Stilton! Today we traveled to meet some cats. Lily has been researching Siberian cats because we saw mouse droppings in the house and we want to ensure there is never a mouse in the house. She has targeted Siberians because they produce less of the protien that causes typical cat allergies. Lily found a delightful breeder, and they (Morgana and Jessie) met us in Lumberton which was about an hour and a half from our house. We arrived before they did, so I had fun on the playground with Ammon and Clarissa, and then, when they arrived, the excitement really began. We came mostly to see a grown female cat, but they also brought a kitten and large male named Stilton. Clarissa promptly fell in love with the kitten, and everone else fell in love with Stilton. The breeders told us all about him: how he is not aggresive and never causes problems, how he is so cuddly and lazy, how he cries if he is not fed on-time, how he hangs out on the fridge and taps people as they go by, and how he just loves to be loved. His blue eyes are breathtaking. They called him the amorphous blob. He is big, gorgeous, and sheds a ton. He’s shedding his Spring coat so clumps of his hair were litterally flying off in the chilly wind as we stood and talked. We could tell the breeders had also fallen in love with him because Jessie said he was dredding the day they would introduce Stilton to potential buyers, and when we were falling in love with Stilton, he made a genuine plug for the kitten, “she’s very cute too!”. Lily and I decided on Stilton. We are concerned about his shedding, but Lily thinks she will find joy in brushing him every day. Because he is a male, we are also concerned he might spray, but that seems like a low likelihood since Stilton is getting neutered next week before he’s fully sexually mature (the breeders say he’s old enough to be impregnating other cats, but he’s a late bloomer and “barely knows he’s a male”). Also, Mary assures us that Stilton is so lazy, the effort involved in spraying would surely dissuade him from ever doing it. He may or may not have the energy to catch a mouse, but his scent will be everywhere and the exterminator assured us that would be enough to scare any and all mice away. We are also a bit nervouse about a cat harming our furniture and drapes, but again, that’s another positive for Stilton as it just doesn’t seem like he will be up to much mischief as he likely wont be up to much of anything at all, ever. We don’t get him quite yet because the breeders need to give him his rabies shot and get him neutered, but we will get him a week from now. We love you Stilton and we are so excited for you! Ok, admittedly, there is one person that is not perfectly excited about Stilton. As we were driving home, we heard Clarissa quietly crying in the back seat with her head tucked into her knees. She had said earlier that she wanted Stilton, but she did that to be agreeable since that is who everyone else wanted. But she had actually fallen in love with the kitten she was holding. When we asked her to share her feelings, Clarissa said, “my life is changing and I want that change to be a kitten.” She was not tantruming or manipulating at all, just meekly processesing her grief. And we were all so struck and touched by it that we genuinely almost changed our minds to get the kitten. We ultimately decided Stilton was the right choice, but our hearts truly ached for Clarissa who really wanted the kitten! We ate at BoJangles on the way home and decided it was some of the best fast food we have ever had. Yay Southern food!
This is the kitten Clarissa fell in love with