Saturday, February 23, 2008

A kitty to be named later

I must have walked by dozens of sad, hungry street kittens in my nearly two years here. Perhaps it was inevitable that at some point I'd break.

Not just another pretty (?) face

A friend and I had just come out of a fairly useless interview with a legislator, and we were walking across the parliament grounds when we saw this little critter. She was all alone -- no parents, food or shelter anywhere nearby.

I stopped to take her picture and she came up meowing loudly, wanting to be petted. As soon as we tried to walk away, she followed. I think it was that desire for affection that won me over. After playing with her for a few minutes I called Chad and asked, "Were you serious when you said we should get a cat?"

His yes was tentative, and I was feeling pretty torn myself. But this kitty needed someone, and she'd found us. So we put her in a canvas tote bag and carried her home, trying to look nonchalant when the bag writhed and meowed in front of the security guards.


She didn't take long to settle in. Pretty soon she was wolfing down canned tuna and taking turns purring on everybody's lap.

She's about as big as a can of soda. She's skinny and flea-bitten and has myriad health problems. She doesn't even have a name yet. (Chad likes Susu, or milk, which is pretty cute, but I'm wavering because it also means "breast," and I don't want the other kitties to make fun of her on the playground.)


Whatever her challenges, though, it's pretty clear that she's home.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Great story! V cute cat! :)

Elyani said...

Hi Trish,

I've been checking your blog now and then but it looks like you didn't have time to update it. Glad you came back with a touching story. I took one stray kitty from the neighborhood last year and named him Suneo (the character in Doraemon the Japanese kids movie). Suneo was so skinny like your kitty when I first had him. He has this 'fox face' (no pun intended) because he was so small and thin back then. Now Suneo has grown as very good looking cat. I just had him neutered last week. It was a hard decision but I had to do it one way or the other as his hormone has started to kick in and he wanted out all the time.

Sorry, it is a long comment. Perhaps you will name the sweet little kitty, Shizuka? Shizuka is the nicest girl in Doraemon movie.

Some of my Suneo's pic is here:
http://elyanigunadi.blogspot.com/2008/01/meowy-suneo.html

Anonymous said...

fantastic! she is heartbreakingly adorable. talk about tiny. I'm so glad she found you guys. she's one lucky cat.

maybe a name that has something to do with her good fortune? or strong will to survive? or her diminutive size?
what's an indonesian word for Gargantuan?

WiLSoN said...

Hey Trish! congratulations on being found by....

...what's her name! (Soda?) This could be the beginnig of a beautiful friendship.

*

Hey to Chad too!

Anonymous said...

Nice kitty!

How about naming her 'Dora'? It's not likely that many other cats will be sporting the same name, and it gives you the traditional 'David Copperfield' tie-in!

We are down to just one cat here now, as we recently lost Bart to kidney disease...we are waiting for another kitten to find us sometime.

Anonymous said...

Susu is a really cute name.. I don't think people will automatically associate it with 'breast' at all. It's very very rare that people use 'susu' for that purpose, only for stupid baby cutesy talk.

Unknown said...

How about dandelion or amaryllis? Just kidding. She looks very sweet and you must be very happy to have a companion. I bet she'll be fat and happy before you know it!

mr_john said...

Oh man... Don't let Shelley know, she'll be heartbroken that you got one after we left...

How is the new arrival dealing with Blacky?

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness I just want to reach out and pick her up! When will she be available to do spots for NPR?

Anonymous said...

WAAAAHHH, why did you get a cat only after I left? I could have been a pet-owner by proximity!*

*Blackie totally does not count.

Stupid Australia and its stupid quarantine laws. If I adopted a cat here, I'd just have to give it up in 2 years. John wants a piglet, but judging from the heft of their mothers, I'm guessing they don't stay cute for very long...