Time to Meet Gus!

After the very unfortunate loss of Zoey, Jay and I knew one day we would get another cat because Braden absolutely adores them (and Miles wants nothing to do with Braden), we have the room for one, and it's nice to have an extra mouser around. Mom and Dad were potentially going to bring a kitty for Braden for his birthday...but then I saw a little ad write-up int he Co-op in town for free kittens. I thought it would be better to just have one local so it didn't have to drive 3+ hrs with Mom and Dad. So I gave the man a call and he lived south of town across from the greenhouse. He said he had 6 kittens that were born in the fall and one older kitten that he thought was born about last November. He said the older kitten had very beautiful markings and was "one of them stripey cats....what are they called?" and I told him they're called tabby cats - my favorite! So we went to his acreage with Braden to pick out a kitten and they were SO scared of us, this poor old man had to go and try to round them up so we could see. He found the older kitten and he was just gorgeous! Since he was pretty much the only kitten that would come out, even though he was scared out of his skin, we decided to take him home.

We didn't know what to name him, and we were VERY happy that it was a him because hims are much easier to get fixed! I wanted something that went well with "Miles" so I suggested Oliver. Jay vetoed that one and suggested "Chester". I was on the fence about Chester, it didn't really seem to suit the cat. This is the first pic we got of him, he was very very skittish and not used to much human contact...he was seeking refuge from us with Miles:

We brought him out to the family room with us after Braden went to bed and put him in the kennel so he could feel protected. I was petting him in the kennel and he was purring, purring, purring but didn't want to come out yet. Kihei was very interested, of course, so the cat hissed and pounced at Kihei from inside the kennel and growled for about 3 minutes straight! Jay said "he's sure a Grumpy Gus" and the name stuck!

It took awhile for him to be comfortable with us, but now he's part of the family and loves to bug/play with Miles, play with Kihei, goes up to Braden whom adores him, and is very cuddly and purrs with me and Jay.

I don't know how we got so lucky, I made sure that the kittens at the acreage had been around dogs and had some exposure to kids, but this cat is not bothered whatsoever by Kihei or Braden!

This next picture was taken the day after Braden's birthday party, so 1 week ago today, and it was the first time Gus felt comfortable enough to come out and have a rest in a public spot that was nice and comfy...

....but still only Braden was allowed to come up and see him, the minute Jay or I got close he'd scurry away!

But it didn't take too long and Gus decided he really liked all this human contact and attention he could get!

This is Gus' favorite spot to nap so far, on the dining room chairs.

 Jay took him for his first vet check-up and shots and he's healthy and no ear mites which is great! I didn't think he had them, but they're a pain in the ass to deal with and then all the other animals get them too. We figure he's 14-15 months and vet says we need to get him neutered sooner than later as if he starts spraying before then, he might not stop even after he's fixed! We will get that done when we get home from Vegas.

He's an absolute sweetheart of a cat, we got very lucky to have such a calm kitty that gets along with everyone in our household, a perfect addition to the family! :) He follows me almost everywhere I go, we go get Braden up every morning and he has even snuggled with me and Braden as I'm nursing him before bedtime! Here's our Gus! (he's got little tufts of fur on the tips of his ears like a little lynx!)

I know a grey tabby cat who likes to watch sports on TV too!