What did we pick up at Petsmart today????

One thing that has dominated our life the last few weeks is the kitten search. It is not kitten season, and my kids were just determined to get a cat. My older daughter Abby wanted a grown cat, a siamese, or a white cat or a calico with a lot of white. My younger daughter just wanted one that would like to be held and actually any cat we could get TODAY and was breathing pretty much fit her bill. I wanted a cat that was going to be a little outgoing and confident so that they could handle living with three border collies, two girls, two adults, two shelties and a cat that is almost seven and has been an only cat her whole life.

It has been hard, my daughter Abby picked a pretty, sweet calico cat that was a few years old at Petsmart. The cat was sick and got sent back to the shelter for treatment....;-) she came back to Petsmart all better. We were excited, she seemed sooo sweet, very pretty and it would have been nice to help out an adult kitty, and it might have been easier for Kimmie to handle a grown cat. We cleaned my bathroom and got the room all ready for this little girl, got a new litterbox all ready, st out pretty food and water dishes, and headed to Petsmart with our carrier. We brought Chloe because she is our most cat friendly dog-sort of as a last minute thought thinking it would be good to reassure us she would do ok with the dogs...after an adjutment time of course. Well, sadly the cat had a pretty bad reaction to Chloe who was just trying to hide because the cat was scaring her. My daughter was heart broken and still wanted to get this sweetie, but as an adult cat I just felt really unsure she would feel happy and safe...esp knowing the border collies could really mess with a cat that did not like dogs. We talked to a lot of people who said that we were better off getting a kitty younger then six months unless we really knew a cat was used to dogs and other cats.

Next we saw a cute little siamese mix kitten at the shelter that had been part of a seizure. Not sure what the deal was but the kitten was not going to be available for two weeks nad it was a really fluffy kitten. My only criteria for a cat was it be a short hair cat. Kimmie is long hair and no one really combs her on a regular basis but me and I just would really rather have a short hair cat. The girls were really upset.....

So the girls have been on the net and looking everywhere for cats...there are not a lot of kittens available here right now. I kept assuring them that unfortunately kitten season is just around the corner....and unfortunately there will be way too many kittens in need of homes. After the Calico incident I really felt a kitten would be the best bet unless we could find a cat we could test out with dogs or we knew they were comfortable with dogs.

Well, we stopped at an out of town Petsmart today, late in the afternoon -and guess what we saw. A rescue group with 2- 14 week old female siamese mix kittens. OOOH dear. We looked and the girls were determined we would get one. Getting a new kitty is a little stressful for me thinking of all the years ahead and hoping that if we got a kitty it would be one that would fit for everyone. The age was great because I knew these kitties had been with their littermates until today -so they got more then twelve weeks with their families (I have been reading on the net that is good for their social development and learning things like all about litter boxes, and for their confidence), but they were still really kittenish looking and young enough to hopefully easily adjust to all the other animals.

As we looked at the kittens, the rescue people really were pushing for us to get two kitties. Emma my youngest loved the lighter white kitty, and Abby loved the darker marked cat. I had read a lot about how it would be easier on an older cat if there were two kittens to sort of take the brunt of kittens energy, and that if you get litter mates they will generally always stay close. I watched the kitties curled up and grooming each other, they were a little stressed since it was the end of a very long day for them I am sure-but you could tell they were really comforting each other. The rescue people persisted telling me they would give a GREAT discount for a second cat adoption.

Ahhhhhhhh.....I gave up and two kitties were coming home with us. Boy I was sweating bullets and I kept imagining all the animals in our house and I was feeling the weight on my shoulders of making such a HUGE decision. I had to go to Jack in the Box and get a diet Dr. Pepper and a shot of greasy comfort food (a mini funnel cake) on the way home to try to calm my nerves! There were calls to my mom and my friend to help me calm down and not panic about what I had done, hahahahaha, (it was a scary decision, because we have so many animals, and I dont think I have ever had more then one cat at a time). One thing that sort off worried me was the kitties had not purred and were a little reserved, but I was really hoping that it was because they had a long day and were stressed. I had already deceided though that the cat selection was for the girls and they should get what they wanted, and these were the kitties they wanted.

Both girls picked names, although who knows there might be changes as the kitties settle in and we see their personalities. Both girls had just the right collars in mind, LOL, we had a crate in the car.....things just flowed after signing a million papers, going through the applications, etc.

SOOOOOOO Without further ADO....here are the girls (I had wanted a boy kittie and got two girls...hummm HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?....I am just a girl magnet-all our animals are girls except poor Skyler):

PIXEL-Pixie for short-so far she seems a little quieter, and a little more confident and stable, a little more playful-but that could be because she was a little more relaxed. She is almost a white girl with little patches of really light tan, light blue eyes, and gets the pink cupcake collar. That is Emmas kittie.






SISTER TWO-ASHE-So far she seems like the first cat to purr but also the first kittie to hiss at the dogs, a little more high strung. In person she is a very striking girl way prettier in person then I was able to catch on film...with light blue eyes and she gets a dark blue collar. Her fur is a little darker tannish color.





Ashe and Pixel are set up in my bathroom for the first few days where we can make sure they are healthy and give all the doggies and kitties a chance to sort of get used to each others smells and to seeing each other. Lizzie and Cricket have been glued to the bathroom door and won't move....they are pretty happy we got new kitties, it will make herding easier ;-(, and Kimmie the cat and Ashe have already hissed at each other, but after an hour or two where everyone was able to settle down the kitties seemed to relax and were just sort of looking at Cricket and Lizzie when I opened the door to go in....and I was able to relax and not feel so panicked with worry about whether I had made a really bad decision when both kitties started purring when I walked in and jumped into my lap.....that sort of made it easier to RELAX and just trust that it was all meant to be.