Can You Stand One More Cat Post?

I mentioned that we saw another kitten in the yard. It hung around for a full day. I am sure that it came from the neighbors to the back of us. I went there searching for Una. There are tons of cats and I would be surprised if they are spaying or neutering any of them. They all looked to be in ill health with goobery eyes and sniffles. Matt and I briefly considered tossing the new kitten back over the property line. But, as I am sure you are already aware, we are cat lovers and could not put an animal back in that situation. We talked about taking it to the pound or rescue. But, chances for adoption before euthanasia at the pound are slim and the rescue groups are all struggling to make ends meets as it is.

We came up with a plan. Our property would be like India with a caste system. The lower caste eunuchs would live outdoors and be spayed/neutered and left to their own devices otherwise. The high caste royalty would continue to live indoors as pampered princesses and princes.

So that lasted all of 5 hours. Seems our new arrival did not get the memo. It found its way in through the pet door tout de suite and promptly lost itself in the bay. For those of you not here at the beginning of Eggtown, this is the bay:It is the dumping ground for all our belongings until we get the house built. We could hear the kitten mewing in there somewhere but couldn't find it. Eventually we tracked it down and put it back outside. Didn't work. She won't let us get near her but she is happy to live in our shadows.

Notice the pronoun shift from it to she? It gets worse. She now has a name. It happened quite by accident. Once I got a close look at her I said "ooo. she has a funny face" and that made me think of Audrey Hepburn and so her name is Audrey. With deepest apologies to our friend Audrey O'D in NYC and sweet little Audrey in Texas. The name just stuck right away. She is very cute, no?

Like Norah, Audrey has the hots for Russell. They are both obsessed with him and want to be wherever he is. What's that they say about payback? Russell is getting his comeuppance for the way he behaved around Una and Lily when we first adopted him. Anyhoo, things are balancing out. We see Audrey here and there from afar and the other cats seem to be adjusting. She is not nearly as bold as Norah and I am sure that is helping.

I know our cat population is ridiculous to many. It could be worse. If you have 20 minutes or so and are in the mood for something completely bonkers, a little bit gross and a lot disturbing, take a gander at this article in the Los Angeles Weekly about two old spinsters and their rats. Really. It will make me and Matt seem completely rational by comparison.

And finally, a little video of Russell and his catch. I must set this up a bit. I pressed record just as Norah jumped in to play scaring the beans out of Russell who was so intent on his mouse that he didn't see her coming. Una watches with disdain.