Obligatory cat squee-ing

[telophase]

I went by the local animal shelter and adopted a cat today. She's adapted amazingly quickly - she hid in a space where two bookshelves on different walls almost meet, forming a cat-sized space, but I eventually tempted her out with some tuna. She goes and hides under the sofa for a while, and then when I talk to her or bend over and look at her, she comes out and purrs at me. She'll follow me around the apartment and explore whatever room I'm in, then go hide for a while. So - she likes me but is a bit weirded out by the new surroundings. She doesn't like those spring doorstops - the ones that go Boioioioioioioioioioingggggggg! when you hit them. I accidentally bumped into one, and she stared at it, and I hit it a couple more times and the fur along her spine started to rise. And every so often she'll wander over towards the door and stare at the doorstop for a few seconds.

She came to the shelter as a quarantine animal - she was involved in a fight with a dog, and when the dog's owner separated them, she bit him (well, duh! that's what happens when you interfere in catfights) and was taken in for rabies observation. I have no idea if her owners surrendered her, if her owners didn't know she was taken in, or if the dog's owner owned her also and decided not to have both of them. As friendly as she is, she was well taken care of. She doesn't play well with others - she wasn't on her best behavior at the shelter because she didn't like all the other cats and the shelter guy was a bit surprised that I took her over friendlier-acting cats, but I'm a sucker for the cats that aren't as adoptable as others.

Obviously, she has no name yet. I'm waiting a bit to see what her personality is. The people at the shelter had "Nala" on her cage, and that might or might not stick.

I'm only going to inflict this tiny little picture on you here: For others, click on these links:

Cat standing next to the new dresser, taken because Mom hasn't seen the dresser yet.
Cat from the front. Yellow eyes. She's a tabby, of the striped variety instead of the spotted variety.
Cat from the side so you can see her coat pattern.

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Awww! My Nuala is similar, but long-haired and the stripes are more broken up.

I'm impressed at the spick-and-spanness of your apartment, by the way...

[telophase.livejournal.com]

You may rest assured the spic-and-span thing is only temporary. I usually store everything I own spread across the floor and other surfaces. :) I cleaned up for the party last night, and entropy will slowly take over. Hopefully not too quickly, since my mother is coming up for Christmas.

I'm thinking that an African name might suit here, and I seem to have conceived a desire for an ancient Nubian name, for no good reason. I can't find any good source online, so I may have to break down and use an actual book from the library at work. If I can't find a good book on ancient Nubia, I'll see if I can find a good list of names associated with the Nubian dynasty in Egypt.

The cat has now discovered that she can go into my room, sit on a bench, and peer through the blinds at the parking lot outside.