Last Thursday I drove to Glouster and adopted a three month old, male, buff orange and white, polydactyl kitten to be friends with the eight week old, feral, female calico that turned up on my mother’s doorstep on Cape Cod two weeks ago. They are my reward for successfully completing sobtember and a chance to finally lay my past to rest. It’s been 2 years since my ex forced me to give up my cat Hooligan, who was my four-legged fur ball baby. Although the people I re-homed him with assured me I could take him back whenever I could, they divorced and re-homed all of their pets, including Hooli. He went to live with a little girl and her family somewhere on the south shore. When I confronted them and asked why I wasn’t consulted or even contacted about it, they only had a lame excuse.
They are by no means a replacement for Hooli, but a chance for me to let go of the life I once had and to live the one I have now. So far they are a joy, even though they take some of the smelliest poops ever. Justin named the boy Lebowski. He is the chillest kitten on the planet. Where most cats are explorers and having kitty nascar around the room, he is very shy and laid back. I worked with him extensively this weekend, coaxing him out of hiding place after hiding place with treats. He wasn’t food aggressive, but he is so skinny and he just wants to eat everything as fast a possible, which makes me think he has been very hungry in his short life. Since working with him and handling him often he has become a total lap cat. All he wants is to snuggle, be petted and loved. He will lean so hard into your hands when you’re petting him that when you stop, he falls over. He’s mostly the color of a white russian and behaves like The Dude.
(Since beginning to write this post, Moxie has gone to sleep in my closet and he has really come out of his shell and has been all over me and my laptop.)
The Dude abides.
Moxie is the most fearless cat I have ever seen and she weighs less than a pound and can fit in a tea cup. All she wants to do is climb up on to stuff so she can jump/pounce on Lebowski. She explores everything and likes to drink out of my cups. Bringing her home, she couldn’t be bothered to stay in the box, but after a while, she caught on she needed to stay in it, but stood on her hind legs, with her front paws on the top of the box, looking around at everything as we drove by. At one point she crawled up on to the head rest on the passenger side, jumped to my shoulder and snuggled into my lap, which for something that is eight weeks old is impressive and courageous, so she’s my little Moxie. She also hasn’t finished the weaning process so she snuggles up with Lebowski and tries to nurse on his neck. He takes it like a champ and we couldn’t stop laughing at it all afternoon.
You got Moxie, kid!
The Jinx 