A new family

On April 26th Bodhi went home with his new mummy and daddy. Shelley and Nigel have a 3-year-old cat named Marvin who really wants a buddy to play with, so that's the plan for Bodhi. In addition, the family comes with two older females (Janga and Charlie) who're bonded and who are tolerant of young cats. They all live in a 3-storey townhouse, so lucky Bodhi will have stairs! I haven't had a home with stairs for over 30 years, and to my mind stairs are a kitty's dream: so many great adventures can be had galloping up and down stairs.

I have great hopes for Bodhi's life with Shelley et al., but I sure miss him. If they sent me emails about what he's doing and how he's feeling three times a day, I'd be happy as a clam. But like most of the rest of us, their lives don't revolve around correspondence so I wouldn't presume to ask them for that. That's one of the hardest things about fostering. You want to know how your wards are doing long after they've moved on to their forever homes, but you have to accept that they've got new lives and you're no longer part of them. You have to let go. All I can do is pray for little Bodhi....

He was the closest to adopting that I've come. I wrung my hands for a few days there, but finally decided that Shelley and Nigel were a God-send and very much my answer. I do believe he'll be happier with them than he would have been with me and Georgy, who spat and hissed at him no matter what he did. Bodhi's a kitty-friendly guy and he needs someone to play with.

So Georgy and I are on are own again. She's been super nice to me ever since, almost like she's saying "Thanks for ditching that awful boy - I'm so happy he's gone and I love you to pieces for getting rid of him!" ...Such an attitude - oy!

Now it would be so nice if I could foster a pair of small kittens to ease the transition....

Bodi is spelled "Bodhi!"

Bodhi was born to a feral mom, and I'm making his birthday October 2, 2011. He was fed by a woman near 54th & Kerr until Maria brought him in for neutering. He's very tame but shy. If I stroke his cheeks and scratch his neck he starts purring; if I keep talking to him and stroking gently, he'll roll over and expose his belly for rubbing. If he gets over-stimulated, or irritated by what I'm doing, he gently mouths my hand with his teeth, or clutches with his front paws, claws retracted. This strikes me as amazing for a cat born in the wild - where did he learn to be so gentle? It's like someone trained him. I suppose it's possible his siblings were smaller and he learned they'd only play with him if he was extra gentle. If I interact with him long enough, while sitting or kneeling on the floor, he'll put his front paws on my lap. I lifted him off the floor a bit once and held him for less than a minute, but he didn't seem to be very comfortable with that. Lots to learn about this little boy....

He's shown no sign of having a voice yet, but that may be because he's still nervous about where he is. Georgy wails and bellows regularly, so he may consider it prudent to not announce his presence to the scary banshee he hears! Today I'm going to leave the bathroom door open a crack to acclimatize him further to the rest of the apartment. So far when I open that door for longer than a second, he looks very alarmed - "big scary world out there!" I want to get some good photos of him - he's an extraordinarily gorgeous brown tabby with lots of white on him - and I can't do that with the bathroom lighting. It also doesn't help that his safety zone is behind the toilet, so he stays beside it most of the time. If I take a shot of him, it includes the toilet which doesn't do much for composition.

A gentle giant in the waterworks

Bodi's a gentle giant of a 6-month old kitten. He must weigh 20 pounds - i.e., his daddy must be some tom! More to come on this boy, plus a better photo, as soon as I'm able.

Today's been a day of kitty schmoozing, lazing around with Bodi while he gets more and more comfortable with me, and spending quality time with the GG (Georgy Girl) as she gets used to the smell of a big boy in the bathroom. I'd forgotten how good it feels to move at this pace....