Lounging around

This concludes the summer series on Tora, although I'm sure I'll have more pictures to post of her every once in a while. I'll be starting a new series on Fibromyalgia which will run roughly from August 11 to Sept 12, as a precursor to Invisible Illness Awareness week. Thank you for reading and I love you all!


Update 3/28/12: Come check me out at my new Wordpress Blog, I got a new camera and it's fancy and shmancy and great! http://ajmckphotography.wordpress.com/

Tora doesn't understand baths

"Hey Mom!"
"Hi Tora..."

"Whatcha doin?"

"Taking a bath, Tora."

"Why on earth would you want to do that!?"
"Well I have to get clean, darling."


"Uh oh, I don't have to take a bath.... do I?"
"No Tora, you bathe yourself!"
"Okay. Phew!"


Haha yes I DO pretend that my cat and I have legitimate conversations. It's a problem.

Tora has adventures and then sleeps

Tora is about to make a very poor decision here. Despite the six claws on Tora's front paws, kitsa is still able to pin her without hesitation every time they wrestle. Sometimes I wonder how the old lady can keep up with an energetic kitten like that.


Then I remembered that cats sleep for something like 18 hours a day. Wow...


"Squee!"

Nom first, ask questions later

Tora is currently in her "wants to attack and kill anything that moves" phase. I hear it's supposed to last for approximately as long as she is a cat.


Good morning, kitten!


NOM!

I guess we were right in naming her "Tiger" weren't we?

Welcome home Tora!

After a very traumatic drive home for the both of us (note to self: ALWAYS check the weather before you drive home in the middle of the night), Tora was all set to be introduced into her new home! Well, er... sort of.

You see, when you add a new kitten into an already established household, you have to take certain precautions. Namely quarantine.


Tora did not like quarantine.


I tried distracting her by giving her tasty treats and by staying in the room with her as much as possible, which of course caused the older cat to be confused and jealous. Anytime I left the room Tora would cry and cry and cry, and kitsa would stare at the door and hiss and hiss and hiss. Eventually they grew tired of this routine and kitsa would just give me this pleadingly baffled look as if to say "Why, mom? Just... Why?".

But I was very firm on following my instructions. The cats had to be introduced slowly, and not until I got Tora to the vet for her first check up. Her momma was a stray after all, so I wanted to be as careful as possible.

I decided to take both the cats in to the vet, since kitsa was due for her annual anyway. Boy was that an adventure in itself. You see, I only have one cat carrier, yet I had two cats to take to the vet. I ended up putting Tora in the carrier, putting on an older shirt that I usually designate for painting projects, and holding kitsa in my arms, which of course resulted in me being covered in a thick layer of fur by the end of the ordeal. Thankfully this arrangement worked out safely for everyone involved, although I'm pretty sure I'll be getting another carrier before next year's annual.

Other than that, the vet appointment went well, Tora tested negative for all the normal kitten related ailments and kitsa tested negative for all the normal old lady cat ailments. They did have to give Tora a squirt of medicine in her ears for a mite problem (eek!), but after those were taken care of, the vets said the cats were ready to meet.





Ok, so maybe Tora wasn't quite ready to meet an older cat yet, but at least she's really good at hiding!



Things went pretty well over the next few days. The girls got used to having each other around, and just the other day I saw them playing together! I found out that Tora is incredibly smart, she watches TV, youtube, and even likes to type on my computer (when she's not trying to attack it) something about keyboards must be incredibly intriguing to cats. Maybe it's the "click click" noise or the springy sensation, like a kitty style moonwalk or something.

I also discovered something rather interesting...

She likes the bathtub. She actually sits here while I take showers. The shower curtain protects her from getting soaked and she gets to be closer to mommy. (Aww!)


Perhaps it's because it was so hot those first few days, and obviously the tub would be the coolest surface in the house, what with being watered down twice a day and all. Whatever the reason, she has developed quite an affinity for this spot, as you'll see in future posts.


I also learned that this cat can climb anything. I have found her on top of the entertainment center, on top of a mattress we have leaning against the wall, she can even climb up people! Although I think we've managed to break her of that last habit.


Don't be fooled by the seeming cuteness of this photo, she was definitely considering her next plan of attack when I took it.

I found that kittens significantly combat a multitude of things such as loneliness, boredom, and financial security (Can you say booster shots?). I can already tell that she is going to deserve every penny.

Story of a kitten

So, we had been considering getting a new kitten for, oh about half a year, when suddenly the opportunity arose. I met a girl holding a cardboard sign that read "Free Kittens!" on it. Normally I would pass this by, citing all my normal excuses (we can't afford the vet bills, I don't know anything about kittens, and the list goes on) but something drew me to talk to the girl. What I found out was incredible.

In search of a mentor

I was speaking with my cousin earlier today on the topic of growing up. Hey, it's a relevant thing for two twenty-somethings to be thinking about! Ok, so my cousin is almost a twenty-something, but that's besides the point. We're both going through changes in our lives like we never expected. She just finished her first year at college, I'm getting married... understandably, growing up is on our minds. Even though she and I are at different stages, one question struck a chord with both of us: "Am I even doing this right?"

Good question, and one we can't really answer. There are no set standards for maturity, you can't google "timeline of life" and find out exactly what you should be doing at any given age. It's simply not that simple. So what's the solution? Well, a mentor.