Happy Gotcha Day 2020 to the #YatCats!
Gotcha Day 2020!
A year ago today, we brought the YatCats home from the Jefferson Parish Animal Shelter. When we lost Amber, our 18yo ginger familiar, last year, I pushed hard to not be long without a cat in the house. Wife wanted an indoor cat this time. So, we agreed that two cats was a good idea. One would be a ginger, the other, a black cat.
Meeting the cats
We went to the shelter on a Saturday. After looking at the “new intakes,” we couldn’t find a female ginger. The volunteer took us to the “older cat” room, where the one female ginger was supposed to be. She was there, but a black cat was sleeping on her! I picked up the black cat, and she started purring like crazy. Wife and the volunteer checked out the ginger. When we put the cats down again, it was clear that the two were buddies. Both were about four months old.
That made the decisions easy! The volunteer pulled the paperwork. We went back up front and got the process started. We couldn’t take the kittehs home right away, since they had to be fixed. So, we made arrangements to pick them up the following Monday, 26-August-2019.
Nala
That itty bitty kitteh in the top photo became a chonk! She moves fast, though, when you shake the food bag. While she isn’t as much of a purr-kitty as Arwen, she’s loveable. She’s claimed that bed as her own. Arwen will come up and sit next to the bed, but she won’t sleep in it.
I always felt that Nala was like a little sister to Arwen, even back at the shelter. The two of them still sleep close, and groom each other. They don’t have a lot of boundaries. Nala’s favorite spots in the house are the back bathtub, particularly right after we get out, and the garage.
Arwen
Arwen is a week or two older than Nala. She’s definitely very protective of the ginger. Arwen didn’t have the breed traits of a Maine Coon when we gotcha’d her, but those traits came out here. She chirps rather than meows. Turn on a faucet and she jumps to it, pawing the water. She’s totally willing to get her head wet.
Arwen purrs so much! She reminds us more of Amber in that regard. While Nala is equally curious, Arwen takes her protective detail duties very seriously.
It’s been a wonderful year!