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Introducing Piper. Or Ragnar.
Looks like we adopted a new cat. Or, rather, the cat adopted us. When my youngest daughter was home for winter break, she made friends with a stray who followed her home. Then she fed the stray. And put out water. Made a little bed for it. It didn’t want to leave. (Unlike our kid, who flew back to the Midwest for spring semester.)
It’s a friendly little kitty, so it had to be a housecat at some point. We already have Milo the Cat and Calvin the Wonderbeagle and weren’t sure they’d jive with a new roommate. So, the missus posted photos on our neighborhood’s Facebook group to see if anyone had lost one. No dice.
A week later, a lady asked to adopt it since her former cat recently ran off. She picked up the stray, brought it home to her condo, and all was well. Until the next night, when the cat snuck onto their patio, jumped the fence, and was never seen again.
Until this morning.
The missus opened our front door to see the little bugger yelling at her. Apparently, it spent yet another week traveling the few miles from the condo and somehow found our house. I’ve heard of dogs doing this, but never a cat. (Let me know if you have similar stories.)
So for tonight, she’s staying in my prodigal daughter’s room, awaiting a vet visit in the AM. Sharing the news with the kid, she announced the cat’s name would be Piper, at least if it turns out to be a she. I’m considering other options once the vet does a gender reveal.
Basil the Bulgar-Slayer has been ruled out, as has Ragnar the Bringer of War. Gonna need to workshop this…
Published in General
Black as night. Hmm. “Hex”, perhaps?
Piper,or Ragner has made a decision and a choice. Your home has been chosen.
This kitten has probably come from a domesticated cat. Kittens from a feral cat are not inclined to seek out human companionship.
I wouldn’t go with Spot, since she can’t be removed.
Our cats are all named after food, and I didn’t have anything to say about it so I can’t claim any particular inspiration. How about Brisket? Or Hershey Bar?
Something spacey would work for the darkness. Singularity?
Rolling Blackout?
I had a cat that color that I named Maggie, because she had the same color hair as Liz Taylor. Think about it.
Mine is not much of a story, but does involve a stray taking up residence in our house. Our next door neighbor fed a herd of stray cats, and brought yet one more home she found on the grounds of her workplace. He (the cat) was constantly bullied away from the neighbor’s food by the already present cats next door, so he started hanging out on our porch. He was already declawed (front), so obviously he had been a house cat at some point. We fed him out there, as we already had a female cat who ruled the house.
One day when the weather turned bad, one of our kids let him into the house. As soon as he crossed the threshold he settled in as though this was always where he was supposed to be. He made it clear he had no intention of leaving. He generally stayed out of the way of the preexisting female cat, who mildly tolerated his presence. He stayed in our household until his death about twelve years later, even putting up with a cross-country move.
The kids gave him the admittedly unimaginative name of “Bud,” as he was a big, not particularly handsome, slow-moving, [neutered] male cat. Despite being declawed, he still picked fights with other cats in the neighborhood, sometimes coming home a bit worse for the effort. He’d come home with a newly torn ear or some other wound, climb into his basket, and stay there for a couple of days, occasionally licking the injury. Then he’d be back to his normal self. This taught me why the phrase “go to my corner and lick my wounds” comes up. He did ingratiate himself with my animal-hating father.
I think you should name it Vengeance. That way, if the lady comes to claim it, you can shout out, “Vengeance is MINE!”
You know that if your daughter is really set on “Piper,” Piper it will be. Because daughters are really good at wrapping Daddy around their pinkie finger.
You will have so much fun with her. :) :) She chose wisely. :)
Homeward Bound™ it seems. That’s a remarkable
taletail.My daughter named all three of ours. Rescued one, brought the other two home from a church social.
Amazing. He wants to stay with you for sure. He’s a cutie. I’m guessing it’s a he. Everyone always initially gets a cat’s gender wrong. So I’m going with he. ;). Let us know.
We had an all-black stray who adopted us. We named him Zorro . . .
If it is a male, I would go with Odysseus for obvious reason.
That is pretty good, Manny.
Piper Freckle Gabriel – she has a freckle on her nose. You are stuck with her – that’s for sure! Or Pip for short….
Petronius the Arbiter (from Robert Heinlein.)
Loved that book.
Maybe “Boomerang” since he/she comes back to you.
Jon:
My sister lived at home during college and she adopted a gray cat, Smokey. She took care of it and it slept with her each night. When she got married and moved to the country, about 8 miles as the crow flies, she had to leave Smokey behind because her new husband hated cats.
Not long after she moved Smokey disappeared one day and we presumed she was dead as she had always been a house cat. About 8 weeks after she went missing my sister heard loud meows at her front door- Smokey had found her! Damndest thing I had ever seen. Smokey had never been to my sister’s house nor had we told her where my sister lived either.
Needless to say my sister was not going to send her cat away after what she had been through and after she had given such a powerful demonstration of her love and devotion. She told her husband the cat stays or I am gone!
A few months later she saw her husband kicking at the cat in the front yard and hissing at her. My sister grabbed a shotgun and took it outside, aimed it at him, placed her finger on the trigger, and let him know if he valued his head he would not be cruel to her cat ever again. And he never was.
As an aside, flash forward 30 years and her husband brought home a one-eared cat that had attached itself to him at a work site. They loved each other.
I wouldn’t have guessed that marriage would last thirty years. ;)
Weeeellll, it ended at around forty. Women have long memories. Can I say that?
Update!
The vet informed us the cat is a lady, so Piper it is. She’s also 8 years old (thought she was younger), spayed, and in great health.
I tried calling her Ragnar anyway, but the fam wouldn’t stand for it.
Our family having recently introduced a kitten into our home, I’m astonished to have become “a cat person.” As it happens I was the only “no” vote (like California Republicans, my vote counts for little) for adopting a cat, my wife and children are now complaining that they’re not getting enough time with him because I’m so reluctant to set him down. I’m even immersing myself in the Cats of Instagram.
Good luck with yours, Jon.
I was relatively indifferent to cats since our tortie was indifferent to me. Then Valerie brought Sushi home from a church social and I was adopted.
He’s saving that for the kids when they move back home . . .
My story is similar. I always had dogs growing up while the missus had cats (her parents actually bred them for a while). I’ve enjoyed each of the now three cats we’ve had sneaking around the house.
My wife became a cat person too when I brought in a stray kitten. He’s won my heart too.