Presenting Miss Etta James

Never go to a PetCo on a Saturday afternoon unless you are a cold hearted person, or don't like kittens.

Our Saturday was in theory just going to be a day of fabric shopping. The husbeast and I traveled down to Perth street to get the fabric we need for his costume this year. He isn't really big into fabric shopping so I promised him a new book if he was good all day. It is amazing how easily he can be bribed.

So we spent most of our day eyeballs deep in fabric. For me it was glorious, for him it was tolerable. He did behave wonderfully and was actually very helpful, so after a quick lunch at Pei Wei and a trip to Joanne's for trim, we made our way back to our side of the world via Barnes and Nobles. Normally we are Half Priced Book people, but the book he wanted had been out all of two days, so full priced it was.

We bummed around the book store for a while. He actually found two books and I found absolutely nothing I was looking for. I was a little disappointed, but he looked happy so it was worth the trip. As we were leaving he asked if we could stop at Michael's so he could pick up something he needed for his Warhammer mini's, and I figured he had been so good that it would be alright.

As we were driving to the end of the lot where Michael's was he pointed to the PetCo and noted they were having kitty adoptions. It was totally his suggestion that we go in and pet the kitties. His idea!! I of course thought this was a great idea. Adoption kitties need extra loving, and it always makes me feel better to be a round cute things like that for a while.

Once inside we looked around at the kitties for a while. There were probably two dozen up for adoption. Most of them were older, around two years or more. There were a few obvious kittens and a few that I couldn't tell their age. The people pointed out two Russian Blues that were brothers. They were about two and had been sent to the shelter when their humans divorced. The wife had locked them outside saying she didn't want them because they reminded her of her husband, and he said he hated them and never wanted them in the first place, so it was off to the shelter. That just broke my heart. If I could adopt two cats I would have taken them both in a heartbeat.

She's so FLUFFY!!

As I was being heartbroken over the brothers sad story I glanced up at a cage where there was this little ball of fluff. The kitty was a tortoise calico with a bit of Persian in her. She had the sweetest flat face, and the softest fur, and as soon as I reached in her cage she rolled onto her back so I would rub her belly as though she were a dog.

The story on the cage read that she was found freezing and starving in the streets. They guessed she was about 6 months old. She had been fostered for about a month now and was looking in very good health and spirits. All she wanted to do was cuddle up with me and purr.

Yea like I could resist that.

An hour later we were setting her up in the guest bedroom.

Her name had been Melody when we got her, but neither the husbeast nor I liked that name for her. They said they had named her that because she liked to sing. On the car ride home she proved this to us. She has a pretty little meow with some gravel in it. We tossed around names in jest like Madonna or Lady GaGa, but then it came to me. Etta James.

Ms James had only passed away the day before, and for some reason it seemed both inspired and appropriate to name this sweet little girl after that legendary lady. We didn't even have to think twice before we decided that our new family member would be Miss Etta James.

The other cats are not so keen on the kitten yet. MuShu is curious, but Etta wants nothing to do with MuShu. Pig on the other hand wants nothing to do with any of us. He is supremely ticked off. If my cat could shout 'You kids get off my lawn!' I am pretty sure he would yell it at all of us. He growls and hisses anytime anyone gets near him. He will tolerate us at a distance, especially if we have food. I am sure he will come around eventually.

The dog hasn't met the kitten yet but she has seen her through the sliding glass door. I am sure she will just think it is someone new to play with. I doubt Etta will have the same opinion of Rogue.

Despite the slight animal unrest in our house, I am very pleased with our new family member.

How could you resist that face?