Oh, dear – I’ve done it. Committed myself to a kitten.
Two cats don’t quite qualify me as a Crazy Cat Lady, but I’ve never lived with
more than one before, so it feels like it. And I can’t look Perdita in the eye.
Gumtree, “cats in Scotland”, look for a post that went
up this afternoon in Springburn, which is part of Glasgow. Alexander will come
over tomorrow and go back with my cat-carrier – and return, the following week,
with a cat in it. The Springburn litter contains one ginger boy (par for the
course) and TWO tortoiseshell and white girls. I’m not quite sure which one I’ve
got. Our Dear Old Cat had at least four litters and never produced a single
kitten worth remembering – all ginger, or black-and-white.
The (former) Beijing Mileses are having a terrible
time with their new kitten. They alternately fear that their Chinese cat Mimi
will leave them, or will tear the kitten limb from limb. At least my two cats
are both the same sex. I think that may help.
But, oh dear.
As for knitting, I’ve finished the coloured stripes at
the beginning of the second sleeve of Miss Rachel’s Yoke, and am steaming up
the arm. The coloured patterns weren’t quite as difficult this time, and I
remain hopeful that the yoke will be as blissful as anticipated.
I’ve been reading the Soutache pattern with some
attention. There’s going to be a learning curve involved. It will be good for
me.
Kathy’s Knits has a
monthly meet-and-knit group, and tomorrow is it for September. I hope I’ll have
the oomph to go. I’m not getting out enough. That sleeve is at exactly the
right point for taking along to a knitting group. Kathy herself is off to
Shetland Wool Week any moment now.
No television last night – I found a black screen with
the message “No signal”. I have television supplied by cable from Virgin, so I
assumed Mr Branson would be toiling all night to restore the service, but
things were no better this morning. The admirable Virgin website could find
nothing wrong. I had to try the nuclear option – switching off the electricity
at the wall. It worked. So now I will go watch “Victoria” and knit that sleeve
and worry about my kitten.
And then go to bed with my iPad and the new Fruity
Knitting.
Best of luck with the new kitty! I have no advice. It does seem to be hit or miss whether or not animals get along, but perhaps their both being young will help. I do feel that 3 is a potentially awkward number for a household ("Two's company..."), but if a mere 2 cats is going to make you feel like you're verging on Crazy Cat Lady status, then I shall refrain from the suggestion I thought of.
ReplyDeleteI have promised myself that I will stick with two cats as more than two would be crazy cat lady. So you are fine. I hope they get along or at least don't fight. I hope you're prepared for one or both to hide but I bet they'll become friends. Keep us advised.
ReplyDeleteAnd I do admire your courage in tackling brioche. I love how it looks and even took a class but it intimidates me. I hope your progress with the Soutache will inspire me.
I go to bed with my iPad, too.
ReplyDeleteIt's okay. In fact it's good! You'll give a kitten a lovely home and Perdita might take the newbie under her wing. There are few things that are as heartwarming as watching a kitten prance around. I'm happy for you. Please take lots of pictures.
Two cats are better than one. I think they need feline company as well as the humans that serve them. They will do well if slowly introduced to each other. Years ago I had one cat and when she was several years old I took in a small feral kitten. Both were female (spayed) and they got along well. They still were miffed when I went on trips but forgave me within a day or two. Hope it all goes well.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to sound like the crazy cat lady because we have 5 cats right now. We live on 24 acres so there is plenty of space for them. When the children lived here they were always rescuing cats and we had 21 of them at one point. It didn't seem like we had that many because you never saw more han 2-3 at any given time except when feeding time rolled around. We fed them at the barn where they also were given fresh goat milk when we were milking.
ReplyDeleteThe only cats that had trouble getting along were two calicos. One had long hair and looked roundish and the other one had short hair and was thin and long. We used to laugh about their crankiness. My theory was that each thought the other was incredibly ugly.
Two cats are infinitely better than one. Feliway make a pheromone thing specifically for helping cats get along together, and it is worth getting. I adopted an 8-month old to accompany my 16-year old whose brother had died, last fall, and could immediately tell when the Feliway diffuser had run out! Today they get along relatively well, although the old lady occasionally has to put the youngster in his place.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed by your comment re cat colours. I speak as a "Ginger" myself - a line of prejudice which I have never been able to understand. My only real cat was a black and white, full of personality and remembered with regret to this day. After a grieving period, we found a tortoiseshell kitten (male). He was a thing of beauty, relaxing on an oriental rug. However, he had an uncertain temper and chose to leave home and take up residence elsewhere. He still occasionally passes by, but his beauty no longer cuts any ice with us.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on acquiring a new member of your household! I think everything will work out just fine. Chloe
ReplyDeleteI so agree with Shandy - what difference does the colour of fur make? would you reject a human just because of hair colour? my son found a bedraggled kitten at the side of the road 2 years ago, "only" black and white - but he's such a lovely cat to have around. he gets along just fine with our two dogs, behaves well inside and out and never gives us any trouble - a joy to keep! being grey, white, tortoise - or purple with yellow dots wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference to me! and there are so many unwanted cats and kittens (and dogs!)everywhere, there's absolutely no need to breed any more until all the unwanted ones are rehomed! might not be a popular opinion, but so be it!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in Portland, Oregon, last week, I visited Knit Purl and had the opportunity to see Carol Sunday yarns in person. Lovely! What colors did you get? I'll have to go back a few posts and see. Good luck with the new member of the household!
ReplyDeleteI once read that when introducing a new cat, smear butter on both cats' forelegs. Apparently they only groom themselves when feeling calm. They will be compelled to lick at the butter and will thus be calm. Also, you should be in a room with Perdita that is back from the door a room or two. Alexander should quietly slip the cat in and it should wander through the house until it "magically appears" where you and Perdita are calmly licking your arms (so to speak). Then the interloper will not be seen as your "fault." Perhaps A could enter after you twitch a window curtain to indicate that the two cats have met. Perhaps the butter only goes on Perdita--otherwise the new kitten might spend too much time in the entryway. Or that might be good, not sure.
ReplyDeleteDo I remember that your cats need to have names beginning with P? I met a therapy dog once, a white Lab with golden fur-tips, named Patina. I thought it was a lovely name, and so appropriate to the color of the dog.
I drove through Hatch, New Mexico, a few months ago and snapped a few drive-by photos. Email me if you want me to send them.
Once the new kitten and Perdita get over their initial meeting and spats I predict they will become buddies and perhaps partners in crime. (I can imagine Perdita offering tips on how to achieve the highest bookshelf) All will be well.
ReplyDeleteWe adopted a small calico kitten once, that despite being raised by hand, was a horrible cat when she was grown. She was so beautiful. Our vet said calicos usually are really nice or really horrible. Something about the genes involved in a three-color cat. We stayed with striped or solid ones after that. :)
ReplyDelete