one leg through the handles of a plastic grocery sack, panicked, and ran frantically around the house and then DISAPPEARED, it was Pansy who led me to where she was hiding. Um. After I caught my breath from laughing, that is).
Bright Eyes was the last born. We named her that because her eyes were always like jewels. Even now that her coat has dulled some (she has the same black coat as her brother, but it always looked like wet ink when she was young), she still has such bright yellow-green eyes that it's startling. She was also the first one to realize there was a world beyond the big box they spent their early kittenhood in. We would see her just sitting and looking, up beyond the top edge of the box, studying the dining room furniture, watching us or the other cat in the house. We weren't sure who would be the first to make it out of the box, but I can't help thinking she was the one who brought the bigger world to her sibs' attention (it was a race between Kia and Pansy for first out- I believe Pansy won).
Their mom, Chloe, was probably only a year or so old when she had them, as the best guess of the vet. This should put them more on equal footing now, eight years along, but they still all would rather lie snuggled with mommy if they can. For her part, Chloe is not quite so patient with them in their efforts- since they are all bigger than her and weigh more than she does.
This is the only time I have ever had cats whose birthdays were clearly known. Mostly ours have been stray cats that decided to adopt us, or were adopted from the pound. So this has always felt special to me. Enjoy KITTEN DAY, everyone!
But the other three are still going strong. Since Kia died, Corrigan, the only male, is now the oldest. I tell him his daddy was a looker, because he is such a glamorous boy. He has a beautiful black coat with a white locket at his throat, and a classy profile, which is impressive until he shows what a goofball he is. We named him "Wrong Way" Corrigan because he kept crawling over to mommy to nurse by way of around her head and over her back. Or, you know, across her back legs and under her tail. Such a silly boy.
Pansy is next, and mom named her for her pretty pansy-marked face. She got her mommy's white patches (the white fur is clearly longer than the other- which is grey tiger for her) and on her face there is a curl of white that curves up just past her whiskers, like she had a permanent smirk. When she was younger (meaning, when there were people coming around here, not me living in near-total isolation like now) she used to be very concerned with where people were, what they were doing. We used to say she was carrying a clipboard to sign people in. She has always been the one who made sure she told on whoever was in trouble (like when Kia got her head and one leg through the handles of a plastic grocery sack, panicked, and ran frantically around the house and then DISAPPEARED, it was Pansy who led me to where she was hiding. Um. After I caught my breath from laughing, that is).
Bright Eyes was the last born. We named her that because her eyes were always like jewels. Even now that her coat has dulled some (she has the same black coat as her brother, but it always looked like wet ink when she was young), she still has such bright yellow-green eyes that it's startling. She was also the first one to realize there was a world beyond the big box they spent their early kittenhood in. We would see her just sitting and looking, up beyond the top edge of the box, studying the dining room furniture, watching us or the other cat in the house. We weren't sure who would be the first to make it out of the box, but I can't help thinking she was the one who brought the bigger world to her sibs' attention (it was a race between Kia and Pansy for first out- I believe Pansy won).
Their mom, Chloe, was probably only a year or so old when she had them, as the best guess of the vet. This should put them more on equal footing now, eight years along, but they still all would rather lie snuggled with mommy if they can. For her part, Chloe is not quite so patient with them in their efforts- since they are all bigger than her and weigh more than she does.
This is the only time I have ever had cats whose birthdays were clearly known. Mostly ours have been stray cats that decided to adopt us, or were adopted from the pound. So this has always felt special to me. Enjoy KITTEN DAY, everyone!
no subject
Date: 2013-09-29 01:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-09-30 11:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-09-29 10:39 pm (UTC)I remember your Kia.
So when are we gonna get to see pics of this bunch?
no subject
Date: 2013-09-30 11:40 pm (UTC)