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.

Since this is my first post this year, and I am hopeful that I have a few new readers (maybe some of you from the contest stuck around?), I thought it might be a good use of my first Show Me Saturday post to introduce you to the players here in the What If No One's Watching saga.

First, there's me. I'm Grace, and I'll be your host. I'm a 29 year old Oregon native, transplanted in Austin, Texas by reason of education. My Austin-education is over (Masters in Public Affairs that I plan to never use), and my partner's is nearly completed, so we'll be moving on here within the year. I work as a University number cruncher, which is not my passion but does me just fine for now. My actual intellectual passion is U.S. history, and I'm still playing with the idea of getting a Ph.D. in that field some day. My non-work passions are dog rescue (more on that in a minute), reading, movies, crafting, thrifting, and, recently, the English Premiere League (football).

Next up is Mark, my partner. Mark and I have been together for seven years, and we were friends for four years before that, so we've known each other pretty much our entire adult lives. He's a fantastic human being, even if he doesn't think so. He's a Ph.D. student in neuroscience, and he's very, very smart. He's also truly good-hearted, which he sometimes tries to hide. He's into gourmet cooking and home repair, as well as sharing my passions for dogs and soccer.

The next eldest member of our family is Leo. Leo is a rescue dog. Mark and I adopted him in August of 2005 (read about it here). At that time, we thought he was between 6 and 8. Three plus years later, it's clear he was definitely closer to 6 than 8, because there is no way he's 11 now. 9, maybe. We don't know what Leo's mix is, though we're always game to hear a guess. The current best-guess is Pyr/Old English Sheepdog.

Leo is basically my soul mate in dog form. I loved our previous dog, Chance, whom we lost way way too soon, but Leo...Leo is something else. He truly makes me believe in miracles.

Our next addition was tabby cat Atticus, in September 2005. We adopted Atticus from a PetSmart, where they were housing cats that had been moved out of shelters to make room for animals orphaned by Hurricane Katrina. It took me a bit to sell Mark on the cat idea, but I really wanted one, and then I met Atticus. His name was Sam then, and he was about 4 months old. All of the the other cats were mellow and friendly. Sam jumped out of my lap and made a mad escape into the store. Yep, that's the one I want. He continues to be alternatively cranky and affectionate, and to love Mark and only barely tolerate me. (You can read Atticus' story here.)

In January of 2006, we added our second dog, Atakan (pronounced Ah-tah-kahn, called Ata). Ata is another rescue, this time from the next county over's county shelter (read his adoption story here). He was a pathetic case when we adopted him, but has grown into an absolutely beautiful Anatolian Shepherd. With a kind of strange personality. Honestly, if Leo is my dog soul mate, Ata is Mark's. He's socially phobic, yet sort of outgoing. He's a guardian breed with a fear of thunderstorms. He's weird, and atypical and totally awesome.

At this point, with our two dogs and our cat, we thought we were done. The perfect pack. But things happen...

We inherited our tortie cat, Esme, when our good friends moved to Europe. They wanted to take Esme, who they'd adopted not that long before they learned of their move, with them, but they were moving into a small apartment with their two big dogs, and poor Ez wouldn't have had a good place to escape the dogginess. So, in October 2006, she came to us (read that story here). And I will tell you absolutely unequivocably, Esme is my favorite cat. She's our most low-maintenance animal, spending most of her time chilling on or under our bed and in our bathroom, but she's extremely cuddly once she gets to know you (unlike Atticus, she doesn't make a game of showing you her claws). Give her something soft to stretch out in a sunbeam on and let her drink from the faucet when you brush your teeth and she's a happy, happy cat. I adore her.

After Esme, with two of each, we really were done. We were fostering dogs (all of whom have great stories, spread out over the last couple of years--click on the "Dogs" category on the sidebar if you want to read those), and we had a full house. But thing still happen...

The thing that happened next was Illy. In October 2007, this incredibly scrawny, sick-looking Siamese mix cat showed up in our neighbor's yard. Said neighbors have two great dogs who are not cat friendly, so they brought the scrawny cat over here to ask for our advice/help, since they knew we have cats and do animal rescue. And we said we'd take her (read about it here). We made a cursory effort at finding her people, but she had pretty clearly been stray quite a while, and nothing came of it.

