In the comments to my original post about Atticus, Scand asked me to speak about why I have all-male pets, as feminist. She also asked why I gave Atticus the name I did. So I thought I'd answer those things:

Especially if you happen to be a shoe...

As you can see, our newest member has made herself nice and comfortable.

A perennial favorite question: how many cats do you need to have to be the crazy cat lady? Alternatively, how many dogs do you need to have to be the crazy dog lady? What if you mix it up and have both?

The current size of our menagerie is four: two feline, two canine. For some people this would clearly be too many. I respect that. Four pets is a lot of work, a lot of expense, a lot of poop scooping and litter box cleaning and lugging bags of dog food and a million other not wholly enjoyable things. We always have vet bills. We always spend a lot at the pet store. We always have hair on our clothes, on our furniture, and often between our teeth. We spend a ton of time grooming and feeding and medicating and walking and playing. Our pets are our number one priority, the first place we direct our money and time. For many, probably most, people, there is little appeal to this lifestyle.

For Mark and I, though, it simply can't be any other way.

If you are having that cranky Monday feeling this morning, I suggest taking a trip over to the American Humane website, where they have posted the winners and finalists of their pet photo contest.

Not as good as another hour's sleep, maybe, but it'll do.

P.S. This one is my favorite, hands down.

Situation: A very thin, not great looking cat shows up in neighbor's yard. Neighbors are great folks who happen to have a dog that is not and will never be cat friendly. Neighbors are at a loss as to what to do with cat after they have gone around the neighborhood and made sure it doesn't belong to anybody they can find.

Solution: New cat at my house, naturally.

When I was a kid, I used to tell people I was going to travel the world and get pregnant in different countries and end up with a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic brood of kids. As I got older and understood adoption, I decided I'd do it that way. I had in mind a family that looked a bit like Brad and Angelina's, actually. I loved the idea that I would have a family that had all come from different places, at different ages, and had different life experiences. In my biological family, people tend to resemble each other quite a bit physically, talk in similar ways, and live in similar conditions. I wanted something more exotic (remember, this is when I was a kid, please, and no flames for what I now recognize as a pretty obnoxious thought patterns). A mixed bag.

Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of our pack/pride, Illy. Yes, like the espresso company. The competition was fierce, with Mark pulling for Indigo, on account of her blue-eyedness, but I won out in the end.

God, no, not me!

Illy.

So probably at least three babies.

Yeah. The new sure-we-can-take-one-more stray cat is pregnant. Due in 2-3 weeks. Isn't life...entertaining?

So as I mentioned yesterday, we found out Monday night that Illy is pregnant. She is, in fact, very pregnant--the vet thinks she will give birth in 2-3 weeks (cats gestate for 63 days). This was, to put it mildly, a surprise. I had noticed her growing belly, but she was so very skinny when she came to us, I just thought she was kind of gaining weight funny and/or bloated. We knew she wasn't spayed, but the idea that she could have gotten pregnant before she showed up at our neighbors' house (which is, clearly, what happened) never even occurred to us.

But we're making the best of it. It has been suggested to me by several people (in the rescue community, even) that we get her spayed now--i.e. get her aborted. I can't do that. Maybe if she was just a wee bit pregnant, but I saw heartbeats on the ultrasound at the vet's office, and there is no way I could be responsible for ending those lives. Maybe that's goopy of me, but there you have it. So we're going to be having kittens.

When you can't find Atticus and Esme, it turns out they might be making out in the linen closet. I remember the days when these two hated each other. Ah, young love.

(The photo is of two cats, Atticus and Esme, curled up together on a shelf of folded sheets and blankets in a linen closet.)

Illy, day 1, 4 lbs, 12 oz.

(The photo shows a very thin cat.)

Illy plus four

Sometime between 3am and 6:30am this morning, Illy gave birth, unassisted, to four kittens. Sexes are currently unknown. Three of the kittens are black and white, one seems to be gray/brown tabby. All are healthy so far, though Illy doesn't yet have any milk in and the whole lot of them are going to the vet this afternoon to get that checked out.

Currently mom and babes are residing in a box in our spare room, decked out with old sheets and towels and a warm heating pad to make sure everyone is cozy. Several hours post-birth, Mom enjoyed a hearty meal of Wellness chicken and herring soft food.

More news as it is available.

The vet gave everybody a clean bill of health, and Illy's milk has come in. Everyone is currently nursing. Looks like we have three boys and a girl (though that's mostly a guess at this point). The largest kitty (the tabby) is 3 oz., the other slightly smaller. I will try to get individual pictures in the next couple of days.

Several sets of names are under consideration. My current favorite plan is to name them after EPL football teams--Arsenal, Manchester, Liverpool, Chelsea. We'll see.

