My almost 4 year old, James, has really been wanting a pet lately. My husband, who is also very much an animal lover has been eager to get an animal companion as well.
We considered getting a nice aquarium so it’s almost more a decorative piece, but still gives James a chance to learn responsibility. I figured James would probably not be satisfied with some fish though, so we went to a pet store and James of course loved ALL the animals.
For a while he wanted a bird, and we considered a hamster, but then he fell in love with a cat. He played with it through the glass and it followed him back and forth. It was a full-grown, black and white cat that I would have named Oreo because I’m not good at coming up with names and it reminded me of a childhood friend’s cat by the same name.
James’s singular eye for that cat reminded me that the daughter of a former coworker of mine found an abandoned kitten. They named her Tigress. She said the kitten was super sweet and playful, but she already has four cats, so she needed to find Tigress a loving home.
After some questions and hesitation on my part (for me this qualifies as one of those big life steps that you only talk about possibly doing, not actually doing it), we agreed to pick her up on Friday.
Her name has been somewhat fluid as we have discussed several names since we first considered getting her, but I think we have one that will stick. When I first asked James what we should call her, he said, “I want to call her . . . Best Friend.” He also suggested “Good Kitty” and “Super Kitty.” Alan suggested Katara (or as I amended, “Kitara”). I thought Shadow might be good and tried to get James to come around. The kitten had a little taco toy it was playing with in one picture of her, so at one point James called her Taco.
But then we were doing a live storytime event on Facebook, and James told the librarian that we were getting a cat. She asked about the name and James said Cream Puff. I immediately loved it. (Who doesn’t love cream puffs?) Even after that, the name remained in a state of flux, but it’s pretty set for me and Alan. And I think even James is settling in to calling her that.
She is adjusting amazingly well to her new home. She was a little scared of James, but perhaps since she had a long play session with him before coming to our house, she got used to him and hardly seems phased by his enthusiasm. She even seemed fine with him carrying her around the house a bit. She’s already litter box trained, and while she didn’t eat much, we did give her some milk and (after researching to make sure it was okay) let her lick and gnaw a bit on a raspberry.
I’m actually quite surprised by how much I love the little thing. I was already calling myself her momma on the ride home. Haha . . . I NEVER suspected I’d be one of those people, but she definitely has a warm place in all of our hearts.
Submitted by Danica and James Pearce, Riverside County – Lake Elsinore.