Kitten Love

On August 18, 2009, my husband and I went to Petsmart to grab some dog food for our pup Kuro.  I always casually (on purpose) stroll by the kitten adoption center in any Petsmart we go into, and this time, I saw the cutest baby kitten EVER. 

A tiny 3 pound Siamese kitten named Marco.  Brother Polo had just been adopted.  

So I begged Ryan to let me have him, and when he said yes, I ran back to Petsmart to adopt my new baby, whom we renamed Maew.  One of the things Ryan and I have done is to name our pets in the language of their ancestry.  So Kuro is a Japanese name, since he is an Akita, a Japanese breed.  Since  the new kitten is Siamese, we went with a Thai name, since Thailand used to be Siam.  Maew means cat in Thai, so we found it quite fitting!  And in just talking to people about him in these past two weeks, I have encountered two people who also have cats named Maew (although they both spell the name Mau - it does sound like it - I call him Maui as a nickname - or Meezer, as in he's a Sia-meezer!)

So we took him home and got him settled in, tasking him with getting to know our dog, who at 100 pounds, can be quite intimidating.

Well, Meezer was, and still is, insanely scared of Kuro, and they are still getting used to one another.  Generally it goes something like this: Kuro comes into the room and "hunts" for Maew.  If Maew is not taking cover, and Kuro finds him out in the open, then Kuro goes in to "investigate" the kitten.  Bedlam ensues.  And so on, and so on, and so on. Really, it's getting to be quite annoying!

But look how CUTE Maew is...

He's just a tiny baby, and it turns out, he had lots of health problems too...at the first vet appointment 2 weeks ago, we learned that he had 2 types of worms, fleas, and ringworm!  This little guy was covered in bite scabs and just in poor health from his life as a street kitten.

Today was his second vet appointment, and we learned that he has grown a half pound, lost the intestinal worms, fleas are gone, and the ringworm is still being treated.  His fur is thick and shiny now, and he's really putting some meat on his bones.  (He was pretty scrawny when we got him).

Here is a picture I took of him today at the vet's office...usually he doesn't sit still long enough to get a good picture, but at the vet, he wouldn't leave my side.

His fur is starting to turn the classic darker cream color of adult Siamese, and he is getting more and more darling every day!


At today's appointment he got vaccinated against rabies and leukemia, which means that after the ringworm is completely gone, I can take him on a road trip to Tulsa to hang out with Jan's 3 precious cats - I hope they will accept this new guy for a few days!


This is Ivan, the Russian Blue, (my FAVORITE! This guy is one of Jan's house cats in Tulsa!)

This is George, AKA Papa Georgio...

And I don't have any photos of the third cat, as he's quite elusive...his name is Scooter, and he's autistic.  However, there is a cat up at the Vespa store in Tulsa, and I DO have pictures of him.  His name is T.C. - his initials stand for Tuxedo Cat BUT he was named for T.C. from Magnum, P.I.  He was waiting for Jan and Michael when they got home from our wedding in Hawaii in 2007, so it was a very fitting name!

So...even if Kuro doesn't love the new kitten right away, maybe these grown men cats can give little Meezer some kitty confidence to stand up to bully Kiki.