Come to find out, a couple weeks later, that the cat, who we'd dubbed Illy after the espresso company, was pregnant. It was impossible to believe--she was SO little--but there you have it. So we took care of her, she thrived (all she really needed was to be fed, she was already pretty friendly), and in December, she had four healthy kittens (read about them here). She was a great mama, the kittens did wonderfully, and we adopted them all out by Valentine's Day. But kept Illy, who has since grown extremely fat and rules the roost here at our house with an iron paw.

That wraps up our permanent crew. But we do have two long-term temps right now, so I should probably introduce you to them as well. We have been fostering with a local organization called Hound Rescue (see that button on the side bar? Click it to give HR a chance to win some cash!) for a couple of years now. We typically only have one dog at a time, and we often have larger dogs, rather than beagles, but this time we have two beagles.

Belle came to us in June, from the city pound, where she had been owner surrender (read about that here). She's one of the nicest and most well-mannered dogs I've ever met. She won't get on furniture, even with an invitation, even though the rest of our crew goes where they want when they want. She's not loud. She's gentle and calm and just fantastic. Plus she's Leo's BFF--they play non-stop, which is wonderful to see in a dog Leo's age. Belle has clearly had a hard road, and she has some scars to prove it (most significantly some pretty advanced cherry eye, which isn't bothering her, but doesn't look so great), but she's come out an incredible dog. She's one of those foster dogs I'd be happy to keep.

Our more recent addition is Huey P. Long, who came our way in September. Initially we were only supposed to have Huey for a few days before another foster would take him, but the rescue is overrun right now (hard economic times will do that), so we've needed to hang on to him. Huey is very, very fat (he weighted 62.5 lbs on the day we picked him up, hence the name I bestowed him with the minute I saw him). He's also old (9 or 10 is the best guess) and has a host of medical problems (a horrible ear infection when we got him, bad teeth, various lumps and bumps, some skin conditions, arthritis, and most recently a torn ACL which will have to be repaired surgically). Despite all of that, he's a joy. He's active, friendly, and seems to have no idea he's old or sick. He's probably a long-term boarder, given his host of issues, and honestly, that's fine. He can be a bit of pain (likes to bark at the cats), but he's a super sweet dog, and we're enjoying having him.

Whew. How's that for a first post of the month novel? Hope you got through it OK, and now that you've been introduced to the players, you will know who I am talking about when I write my posts for the rest of the month. Welcome to NaBloPoMo at What If No One's Watching. Happy to have you!

At about 9pm last night, I looked around at my companions and found that I must be very boring company indeed.

Were it not for Leo, I may have gotten lonely.

I don't think Huey realizes this is the same creature he spends half of his waking hours chasing after and howling.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

This is what love looks like to me.

Haven't you missed them?

Leo got a sock monkey at the bins tonight:

Atticus cuddles with his dog buddies:

Sphinx kitties:

What's going on at my house?

Let Atticus give you a hint:

Yep. We're packing. It's part of a a multi-step pack-renovate-pack-show-pack-sell-pack-move process.

Why yes, I AM in hell!

I don't think of myself as being overly attached to my stuff, but I realized today, when faced with not seeing my craft supplies until September, that I am. And I am putting off packing up all of the non-necessities in my bathroom. Two months plus with no changes in soap??

Seriously. I'm going to try to keep blogging regularly (my laptop, needless to say, will not be packed until the very last moment), but things are getting extremely hectic around here, so if there is some radio silence, it's probably because I'm up to my ears in boxes and tape.

Pity me.

I'm so focused on my dogs, it's probably easy for WINOW readers to forget that we have cats. If I'm being honest, sometimes I forget myself. Cats are such self-confident creatures, so much less needy than dogs. I'm not proud of it, but because my cats demand so much less of me than my dogs (or now, dog), I do sometimes overlook them.

Lately, though, I've been so glad to have them. All three cats, though Atticus in particular, have been particularly loving and helpful since Leo died. Atticus often spends all day on the couch with me as I work, and Illy sleeps with us most nights. Esme remains reserved, but she's more present than she used to be for sure. They may not need us, but they know we need them, and they're doing their best to help us through. I love them for that.

Never let it be said that cats and dogs don't have feelings for each other, and don't miss each other when they are apart.

On our mantle, we have two sets of photographs, leashes, and collars. One is Chance's, one is Leo's.

Atticus is only interested in one of them.