30 Days of Emrys

A little more than nine years ago, I wrote a blog post introducing Flora, my then-3½-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.  Flora was rescued from a dog mill and thus had a rough early life.  It took years for her to fully recover, but she has turned out to be loving and friendly.  She was born 12/8/2010 and is nearing her 13th birthday.

Flora in summer 2023 at 12-1/2 years old.

 

Now, when I adopted Flora, and for several years after, I worked exclusively from home.  But a few years back, I’d had enough.  I wanted to be out around people more, so I began working outside of the house. 

I didn’t like Flora being alone during the day, but it wasn’t until recently that I became willing to consider committing to another pet.  When I did, I decided on a cat.  Flora has lived with cats before, and there are certain benefits to a cat over a dog.  I thought I’d get an older cat, one who was chill with dogs.  She would be female and fluffy, with hair similar in color enough to Flora’s that my wardrobe (which is based around Flora’s red and white coloring) would hide the cat hair also.

Though I was considering such a cat, however, I didn’t immediately find one, and figured that day was long off, if it ever occurred.  Then . . . well, then my coworker showed up one day, furious.  A feral cat had abandoned its kitten in her garden again.

The kitten was female, short-haired, and black and brown.  I saw a picture of the tiny, two-week-old kitten, and exclaimed, “I want it!”

My coworker took me at my word and immediately offered me the kitten, as soon as it was old enough.  I began to think it over and become increasingly attached to the idea, when my coworker announced (several days later) that her neighbor had fallen in love with and adopted the kitten.  But, she said, they had found another kitten.  Two weeks old, short-haired, black, and male.  That could be my kitten.

This description, being exactly the opposite of my intention for a cat, took some time to settle in.  I hadn't met him or seen his face, only this picture:

Emrys at 2 weeks old

But the idea grew on me.  Soon I had named the kitten—Emrys (another name for Merlin)—and ordered cat trees and litter and a toilet training kit and so on, because I had become committed in my heart without quite intending to.

When Emrys was about five weeks old (we think he was born about 8/1/23), I drove to my coworker’s house and met him.  

He was litter box trained, almost off the bottle, energetic, confident, and friendly.  She said I could take him home right then, but it was a Monday night, and I had work the next day.  So I waited until the following Saturday morning, 9/9/23, and then took Flora with me to pick Emrys up.

Now, as I’ve said, Flora has lived with cats before.  But she’s also distantly related to hunting dogs.  So for her, any cat she doesn’t know is chase material and any cat she does know is eh, whatever.  She’s never been very interested in other pets; but the big advantage of adopting a kitten is that he would force her to love him.

It took careful handing and three hours to convince Flora that Emrys was definitely not prey.  Even the first day, though, they had begun to get to know each other:

 

Flora and Emrys, within 24 hours of first meeting

There are always challenges with any new member of the household.  At not quite six weeks old, Emrys couldn’t jump and could barely climb at all.  He weighed about a pound or a little over, and had a belly full of worms (which have since been taken care of).  However, he was good natured, able to learn, and growing at an extraordinary rate.  His eyes had not yet begun transitioning from baby gray-blue to their eventual golden

 

Emrys on 9/9/23, 5-1/2 weeks old, next to my empty phone case

Tiny kitty

Three weeks later, you can see how he's grown and changed, becoming sleeker and more mature:

9/30/23: As you can see, his eyes are slowly turning golden.

Now, at almost 10 weeks old, he can jump/scramble onto the sofa by himself.  

10/7/23 Glossy, healthy, and at least 3x the weight he was a month earlier.

He also gets along fairly well with Flora.  He is affectionate toward her and has begun to learn that she doesn’t appreciate being pounced on and nibbled.  She, in turn, has begun to accept that he is going to snuggle up with her. 

It’s going to be a wonderful friendship.

 

10/5/23.  He's been trying to snuggle with her since 9/14/23, but before now, she's mostly gotten up and gone away when he tried.  However, she's finally given up and accepted his snuggles.  That being said, at the moment I'm typing this, he's lying on my feet while she's a whole eighteen inches away.