When some people lose a beloved pet, they say they won't get another because it is just too painful. It certainly was painful when we lost Max. But the reason it was so painful is because he touched our lives so profoundly. The emptiness without Max was enormous. Our solution was to get a kitten (Muffin did not get a vote in this decision). In fact, we did even better; we got two kittens.
Please welcome Hank and Bella, nuevo dos gatos. They are not siblings but they were raised together in a foster home and are very close. In this first picture, they are just waking up from a nap; so far, they always sleep together in some variation of this arrangement.
Most of our pictures of the dynamic duo have been while they were sleeping or resting. That is because the rest of the time they are moving too fast. Wow, what energy!
Hank is about 11 weeks old and is a short-haired orange tabby. Except for the length of his fur, he is similar to Max. Here he is bouncing off of the window sill on his way after Bella.
Bella is about nine weeks old; a short-haired tuxedo cat. Her black fur is actually a dark gray with some striping. Here she is up close, examining the camera.
The last kitten we had was Max, some 12 years ago. I forgot how busy they can be. Here they are looking through the window screen, probably thinking how nice it would be to be out there stalking birds or bugs. When they get a little bigger, they can try it out.
So far, Muffin's response has been hissing and an occasional growl. Otherwise, she has been mostly disinterested. She did however suddenly remember how to go out her cat door. For the past few weeks, she has been waiting for me to open a people door so she could go outside; then she would return through her cat door. Today, she got tired of waiting for someone to open a door and went out by herself. Sometimes I don't understand her.
Here is the final snap of Hank and Bella in one of their brief periods of slow down. The larger black and white cat in the background is some kind of neck-warmer that Doris uses. It has always creeped me out because it sometimes looks real. Hank and Bella don't think it is a cat but they do like it's softness.
Hank and Bella came from Humane Society Silicon Valley. The new HSSV facility in Milpitas is incredible. Take a look at their web site for more info.
I'll try and get some better-posed cat pictures and post them before these guys get too big. For now, it is kinda like the carnival came to town.
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