We've Been Acquired or Life Lessons From A Kitten

4:18 PM

Last Saturday, Chris and I found ourselves in the possession of a bow-legged, bat-eared, talon-toed kitten.

Make no mistake as to who was in control of this situation.

Her name is Willis. Mostly. She's also been called Skunk Monkey, Demon, Dammit, and NinjaPuss.

Willis Ferlita
And before you ask, no her name has nothing to do with the TV sit-com from the 80's, but it does have significance to us.

Can you hear that laughter? That's the Universe ROFLIAO. You see, we weren't ready for a new kitten. Or a puppy. We weren't even sure we were going to get another one at all.

Yeah, well, put one lost, hungry and lonely kitten in my parents' garage on the day I have to go over there and poof! We now have a kitten in the house.
Playing with an oversized pipe cleaner
The lessons we've observed so far...

She knows what she wants and she goes and gets it. There is no try. There is do or do not. Or, in her case, attack or do not. Either way, she gets what she wants and she's not afraid to get vocal about it either.

She is nearly fearless and quite fierce. Anything and everything is fair game for those needle-sharp claws. So far she's stood up to the ceiling fan, my coffee mug, and demons only she can see.

She'll try anything once, including jumping up on things (like human legs) best not jumped up on, jumping off things that are a bit too high (tables) to be jumped from, and climbing up things not meant to be climbed (curtains). If she fails, she either tries again or goes and finds something else to do. She doesn't obsess or freak out.

She is respectful. When the older cat came into the room, she sits still and watches him. When he only had hisses and growls for her, she ignored him and went about playing like a maniac. Totally ignored him and his unhappy vibe. She didn't get hung up with his bad attitude nor did she waste any time wondering why he didn't like her.

She plays hard. Then she sleeps. So far she has two speeds—attack and sleep. She lives to eat, sleep, poop and most importantly, have fun and play. We've laughed more in the last 72 hours than we have in the last six months.
Look at those eyes. She's a wild child.
As for the older cat in the house...

Joey staged a hunger strike under the bed for the first 24 hours. When that proved unsuccessful in removing the intruder, he attempted extreme affection and cuteness in the hopes he would prove this new trespasser was completely unnecessary.

I suspect he fears the kitten armageddon that is sure to come as soon as we turn her loose on him. Poor Joey...he may not leave the comfort of his hiding place under our bed from several weeks.

Meanwhile, I think I'm going to see if I can't adopt her approach to life...play hard and often, be fierce, be fearless, try new things with abandon and ignore anyone who doesn't want to play with me!

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13 Creative Thought(s)

  1. Congratulations on your new baby. She looks adorable and I can't imagine how much fun you are having with her. Enjoy !
    Meredith in NC

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  2. so where's the painting of this little bundle of fluff? :) I'm sure it's very soon; she may well become your logo Laure

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  3. Love that "ignore anyone who doesn't want to play with me" idea. Did you know we have a puppy I didn't mean to get? I think that is why baby animals are so cute. We can't turn them down. In my case it was seeing that Biscuit was up for being put down, and then the shelter tried to talk us out of even coming to see him because he has some twisted back issue (keeps him from jumping but otherwise he seems to be okay)but how could we not take him? Five months old and going to die because he has a back issue (I still wonder if it happened pre birth or post birth as I have seen too many abused dogs. At any rate we have him and he is creating almost as much havoc as your kitty. My older kitty is getting used to him slowly and I hope yours will too. I can imagine you two have laughed a lot. You needed it too. Maybe it was no accident that kitten was in your parent's garage!

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  4. What a lovely post, Laure. Can't wait to see all of the sketches that she will have you produce. Congratulations and thanks for giving yet another kind friend a forever home.

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  5. What happy news! I'm delighted to hear about your new found furry friend and the lessons you've learned from her. Enjoy!

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  6. ...and don't forget sleep. Kittens are a handful. Our 10 year old is so laid back he actually loves company. In fact when the paramedics had to come to our house last week, my son said he was all over them. Maybe he knew they were there to take care of me!

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  7. Sweet. I hope the cats become, if not friends, at least tolerant of each other. ha... Who can resist those cute eyes and all that energy. It is bound to rub off some.

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  8. Your story reminds me of my kitty. He also goes after what he wants, can be fierce and fearless, loves high places (the higher the better). My kitty has actually calmed down a lot since we put a pheromone collar on him about a month ago to try to get him to stop scratching up our furniture so badly and it seems to be working so far. Your little guy is adorable!

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  9. We can all learn from your kitten!
    Good she is bringing a big smile to your face.

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  10. The kitten looks so adorable. If i could, I would have taken her away along with me. This reminds me of one of my friend who had a kitten and the loved and bond they shared.
    http://perfectliving7.blogspot.in/

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  11. OMG, Willis is absolutely adorable! So sorry I missed this post! I've really been behind! Congratulations on the new addition to your family!

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