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18 May 2011
Meet our new cat: Russel Crowe.
18 May 2011 03:39 pmWhat happened was basically that we saw a picture of kittens for fostering in another part of the world entirely, got to talking about how awesome kittens are, and accidentally talked ourselves into getting a third cat. Our eyes met and we could hear the click and we both said "Shit" and then Wax said "I'll just google".
We planned to only net-browse and think about it, but Wax found a post about a 2-year-old fixed male Cornish Rex (that's our breed of cat) here in town who needed a new home and so she texted the cattery. The next day I woke up to the sound of Wax talking on the phone in Finnish to the breeder. "Dude," said Wax, "it's a little old lady, and she's a crazy cat lady. She has twenty-two cats." The 'crazy cat lady' bit was only said half-seriously because she's still an active breeder and show-er (and prize-winner) of Rexes, with ties to other reputable breeders in the area, including the one that Tea and Lily (may she rest in peace) came from, Darling Isis. So when we agreed to hop on a bus that afternoon to look at the cat, we were thinking it would be a casual look around and a chance to maybe play with some kittens, and we'd have plenty of time to mull over the decision.
No. IT WAS A NIGHTMARE! First of all let me say that there is no animal harm involved here. She's not that kind of crazy cat lady. The cats were all expensively and painstakingly cared for; it's just they are apparently the only things she is conscious of. ( The house looked like the set of a horror movie. ) We were there an hour and a half and everything we wore, including our undergarments, stank unbearably and had to be washed. Also the cat's name is "Russel Crowe", with only one L. It's not a very appropriate name. He's been going by Russel Crowe, Rusty, and The Saddest Action Hero around here the last few days.
He came home Saturday afternoon and needed a lot more time to himself to settle in than Arwen did. We were worried at first, because he went about 24 hours without, apparently, eating or drinking or using the litterbox, and just huddled and cringed, first in the cat carrier and then in his nest of blankets, and snuck furtively back to his cave whenever we tried to take him out.
Wax got a cold on Sunday but Sunday evening my persistence paid off and I got him to first headbutt my hand and face, then eat and drink out of my hand, then purr and show me his belly, then to venture out of the sauna/shower on his own. After that it was all improvement and now he seems to be doing really well: he's active, he's getting along tentatively with the Crazy and the BB, he's ignoring the dog, he's chasing strings, he's jumping up inside the bookcases, he's sitting in the sauna and yelling for someone to come play with him.
He also has odd pupils - Wax thinks it's because one is a slit pupil and one is a round pupil, as opposed to simply being different sizes. Both of them expand and contract; it's just they always maintain the obvious size/shape difference. Although the left one looks rather triangular, not exactly what I'd call 'round'. Anyway, it's too bad we can't call him "Bowie", but "Russel Crowe" is just too amazing a name to pass up, perhaps especially when it is so ill-suited to his personality. He's a very handsome ginger boy, and looks like Lily (may she rest in peace) in a number of ways, but rather closer to the breed standard, except for the fused tail-tip, a tiny tiny skeletal flaw that is the reason he's fixed (and reduced price). He's also a lot bigger than the other cats - long and rangy and sleek, and such a beautiful boy! Especially his long, noble little nose.
We planned to only net-browse and think about it, but Wax found a post about a 2-year-old fixed male Cornish Rex (that's our breed of cat) here in town who needed a new home and so she texted the cattery. The next day I woke up to the sound of Wax talking on the phone in Finnish to the breeder. "Dude," said Wax, "it's a little old lady, and she's a crazy cat lady. She has twenty-two cats." The 'crazy cat lady' bit was only said half-seriously because she's still an active breeder and show-er (and prize-winner) of Rexes, with ties to other reputable breeders in the area, including the one that Tea and Lily (may she rest in peace) came from, Darling Isis. So when we agreed to hop on a bus that afternoon to look at the cat, we were thinking it would be a casual look around and a chance to maybe play with some kittens, and we'd have plenty of time to mull over the decision.
No. IT WAS A NIGHTMARE! First of all let me say that there is no animal harm involved here. She's not that kind of crazy cat lady. The cats were all expensively and painstakingly cared for; it's just they are apparently the only things she is conscious of. ( The house looked like the set of a horror movie. ) We were there an hour and a half and everything we wore, including our undergarments, stank unbearably and had to be washed. Also the cat's name is "Russel Crowe", with only one L. It's not a very appropriate name. He's been going by Russel Crowe, Rusty, and The Saddest Action Hero around here the last few days.
He came home Saturday afternoon and needed a lot more time to himself to settle in than Arwen did. We were worried at first, because he went about 24 hours without, apparently, eating or drinking or using the litterbox, and just huddled and cringed, first in the cat carrier and then in his nest of blankets, and snuck furtively back to his cave whenever we tried to take him out.
Wax got a cold on Sunday but Sunday evening my persistence paid off and I got him to first headbutt my hand and face, then eat and drink out of my hand, then purr and show me his belly, then to venture out of the sauna/shower on his own. After that it was all improvement and now he seems to be doing really well: he's active, he's getting along tentatively with the Crazy and the BB, he's ignoring the dog, he's chasing strings, he's jumping up inside the bookcases, he's sitting in the sauna and yelling for someone to come play with him.
He also has odd pupils - Wax thinks it's because one is a slit pupil and one is a round pupil, as opposed to simply being different sizes. Both of them expand and contract; it's just they always maintain the obvious size/shape difference. Although the left one looks rather triangular, not exactly what I'd call 'round'. Anyway, it's too bad we can't call him "Bowie", but "Russel Crowe" is just too amazing a name to pass up, perhaps especially when it is so ill-suited to his personality. He's a very handsome ginger boy, and looks like Lily (may she rest in peace) in a number of ways, but rather closer to the breed standard, except for the fused tail-tip, a tiny tiny skeletal flaw that is the reason he's fixed (and reduced price). He's also a lot bigger than the other cats - long and rangy and sleek, and such a beautiful boy! Especially his long, noble little nose.