Lincoln looks skeptical as he examines my offering.
A cautious sniff…
He deems it worth eating.
“You got any more?”
I put a toy mouse on the hammock, with its tail dangling down, and Lilly was very interested.
She considered…
And then told me I’m weird.
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Say hello…
To Daisy.
She is a black and white tuxie, she’s about 3 years old, she’s polydactyl (extra toeses).
And yes, she is pregnant.
Did I mention the toes?
Am I hoping for a litter of polydactyl kittens, do you think? Indeed I am.
The story is thus: when I went to pick Lincoln and Lilly up at Michelle’s after their spay/neuter surgeries last Wednesday, she asked my opinion on polydactyl cats. When I said “They’re kinda cool!”, she asked my opinion on PREGNANT polydactyl cats, and then pointed to a carrier. I hemmed and hawed (because Fred had declared that it was time to get back to a point where there weren’t fosters stuffed all over the place) and then asked if she thought Lincoln and Lilly could share the foster room with Daisy. She said Daisy is good with other cats, and so I brought her home.
Once Lincoln and Lilly have decided that people aren’t so bad (something Lilly is deciding pretty quickly; Lincoln’s taking his time on that front), we will move them in with Daisy and see how it goes. If it goes badly (which I don’t expect – Daisy’s a pretty chill girl) we can move them back into my office for a while. In a perfect world she’ll either ignore them or befriend them – they’ve both proven to be interested in the other cats they see, so they should be okay.
We know for sure that Daisy is pregnant because the vet did an x-ray, and the kittens’ spines were visible (they couldn’t tell exactly how many, but Michelle said “at least three.”) Kittens’ spines don’t show up on an x-ray until 40 – 45 days’ gestation, so we know she’s at least 40 days along (or was last Wednesday, anyway). The gestation period for cats is 63 – 65 days, so… If we assume she was 40 days gestation on February 22nd (which is the earliest she could be) and assume also that she’ll go to 65 days (which is on the higher end), that brings her to March 19th (but of course, like human gestation, feline gestation is not an exact science). Sometime between now and March 19th, we should have kittens. I think we’ve got at least a week to go, but probably more.
She is a very sweet girl – spends her time eating, snoozing atop the cat tree, and shedding. She is shedding like CRAZY, which is something I dealt with with Canasta. With Canasta, Omega-3 supplements helped stopped the super shedding in about 3 days, so I’m going to give that a try with Daisy and see if it helps. As far as where she came from: as I understand it, she was being fed as part of a colony of cats for the past 2 years, and I don’t know whether she became friendly or was friendly all along, but she was brought in to be spayed along with her sister Petal (who, I assume, was not pregnant) whereupon they realized she was pregnant and she came to me instead of being spayed. (It should go without saying, but in case you’re new to the blog and assume I’m “breeding cats and selling them to make a profit” (that will never not make me laugh), she will be spayed after her kittens are weaned, and her kittens will be spayed and neutered as well.)
She came pre-named, and you might think we are going with a flower theme, but we are NOT. Every flower name in existence has been used, probably in the last year if not the last 10 minutes, so we’re pivoting and going with a Great Gatsby theme. To repeat: WE ARE NAMING HER KITTENS AFTER CHARACTERS FROM THE GREAT GATSBY. Here’s where you come in: what shall I call the litter (which will be named after characters from The Great Gatsby) as a whole? It’s been many years since I read that book, and I don’t remember much about it (it wasn’t one of my favorites). I know someone out there has a good suggestion. Let me hear ’em!
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Newt’s livin’ the life.
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Posted on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Tumblr) yesterday.
Good morning from a curious and bright-eyed Lilly, who is accepting petting (when she feels like it), but does not want my kisses, thank you.
YouTube link
Cinnaspin (the torbie) and Linzer (the snowshoe) were adopted last Thursday, and went home to Colorado. They were with us for a little more than 2 months, and here’s the video where you can watch them grow from the day we got them to the day they headed home. ❤
(Side note: I don’t think I’ve ever taken so many pictures of two kittens together. Talk about a bonded pair!)
In case you wondered what Lincoln’s underside looks like, here you go. He’s a white cat wearing a lovely gray tabby coat with hood.
YouTube link
It takes a little coaxing (and the feather teaser) to get Lilly to come to me, and sometimes she remembers that she’s supposed to be scared of me, so she skitters away, but then she comes back!
Good night innernets. 🙃
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Previously
2022: Yes, the belly grows ever larger.
2021: Canasta and her newborns.
2020: Pablo sleeps like an angel on his bed of kittens.
2019: (It’s not a skill they’ll ever master.)
2018: “Paws up, y’all!”
2017: “I SAID BACK OFF!”
2016: No entry.
2015: (Please note, not all cats were present for this, because they have busy and fulfilling lives and sometimes don’t feel like coming down to help me out, because they are BRATS.)
2014: It’s a hard life, being this beautiful (that’s Orlando.)
2013: ::loonyface::
2012: She yawns at me and says “What babies?”
2011: Bath time for Corbie.
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry.
2008: “What doin’, Skittyboo? What it do?”
2007: The first round of Hellcats were unfortunately faster and meaner than we expected.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
The only thing I can think of for a Great Gatsby theme is “Old Sports.” Gatsby called everyone an old sport. Can’t wait for the babies…whatever you call them!
