pameladean | Saffron

I have a new cat. I miss my Ari-cat fiercely, but he isn't coming back, and lots of cats need homes.

Raphael, who went through this process last year after the beautiful and opinionated Jordan died, did a preliminary sweep for me, finding cats who were fairly young, active, good with other cats, and friendly to people. We ended up with lists from two agencies, Last Hope, which is the place that rescued Cassie, and Second Chance. On Saturday when I had originally planned to go to Uncle Hugo's and listen to

matociquala read, we went off to the Petco in Apple Valley. I expected to walk out of there with a cat. I couldn't quite do it. Several of the cats we had researched were there; some had been adopted already and one turned out not to be as good a match as we thought. We went to Burnsville, which is where we collected Cassie a little over a year ago. There was a strong candidate I still feel guilty about, but I couldn't nerve myself to it. We drove to Roseville and made a beeline for the rest rooms. Then I wandered out. Four cages. In the first a red tabby was curled in a circle, sound asleep. I looked at her tag and rushed back to find Raphael. "Saffron is here!" When we got back, she lifted her head, considered us, and blinked gravely.

After a lot of alarming discussion with the representative of the agency and some less alarming discussion with her foster people, I signed an agreement and paid some cash. One of the foster people took Raphael to find the right food for her, and the other got our address. Second Chance has "the fosters" bring the cat over and stay a few minutes so the cat understands that they approve of the transaction. This was a bit staggering, since I'd been removing booby traps for cats rather than cleaning for guests. However, they seemed unmoved by the clutter and let us keep her.

She's a very long and solid cat with long legs and tail. She's part Oriental Shorthair, which apparently concerned the fostering agency a lot -- they are prone to problems with their teeth, they need a lot of attention, and they're very intelligent, as a rule. Also, she has a fairly delicate frame but is prone to weight gain, so we had to promise to watch her weight. Cassie needs her weight watched too -- not to the point the vet recommends, necessarily, but enough that she can wash her hinder parts. So we thought we might as well have two cats with the same dietary requirements.

She's in my bedroom for the moment. She spent much of the rest of Saturday sniffing everything and growling quietly to herself. I thought she didn't like to be petted much past the shoulderblades, but she's fine with everything including belly rubs and having her tail stroked. She was just talking to herself. She quit growling and was unnaturally silent for a while, and then she started chirrupping. She is very attentive to human voices and appearance, though if she's busy watching birds her acknowledgement will be brief. She flings herself on her back and kneads the air and purrs when in an affectionate mood.

Her people told me that she was a great hunter. She is fascinated by the squirrels next to the air conditioner and the birds beneath it. And yesterday she was saved from boredom by the advent of huge flocks of migrating robins, many of whom hung out in the hackberry outside my window and made fly-catching forays at the vines on our neighbor's house. I hope they found food. They were the best kitty TV imaginable, all decked out in what lookedl like new plumage and fluffed up against the cold.

Last night, following the instructions the agency sent with us, we put Miss Cass in Raphael's room and let Saffron out. She started mewing for the first time, trotting around very rapidly with her tail in the air. First she sniffed parts of the floor, then she started marking doors and shelves with her face, and finally she jumped on some of the furniture. At some point she went back into my room to check on her food, and I quietly shut her in again. When I came in later she mewed and pawed at the door, but appeared to accept my explanation that she could go out again this evening. Then she flung herself on my chest and purred and kneaded, eventually working her way down into a perfect Stofflerian leg-spackle position.

David and Lydy have come to meeet her. She was rather preoccupied when David came up, but polite; and had recovered enough of her savoir faire to be effusive with Lydy.

If she will just not bully or harrass the Cassie, I think I have a cat.

Pamela