We Have a New Family Member!

And it's a girl!

And also furry.

Here she is:


Tully in the box

Harrison with Tully -- he chose the dayglo pink collar

Why do we have a new cat, when our house is already full with two dogs, two adults, two little boys, and all of our crap? Well, we also have a family of mice living in our house apparently.

Years ago, we got two little kittens, Jaspurr and Purrcy (yes, I know, I know, but they were badass enough to pull off the cutesy names!) who grew up to be great cats. They got along with the dogs, kept vermin out of our house, were very pretty and loving, and also seemed to be coyote magnets. First Jaspurr disappeared a few weeks before Hutton was born. Then, a few years later, Purrcy, who stayed indoors more than this brother, joined Jaspurr "in the country." I missed the cats, but was distracted with the other new members of the family. Namely, Hutton and Harrison. This winter, when I saw a streak of rodent-sized fur run across the garage, I brought up the idea of getting another cat, but we didn't act on it. I just moved the bird seed to a more mouse-proof container and brought my soccer bag into the house instead of leaving it in the garage.

That laissez-faire attitude went out the window last night.

I was getting Hutton out of the tub, and fussed at him for getting lots of water on the floor during his bath. (He likes to pour water along the edge of the tub, and most of it doesn't end up back in the tub.) Anyway, I was soaking up the water with a towel, when I noticed some black specks on the floor. Now, specks on the floor are a regular occurrence around here. I could vacuum every day, and we'd still have dirt on our floors. But these were no ordinary specks. My heart started racing, in classic chic mode, as I realized these were...eek! Mouse turds! I then noticed a mouse-sized hole in the wall next to the toilet water valve, with little bits of insulation on the floor. As chills ran down my spine, I hustled Hutton into his room, then stormed upstairs.

Hands on hips, I angrily announced to Hubby that we had a BIG PROBLEM. He looked at me as if I were there to complain about something stupid -- a TiVo snafu involving a show only I watch or something like that. I explained the entire mouse story. He continued to look at me in the same manner. As I grew increasingly frustrated that he did not understand the monumental problem - vermin in our house, living in our insulation, breeding like, well, mice, leaving TURDS ON THE FLOOR where our children wash! -- Hubby held up his hands in the, "What the hell?" gesture he does quite frequently and said, "What are we supposed to do about it right now? Run out and buy a cat in the middle of the night?!" I was still angry, on my anti-mouse tirade, but calmed a little when I realized he had a point. I guess I had been expecting him to grab a shotgun and go rip the wall out or something. (And yes, I know a shotgun is not the proper tool for killing mice. It seemed like it would be more dramatic, though.)

I put Hutton to bed, though when I was downstairs I was skittish, waiting for a mouse to jump out at me, picturing myself as a housewife on Tom and Jerry wearing a dress, with only my legs in view, shrieking as a mouse simply went about his business, eating his cheese, totally imperturbed.

Later, Hubby (who still seemed to not care about the hole in the wall, allowing free access to our house to the very animal that helped spread the plague) and I went over our options: traps or a cat. Poison was ruled out because of the kids and when a poisoned animal dies in your insulation, it's not very pretty. So, we went for the old-fashioned favorite.

Today we headed to the Humane Society after I didn't see any good prospects on Craig's List. We checked out the kittens, and played with one, but I was drawn in by Tully, the more mature one year plus kitty. Her profile said she's been an alley cat, left behind when her previous owners moved. She'd had kittens, and the neighbors kept her on the porch. She was allegedly a protective mother, and was "good" with dogs and young children. What really won me over was when we were visiting with her in the giant crate area (I'm not kidding. We were actually in an enormous cage with chairs and some cat stuff), she looked eagerly at the rats available for adoption right on the other side of the bars. After we left the crate, she even started climbing the walls by the rats, trying to get to them.

So, we adopted her and brought her home. She was shy to come out of her box, as she knew there were dogs here. We closed the dogs out of the room, and she slowly emerged, then disappeared under a book shelf for several hours. We let the dogs back in the room, and eventually, after Fergus got his nose scratched, they all seemed to settle down. This evening, Tully cruised around the house examining every room very carefully in classic cat style. She's a total sweetheart who loves to get pats and rub against your hand, and she and Sally seem cool with each other. Fergus will probably take longer. I guess the dogs forgot how to live with a cat. The boys find her hilarious. When she was on my desk, they both laughed about the cat on the desk. I'm sure the novelty of that will end soon, as well.

Oh, and Tully was the name she already had. I didn't name her after the coffee, if that's what you're thinking. Though it wouldn't be unheard of. I think Latte would be more feminine, though.