Still, we weren’t ready to just turn around and adopt a new feline friend right away. For one thing, the room he liked to hang out in needed to be thoroughly cleaned out. And for another, I had my Writersfest in Kingston coming up and was going to be away from home for several days.
We worked in the room both before and after my trip, and once it was clean we started thinking of a new addition to the family. I have to confess, after having to care for senior cats the last several years, I was ready for kittens.
Who knew adopting a kitten would involve so much paperwork? The application for adoption from the rescue place we decided on had a multi-page form that had to be filled out online, and you had to make sure to answer every question and provide no less than three references. Even the Humane Society had a multi-page form you to fill out, and this one included signing a release to allow them to access your veterinary records. And by the way, I'm not really complaining about it, I actually applaud them for not letting just anyone adopt one of their animals.
Fortunately, our application was approved by the rescue and Friday we went to meet some kittens. Welcome home, Khaos and Dinsdale:
They’re 11 week old brother and sister, already spayed and neutered and microchipped. We had their room all ready for them, with food and water, a kitty litter pan, and toys. We gave them a little time to get used to their room and then we gated off the stairs to the upper floor and basement to reduce the amount of new space they had to get used to and let them out to roam.
We didn’t need to worry. They adjusted really quickly. I was surprised at how affectionate they are, especially Dinsdale.
Did you notice the size of his feet? He’s going to be a big boy. He’s the more affectionate of the two, and his favorite place to cat nap is on a human. Usually me. :-)
His sister has been living up to her name so far. The first evening, when we let them out of their room for a while, she made it her mission to collect all the dust bunnies I missed in the living room. Dinsdale went behind/under furniture as well, but Khaos was always first.
They both like to chew on cords – computer, electrical, you name it, and this is something we’ll have to discourage. And Khaos has complete disrespect for the lap top. I was trying to work on a blog post Saturday night and she turned up the volume and put my lap top into airplane mode. I don’t even know how to do that and it took me a while to get it out again. She’s also done some weird things with the TV remote, like pausing the show we were watching and calling up menus we didn’t know we had.
Though they get shut in their room for the night – they’re so little they really shouldn’t be left out on their own – and we still restrict them to the main floor, they’ve definitely taken over. I had some baskets stacked in the dining room and they unstacked them to take them over:
And of course they play musical baskets – there’s actually three baskets and they hop from one to another, sometimes wrestling for possession. I finally broke down and put blankets in the two bigger ones and they like to nap in them (when I’m not available).
They’ve already learned to jump up on the couches, and from there Khaos discovered one of my plants was now within reach. Of course not to be outdone by his sister, Dinsdale had to chew on it too.
But who can resist those sweet little faces, even if they do steal my chair?
One thing for certain, it’s definitely not going to be boring around here any more.
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