So we just spontaneously adopted another cat....

[Systematic Chaos]

As we were coming home from work yesterday evening, this cute-as-a-button little tortise-shell kitty came up to my wife, when she was still on her bicycle. Jeanette picked her up and she was just so sweet. Without even thinking, I just grabbed both bikes and took them upstairs while she held the cat. When we first brought her inside the sight of our other cats stressed her out quite a bit, so we took a litter box and some food and water and let her spend the night in the bathroom.

For the first few hours she would alternately meow and growl from the bathroom, and then curl up in the little towel closet we have. If any other cats went near the bathroom door, she would emit this amazing bellow and start pawing at them through the crack underneath. At one point, she got into a swatting contest underneath the door with our Shakey, but no-one was hurt. Over the course of the early morning I heard her meowing a few times but when I went to the bathroom and visited her she was friendly as anything.

This morning, Jeanette clipped her claws and we were treated to about 650 feline expletives. Jeanette basically let our new kitty lock her jaws onto her hand while she slowly and gently pared her sharp claws down just a bit. Did I mention that cats start to smell to high heaven when they're stressed? At this point, our other cats were all safely in the bedroom. After the new addition spent a few minutes getting over the stress of the clipping and found a comfy spot in our living room window, the bedroom door was opened and everyone was allowed to integrate. So far everything seems okay as long as our other three cats don't get too close, but as we've seen twice before when we've introduced cats to each other the initial standoffishness usually only lasts a few days.

Assuming the transition goes smoothly enough, we're going to keep her. Her name is TurtleTaz, or Taz for short, because in all seriousness I have never heard a cat as loud as this one, and even her normal meows are growly and muttery. She is roughly the size of our other female, Marmalade, but with bushier fur, a long fluffy tail, and much thinner at this point. According to our scale, she's half the weight of Calis, our biggest, at about 9 lbs. Here is a picture of her in Jeanette's arms.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Sheis a adorable...and one lucky little kitty to have found you.

I guess she sized you up very well when she approached you. :D

Are you going to take her to the vet to ensure she does not have anything that can spread to the kitties you have?

More pics when you get a chance. Please?

[Systematic Chaos]

2. We can't get her to the vet right away, unfortunately.

I know we're taking a chance in that respect, but she seems very young and acts as though she hasn't been a stray for long. We will get her to the vet for a checkup as soon as we can, though.

Oh, and on edit, we will take more webcam shots over the next few days and I'll post some of all the cats for you all. :)

[BrklynLiberal]

3. Oh goodie. I love kittie pics!!!

I think she is a very lucky little girl to have run into you.

Have you given any thought to a name yet?

[Systematic Chaos]

4. TurtleTaz, or just Taz for short.

She really does sound like Taz, and she's very chattery even when she's not stressed by claw clipping or the presence of our other cats. :)

[BrklynLiberal]

5. oops. You did mention her name in your OP!

:blush:

[LisaL]

6. Do not let your other cats near her until she is checked out by a vet.

Check her for Felv and Fiv.

[CountAllVotes]

9. that is very good advice

I did the same, adopted two kittens and I have two older cats already. I kept the two kittens isolated from the other cats fortunately and one of them died within 2 days of adopting it. They suspected it died of either FIP, FELV or FIV. :(

It was very sad and also very real.

It isn't possible to test kittens for these diseases until they are at least 3 months old I think. I'm not sure but I remember I wanted to have kitten #1 of the two I adopted tested and he was not old enough yet (he was 10 weeks old when I adopted him from an animal rescue). Luckily he tested negative for these awful cat diseases which DO kill and kill quickly in most cases I've seen. I remember I had to wait a few weeks before they could test him. Maybe it has changed? :(

[japple]

7. She looks like a sweet little cat. Apparently she knew

you were good cat people when she spotted you. She could be a lost kitty who is looking for her family, so you might want to keep an eye open for "lost kitty" posters, ads in the newspapers or check with the humane society. My sister once "rescued" a cat that lived in her neighborhood. She didn't realize it until the person who called to claim her turned out to live right up the street.

[meow2u3]

8. Join the Adopted by a Cat Club

Boots adopted me 1 1/2 years ago, when he was 3 months old. His previous owner told me he used to go out to look for me, and that's when she decided to give him to me for Christmas (2004). It wasn't so much because I got him as an Xmas present--it was because he picked me!