Book takes place in a town called West Egg. Could call them the Eggs! Or the Nouveau Riche since the book is all about new money rich people in the 20s. Or keep it simple – the Great Gatsbies
Jay Gatsby
Daisy Buchanan obvs you have Daisy
Tom Buchanan
Nick Carraway
Mr Gatz,Henry Jay’s father
MyrtleWilson
How about The Catsby Crew? I must admit my brain went into overdrive with flower names until I scrolled to the bottom of your post!
I think you should call them the Bootleggers, since that’s how Jay Gatsby earned his money! I also like the Catsby Crew mentioned above by Lin Kinsella.
I like the Bootleggers. It sounds like they’re going live outside the law and kinda cracks me up.
I also immediately thought of the Catsby’s. (Full disclosure-Never read the book.)
The Green Lights
I think you should call them the Bootleggers, since that’s how Jay Gatsby earned his money! I also like the Catsby Crew mentioned above by Lin Kinsella.
I love polydactyl cats! We rescued a couple of polydactyl sisters about 20 years ago. One was pregnant and had extra-toed kittens. Sadly, we lost the last one of the kittens (a calico polydactyl!) a couple of years ago, so we are currently polydactyl-less.
Oh, I hope you get poly kittens! I had a poly boy a few years back, but I got him as an adult, and big-paw babies would be so cute.
I think at least half the litter will be poly as Mom has those genes. If the Dad did, too, they might all be poly!
Buchanan
Gatz
Jay
Myrtle
Jordan
Carraway
Wilson
OMG Gatsby! So besides Daisy there’s Jay and Tom (unpleasant character) and Jordan (girl) and then there’s the woman Tom had an affair with, Myrtle, and her husband George, and of course Nick the narrator. So if you have more than about two girls we’ll have to go back to the book to dig.
Nice cats…like to see them around the house.
*cat breeding for profit** snort….double snort….throwing in an eye roll for good measure!
hahaha the Catsbys is hilarious! I can never come up with puns like that. Also, I too read that book in high school, (who didn’t) and didn’t like it much either. I didn’t like any of the books I read in high school English, they were all incredibly pedantic and boring. Looking at you, Catcher in the Rye.
This novel was set in Long Island during the Jazz age.
Long Islanders or the Jazzies.
I like the Bootleggers too mentioned above.
If they are polydactyl the Jazzhands would be cute for the bunch!
My first thought was “The Flappers”. I do also like “The Catsbys or “Jazzies””. I had a Daisy a long time ago, I hope this Daisy is as sweet as mine was 🙂
Back in the 1920’s the younger, “hip” generation were called “The Bright Young Things”. Kind of long, but a possible name for the family. They are young, and, hopefully, bright!
True, but the Bright Young Things (aka Bright Young People) were a purely English phenomenon. They were not associated with the American Jazz Age, Prohibition, or anything else to do with The Great Gatsby. I think the BYT is a great name though, and worth saving for a different litter.
For individual kitten names, you could add Scott and Zelda to your list of possibles.
As a group name, I like Catsbys—but I like The Great Catsbys even better.
You know, I was wondering if that was purely a British phrase. I watch so much British TV that I’m starting to think in “British” English! =^..^=
“Bright Young People” were pretty much the realm of British writer Evelyn Waugh. I just finished a compilation of his “Complete Stories” and have read several of his novels. Waugh thought Fitzgerald a “hack” and even included veiled references to his in some stories/books [never by name]. I think this was more of a British phenomenon because from WWI onward, the English aristocracy was being taxed out of existence; the “BYT”s were the last generation to basically exist on ancestral lands and not need jobs for their income, etc. At least at first.
If they’re born on March 18 I would like one to be named Bob as my father passed away one year ago on that date. Not sure if there was a “Bob” in Gatsby, or a Robert, or even a Robert Lee [his – and my – middle name]. Bobbie Lee?
But I digress…
Catsby Bootleggers? Two great ideas from above – ties in Great Gatsby and the FEET…
Gatsby Crew?
One of my A+ papers when I was getting my BA in English was about The Great Gatsby and the naming conventions therein, so I nearly wet myself when I saw your call for assistance with the upcoming clowder. 😉 Adding my vote to The Bootleggers!!!
Keeping up with all the awesome “Catsbys”recommendations, how about the Crate Catsbys since they will most likely be born in a crate. Unless Petal gets original like a few previous moms have done.
I mean Daisy! Not Petal. I am just making up names left and right apparently.
The Great Gatsbabies?
All the toesies!!! Also, The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books. I love the idea that they would be the Catsbys, and also, please include Scott and Zelda in the names, along with Jay, Tom, Jordan, and Myrtle.
I was thinking there was a Zelda, but it was a long time ago when I tried to read that in high school…Love that there’s a mama in the foster room again!!
I’ve forgotten most of The Great Gatsby, both book and movie. The Wikipedia article on the 1974 film is rather amusing, though. Reminds me that I disliked most the characters, except Nick (the narrator, played by Sam Waterston).
I’m with everyone on The Catsby’s! It’s right there.
I also really like the head cannon that Jay is actually Jack from Titanic, hence his fear of the water. His frozen body was found by bootleggers, who let him defrost, and his resourceful nature made him a leader, and rich. Never lost his penchant for unavailable women ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ could sneak a Rose in there lol
The ‘Catsby’s’ is a fantastic name! May I also suggest, ‘The Mad Litter’, after all, the story takes place in the 1920s, which has often been called ‘The Mad Decade’.
Not bagging on Fred, but I thought it was funny/ironic that he wanted the house “not stuffed full of fosters” even though he quasi adopted 2 of the neighbor’s cats ;P
Looking forward to more kittens, with or without extra toes! <3
LOL “fosters stuffed all over the place”