From 2 Dawgees To 1 Chitty

Mara is obsessed with our new (rescued) cat, Magpie O'Feelia Fee.

I haven't blogged about Feenix being gone yet because I'm still grieving the loss and struggling with regret over relinquishing him to the Denver Dumb Friends League. In a nutshell: he was getting out of our yard several times a day, and the last time was lying in the street. We're pretty sure he had been hit by a car once before-- the vet said his injuries were consistent with being hit on one rear leg (probably while trying not to get hit) and we didn't want him to get hit by a car again-- or worse, for one of our kids to end up getting hit. Hammy would run after him and Feebee when they got out, trying to catch them, and once he started across the street without even looking for cars he was so worried about the dogs. Mike tried everything short of an electric fence to keep them in (we tried an electric fence in Utah with Feenix and Laddie and it didn't work). So, we decided it was best to find him a new home.

When Mike and Hammy took Feenix to the (no kill) Buddy Center, they came back with a big black cat named Magpie! Mara was obsessed with kittens *before* Magpie came to live with us, and now the obsession is a reality, not just a book called I Love Kittens that she asks me to read every morning, noon and night. The cat hid under our bed and then my dresser when we took our bed off it's frame. Then we flushed her out of my room and she hid under the boys bunk bed for a week. Finally, we got her out of their room and she has been hanging out in the family room ever since. She sleeps in a wicker file folder basket with a baby blanket in it. The blanket came with a pair of Mara's jammies; it's red and plush with a kitten embroidered on it and it says "Purr-fect!" When I was looking for a blanket to put in the basket, Mara picked that one up off the couch and handed it to me. She's such a smart little girl!

Mike installed a four-level climbing tree in the family room for Magpie to climb on and she climbs it up to the top of a cabinet where we keep her food and water dish. Mara watches that area like it's television! Magpie does entertain us with her yarn play and rolling around after playing with her catnip-laced toys, but like most cats she sleeps a good part of the day.

Mara asks me "Where Mag?" about twenty times a day, which became tiresome by about the second day. I don't even know how to describe the sound she makes whenever she sees the cat. It is a combination of cooing and squealing that she reserves for babies and kittens (it's so nice to have another female of the species around!) I will have to try and capture the coo/squeal on video.

Until then, some pix of Mara's kitten...