You've Lost That Under-populated Feeling

Four was seeming a rather small number; why not five? Meet Zofia.

This little girlcat (and I do mean little; the picture immediately below shows her next to a normal sized adult cat) is about three months old. She has been in the rescue-group for a few weeks, but the foster-home into which she was initially welcomed (and where the photo below was taken) is becoming a bit crowded, so I was asked if Zofia could come and live with me for a while. A few hours later, she arrived.

Zofia is skinny though not dangerously so; she has slowly been building her weight. She will be receiving Recovery soft-food, chock-full of nutrients, as well as Kitten Milk Replacement – she’s that young. She will also move onto more regular kitten food.

We wondered if little Miss Z would be shy, shocked at her sudden change of environment. The answer is ‘not yet’. Indeed, she began purring soon after she was released from the carrier. Was it a nervous purr, as sometimes happens? (I’ve heard a theory that this is reflexive, harkening back to the earliest days when a purr was used to summon mama.) A moment later, Zofia was bumping me with her head and even settled onto my lap to clean herself.

Now, this may be an premature reaction. I’ve known numerous cats who have been excited at a change of venue only to became sullen, homesick. But as well, I’ve never seen that stage last long, and they soon return to their first response. Zofia was exploring her new room not long after entering it, scrabbling to get behind a bookcase, then popping out from between it and another a minute later.

She is on anti-biotics for a week. I doubt that she will prove difficult in regard to the liquid oral medicine: a kitten squirms and writhes but though there’s a will to avoid medicine, there’s seldom a way. Not like a sixteen-pound grown-up male cat who doesn’t want anything that tastes bad.

Another plus to Miss Z is that she has already been through the quarantine period. Theoretically, she can meet the boys at any time. This will be done in short stages, of course, but there’s no reason why she can’t at least see them, and they her, this weekend.

For tonight, though, she will be tired out soon. The weather is rather lovely for the middle of October, with mild temperatures and sunny skies. But this evening a wind is bringing clouds, and it will be chilly. The window in the library will close and the heated towel is already on. Zofia spends her first night as our guest tonight. Tomorrow begins her new adventure.