Yeah, hence why we have an open window in summer. Cats can get in and out as they please
I remember having to do litterboxes daily as a kid. That many cats and kittens
As I grew up and my sibs left the house, the number of cats was also reduced. Got to be Jazz, Big Guy, Corbin Trouble, and Mouse by the time I was going through chemo
Trouble disappeared, we assume she went out to die away from us because she never came back
Couple years later Mouse started having weird problems with her eye. Turned out to be a tumor. Got her on meds. She disappeared, we assumed she followed Trouble's path. Three days later, side of her face swollen up, I saw her on the back porch in the middle of the night. Next morning mom and I got an emergency visit, had to put her to sleep
She was my grouchy old broad. Just talking about that makes me tear up. Ugh. I hate crying
So now it's just Jazz, Big Guy, and Corbin
So after we get her body in a bag, mom suggests we go to the pet shelter to just look at kittens. Nope, they're closed. BUT maybe the local PetCo has some kittens on hand. They have large cages. Sometimes cats, sometimes kittens. They're from the shelter (it's a no kill, btw), but said shelter closes really early, and kind of out of the way while PetCo obviously has more regular hours and more traffic
So we go there, and yup, kittens. One of my former classmates from high school is there, she brings them out one by one. One, a grey one they have named Pearl, keeps trying to escape. Most of the kittens just kinda stay. Could've picked one of them, but as y'all know, you don't choose your cat, the cat chooses you. Mom and I know this as well
So I finally get to hold Pearl. She makes yet another bid to escape, only to have her face in my armpit, stretched out in my arm. She stayed there. So we apply for her
We get her, paperwork and everything, a few days later. They had all the paperwork filled out before she went into our carrier. Make sure they get credit for location of adoption or some such. So we go home, all nice and happy because kitten. And toys. And harness and leash
Turns out that when she thought she was alone, she cried. Nonstop. Lil three month old kitten crying endlessly. We discovered this when dad forgot his wallet and had to go back in and found her crying at the door
Mom plays phone tag with someone because apparently her brother Ziggy, back at PetCo, was also wailing. So, due to them having such bad separation anxiety, mom got dad and me (she was at work) to pick him up. They were very eager to get him out. Before dad had even uncapped his pen, he was in the carrier. They also hold him to only worry about the top half, they'd get the rest from Pearl's paper
Pearl was very happy to see her brother again. Wanted to play as he was scared because this was a new environment for him
In time, both got renamed. Pearl lives up to her name, Doink. Ziggy is a putz, which somehow translated to Rufus. Mom accepts Rufus' name right away. Took her weeks to accept Doink's name, but she finally has
So now we have Jazz, Big Guy, Corbin, Doink, and Rufus
Roommate comes. Fleeing a rather abusive relationship. Has a dog, Jaz. Jazz and Jaz, lol. Also a long hair grumpy excuse of a cat, Miss Mow. Miss Mow and I had a very strange relationship, sometimes the cat would almost love me, other times be attacking me. I'd hiss back, which really did not help
What also didn't help was Doink treating the older, bigger, fluffier cat as a toy. Which was HILARIOUS. Gave that cat some serious exercise, this cat had never been outdoors before and it was obvious. Hunting a bird is not running up to the feeder and then lying flat. This cat also did not know how to jump. Her hissing was short bursts, like she was panting them out. And boy, did Doink get that cat going with the hissing and chasing
Miss Mow was also a beggar, and sizable even under the floof. Like once I was opening tuna and she was right there, stretched up, eyes all begging
Then dad reminded roommate that she wasn't here forever, which she took as being kicked out, and they moved out rather quickly
In the middle of winter she also had to put her dog down. She was old, so we expected that. Hardly moved anymore. Except for the dot. Which was hilarious
So back to our five for a while
Then one of mom's coworkers hurt her knee to where the doc she was seeing was contemplating surgery. Her apartment lease or whatever also expired in that time, so mom had her move in with us. No worries about food, about rent, or any of that. Just take it easy, take care of her dog (she had two, but the larger of the two she gave to someone else cuz she is tiny and could not handle that larger one)
So while she was moving in, she found a kitten wailing under the outdoor steps at her old apartment. According to his previous owners, he, and another cat (we never found them, I hope they got picked up elsewhere and are now in a better spot) had been kicked out for eating bread. They called him Bandit
Turns out they only fed the two wet food, which they didn't like, to where they had to steal food to survive. So she brought Bandit along. Her mom said his name needed to start with a D, so she renamed him "Dino" with the I sounding like a long E. I didn't quite catch it when I let him out of her cat carrier, so I called him Mop after spending some time playing Spin the Kitty. He was, oh, six months old, give or take. Possibly five. She got him a lime green collar, a cheap $1 one, and even as tight as it could go, it was super loose. Not enough to fall off, but still very loose. It fell apart by the time it was of a good size on him, being, y'know, cheap
Mom actually joined in on calling him Mop. She lengthened it to Dustmop, which is what he is known at the vet's (worms and infection), for the name must start with D thing
This whole time, the kitten is attaching himself to me, not roommate. Dog scared him
She's in the process of moving out now, and Mop is staying. He knows the area, he knows he's safe, he won't get shut out again, and he's attached to me. She knows this as well as I do
So now I gotta shop around to get him snipped, and I now have three cats :')
Mop is great, he likes sitting on my boobs. He plays fetch with pipe cleaners, can leap halfway up the wall, higher if he has reason to, and is a great lil butthead
Spoiler
this is the same one who was cleaning himself when mom went to pet him so he went "oh pet me and see my boner!" with his leg, it was great
Oops this went long
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