Sunday, June 12, 2011

Gus and Beans

When a new foster home was found for Gardenia, Abbey Cats asked me if I would take in two 9 month old kittens that needed a new home ASAP. (Cats are generally considered to be "kittens" until they are a year old, even though they reach sexual maturity, i.e. able to get pregnant, at about 6 months of age). 

Meet Aureus and Argenta, or as they are more commonly known, Gus and his sister Beans (so called, says her former caregiver, because she often runs around like she is full of beans). They are a beautiful pair of grey/brown tabbies, complete with striped tails and spotted stomachs.
Argenta (left) and Aureus (right) a.k.a. Beans and Gus
It's a bit of a sad story.  A woman adopted a pair of kittens and made arrangements with a friend for him to look after them when she was travelling for work.  At first it was a week, then two weeks, then three weeks per month.  When he told her he wasn't able to look after them for that much time any more, she asked him to take them for one last week and then...she didn't come back for them and wouldn't take them back.  Can you imagine?  Needless to say, as he told me when he dropped off the kittens to my place, "we're not friends any more".  No kidding.  Not only does she abandon her two cats, she totally took advantage of someone who was supposedly a friend.  Not the type of person I'd want to be friends with, that's for sure.

Still, her loss is our gain.  I am now sharing my home with two of the loveliest cats/kittens I have ever met.  They are both so affectionate and friendly, playful and easygoing from the very beginning.
Beans
Gus
Gus is larger than his sister, he's a very long, "tall" cat, with more of a golden colour and thicker hair.  Beans has light grey and peach colouring and is silky soft to the touch.  So far, they are getting along with Maggie and Katrina reasonably well, aside from the predictable hissing that M and K have engaged in during these first few hours together.  But no fighting, no chasing and no fur flying, thank goodness!

I have to say, if you know anyone who is thinking of adopting a cat, you should tell them about this pair - they are absolute sweethearts!

1 comment:

Pretty Things said...

There's a special place in heaven for people who adopt animals. I volunteer in an animal shelter when I can, and have two rescue kitties, and am so sad at how long some of the cats have to stay there. The good thing is this community has some real animal lovers and they have built some AMAZING spaces for the animals, so it's not scary like you see on TV sometimes.

LOVE your new additions!