Our Newest Family Member

Okay, so I know there was no official Hottie last week, and that was all me. I've been feeling like shite lately, and therefore, I haven't been in the mood to blog much. I know, you probably couldn't tell, but it's the truth. A friend came over on the day we went to cut down the tree and got us all sick. Raged through our family like wildfire. UGH. I hate being sick.

But that's not what this blog is about. Oh no, I will not be sidetracked.

OUR NEW FAMILY MEMBER

DH and I kinda *talked* after our old cat died, Justin, if you might remember, or as I used to call him, Big J. You see, a few of our friends are allergic to cats, and since we usually hold gatherings at our house due to the fact that we have a large home and that it's really a pain to entertain a bunch of kids at someone else's home, we thought perhaps we should keep things down to one kitty.

Between you, me, and half the Internet, I pretty much knew this wasn't going to fly. My DH is an animal person. Heck, so am I. We both love cats and dogs, even though I complain about our chocolate lab more than I praise him. I guess you could say I love him under duress. LOL He's a stubborn, mule-headed moron that's actually smarter than I give him credit for. To give you an example, we have a lazy susan cupboard in the corner of our counter. He opens that with his nose and uses it as stair-steps to get up on the counter in order to eat whatever we may leave up there.

Even when we're in the other room, people. He's got balls of steel, even though I could have sworn we got him fixed ages ago...

Anyhow, so I knew this self-imposed critter embargo wouldn't fly long in the Goings house. DH starts talking about how he wants a new kitty to snuggle with. Not necessarily a kitten, but just someone to love on and be friends with our pure black cat aptly named "Ninja."

So I start going online to see if coat color actually effects the personality of the cat, as we've had two orange tabbies who were extremely laid back cats. We knew if we ever got another kitty, it would have to be a male, as Ninja is very territorial, as all female cats usually are. Male cats, 9 times out of 10, could care less. DH comes in, sees the website I have open, and gets kitten fever or something, I don't know. But I'm not going to stop him, because I never liked the critter embargo in the first place. This is our house and our family. Y'all alirjiks can take some meds and if that don't work, well, open the window.

We got our black kitty at the local Bonnie Hays Animal Shelter two years ago, so we decided to go there again to just "see what they have." What's cool about this shelter is they list all their animals online so you can see what they currently have for adoption. One kitty stood out for us before we even set foot in our van to go take a look. His name was "Polar Bear", and he was a pure white cat with amazing green eyes, like jade. The website mentioned he was very affectionate, loved to be petted, head-butter, athletic and playful. AAAWWWW

DH and I loaded up the kids and went to go see if he was still there and take a look at any other kitties we might spy. Adopting with the little microchip they implant and automatic spay/neuter is around $80 per cat. Well, lo and behold, they were having a Christmas special, half off any adoption. $40. Like it was meant to be.

Of course, we're passing all these cat cages with these PRECIOUS kitties, and I swear to GAWD if I didn't have a hubby and a family I would be "the cat lady." I wanted to take them all home, the babies! Anyhow, we scouted around, and we found him. Talkative, lover, rubbing on the cage door.

We asked to see him, and after filling out a questionnaire worthy of the Secret Service of the President of the United States, they allowed us in their playroom with him. And he just melted our hearts. You could hear the crash of the critter embargo falling down around us. He was our kitty.

After paying the fee and getting him microchipped, we brought him home. It's been about a day and a half since we introduced him to the other animals. The dog just wants to chase him and play, doofus that he is. Our other cat, however, doesn't know what to make of him. She kinda wants to be friends, but when she gets too close, she hisses. :P

You might be wondering if we kept his name "Polar Bear." The short answer would be NO. Lame-o. Sorry Bonnie Hays. We tossed everything around to Ghost, Spike (from Buffy), Zuko (from Avatar), Jayne (from Firefly)... Nothing fit. Then this afternoon, one of our kids mentions, "Hey, how about we name him Casper?"

**LIGHT**BULB**!!**

Now, we have two cats again in the Goings house, Ninja, the pure black kitty, and Casper, the pure white kitty, both with absolutely NO other markings on them. It's so cool because it was totally not planned. And Casper is a LOVER! And a talker and a handsome guy. We don't have any pictures yet, but I'm sure we will eventually. I just hope it doesn't take our cats too long to get used to each other.

Soon, they'll be having a licky-love-fest and look like some furry version of the Yin-Yang symbol. LOL! I can't wait.

~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com