Meet Frisby

Meet Frisby! She's about 15 weeks old, barely two pounds, and just got spayed last week.

I had been thinking of getting another cat for about a year. Since Gogo left us two years ago, Marshmallow has been lonely, even more so in the summer when the tomcats are outside all the time. And I found myself the caretaker of three cats who belonged to other family members who no longer live here. I love them and they love me, but I wanted to raise my own personal cat.

The girls talked me into visiting the local animal shelter at the end of May. That weekend, they only had a few kittens, and only one female. I opened the cage, she jumped out onto my shoulder and started nuzzling me and purring, and my heart melted. So I reserved her. She wouldn't be released until she was spayed, and she couldn't be spayed until she reached two pounds. Little did I know that would take about six weeks! She refused to gain weight, even though she was never sick or listless. The animal shelter people thought she was just too active.

Frisby was excited every time I went to visit her, and she was ecstatic when she came home with me. She follows me around when she's not on my shoulder or in my lap. She grooms me to sleep at night. I finally pulled out my ancient camera and tried to get a few pictures, but the camera takes a second to focus (poorly) and adjust for the light, and kittens don't sit still for that. Many pictures ended up as a rear view.

And closeups are hard when the subject is distracted by the camera strap.

She's been home about a week now. The other cats keep their distance, but have not attacked. Apollo, the biggest cat in the neighborhood, is afraid of her. After a couple days, Tommy decided she's okay, and the others will follow.