A new addition to the family.

[Cathryn]

He's BEAUTIFUL!!!! Ginger cats are wonderful, the best type you can get and he's lovely.

 

[Baggy]

Yay! He is a nice chap!

 

[CopperBrompton]

Never trust a cat rescue centre ...​

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Last time, the Cat Protection League told me they had a gorgeous tabby that had mysteriously morphed into two gorgeous tabbies by the time we got there. This time, two kittens morphed into two kittens and their mum.​

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My last cat died earlier in the year at the impressive age of 19. He died peacefully on my lap. By the time I was ready to think about another cat, it wasn't kitten season and none of the rescue centres had any. They all took my details and said they'd call me.​

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As I'm away on business quite a lot, I thought it would be best to get two kittens, so they had some company for each other.​

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The Celia Hammond Animal Trust phoned a few weeks later to say they had two fortnight-old kittens. They couldn't leave their mum until they were 10 weeks old, but I could come and meet them now if I wanted, and reserve them.​

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I went to see them. The mum had either been abandoned or run off, so was stray when the two kittens were born on a building-site. They'd been there two weeks before they managed to round them up, so they were semi-feral.​

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The kittens were nervous, but irresistable. The centre then had a small suggestion to make: why didn't I take them today, foster the mum for 8 weeks then keep the kittens and bring the mum back. I just looked at them and asked whether anyone ever actually fell for that. "Oh yes," they said. Since it was clearly an absurd idea that I was going to care for a cat for eight weeks and then take it back, I told them to cut the pretence and hand over the adoption papers for all three.

They too spent the first three days under the sofa, but it's been a joy to see them gradually relax and settle in.
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[Cubist]

Ben, those kitten photos are award winners. The ginger kitten sums up all that is kittenish there in that tree, and the black fluff-ball has more mischief than you could shake a stick at. Lovely story, great result.

 

[CopperBrompton]

Thanks, Cubist. :-) And you're not kidding about the mischief levels!

 

[Arch]

Blimey, was it's father a Chow?

That's one stroppy looking fluffball!

 

[CopperBrompton]

Father unknown.

I don't know about stroppy, but she's the one who decided to do a jump from a first-floor window into the tree below.

She was completely unharmed by this, but I found her sitting in one of the upper branches looking most put out that I hadn't been waiting below to catch her.

 

[wafflycat]

Father unknown.

I don't know about stroppy, but she's the one who decided to do a jump from a first-floor window into the tree below.

She was completely unharmed by this, but I found her sitting in one of the upper branches looking most put out that I hadn't been waiting below to catch her.

Perhaps it's a black cat thing... Waffles was a tiny ball of fluff when I got her - she could sit in the palm of my hand and looked like a black ball of fluff with two tiny points of black ears appearing above the fluff. She also had a thing about jumping out of first floor windows. In Waffles's case it was to try to catch the male pheasant in the garden below.

 

[CopperBrompton]

I suspect Chocolate Girl was also doing it in an attempt to catch a bird. Between them, they do a brisk trade in birds, mice and worms. Fortunately I have mostly persuaded them to consume their self-service meals outside.

 

[Speicher]

Tasha is a mostly black cat who has owned me for the last twelve months.
She was a stray who had kittens when she was rescued by the Cats Protection League. I saw the kittens briefly, they were asleep and looked like three little balls of wool. Tasha had not been strong enough to feed them, so the kittens were being hand fed. If I had not already got one older male cat, I am sure I would have ended up with four cats.

She does not like the camera at all. Perhaps when the tree is up this weekend, and she is fascinated by the colours and shapes, I will try and get a good photo. All the photos so far, are of a blurry shape receding into the distance.

 

[John the Monkey]

Handsome fellow indeed!

Cats are my favourite sociopathic animal

 

[CopperBrompton]

If I had not already got one older male cat, I am sure I would have ended up with four cats.

Knowing the CPL, Im surprised they didn't sneak the kittens into your carrier when you weren't looking. :-)

She does not like the camera at all.

Bribery with food is my usual approach with these things.

 

[Cubist]

Don't want to put a damper on anything, but a friend's kitten got tangled in the tree decorations overnight and died. Perhaps a warning to keep the kittens out of the room when you're not there to rescue?