Friday, February 22, 2013

I just met you and this is crazy (Welcome, Hazel)


I'm sure readers remember that our beloved KiKi passed away about a month ago.  We still miss her a lot but decided we would like another kitty in our family.  We went to a local cat rescue and there were quite a few loving kitties to choose from.  (Side note: If you want their contact info, just let me know.  Their kittens are $25 each and adult cats like Hazel are by donation.  The adults are spayed or neutered, tested for feline leukemia and FIV, and have had their shots.  If I got a free kitten from someone, it would cost much more to have them fixed and get shots at the vet's office than what I donated for Hazel.  Kittens are overrated.  We only had a kitten one time and she ended up being the only pet we had to get rid of for behavior issues.)  This little cutie twisted my arm into taking her home.  She's about 2 or 3 years old.  She came with the name Coffee but we renamed her Hazel.
 
Hazel Valentine to be specific.  (Yes, we give middle names to our cats.  So far we've had Berkeley Marie, Nellie Jane, KiKi Josephine and now Hazel Valentine. Stop judging me). 
I think she likes it here so far but she spent about 23 of her first 24 hours under a table in our entryway or under a chair in the living room because she was a little nervous.  Don't worry, she's over that now.  If you happen to meet her, please be careful touching her right back paw.  At some point in her life, she broke the kitty equivalent to her ankle, and it didn't heal correctly.  Because of her break, she walks with a little limp and can be seen stretching it out sometimes.  She still walks, runs, and jumps like any other kitty.  She's super sweet and very talkative. 
 




 

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hazel looks like a tortie. Does she have "tortitude"?

In her honor, here is an old poem to welcome her:

THE TORTOISESHELL CAT
by Patrick Reginald Chalmers (first published in Punch magazine, 4 March 1914)

The Tortoiseshell cat
She sits on the mat
As gay as a sunflower, she;
In orange and black you see her blink,
And her waistcoat's white, and her nose is pink
And her eyes are green of the sea.
But all is vanity, all the way;
Twilight's coming and close of day,
And every cat in the twilight's gray,
Every possible cat.

*

The tortoiseshell cat
She is smooth and fat,
And we call her Josephine,
Because she weareth upon her back
This coat of colors, this raven black,
This red of the tangerine.
But all is vanity, all the way;
Twilight follows the brightest day,
And every cat in the twilight's gray,
Every possible cat.