WELCOME HOME BABIES!

posted 11/26/2006

Otis' wish came true yesterday -- he got a new baby sister and brother!!


About a year ago, I began thinking about bringing home another dog or cat to keep Otis company. Remembering back on how much work a puppy is, I was leaning toward a kitten. I even went so far as to venture out looking for one, but the adoption centers near me were full of adult cats. As much as I would like to help an old kitty, I doubted my ability to bring one into a house with a dog successfully. If I went with a feline, it had to be a kitty, so that it could grow up with Otis and not be afraid of him.
Over the course of the past year, I would peek into the "adoption center" at PetSmart, but "my kitty" was never there. I knew I would know him when I saw him. A week and a half ago, I was at PetSmart with Charlene and we peeked in to see the kitties. There was a beautiful Maine Coon cat (Miss Kitty) with a litter of kitties there. Two of the babies were polydactyls, meaning they had extra toes... they were so cute -- they looked like they were wearing mittens or that they had thumbs (see the picture below)! So cute! Plus, all the kitties in the litter were black with a patch of white fur on their chest -- just like Otis! They were perfect! I left that day with an application for adoption and spent a few days thinking about whether I should really consider taking a kitty into my home. I filled it out, just in case, and turned it back in.

Wednesday night, I got a call -- they had approved me... now I had to really think... and decide what to do.
For Thanksgiving, Mike and I went to Lancaster to spend time with my parents, as did my brother and his fiance Bonnie. I brought Otis and they brought their dog Molly and their kitten Max. This was perfect! I got a chance to see how Otis would behave with a kitty. He was pretty excited and wanted to chase Max around, but as the novelty wore off, he became a bit more calm and they could nearly coexist (I even caught Max sneaking up behind Otis and sniffing his tail!).
Mike and I went over to PetSmart on Saturday to see if "my kitty" was still there. Miss Kitty and her entire litter were still there. My heart melted. The adoption people weren't going to be there for another hour, so we went over to Borders to read up on "bringing home your kitten". We headed back to PetSmart and met up with Jodie, who let us come in and play with the kitties. They were so playful and crazy! The first to head over to us was the only boy in the litter (they called him "Beast"). He crawled right over my lap and was the most curious of the group. We decided that he was definitely "the one". As we watched them all play, I realized that I couldn't take home just one. They were so energetic and even if the kitty and Otis got along, it just wouldn't be the same. Plus, the kitty would be home alone all day, while I was at work and Otis was at Sedona's, so it would be nice to have another kitty to keep him company. Just then, one of the girls ran across the room and pounced on "Beast" and they began to wrestle. That was it -- we needed to take this one home too. It was one of the girls, with polydatcyly. They needed to stay together.
Miss Kitty said goodbye to two of her babies and we headed out to bring them home. For the time being, they have a pleasant little den in my spare bathroom. It's perfect - they love to leap from the sink -- to the top of the toilet -- to the bathtub (which has lots of little perches for them to climb on) -- even up onto the windowsill. They already use their litter box well and have been eating their food with no problem.
This afternoon, the kitties had their first trip down to explore the rest of the house. With Otis peering in from the backyard, they ventured out... cautiously at first, but curiosity got the best of them and they eventually made it downstairs to check out their new domain. Otis came back in (on a leash) and really really wanted to play with the kitties. They aren't quite sure what to think about Otis, but they are interested in checking him out. We've had several short introductions so far, with fairly good results. I'm sure in no time, they will be living together, as one big happy family!