This is the story of Pootie #1... called thus because, well, he was the first pootie in the home after some decades. And the only until... well, much to his initial displeasure, sharing is NOT caring when it comes to the addition of the others that followed. ;-)
ai will sai no mohr on dat subjekt!
He arrived as a weenie kit.
First day home
When he was brought in to see the vet the following week, he tested positive for FIV. The vet said it would be best to re-test, since very young kittens (he was probably 7-8 weeks old at that point) sometimes had a false positive. She said we'd re-do the test when he was ready to be neutered. It was a shock to hear the news, and even though he'd only been home for week, of course I was madly in love with him. He also had an upper respiratory infection, not unusual for kittens, and thus began his ongoing bouts of URIs, and which his disease seemed to manifest regularly.
And then at about five months old he came down with ringworm!!! Here he is after one of his tri-weekly baths...
Without any siblings about, this monkey became his favorite toy.
In fact any toy in the house, of course became his anyway. ;-)
While he is always interested in watching the koi in the pond...
He has never been a very good squirrel hunter...
I'm certain he was happy to have non-moving companions so he wouldn't have to share me!
When the Princess arrived, he actually wasn't too bothered by her. In fact, he usually made believe she didn't exist. She was pretty happy with that.
And then when Kitten showed up, and especially when Kitten promptly claimed Monkey as his...
Thus began Pootie #1's self-isolation... staying far from both Kitten and the Princess for over a year.
He would rather even sleep outside in the snow!
It was with Mushu's coming that he actually began to venture out of isolation... and would occasionally join the others.
And one day, I found the two of them...
Otay Mom. Mushu's a keeper!
Thankfully, Mushu also helped to broker peace between Pootie #1 and KoKo...
So dealing with KoKo was made a little easier for him than it had been with Kitten...
Gah! Dat KoKo iz so weerd!
Sula exists by pretty much ignoring the others. Her love is for her Mom only. But one morning, I realized there was pressure on both sides of one foot. I sleepily sat up and saw this...
By the time Mei came along, I guess it was old hat to Pootie #1... the first day I let him into the guest room to check Mei out, he knew exactly what she was good for...
Yum! Babbee fud AND crunchies??
And while he still loves to go outside - and the back garden is fenced in so he can roam about without his leash - when he goes back into the house, he knows it's where the pack calls home. :)
Pootie #1 turned 9 years old last month!