Just now, a kitten came and sat on me, sneezed on my laptop screen while staring me dead in the eye (and yes, it was gross), and then wandered away as if he had taken care of business. And this, friends, has been my life for the past two weeks.
Yes. Four 12-week-old (now 14 weeks old) kitten siblings have descended on my home, and life has become absolute, sweet, cuddly, joyful chaos.
Four Kittens? What Were You Thinking?
You'd be surprised at just how many people have asked us this question (or some variation of it) in the past two weeks. And we totally get it. Here's what happened.
We once had four dogs, two kids and all their friends, and a cat all roaming through our house at once, and it was joyful chaos back then, too. (We've been accused of being small animal hoarders.)
Now, we're empty nesters whose kids grew up and moved out and whose pets all eventually got old and died. Our lives changed and became much quieter. In a lot of ways, it was easier, especially since we travel quite a bit. The quiet was always a little disconcerting, but we needed the time to mourn the loss of our beloved pets, and for a few years, we just didn't feel ready to add any new household members. Until we were. And then, boy were we ready.
Just One or Two Kittens
So the plan was to bring home one or two kittens. Even during the years of mourning, I would go on Petfinder regularly and look longingly at all the adorable kitties and dogs that needed homes. But it never felt right until it did. That was when we spotted Ragu.
Ragu was an adorable 12-week-old female shelter Siamese-tabby mix, and I knew the minute I saw her that she needed to be part of our family. Fortunately, my hubby Jim agreed.
So my plan was to just apply to adopt her. But then, right next to her was a picture of her sister, Focaccia. Also adorable. Plus, I knew I needed to rescue those kitties from those names. I couldn't in good conscience leave the two of them to live out their lives with the names of Focaccia and Ragu, now, could I?
Turns Out, There Were More
Jim and I discussed it and agreed that two cats would be absolutely purrfect, they wouldn't outnumber us, and they'd bring some life and joy to our home. So far, so good.
We filled out the application on a Saturday night at around 7:30, and by 8 PM, someone from the shelter was calling and asking when we'd like to stop by to get the cats. We headed out the next morning to meet them.
And then we walked into a room with eight nearly identical tabby-Siamese mix siblings. They were all named after Italian foods. So we bent our resolve for only two and decided to also rescue Fetuccine from a life of being made fun of by other cats for his name (ironic, given his name is now Schnebly, but more about that in a minute).
We Headed Home With Three Kittens
There was one other little guy — Parmesan — who was super cute and sweet (oh heck, they were all adorable), but he hadn't been neutered yet (the other three had), so we left him at the shelter. We drove home with three kittens in the carrier, congratulating ourselves on not adopting all eight. And we came up with the names Sedona (Ragu), Arabella (Focaccia), and Schnebly (Fettuccine).
Why on earth those names, you ask? As I mentioned, we travel a lot, and my favorite place to visit is Sedona, Arizona. The town is named after Sedona Arabella Schnebly, and thus, they became our cats' names.
We Needed a Little Cheese With Our Pasta
But in a true case of life imitating — well, my appetite, we couldn't get Parmesan out of our minds. He was just so sweet. And the three other kitties were gelling so well in our home that we were afraid if we waited until he was neutered, it would be hard to reintegrate him with the pack. So, Jim called the rescue, and we promised to take him to get neutered if they'd let him come home with us. Thus, four cats.
Reintegration
It had been all of 36 hours, but the established cats were totally dismayed by the addition of another cat that they had very recently spent the first 12 weeks of their lives with. But within 12 hours, they apparently decided he was okay, and Parmesan was a member of the fam. With a new name, of course.
Since we couldn't come up with another Sedona-themed name (Jim nixed Arizona), we called him Bryce for Bryce Canyon — another place we love to visit. And so it is that we have four kittens.
Things We'd Forgotten About Cats
It has been a while since we've had kittens, and we'd forgotten a few things about them.
Cats Get Into Everything
There is no place cats can't go. NO PLACE. One has walked across the top of our vertical blinds, which are 11 feet high. One jumped on my head from the top of the piano. There was one swinging from my hanging plant doing — I don't know what. Being a cat, I suppose.
If There's Something You Don't Want a Cat to Have, They'll Find It
Thanks to the kittens, I have enacted a massive decluttering campaign that has rid my home of all sorts of tchotchkes that they're just going to push off of a shelf or tabletop somewhere. I actually meant to get rid of a lot of that stuff anyway. After all, why does someone need like 10 different representations of Buddha? I also had to give away a ton of my plants that were toxic to very nibbly kittens. My surfaces are blissfully clutter-free, and I don't hate it. There's a lot less to dust.
Sometimes, They Climb Me Like a Tree
Just this morning, I was in a work meeting on Zoom when Bryce decided he wanted attention. Rather than jumping up into my chair (which he totally had room to do), he climbed my leg. It's very hard to keep a pleasant work face when that's happening.
A Few Times a Day, They Lose Their Ever-Loving Minds
Anyone who has had a cat or a dog is familiar with the zoomies. Well, with four kittens, the zoomies are a long, drawn-out, hours-long ordeal that involves tumbling, climbing, thundering through the house, pouncing on anything that moves (including our feet and each other), and just generally leaving chaos in their wake. The other day, Sedona somehow kicked over a kitchen chair as Schnebly was climbing the back of it. It was loud, but everyone was okay.
And then, after a few hours of absolute wingnut insanity, they pass out in place, and we don't hear from them for hours unless they want to come snuggle. Their zoomies sessions seem to be at about 6 AM (fortunately, I'm awake and working by then) and again at about 6:30 PM.
We Wouldn't Change It for the World
Sure — our home is occasionally chaotic. Yeah — I sometimes have to wipe gross things off my computer screen or remove a cat from the curtains. Sure — we can't have nice things. Okay — occasionally, they unplug us from the Internet. And yes — we've absolutely spent a crap-ton of money on some totally cool cat things like cat trees and kitty puzzle toys (that took them all of 30 seconds to solve). Yep — I gag while scooping out four litter boxes every morning, am forced to vacuum every day, and currently buy food for the cats that is, ounce for ounce, more expensive than the foods I feed myself.
And I couldn't be happier. Their hilarious antics and sweet snuggles melt my heart. While I'll always love and miss our previous pets, these snuggly little monsters have reminded me why I've always loved having pets in my life. And, it brings me joy that we could rescue four sweet and silly sibs from a very busy and crowded no-kill shelter that needed to make space for more cats that might otherwise have met very sad fates.
In just two weeks, the kittens have become part of the fabric of our lives, and I wouldn't change it for the world.
