It was a year ago yesterday that we lost our awesome cat,
Ocho. We believe he was a Maine Coon although having found him as a stray, we
were never sure. He had all the typical traits of the Maine Coon: the fur coat
with extra layers, the lion like ruff, his behavior more that of the family dog
than expected of a cat, greeting us in the driveway when we returned home, his
desire to hang with us, and his fondness for water; all reinforced the
belief that we had found someone special to share our home.
That day last year two things happened. We had a pellet
stove installed and my husband found our cat dead by the side of the road,
after two days of looking for him. That day we experienced our first loss as a
family. We sat together on the couch that night, feeling the heat blast from
the new stove and unable to feel the glow. We all cried.
Over the weeks that followed, through the holidays, it was
clear that something was missing in our home. Feline life was needed.
Knowing that I wanted another Maine Coon Cat, I began the
research to find a breeder. My daughter and I went to meet a litter of seven
kittens bred by Coldstream Cattery in Enfield, Maine.
We went in search of a brown tabby male, like our Ocho. We found a gorgeous
litter of kittens, six weeks old when we met them, and though we had gone for
one kitten . . . we ended up getting two.
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| Apparently Bella thought her brother needed a bath. |
After Christmas we brought them home.
The house was again alive with paws and fur and tails.
Bella and Buzzer are here.
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| Bella & Buzzer snooze |
I wrote about our first few weeks in this blog post from last year. Today I felt an update was needed.
The kittens just had their first birthday. Things we’ve learned about these two
Maine Coon Cats:
1.
2 cats from the same litter can have 2 very distinct
personalities.
2.
3 cats of the same breed can have 3 very distinct
personalities.
3.
1 sweet little silver tabby girl cat can grow into a
loudmouth, pushy, demanding, hyper focused, in your face kind of cat.
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| Bella "the Bell" is a silver tabby - here about 12 weeks old |
4.
That same sweet little silver tabby girl cat can also
purr very loudly, be empathetic and attentive, and desperately need to be with
her people.
5.
1 shy boy cat can grow into a shy adult male cat who is
a bit skittish and hesitant, must be bribed to purr, and defaults to his sister
when its time to eat.
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| Buzzer "Buzzy Boy" beginning to claim his place in the house. |
6.
That shy boy can also make regular routine of jumping
on your shoulders and laying there when he’s feeling the love, curls himself
into a bowl on top of the refrigerator to nap, and plays fetch with a rubber
ball, returning it like a puppy.
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| Bella in the bowl; Buzz stretching out. |
So we love our little kittens. We still miss Ocho and won’t
forget him. I still sometimes look to see if he’s trotting into the driveway
when I get home. Bella and Buzz are different from him and from each other. I guess
it’s a study in nature vs. nurture of sorts.
Here are some photos of our year together:
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| My daughter with her new friends. |
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| Bella's favorite toy is a sparkly puff ball and she loves to hide them and find them. |
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| Like babies, sometimes the box is more fun. |
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| A nice spot in the sunny bay window. It includes a great view of the birdfeeders. |
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| One of Buzz's favorite spots is the top of the file cabinet in my office. |
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| Bella prefers the window box for an afternoon nap. |
I hope you've enjoyed the Coon Cat update. I'll post more photos now and then.
