Shinn the Writer

More Cats. Two, Actually

Wow, last month’s main article, “Cats (Not the Musical)” was long! I was mulling over getting a cat and concluded with my often used (and equally often stolen from Rachel Maddow) “Watch this space”. Well, this is that space and I went ahead and brought home two rescue cats, Buddy and Monty, Each about a year old. As I’m writing this, I’ve had them for a little over two days. It’s definitely the get-acquainted period.

I didn’t name them, but I like the names so I’m keeping them. Monty, of course, is a reminder of Monty Python. Buddy was a main character from the movie Free Guy which I thoroughly enjoyed. But so far, Buddy and Monty have been quite different. Buddy has been really quick to come out and socialize with me, wanting to be petted and I’m happy to oblige. Monty, on the other hand, seems to be a bit more skittish about me. He prefers to hide, keeping a safe distance. I’m hoping that in a few days, that will cease and he’ll be more outgoing.

This pair was my birthday present to myself, having just turned (good heavens) 72. For many years I have done something big for my birthday. It started in 1997, when I took a parachute jump. The following year, I got glasses. I’ve gone to Maui, I’ve checked into nice B&Bs, but getting cats, my first four-legged furries ever, is one of the most extreme ways I’ve ever celebrated. 

But they’re in my second bedroom which has never been used as such except as a way to describe my house. Somehow, “two-bedroom, one bath” sounds better than “one bedroom, one storage room, one bath”. But now that there are two cats sleeping there, I can call it by its real estate name with pride.

My brother was somewhere between stunned and shocked upon hearing the news. He wasn’t the only one, but so far, it’s all working out well. It’s another chore in the morning maybe ten minutes to scoop some food out of a can (mixing in a little water) and then scoop other things out of the litter box. Not really overwhelming duty. The hardest part right now is being sure they don’t leave the cat cave (their bedroom). 

The adoption folks said to give them a week there so as not to overwhelm them with the full size of my mansion. I found out that the door latch isn’t working properly, so I set a small file box on a towel and, when I close the door from the outside I pull the towel to put the box next to the door so it doesn’t pop open letting my poor kitties out.

Next week I’ll give them access to the kitchen, then probably the whole house and life gets (hopefully) easier. I just need to be sure I don’t give them access to the great outdoors. We’ve had a coyote infestation that’s been taking its toll on the cat population. My niece’s cat is really good at sneaking out of open doors to the outside. I have new neighbors a couple of doors down whose cats know their outside bounds. That would be nice, but I’m just going to try to keep them inside, at least for the foreseeable future.

There’s an interesting quirk about the two cats – the documents detailing their medical histories seem to have them mixed up. The pics I’m posting have the names as they were told me, but from the descriptions on the forms, they’re the other way around. They both have those embedded computer chips, and I want to be sure everything matches before I register them. The chip registration is hard enough as it is, I don’t want to have to go back and unravel it later. Hopefully it was my mistake and I’ll just have to get used to switching the names.

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