I got my Christmas present yesterday. After hearing I don't know how many times that we're never going to have another cat, my spouse got me a cat. It was supposed to be a surprise, but she came from the shelter, and they have to call to make sure it's OK. I guess they've had other people give pets as gifts and the poor animals come back. It was still pretty shocking. It had to be my spouses idea, though. I would love any kitty that came into the home, but he's picky, so he had to decide which one he wanted.
I named her Alia (Ah-lee-ah). They called her Rose at the shelter, so I kept that as her middle name. I wanted to name her something from Batman, for the 3 year old, but I didn't like the name Salina (Catwoman), so I did a search for women heroes. Alia was a Green Lantern without a past, so I thought that was very fitting (I also just found out that it was the name of Paul's sister in Dune. How could I forget that? But I think they pronounce her name differently).
My Alia was a stray, so they don't really know how old she is, but they think she's around 9 months. She already had a litter of kittens. She seems so tiny to me. Of course, it's been a while since I've had a kitty in the house. She seems a bit thin, too. Part of it is probably her age, but her head seems a little big, so part of it is probably malnutrition. Not that the shelter did it on purpose, but they have a lot of animals to take care of. No worries, though. We'll get her plumped up in no time!
According to the officer at the shelter, the poor baby had been there for 107 days. Part of that was because she had to wait until her kittens were weaned, then no one wanted her. If there were kittens there, I can understand why. Most people want the babies. They are so cute and cuddly. Not us. We needed a cat who was a little older who could hold her own. After all, she is in a house with a psychotic dog and two little kids. A kitten would probably have gotten eaten!
My spouse is a little worried that she's going to be antisocial because all she's done since she came home is hide. I keep trying to remind him that she just underwent major surgery and is in a new house. Again, she was a stray so I don't think she's ever had a home. My plan was to take her home and put her in her room (she has her own room with her kennel and litter box with food so she can get away from the craziness), but as I was filling the litter box, the 3 year old was helpful and opened the kennel door. She got out and hid under the recliner. She's been hiding ever since.
At one point last night, after the boys went to bed and the dog was pinned in a room, she did venture out and under our bed. Normally, the cat stays in her room overnight so that she doesn't get into things or on top of the counters, but we let her stay out so she could explore on her own terms. She scared the crap out of me at 2:00 am. I'm not used to having kitties in the house anymore, so her meowing was unnerving (plus, when you've had dreams that your dead cat is still in the house meowing, *shudder*). I went out and scritched her and showed her where her food and litter box was, and she followed me back into the room. She jumped up on the bed for a minute, but she quickly got down.
I'm very excited to have a cat back in the house. If left to my own devices, I probably wouldn't have gotten another one. I kept thinking up a million excuses of why it was better without one. It will take some time for everyone to get used to each other, but we will. Like I said, my spouse is very worried that she's going to be antisocial. When he went to pick her out, I guess she was very playful. I told him to give her time. She'll be like that again. I'm just sure of it. If she ever comes out of hiding, I'll post a picture!
