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....

Sprite

Sprite came here on January 24. She'd been rescued from a home where she'd been starved and neglected. She spent a couple of nights with me, before refusing food and having to go into the animal hospital for I/V.
I was told today that she'd died early this morning - she had been too far gone to help. This was a real heartbreaker. Rest in peace, little one....

My first ferals

Jasmine

Jasmine and Cheddar came to me in October 2010. Both were trapped as ferals by Maria. But Cheddar - or Cheezie, as he's affectionately called - took no time at all to climb on my lap and try to adopt me. He was 3 months and Jasmine was 4 months old. She took much longer to accept me and I got to practice my feral-domesticating skills for sometime with Jasmine.
Cheezie was adopted in November, but Jasmine was with me until January 2011 because she was so fearful with visitors. Unfortunately, her adoption didn't "take," and she was returned to me in August, along with another young cat named Nuka, who'd been adopted as a playmate for her.
Nuka ingratiated himself with visitors so well that he was snatched up at a Petsmart adoption event in November, leaving Jasmine behind again.
But she finally found her forever-people in January 2012, and she has since become a lapcat which was so wonderful to hear!

Cheezie

Nuka

The summer campers

Ashley and Skor came to stay with me in August 2010, while they're foster mum was on vacation.

Ashley

Skor

The beasties of July 2010

First there was Petey and Jasper. Then came Venture Cat, and close on her heels came Jayda. All four were adopted pretty quickly, with Jayda and Venture Cat going to the same home since they'd become great little playmates.

Petey

Jasper

Venture Cat

Jayda

Emma goes home

On June 25, 2010, Emma was adopted by a wonderful couple. She'd been with me some months, and if she'd been here much longer it would have been hard to let her go. Farewell, little beauty!