I was doing the math to try and figure out when Mishka was born… turns out it was right around when Miri died. I’ve only been without her for 9 weeks? Seems like much longer.

Good thing I took Mishka to the vet. Turns out he has horrid ear mites and I have to give him some nasty ear drops once a week for the next month. I hope Freya doesn’t get them as well.

Okay, the kitty’s official name is….Mishka. It’s Russian for “little bear.”

I seem to have a new cat a few days early! I went to visit him and they talked me into taking him home. He has a cold and they said it would only get worse there. My goodness he’s a bundle of energy! He’s a leeper and a climber. I think his name is Misha. Or Ty. Or Misha…or Ty. Right now, as this quickie photo album (courtesy of iPhoto) shows, I’m leaning towards Misha.

Freya? Not happy at all.

I’m sitting here looking around my house and realising how terribly non-kitten proof it is.

The quest for a kitty name heats up…

My friend Jess suggested thinking about Russian names since he looks like a Russian Blue (but isn’t). Misha would be nice, but too much like my late cat Sasha? Dunno. Also maybe Nikolai or Niki for short. The cat that turned me into a cat person was named Niki.

Also, since Freya is the name of a Norse god (I had no idea when I adopted her…she was already five and her name didn’t suck, so I didn’t see a reason to make her suffer through a name change), I’ve been looking at those. Bragi was the god of poetry and music. I’m not going to tempt fate by naming him Loki (the trickster)…and Thor and Oden seem too obvious. Modi (a son of Thor) means courage…

It’s so hard to name a being!

I went and visited him today. He’s so ready to be out of that cage. I can tell he’s going to be a handfull!

Since having to put Miri down, I’ve been debating about whether or not to get a new cat. And then debating about whether to get an adult cat or a kitten. I like the idea about getting an adult cat from the shelter since they are so often left behind. But, I also feel like you bond better with a pet when you’ve had them since kitten-hood. Older cats are easier to care for…was I up for the energy a kitten would bring into my house?

Right now, I have Freya – I adopted her when she was five – and it’s been rough going. She’s a very sweet cat, but she’s very, very (did I mention very?) needy. She came from a mulit-cat household and her neediness has increased ten-fold since Miri died. I kept wondering if a companion cat would make her happier and more relaxed. If so, a kitten would probably be better because Freya wouldn’t feel so threatened. I started trolling all the local shelter sites. There were so many adorable little babies and beautiful adult cats, but none really said, “you must adopt me!” Well, until last night.

I was looking through the available cats at the local Humane Society. There was an adorable short-haired Blue little boy cat with the unfortunate name of Borneo. I’ve never owned a little boy cat, I was always worried about spraying. But this face… So, I went down to the Humane Society at lunch.

I got there at five ’til noon. I didn’t realize they didn’t open until noon. So, I stand around outside with some other hopeful adopters. When the doors open up, I follow the other people inside. Borneo was in cage (glass on the side facing me) right across from the door. He’d been playing with a ball while everyone else walked in, but as I walked in, he looked right up at me. I walked up to the glass and he put his nose against the glass. Awww! I filled out my papers and asked to visit with him.

We played for about a half hour. He didn’t mind being held, but he wasn’t too cuddly and would squirm after a bit. That felt about right – last thing I need is two needy, clingy cats. He was alert, loved chasing a piece of string around and had a great dramatic pounce when he felt he’d conquered the evil string! Oh geez. I’m in love.

So, next Friday, I’ll bring him home. He hadn’t been neutered yet and couldn’t be neutered until next week. I wanted to take him home on a Friday so I could have the weekend to be there while he gets acclimated to his new environment, new companion (Freya) and new mommy. So, wish me luck! It’s been 14 years since I had a kitten to deal with! And what am I going to name him???

Oh – and just look at this face, like you could have said no?

I feel like my brain is slowly becoming detached from my body. You know how in action movies there’s always the scene of the hero dangling via a rope over some sort of pit of doom? (Perhaps filled with crocodiles or just never ending blackness.) And the rope starts to unfray and little bits of it snap off? That’s what seems to be happening to my brain – the synapses that hold it to my body are snapping like crazy. (And yes, I know synapses don’t “hold my brain to my body” – just bear with me!) I can no longer think clearly and forget speaking in full sentences. I’ve never exactly been verbally gifted, but just trying to say, “I need a converter plug that will allow me to put a small headphone plug into a mini-plug slot” to the guy at Radio Shack led to babbling like I haven’t heard in ages. “I have a…I need a…I have this plug? And I need a smaller…you know, headphones? and a mini-recorder?” Sheesh.

And just forget concentrating on anything but staring out into space for more than 5 or 10 minutes straight. ‘Cause that ain’t going to happen.

Ah, yes. It took iris blooming season for me to put new photos up…or to write in here.

I picked Miri up at the vet today and couldn’t stand to see how bad off she was. She couldn’t even stand up. I’m a selfish person, but not so selfish that I could see her suffer like that just so I could spend some time hugging her. She’s gone now. Just to make sure our relationship came around completely full circle, her last act was to pee on me. (Did she read that last blog entry? I wouldn’t put it past her.) I buried her in the back yard with the Dutch Irises and right by the window she used to sit in and soak up the sun rays.

I can’t express how much I’m going to miss her. She was my best friend – that may sound lame if you aren’t a pet person, but sometimes a pet is just a pet and sometimes they are friends. Miri always seemed to know when I was upset – she would cuddle up against me and purr. When I was crying after my dad died, I think she spent a whole week glued to me. She helped me so much during that time.