Bo, Luke and Daisy

It's been exactly 6 months since Gwennevere went off to mousier pastures and k-ster finally agreed it was time to get kittens.

I've been looking for about a month but we have this weird situation around here where kittens aren't very plentiful.  Usually, May is the high season for kittens, but there were none to be had at  any of the shelters for the entire month.  I'm willing to pay for kittens from a shelter but I draw the line at driving more than an hour to get one.

My sister has fostered a lot of kitten litters through a shelter but for most of the winter, she didn't have any litters.  Again, a really strange thing.  I really wanted her to get a litter so I could go and play with them often to make my choice more based on how well we got along instead of who was the most demanding that I take it home, but she never got a litter and time was marching along.

We went to the only shelter that has kittens right now last Tuesday but there were only two and I didn't like the dopey look of one of them.  And the other was pretty scared.  So, we made an appointment to go back Sunday to look at two orange litters that were coming.

Call me picky, but I have some requirements when it comes to cats.  I don't want pure black.  I've only met one solid black cat that was tolerable.  I don't want long hair or Persian smooshed faces.

I wasn't too crazy about getting orange cats because my experience with orange cats hasn't been great either.

And, I've always had a theory that male urine smells worse, so I want females.

I knew I wanted to get two kittens from the same litter or at least from the same age group who already knew each other.  I always felt bad that Gwenstopher was alone for the first few months I had her and then I got another kitten but they never were really best friends.  When Bandit vanished, Gwennevere became a whole new cat and was tickled to be alone.

This time, I wanted a pair from the beginning so they'd play and sleep together.

K-ster has been ambivalent about getting a new cat.  He kept saying it wasn't time.  I told him I'd wait until May and when we went looking and came home empty handed, I think he was relieved.  He had made a mountain out of a molehill in his head and had envisioned that kittens are a lot of work and destroy things.

I've had cats my entire life, and I don't recall anything I would call "work" with kittens.  Not like puppies that need training and constant walking.  Kittens are pretty self-sufficient, though when they are small, they need to be watched so they don't get stuck in small spaces.

We went back to the shelter on Sunday and were greeted with no orange cats, but a trio of kittens by themselves in a room.  This group was super friendly and came right out and played with us.  I knew which two I wanted but both of us were sad to leave one alone.  K-ster said we should get 3.

THREE?  Do you know what 3 cats using a litter box is like?   He said it can't be worse than 2.

THREE?  Do you know how much 3 will cost?  The lady said we could have the third one for a song.

THREE?  Do you know how much kitten hell that will be?  It can't be worse than 2.

 Introducing Bo, Daisy and Luke.  Bo hitched a ride.  He bordered on the black cat I didn't want but with all that white and the cutest whiskers that make him look like a seal, I couldn't say no.  He was also the most personable at first.  He was the first one to come over to us and since they've been home, he's been the first to greet us every time.

Daisy and Luke are tigers.  Luke is a soft grey tiger and the colors are just gorgeous.  Daisy is more of a brown tiger, but she looks unlike Gwennevere enough that it's not creepy to have another tiger in the house.  Plus the white paws are so cute and different.

Have you seen that new trend where women get their ring finger fingernail painted a different color?  It's called the sparkle nail?  Well, Bo has that!

I've always been a big believer in "putting the cats away" at night.  We have a bathroom just for that purpose.  Eventually, Gwennevere and Bandit weren't locked in the bathroom anymore, but we did close off part of the house so they didn't bug us at night.

With these guys, they will spend a lot of time in the bathroom until they are big enough to be allowed all over the house during the day.  The bathroom is a fine size, but not big enough to really run around.  When we let them into the living room last night, they tore around like maniacs, racing, jumping and playing and finally wore themselves out a little bit.

Daisy was still doing wild tricks while these two were taking a time out.

Putting away three cats for the night is no easy feat and really, not a one person job.  ONce two were away, the third went on his own but I know they will figure out that trick really soon and I'll have to come up with something to lure them in.

As I write this today, they are racing through the living room.  They do a lot of talking and Daisy especially does a lot of chirping and grumbling.  When one goes into another room, he will start calling the others to come join him.  They are so ridiculously cute and funny.

And have you ever heard kittens racing on the rug?  The herd of horses at the barn has nothing on them.  For such little creatures they make a stupendous amount of noise.  If we didn't put them away at night, they'd keep us up!

Three kittens.  That's a lot of litter box cleaning.....

Linking here:

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