Lola Espanola

Probably most of youse guys reading this got to it from my Facebook account, so you already know this big news:

We got a new kitty!



It was kind of a long, winding road.

We have one very sweet cat already, but I've been harassing my husband to let me get a dog for months. I love dogs and I always had one or two in my house at all times (and cats, and birds, and fish, and rodents---even a ground squirrel in a fishtank for a while).

So anyway, I was bugging Mario about getting a dog and it was going nowhere. I'm pretty sure he would have divorced me if I tried to bring one home. I was kind of giving up on the idea of a new pet when I read a blog post by Ann---fellow Deerie with Mario, fellow yogi with me, and fellow owner of our previous dog. http://annsrandomblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/sad-blog-sad-blog.html

So Ann had some cute kitties for adoption (has?) I started bugging Mario to let me get one. I could see that he was considering it, but needed a good deal before he would commit to saying yes (he's Sicilian. EVERYTHING's about making a deal you can't resist) I told him that if he said yes to a kitten, that I would quit bugging him about getting a dog for 5 years.

He thought about it and said "Ten years". I thought about it and renogiated with 7 years and he agreed.

So the deal is, I get a kitten if I don't bring up the D word for 7 years. And I won't (but as of 06/09/2016, all bets are off)

The only thing other stipulation was that he didn't want a longhaired cat. Ann's cute little babies were deemed too fluffy. They're so cute though, Ann! Another good point that Mario brought up was that if you get a pet from someone you know and something happens to that pet, it can be awkward. He is right. My aunt Mary adopted some baby birds from us when our birds had babies, and her cats ate them. She had to go to the pet store and try to track down identical looking birds so we didn't get all sad. It's better to do a closed adoption, we decided.

(And yes, the poodle situation...see? Awkward!)

So I started kitten hunting. The shelters were really frustrating. Most of them had no kittens out, but when I asked, they said they had lots of kittens in the back who were being held until they were old enough to be spayed/neutered. That's rotten! A kitten spends it's sweet baby kitten days in a cage, while potential catmoms walk away empty handed? That's not right. (I know I could have gone for an older cat, but I thought a kitten would adjust better to a houseful of loud, grabby kids better than an older cat. Plus, kittens are just so freaking sweet. Sue me.)

I also found a gorgous little kitten on petfinder, and e-mailed the "shelter" (I put shelter in quotes because I have a feeling it's really just a crazy cat lady with a bunch of kittens in her house). She made me fill out an adoption application, then told me they'd call back if the "adoption committee" approved my application. Who the hell makes up the adoption committee? Her other cats? Whatever! And guess what? I didn't even get approved! What? Like I said, I totally think that "shelter" is a lady who likes having kittens in her house and doesn't really want to give them away. Weirdo.

The other day, I found an ad http://qconlineauction.com/site/view_ad.php?v=330428

I went out to see the kittens, meaning to get a grey and white tuxedo cat to match the gray and white tuxedo cat we already have, but I fell in love with a little buff colored sweetheart.

So I took her home. I named her Lola. Lola is just an awesome name, anyway, but it was a good choice for her because we were a little unsure of the sex (Lola, by the Kinks, is my favorite song about transexuals)

The kids love her. Heath is slightly obsessed and carries her around everywhere. When he first saw her, he said "She has yellow hair like me!" So cute. Quinn has decided he is the potty trainer, and he takes her over to her little litter box about every 10 minutes. Dax likes her a lot too, but he's a little more respectful of her personal space.

Neko, our 1 1/2 year old cat, is adjusting well to his new feline roommate. Neko is generally the most laid back cat in the world. When we introduced him to Lola, that was the first time I ever heard him hiss or growl. The first night, he was pretty bitchy to her.




But he's warming up now. Lola is very interested in being friends with Neko (or adopting him as her surrogate mother, at least) but Neko is playing hard to get. He was sleeping on the couch next to me last night, and little Lola jumped up on him and went to sleep on his tail and legs. He looked at her, and muttered a low, grouchy growl, but he didn't move or try to intimidate her or anything so that's a good sign.

Oh, and she got a last name today. We went to Mario's grandparents house and told them about our cat, and Mario's grandma said we should call her "Lola Espanola". What a cute last name! So now we have a Lola Espanola, and a Neko Obama (we got him during the 2008 primaries and I named him that to taunt my Hillary supporting husband)

So our family is complete (for the next 7 years anyway).