Naming the Cats

The Abbey Cats Adoption people have a tradition of naming cat families based on a theme, like the "Gone with the Wind Cats".  Jan tells me that after nine years of being involved in the adoption process, having a theme makes it easier to remember the particular group.  She liked the idea of me naming the momma cat Katrina so the theme for these kittens is The Weather Cats.  In this case, we decided to name them after major weather events.

Here they are: 

Cyclone (Cassidy)

This little guy is a real sweetheart.  His storm name is Cyclone so I call him Cyclone Cassidy in honour of Kyle and City Kitties in Philadelphia.  This kitten came up beside me the first night when I was sitting in the closet with them and put his paw on my leg to get my attention, then started purring away when I pet him.  How could anyone resist?  All the kittens except one are black and brown tabbies but he is the darkest of all them, more black than brown.  He has stripes on his tummy and a big peach patch on the bottom half of his stomach.  When I come in the room to visit the kittens, he and his sister Tempest will both come quickly over to greet me, they are the most social of the kittens, although they are all quite approachable and like to be petted.

Tempest(uous Kate)

Tempest is the easiest kitten to recognize because she is all black in colour.  She was originally the most adventurous and outspoken of the group, she stood in the cat carrier in front of her two sisters and meowed at me when I first saw her at the vet's office.  I call her Tempestuous Kate, after my friend Kate McKinnon, who sometimes reminds me of Shakespeare's Kate in Taming of the Shrew except that she is never a shrew, merely a strong and forthright human being who is willing to speak up and speak out for a worthy cause that she believes in.  Since Shakespeare also wrote The Tempest, it seemed appropriate to mix the two names.

Tsunami Sue is the next easiest cat to recognize because she has just a little bit of white on each one of her paws, as if she dipped her toes in a wave of white paint.  Her right front paw has the most white.

If you can see her feet, you can tell her apart from her siblings.  If not, she looks exactly like 3 of the others!  Sometimes she acts a little skittish but other times, she is totally open and friendly, such as when I took this photo of her showing me her belly.

Tsunami (Sue)

Tornado Tom is the other brother (according to the vet's assistant - not sure we can be 100% positive on their sexes as yet).  He looks a lot like Cyclone, just a little bit lighter, a little less black in colour.  I took this sweet photo of him yesterday after interrupting his nap.  He was tucked up on the scratch board and sat patiently while I took the photo.

Tornado (Tom)

Last but not least is Storm.  Or Stormy, as I call her.  I was thinking of calling her Fanny Storm after the Fantastic Four but I'm not sure.  She has a lot of light brown stripes, more so than the others, which helps to identify her if you see her from the side.  She has a very gentle demeanour but also likes to rough and tumble quite a bit (as they all do).

Storm

It's hard to tell any of them apart looking down from above, they are much too similar from that angle!

Here's the only picture I have of Katrina so far:

Momma Katrina

She's still keeping to herself, tucked into a corner on top of a short bookshelf full of shoes, behind a purse, taking cover under the clothes hanging above. She has beautiful eyes and a sleek black coat, that's all I can see of her.  She's all black, like Tempest.  She had a touch of diarrhea yesterday, no doubt from all the stress of being moved from place to place and possibly from the deworming medication. She hasn't paid any attention to the kittens, which I find quite worrisome, although the kittens themselves don't seem to be upset about it. As far as I can tell, she hasn't had much if anything to eat or drink.  I'm not sure how to get her out of that corner without upsetting her, I'd rather let her come out on her own time.  Maybe she'll come out tomorrow when I'm at work.

Notwithstanding their hazardous sounding names, these kittens have been nothing but wonderful since they arrived. I did have to lay in extra supplies (like cat litter, some toys and a scratching post) but I didn't need to board up my windows or hide in the storm cellar.  I have been moving a few things to higher ground though, as they explore and climb things you hadn't considered to be doable for such a tiny creature. 

Normally when a storm is coming, you dread its arrival and can't wait for it to be over.  Not so with these "weather cats".  Their arrival was the easy part, letting them go will be harder.  But at least when they go to their forever homes, they will be going to live with people who will love them even more than I already do in this short time and that can only be a good thing.