Being the terrible blogger that I am, I have totally neglected to mention the fact that we got a cat this year.
The Daughter has been wary of animals, especially dogs and cats. So we had never had pets of any kind since she was born. But as she spent more time with her friends’ cats, she decided that she wanted a feline of her own. In fact, when she didn’t get one for Christmas 2012, she gave us a deadline for her birthday in March to get one. Finally, around that date, she and her mother went to the animal shelter. There were two kittens she really loved who liked playing with each other. But before they could decide on which one to get, or possibly get them both, one was selected by another family.
They came back the next day and picked the remaining kitten of the pair. He was born around January 26, so he was two months old when he arrived. The Daughter named him Midnight.
The weird thing about getting a cat in the 21st century: the “book” said that you should keep the cat in a small location so that he doesn’t get too disoriented. I had cats 30 to 55 years ago, and I had not heard such a thing. So he was in the guest room for a time unless he was with one of us, for too long for my taste. Part of the issue is that, to this day, it’s almost impossible to catproof the house. While sometimes he cuddles and is mellow, other times he’ll run the length of the house and jump on the dining room table, or some other verboten locale, knocking over any vulnerable items.
The general routine is that someone, whoever gets up first, will go downstairs and feed him; that’s usually me. After that, he’ll be purring and mellow for about five minutes. Then he’ll look out the window and watch what The Wife has dubbed KITV, Kitten Television before he starts marauding. This tires him out and he’ll sleep for a while.
The Daughter really loves him. I guess The Wife and I do too.
I’m afraid I’m more of a dog person!
Awwww welcome to the mad world of owning a cat Roger. Our cat is called Ella, named after Ella Fitzgerald.
January 26th? That makes Midnight my birthday twin! Although I’m a dog person, I find having a cat curled up purring in my lap is a nice change sometimes. Congrats on the “new” arrival.
Yes, kittehs tend to run full-tilt open throttle, leaping and bouncing;
be sure to get a clawing post if you value your cloth surfaces!
I’m convinced cats are good for kids. 🙂
What a sweetie ! What a nonsense to keep a kitten in one location ! The guy who wrote this was probably a prison warden !
Well lots to be said about cats..they are kittens and then teenagers and even as adults can be loving and nice and then crazy…remember to trim their nails as they can get get caught in things..like rugs and curtains..sometime the weather makes them crazy..like the thunder storms that we have been having in the south…they love to look out the windows and omg the other cats and random wildlife..perks their curiosity…one thing if you do not know the cats history..they could be a lot wilder..then some of the cats and kittens that we had as children..check out animal planet…cats 101 or myy cat from hell..good luck and enjoy
Arguably our best cat ever was black. Missy, Blackster Black (crossed the Car-i-BE-an or Car-IB-ean Sea…), Mousy Tongue (that was her Communist phase; she later became a Libertarian because she wanted Big People out of her life unless she needed food, affection, or practically anything else! Kind of like people…) I hope you have a mountain of fun with your black kitty, and remember, she has a theme song: ‘Round Midnight. It’s funny if you make up your own words to the song, like
It begins to smell
Round Midnight
Round Midnight
Didn’t do too well
in cleaning cat box…
hee hee Amy
Amy – funny stuff! I’m rather fond of the Linda Ronstadt version, though it makes me depressed…
When your cat is young or no matter what the age every time you see the cat beginning to claw say hey or no and give them the idea with your tone of voice that this is not right and the cat will stop and run at first then it will know it’s wrong and just claw outside. I’ve had cats for years and if you give them a lot of love they will do anything a dog will. I don’t go for all of this cuddling stuff that people do because it can give the animal the idea that it is boss and not you . Basically an animal just wants to get along and know who’s boss because they are pack or pride animals like lions or wolves.They want to know who’s boss and behave appropriately . My cat will heal like a dog, will sit and stay and goes to the bathroom outside so I don’t need a box or have to buy cat litter. The first thing you have to do with a cat is talk to it and show it you love it and it will meow or talk back then it basically will do anything you want . Trust and love is the first thing I feel in training a cat or any animal for that matter.
Awww! Welcome to cat-personhood! What a cutie pie! A lot of those energy spurts will decrease as he grows and gets olders. Kittens, it seems, gotta go until they just can’t go no more.
Yes! Welcome to the world of cat-crazy dingalings! Hey everybody, now that he’s one of us, let’s flood Roger’s inbox and Facebook page with pictures and videos of allegedly cute cats!
Let’s not, and say we did, Dan!