And Leroy Was His Name-O

John came home to meet "Pumpkin" the day after I brought him across the road and promptly said, "I don't want to name him Pumpkin." He wanted Clyde. I suggested Leroy. When I say it in my head I pronounce it--la ROY--accent on the second syllable as if we are in the South. It doesn't come out that way when I call him, but I like thinking it in my head. Le Roi--the King, en francais, n'est-ce-pas?

I am relieved to report that Clarabelle seems to have relaxed and accepted the little shit, I mean kitten! just fine. Of course, I have to admit to using kitty drugs to help the process along. Yes, high grade kitty drugs. I took both cats in to the vet--Clare was due for a rabies booster and Leroy needed some ear mite medicine--and she suggested this product:

It is a "synthetic analogue of F3 fraction of Feline Facial Pheromones" in a diffuser that you plug into an outlet. According to the package, "when a cat feels safe in its environment, it rubs its head against the furniture, the corners of walls, on the bottom of the curtains, leaving substances called facial pheromones. These pheromones convey a message of well-being, calm and abscence of stress." The diffuser pumps these things into the air and cats are supposed to feel the effects of them, even though they sure didn't produce them. "It's like kitty pot," said my vet. Well.

"Can I just use catnip," I asked, knowing that Feliway would cost me.

"It's not quite the same," she said. So, I sucked it up and bought it ($45) because I really wanted Clare to relax. She's been so happy out here, I didn't want the whole thing ruined for her. And so far, so good. She still growls at the kitten if he jumps her (so do I), but they have actually sniffed noses and meowed for food together and Clare seems to like watching him play like a little madman with his toys. Now, who knows if it's because of the phermones, or simply the passage of time. I'm sticking with the phermones. It can't have hurt.

To that point, I also picked up a good old fashioned catnip toy, which Clare loves.

And this is the toy I got for the kitten. There were three of them in the package, but this one with the feathers is my favorite. They bobble around unpredictably and he loves them! Clare even took some time batting one around.

Okay, without further ado, here are the latest pictures in the cute-fest we are currently living through.

Everyone sing together now~

Everybody wants to be a cat

Because a cat's the only cat

Who knows where it's at

Everybody's pickin' up

On that fe-line beat

'Cause everything else is obsolete