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Coming and Going

Sunday
2/20/2011

What a week at 50K...

After much vacillating, we decided Friday morning to see if we could get an appointment for Taj that day. He was still eating his chicken baby food if we fed it to him by hand, but he wasn’t as enthusiastic about it. He also seemed to be getting restless – often standing up and readjusting his position – and was swallowing frequently, even though his mouth was empty. He didn’t seem to be in pain at all, but we felt that those things might be signs of decline, and we lived in fear that he would crash over the weekend and we’d have to scramble to get to the emergency vet. One or two more days of TLC didn’t seem to be worth the risk of letting him suffer.

Late on Friday afternoon, we put him and his plaid blanket in a laundry basket – we didn’t want him to feel freaked out by a carrier – and drove him a short distance to a nearby clinic. I sat in the car with him until it was time. Ted and I were petting him and talking to him the whole time, and he was not distressed at all. He went out very peacefully. We both cried as if he were our own cat, but it was a good end for him.

On Saturday, we picked up three more kittens that had been transported from Elkins, WV (home of the Nuns). Long story, but one of the Nuns’ sisters, Nanette, had not made last week’s transport. We drove about 30 miles to get her and two unrelated boys, Spiff and Moe. We knew it was going to be quite a crowd in the villa, but we also knew that two of the Nuns would go home today. Once again, they’d been driven 3.5 hours from Elkins to Hagerstown, MD, where another volunteer drove them to Rockville, MD, where we picked them up. A long day for them. The boys had been housed together and were friends. Nanette was in her own carrier.

When we introduced everybody in the villa, it didn’t take long before everybody was hating everybody else. Even the original Nuns were hissing at each other! The two boys liked each other, and Nicki liked everybody, but the girls hated Moe (who was completely mellow and docile) and Spiff hated the girls. Nanette decided she was boss, and nobody was happy about that (except Nanette). We knew in a couple of days, they’d work it all out, but it’s been pretty crazy for the past 24 hours.

The couple who came to meet the Nuns last week came to take two home this afternoon. They had been concerned about adopting two Nuns and leaving one alone, which was really thoughtful. They knew we were going to try and get Nanette up here yesterday, so they waited, so we would be left with a pair. They had chosen Nicki last week (or rather, Nicki chose them by crawling all over them and hanging out in their laps), but hadn’t made a final decision on Nun #2.

Since last Sunday, Natasha, especially, had really blossomed and she sealed the deal today. She and Nicki will share their home with an 11-year-old tux named Tim and two cat-friendly dogs. Their moms had just bought a huge cat tree for them that was hanging out the back of the car – good times ahead!

When we looked at Spiff and Nanette, we wondered how we would tell them apart – well, when we picked up Spiff, we discovered he has a bob tail! He’s very very peep-friendly – loves being held and giving head butts. He’s kind of an instigator with the Nuns, however.

Moe is a gorgeous orange floofy boy. For whatever reason, the girls have been giving him a hard time, so he’s been laying low (even though he’s the biggest of them all). He LOVES balls, and will grab a ball and take it under the futon to play out of the girls’ way. He is also a big fan of the fleecy string. We are hoping that reducing the number of occupants in the villa will help calm everyone down and promote a faster detente!

We have another couple coming in a couple of hours who also want a pair, so the Nuns et al. are flying out as fast as they are flying in.

filed by: ME

PS: happy seventh anniversary, Reggie! Our top staff feline came home with us as a two-year-old, seven years ago today.

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