Yeah, so we brought home another kitty. What can I say? When you're married to "St. Francis of Assisi" like I am, it's not hard to sway one's spouse to take on another furry member of the family. I jokingly refer to my husband as "St. Francis" all the time -- he loves all the creatures of the world and is constantly trying to rescue and help animals out. I'm not Catholic, so that's the only saint I can name off the top of my head. And since we're already known as the crazy pet lovers, one more cat isn't going to sway people's strange opinions of us any farther. Our experience as pet parents has taught us though, that more than one isn't always a bad idea, and sometimes it makes things a little bit easier.
The little tiny thing is actually one month older than Harry. but she is definitely smaller. She was the runt of her litter, and I can't help it, I would be thrilled if she stayed small. We once had a cat, Taosey, that was a runt and always looked like an older kitten. (And coincidentally, this is not the first time I've brought home a furry souvenir -- in middle school my family took a little vacay to Taos, New Mexico and brought home, you guessed it, Taosey. So, unfortunately, it runs in my blood.) But with 4 dogs and 2 cats now, I think it's safe to say there won't be any more animals for us for a while. Eventually the numbers gotta go down, people.
While up in Minne-SOOOOOOOH-ta, we enjoyed a fun afternoon with one of my husband's cousins and her family. Well, a mega-family is more like it -- 7 kids! They live on a beautiful piece of property in the country and have built up quite the collection of animals: there are two gorgeous horses, lots of chickens, a goat named Dick (I know, hahaha, I couldn't stop laughing at poor Dick, but such a friendly little chap), a bunny, and quite a few mama cats with around 10-20 kittens. There were kittens everywhere, so I'm not really sure how many there were.
The two beautiful horses for riding. Most of the kiddos took a turn, and so did a few of the adults, including me.
Told ya' their property was beautiful. And the weather that day was gorgeous -- partly cloudy with a high just below 80 degrees.
The chicken coop and yard behind it. Can you spot Dick in the crowd? Quite the ladies' man, that Dick. Bless his little heart. It's hard not to make a million "Dick" jokes out of it, kind of like when my brother and I went with my mom on a tour of the Hoover Dam. Oh yeah, dam jokes galore. Even us straight-laced gals can have little naughty streaks!
The kids all got the chance to gather eggs. They collect about 28 eggs a day. My husband was the brave one to take instruction on how to gather the eggs from under the mean chickens, and he was successful!
Here's our little girl with her relatives. The big calico is actually not her mama. And I can't remember if the black and white one is her sibling or not. I think she was the only one left out of her litter. The calico mama had only three legs. And did you know that calicos are always girls? How's all that for a bunch o' random?
As you know, country folk tend to have a little bit different approach to their pets -- more of a "survival of the fittest" type thing going on, especially since vet fees can be costly when there are lots of animals involved. But that is not to say that the kitties were not loved, oh no, quite the contrary -- they were held and cuddled 24/7. And little Miss Priss here was probably one of the favorites due to her tiny size and sweet, sweet disposition. When I saw her, I was immediately drawn to her. Bless her tiny little heart, she had lots of gunk coming out her little nose and eyes, and we both feared that if she didn't make it to the vet to get some antibiotics, she might not do too well in the long run. Since Harry was an only cat and an indoor cat at that, we figured it might be kind of nice to him to have a companion, and pretty convenient that they would be pretty much the exact same age. The deal was sealed.
Staying in a hotel for the whole weekend meant that we would have to wait and drive back to their house the night before we left to get her (they lived quite a piece north of where we were staying) and then sneak her in the hotel just for one night. My husband put her in a Rubbermaid with a big air hole cut in the lid and smuggled her in, and she spent her first night with us in a hotel. Thank goodness for a relatively quiet kitty and no messes, so the hotel was none the wiser. Our next hurdle was driving home -- kitties + cars do not usually equal a great combination, and a 12-hour drive only made it more of a challenge. But the tiny little girl defied the odds and was the best car kitty EVER! She slept on pillows, on the console or on shoulders the entire way, purring and pawing and snuggling the entire time. It actually made the drive much more fun and way less challenging than we thought it would be.
When we got home, that's when the fun began...to be continued once more...
2 comments:
your kitties are so lovely! I think I might have you beat! 3 cats, 3 dogs, and 1 rabbit. Oh, and 3 human kids too. lol. I wish I lived on a farm and could rescue every stray I come across.
Taosey!! I love it. I think that is a good place to find a pet. There are SO many pet owners out there. I never knew that about calicos but now that I think about it all the calicos I have known were girls. Learn something new everyday!!
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