This page contains the original news bits I wrote as updates to my cat page before I decided to split it into sections. While I lived in Florida, my roommates and I had anywhere from five to eight cats at a given time. We seemed to have a knack for making friends with people who had cat allergies, and we quickly dubbed our house Cat Haven because of our affinity for adopting cats.
I moved to Florida in October. Inca came with me and Meghan and quite a few of our belongings by plane. She did very well with the plane ride. I was glad to have it over--I think the idea was a lot harder for me than the ride was for her.
We are living in a house with two friends and their animals. Really, it's a zoo. Christy has a dog guide and two cats (Whisper inside and Tessie out). Deedra has her own personal zoo: a dog guide (Mikey), three cats, and two birds. Deedra's cats are Simba, Curi (aka Fluffy), and Inca. Yes, we have two Incas. I dared her to name her new black cat Inca last summer, and she did.
Inca hid for a couple of days behind the couch. Christy and Deedra close their doors at night to feed their cats. On the second night, Inca started roaming the house, and she soon established herself in my room. Now at night we have a routine. She comes to my summons--"Do you want some fooooooooooood, Inca?" And everyone settles in for a good night's rest.
I brought a new cat home this morning. Sierra has lived at the animal shelter for over six months. I knew the first moment I held her that I wanted to bring her home. Just to be sure, I held a few other cats, and it was hard to decide a couple of times. But that soft, silky fur and loud motor won my heart. I apparently made a good choice--she settled right down with Meghan, and Inca's growling and yowling doesn't seem to faze her. So far she's just been out of my room briefly and hasn't really encountered any of the other animals except for the view from my arms. I suspect she will remain passive and laid back. I'm trying to think of a way to teach her her name.
In the above picture, Deedra (one of my roommates) is holding Tessie, our outside cat. Tessie is a skinny black cat who loves to eat and is very friendly. She disappeared late last week. We miss her, and we hope someone picked her up and gave her a good home because they thought she was sweet.
Tessie was Christy's cat, and Deedra and I thought Christy shouldn't be without her kitty. So we surprised her with two kittens, Ariel and Austin. They're adorable. Click on the link to hear them get excited about being let out of their carrier in the mornings when they were about four months old.
We've discovered some interesting things because of the kittens--like apparently Sierra has been a mommy in the past. She is very friendly toward the kittens and protective of them. The other female cats in the house are not too friendly, but they are reasonably tolerant.
We now have eight cats in this house. I can't believe I'm not sneezing and hacking my lungs up. I've been using essential oils to treat my asthma and allergies, and actually, I've never felt better!
Sierra is learning her name, but she doesn't like to come to it. The only time she seems to respond to it is when she's in trouble and I say sharply, "SI-Erra!" She's not really in trouble much--except when she uses the carpet as a scratching post.
My Inca (aka baby Bincs because she's smaller than Deedra's Inca) tolerates Sierra well now, even at dinnertime. Inca eats first, and Sierra hangs around nearby to wait her turn. I'm happy. :)
Deedra moved out last fall and left her Inca with us. I decided it would be much too confusing to have two Incas, so poor "Big Binca" now has a new name: Sable. Whisper is no longer here in the house. We're down to five kitties now: Inca, Sierra, Sable, Ariel, Austin.