My sister Roz has a tiny black kitten mewing at her back door. I could hear it over the phone. It sounded darling and lost. Really lost. Roz used to have two cats and has sworn never again. As we speak, she is feeding Never Again some leftover meatloaf and some milk.
Ari heard me on the phone, and asked what was up.
“Rozzy has a kitten in her backyard.”
“Tell her to bring it in.”
“She’s still deciding. But it sounds really tiny and lost.”
“We’ll take it.”
“No, we won’t.”
“We’ll call it Jimbo.”
“You have to stop naming cats you don’t even have, and haven’t even met.”
Note: About a year ago, Ari started agitating for a new kitten. Maggie gave him stink eye. JoJo asked what a kitten was. I’d seen what I thought was a stray, and Ari and I tried to find it. He had prenamed it Jimbo. No, I have no clue. Don’t even ask.
“She could name it Jimbo.”
“Why are you so hung up on the name Jimbo?”
“It’s a great name.”
“We can’t get another cat, and if we did, it would have to be a girl.”
“Jimbo works for a girl.”
And so it goes. I think of this ongoing conversation with Ari as fun, until I start to worry what will happen if he ever has a kid.
I’m with Ari….a new kitten would be wonderful. I can’t have one, my old cat is crusty and dominating and tried to kill the last kitten we brought into the house. We followed all the ‘rules’ for introducing new cats to one another but there was just no way. He will not share his home with any other cat. Dogs, he turns his nose and walks away but another cat….well, there is a nice old lady that got a free cat that she loves dearly and thankfully it recovered from the trauma of those early weeks with us.
Yours may not try to kill it, but I bet they wouldn’t be very welcoming.
As for Jimbo….he’s young enough, did he ever have the pleasure of Burlingtons own “Jimbo the clown” That was a cable show if I ever saw one!
I think I mentioned a while ago that I am babysitting my son’s two cats. My cat Larry is pretty cool with the whole situation, but Mrs. Bingleman took offense and left. She didn’t take her tiny suitcase or any of her little cat clothes, so I’m hoping she’ll get over her snit and come home.
And SOMEONE got up on the kitchen counter and barfed in the fruit bowl. And YES it had fruit in it. It was worse that the time Larry kakked in my coffee cup.
And shall we mention that Jane (jmd) actually sent me a photo of that time Larry kakked in her coffee cup?
Yes, I think we shall mention it.
Well, that just convinced me to stay with dogs. At least they kack (?) up on the floor where it can be easily cleaned up after stepping in it in your barefeet while heading to the washroom in the middle of the night.
We once came home from a camping trip to find a dog sitting on our front porch as is it belonged.
We named it Dwawn (dog without a name)
After 2 days, we realized it was too dumb to become a house dog, and we called the local Humane Society.
When they came, he jumped into the van like “Ok, lets go for a ride” ( we followed up and he was adopted)
We’ve taken in strays all our lives. (some of them people)
Point is, sometimes there is a reason they are a stray…
DJ, you and Alice are two of the kindest people I’ve ever met.
But I can’t believe you threw away a dog;)
Yes I can. I draw the line at dogs. Gilly has made me promise when I move to my remote country cottage that I’ll get a dog. I said ‘only something with border collie in it”. That and a 4WD. Then I’ll be good. And my cats.
Ahhh, then you want a Blue Heeler.
Cross between a Border Collie and a Dingo.
Mine hops.
Our last next door neighbour had seven cats. We found a kitten on our doorstep one morning. Our last two cats were over 20 when they went to That Great Hairball in the Sky. Neither of us thought we’d last another twenty, and our son-in-law is allaurophobic and cat-allergic, so he couldn’t inherit.
It was early morning, so I snuck next door, put the kitten on the doormat, rang the bell, and scooted back home.
When I was ten, we used to call that “Knock down Ginger”
And yes, the kitten was adopted, called “Baby” and grew up to be about 98 lbs and raunchy.
ailurophobic.
Just shows you should never look up a word when you can guess.
And isn’t there a band called “Jimbo and The Soupbones” (I googled that)
I have two dogs and three cats. My very favortie cat, Plato the calico, passed away from cancer at age 8, very sad. The next day I got a kitten to cheer me up. As we were trying to decide on a name, my friend Gwen came over. I love Gwen like a sister but her naming abilities are rather lacking. She has a Pug named Pugsley and a Manx cat named, you guessed it, Manxley. As the new kitten has a touch of tabby, she has the usual “M” shaped stripes on her forehead. So we named her Emsley, Gwen’s idea of course. We are just happy she is beyong child bearing years as we figure the next kid would have been Kidsley.
Plato’s name was an interesting process. My friend, who has very long dark hair, was expecting a baby. As I drove with my dorks, then ages 7 and 5, down the street, we saw the back of a lady with dark hair pushing a stroller. Dork #1 remarked, “hey there is Jane with her baby”. Well, Jane had a few more months to go and I explained it was not her. As we continuned our drive, I asked the boys what they thought Jane should call her baby, stressing it has to be a real human name after the suggestions of Batman and Elmo. My oldest pipped up and said the baby should be named Playdough. I chuckled and said it had to be a real name, not a toy. The oldest was quite insistant that Playdough was a real name, “he was a really smart guy who lived in Greece a long time ago”. When a stray kitten showed up at our back door a couple of days later, she was named by the oldest because he thought she was a really smart cat.
Batman and Elmo… two great names for a baby. Why do I immediately think of Dr. Sheldon Cooper? (don’t judge me.) Either of those names would be better than… oh let’s say “moon unit” or “blanket” or “Chastity” (look how well THAT turned out.)
And Playdough… they’re all classic. Cudos to your two Dorks.
jimbo is currently curled up in a tiny ball of cat snoozing and resting up for the next session of kitty Olympics. My big tough husband is a slobbering pile of mush over this little cat. Still not sure if it’s a boy or a girl (the cat) but definitely cute and making itself right at home. Pictures to follow.
Are you keeping Jimbo Roz? No pressure here! How old is the kitten?
Definitely keeping him/her/it. It’s a very good cat – so far. I did rename it Guan over the weekend. Short for Guantonomo; it was acting like a terrorist. Seems to be calm at the moment; guess it was pushing boundaries. Besides I think my husband would choose the cat over me. And we’re sticking with Jimbo for now (although Guan kind of fits)
My immediate thought was that it was short for ‘guano;’ as in, “this kitten is having trouble figuring out how to use the litter box…”