No reason me feeling crappy should deprive you of this.

I am cool with the lion bedding down the lamb and all that, but do they have to do it on my bed?

(The photo is of a large white dog, Ata, stretched out on the bed, along with two cats, the tabby, Atty, and the tortie, Esme.)

Finally, individual kitten pictures! Keep in mind that when these guys went to the vet on Monday (Day 1), the biggest of them (the tabby) weighed just about 3 oz. So they've grown quite bit.

The tabby weighed in at 6.2 oz.

I missed you!

I'd love to regale you with stories about how wonderful my Christmas in Oregon was, and I do have lots of those stories, but damn it's late and I spent all day traveling, so I'm gonna to keep it to the essentials. New kitten pictures, now with NAMES!

The tabby is now called Feliz. As in Feliz Navidad. He weighed in today, Day 12, at 9.6 oz.

I know you were wondering! Everyone is still happy and healthy and growing, and they are beginning to get a bit friskier and more playful. Updated pictures:

Noel and Feliz are still the big guys, but Noel has overtaken Feliz. She weighed 12.6 oz today, to Feliz's 11.6.

OK, weigh-in time!

Noel is still the biggest of the bunch. Her Day 19 weight was 12.6 oz, today she's at 1 lb 4 oz.

Feliz is next. He was 11.6 oz at Day 19, 15.2 oz today.

Yule is still after Feliz: Day 19 weight was 11.4 oz, today he is 14 oz.

And Holly is still a teeny little thing. She was 9.8oz, today she is 12.4 oz.

It's been a while. I thought maybe you all were missing the kittens.

These first two pictures are rare glimpses of all four kittens, holding fairly still, in the same frame. From left to right you see Holly, Feliz, Noel, and Yuel.

Can't help it...

This one is Holly with Leo.

Today's featured kitty is Noel. Noel can be distinguished by having the black and white face with the fewest markings, as well as by being the biggest of the kittens.

So yesterday I thrifted a couple of brand new pop-up cat cubes (like this) for our pride of cats. The adult cats played with theirs for about 15 minutes (mostly hiding in it in order to ambush one another) and then they were done. The kittens, however, LOVE the cube. Love it so much that I made them a bed in there. And y'all, the cute is almost killing me.

The babies are six weeks old tonight/early tomorrow morning, so we weighed them in tonight. They're not as compliant as they used to be, so we have to use restraining measures.

Noel is still the biggest, at 1 lb 9.0 oz.

I've been asked for more kitten pictures, and who am I to deny their fan base? The kittens are all scheduled to go to their new homes this coming weekend (just before their 8 week birthday), so I guess we'd better get the cute in while we can.

Last night when I got home, I opened a package from the mail my cats were VERY interested in. A bunch of new felted wool toys, packed in catnip! What could be better?

First, mama got in on the toy action.

So we have kitten trouble.

Or, rather, we still have kittens, which is trouble. A few days ago, we thought we were on easy street, with three adopters lined up, one of whom was going to take two of the kitties. In the last 24 hours, two of those adopters have backed out, including the one who was going to take a pair. So, as of now, we have three nearly eight-week old kittens with no homes lined up for them.

I'm sure we'll find someone soon, but I'm frustrated. We always have the Humane Society as a back-up, of course, but I'd rather not do that if we don't have to.

In case you forgot, here's how cute they are:

A week ago, we had adopters lined up for all of the kittens.

This afternoon, the last of those adopters backed out, for various reasons (and some without reasons). We are now back to square one, with four nearly eight-week old kittens and nary an adopter in sight.

I make no bones about it--Yuel is my favorite of the kittens. I'd love to keep him (her?). Yuel is the slowest, cuddliest, shyest, sweetest. Also, to my eye, the cutest. So I thought I'd share.

In a nutshell.

Reasons cats should be allowed outdoors:

• They need fresh air.


• It is mean to keep them trapped inside.


• They need to hunt.

Reasons cats should not be allowed outdoors:

• They harm native bird species.


• It statistically shortens their lifespans, via accident, predators, and/or disease.


• it is irresponsible to allow your pet to defecate somewhere you can't clean it up.


• It is irresponsible to allow your pet free access to other people's property.

/nutshell

Atty and Ez remind us that it's not just the kittens and their mama who are cute.

Check out this idyllic scene from my house last night.

Yesterday, the final kitten was adopted. There is no more constant bell sound in our house, and no more need to watch your feet whenever you walk anywhere, as they are open to attack from a 2 lb black and white fur ball. It's very sad.

That being said, having these kittens has been a wonderful experience. Being able to see them through Illy's entire pregnancy and then their first 8-10 weeks of life was a true blessing. Were I not so afraid to seem sentimental and trite, I'd possibly use the word miracle.