Introducing Moth

It is with pure pleasure that I present to you the latest member of my little household: Moth! She arrived yesterday evening and has already settled in to the apartment, playing with her new toys, finding just the right perches throughout the space, and curling up on my lap when I settle in my chair. I adopted her from a rescue group via Petfinder, just as I did with Thistle. Since I’m a first-time cat owner, I was looking for an ‘easy,’ affectionate adult cat, and that’s exactly what I got! She has the funniest way of suddenly appearing behind me when I switch rooms, is a focused hunter of any toy I’ve set in front of her, and a loud, rumbly purr that begins almost as soon you start petting her. She’s a total sweetheart but with spirit, my favourite combination!

From a bit of internet researching, I believe her colouring is called tortoiseshell points, although of course she’s not a purebred Siamese! But she has the blue eyes that reflect red instead of green in the dark that come along with colour points. She’s four and a half years old, which makes her roughly my age in cat years. If you’re wondering about her ears, it just means that at some point she was spayed by a group that rounds up stray cats for sterilisation. They clip the tip of an ear so they know not to try to spay the same cat again; unfortunately whoever clipped Moth’s ear went for far more than the customary quarter inch. Good thing we’re accustomed to mismatched ears around here! ;) She’s quite small too; at about seven and a half pounds, she manages to make Thistle look big.

Speaking of whom, Thistle has met Moth, when the latter came to pay me a visit before my trip. But Thistle is not yet aware that Moth has moved in; she’s still enjoying her time at doggie camp heaven (aka Debi’s house). She’s coming back tomorrow evening, and I anticipate a bit of canine surprise. However, Thistle coexisted happily with my mother’s cat, and she’s nap buddies with one of Debi’s cats, while Moth was friends with her foster mom’s dog. They’re both quiet and sweet natured, so I trust it will all end well, after the initial adjustment phase.

Of course, now that I have two lap pets into my life, my ability to read physical books, knit, or drink tea might be dramatically curtailed. I shall have to wait and see!

P.S.: If you’d like to see more photos of Moth in the future, I’m sharing them on Instagram. I just pulled out my real camera for the first time to get a quick shot for this post; she’s currently on her cat tree overseeing my computer-ing and doesn’t seem to share Thistle’s camera aversion at least. But she’s not nearly as serious as this portrait suggests! For those who don’t do Instagram, here’s a little collage of iPhone photos from Moth’s first twenty four hours with me. Told you the top photo is a bit misleading. I’ll have to keep my real camera handier to catch everyday moments I suppose.