It’s been over a year since we put Asia down. (I won’t say “died” because it wasn’t a natural end, it was just necessary given her health.) And we’ve been kitty-less since.
Most of that lack-of-cat-ness is because Monkey isn’t ready. She doesn’t deal well with change and “replacing” Asia with any other cat wasn’t really an option. She fought it hard, usually by becoming very quiet, which for someone like Monkey is a strong message.
But, finally, we got a tentative “yes”, which flipped the switch in Alex to find us a new cat. This had it’s own complications, as Alex has desperately wanted another cat and Monkey’s reticence was causing strife in the other direction, catching Choo Choo and I in the middle.
A few days ago, we went to see a lovely orange kitty, a rescue with AARCS, living in one of the condo apartments near Prince’s Island Park, overlooking downtown. The couple watching over him (a male cat) were wonderful, and (thankfully) not put off by Monkey’s withdrawn behaviour, as she stood off to the side. (We explained that she had been very attached to Asia, who was a big sister to Monkey.)
In the conversation yesterday at the dinner table, which almost came to screaming over how badly a cat was needed, Monkey acquiesced and we arranged to pick up the cat today. We’ve named him Hodgins, after one of Choo Choo’s favourite characters from the TV show Bones.
It was only when we went to pick Hodgins up that we realized just how big a boy he really is. Asia was a comparatively small kitty, whether due to her genetics or whether this is sexual dimorphism, I don’t know, but Hodgins is about the same size as Asia’s carrier, so there was no way we were getting him in it.
Not that getting him into the AARCS carrier was any easier. Hodgins is not only big, he’s strong, something new in a cat, for me. But we got him in, thanked the couple (though I will drop off the carrier with them tomorrow, as it’s AARCS’s), and listened to poor Hodgins’ meow on the way.
For a big boy, his meow is high-pitched and delicate. I guess we were expecting more Barry White than Tiny Tim.
But he didn’t race out of the carrier when we opened it at home. Nor did he cower inside. He waited a moment, then walked out as if this were totally normal, sniffed a bit went up the stairs to the kitchen level, the flopped over with a solid but soft thump. “Mine.”
So we have a new cat, again. I’m wondering how long it’ll be before he takes to us. With Asia, she was standoffish for a long time, until Alex was pregnant with Monkey. And since a baby is not in our future, it might be some time before Hodgins trusts us enough to be a lap kitty.
