My ADD Kitty

Ajani (my new little kitty) is starting to settle in now and he is not as shy any more, which means I have kitten pictures now. I do think that he is a bit ADD which is kind of cute. When playing with him, he gets very hyped up and than cannot make up his mind as to what he wants to do, he gets overwhelmed trying to play with five different things at once. I like to use old shoelaces to play with my cats, and so Ajani will chase that for a while and then run off to do something else, and then start pouncing in leaves, and climbing over cardboard boxes before remembering the string again and running back to chase it for a while. He is a bit like a little Springbok at times the way he does bounce and hop all around, and sometimes he will just pop straight up in the air.

Also when I first brought him home from the shelter I had some concerns about the fact that he seemed to be so skinny. I presumed that the shelter was taking care of him and when I got him he was in this room with several other kittens and there where dishes of food in there, but because he is so small and shy he might have been bullied away from the food by the other cats. I would be nervous picking him up and holding him because he seemed so tiny and fragile. But I happy to see that he already is starting to put on some weight and is starting to look more like a normal healthy little kitten.

 

 

Mini Cat Jaws

I recently got a new little kitten (I haven’t had a chance to get photos yet, he is still a bit shy). On Saturday there was a special Free Adoption Event, and after my two oldest cats passed away I have been wanting to get another cat, and I wanted to be able to provide a home for a kitty in need. So I met this adorable little kitty, a gray tabby cat who is a bit of a runt (I tend to like the runts, they are usually always kind of outcasts and loners but have great personalities). His name is Ajani which is an African name that means “He who wins struggle” I thought this name was quite fitting, because for one he looks kind of like a desert cat like a Serval because he has really big ears, and big eyes and around his face and underside it is a sort of tanish sandy color. As well, considering what he has been through, the lady at the shelter told us that he was a feral cat, and his sister had adopted out pretty quickly and he had been kind of depressed after she was taken, I think the meaning of the name is quite suiting. Though still a bit timid, he seems to have such a positive attitude.

Needless to say Strega my three year old cat was less than enthused by the arrival of the kitten.  My cats are primarily outdoor cats who get locked in the garage at night, and in the middle of the garage there is this work table and Strega does like to sleep up there a lot. So in the evening when I bring Strega in for the night (for the moment the kitten is staying locked in the garage until he gets more familiar with his new home, and gets more comfortable with me and associates the garage as a safe place, and a place where there is food) Strega immediately jumps up onto the work table, in which the kitten is still too young and little to be able to get up on. But while Strega is not very thrilled about his new companion Ajani is already enamored with his new big brother. And optimistically and determinedly will not stop his attempt to make friends. Ajani runs in frantic circles around the work table, attempting to figure out a way he can get up there while Strega watches him with a mix of intrigue and apprehension.  It reminds me of a scene from jaws with the kitten circling around the cat who is “stranded” while he eyes the unsafe ground below.

Though there is a part of Strega that I think really wants to jump down and play but he isn’t yet willing to really own up to the fact. He is still trying to act like mr. tough guy, and think he is too cool and being the spoiled brat he is used to being. But I think by slow reluctant degrees that adorable and enthusiastic antics of Ajani are starting to win him over.

 

Freya the Explorer

I like to bring Freya in to sit on my lap while I read. Lately she is starting to get braver, and more curious, and instead of just borrowing into my lap to sleep she hops off to explore around the couch.

I took these using my ipad so the quality is not the best.

 

 

My New Baby

You can breathe easy and know that I have not completely lost my mind and reproduced a human child (Shudder) but I do now have this little darling:

 

 

I have named this little guy Freya after the Norse goddess of love and fertility. I think that a fertility goddess makes quite a fitting namesake for a rabbit and rabbits are often themselves seen as fertility symbols.

As it so happens my neighborhood is overrun with feral domestic rabbits. I have no idea where the first pair first came from, but now there is a colony of rabbits which can be seen up and down the street. Frequently in the mornings and the evenings, when it is cooler out there will be a few here and there on the front lawn. I often make jokes about wanting to catch one, and there are a few that would let me get quite close, but realistically catching a rabbit is a near impossible task, at least to try and do so by hand.

I could set a trap but that would take all the fun out of the whole game, and I like to try and hone my animal stocking skills.

Then the other day I noticed my cat on the front lawn and he was in predatory mode, I could tell something had his attention, and I happened to see this little ball of fluff sitting in the middle of the lawn, and I thought to myself “Is that a baby rabbit?” At first I was worried that my cat might try and pounce on it. He doesn’t usually bother the rabbits, but just likes to hang out with them, and follow them around. I think he sees them he is baffled by these “strange looking cats” which is how I like to think cats think of rabbits.

But since this one was so much smaller than the others, I thought he might think of this one was being prey. But as I watched it was quite funny because it was almost like the cat was guarding the bunny. He would follow it and than just lie down on the grass next to it and watch it.

Needless to say I could not resist the temptation and low and behold I actually managed to catch the little guy.

This morning when I went out to check on him and feet him my cat was paying a visit to his former little playmate.