Life on the farm

Munchkin's favorite morning ritual involves clawing her way to the couch, where I sit with my blanket and coffee, and snuggling in for a session of purring, drooling and kneading with her claws. They say that cats who are weaned too early do this their entire lives. Munchkin joined us when she was 6 to 8 weeks old, after her mother stopped feeding her. She is the most loving cat I have ever encountered; but nobody sees this except me, Walt, Pushkin and Neko, because Munchy heads for one of her many hiding places when other people come around.

When she wakes up, one of us carries her downstairs and feeds her. Pushkin follows on silent cat feet. If we sleep for too long after that, Munchkin manages with great difficulty to climb onto the sofa, from where she looks up and plaintively wails in the general direction of our loft.

During the day, she usually sleeps in a little igloo that I bought and put next to my desk.



Pushkin is our Protector. Squirrels constantly try and break into our house. But for Pushy we would be overrun. As for Neko, she just likes to hang.

Neko meets her match

The law of series is alive and well. Since Neko joined us in February of 2008 and until last Monday, we had never come across another shiz-tsu/pug. But as we were leaving Le Pichet restaurant on 1st and Virginia with an out-of-town visitor last Monday, a woman stopped us to ask what kind of dog ours was. She thought Neko looked like her 17-month old rescue dog and showed us a photo. Hers was clearly a Putz like ours. She took Neko's photo and went away happy in the knowledge that a mystery had been solved.

Today I took Neko on her favorite walk on Alki. It's a long one, from the water taxi parking lot to Duke's and back. But there are three spots with water and dog bowls, and lots of cool grass on the non-waterfront side. So we love it and show our love at least three times a week. Today we met Lily, a 10-month old Putz. I saw her from a distance and knew it had to be. She and her owner are from Normandy Park. Luckily I had my exploding iPhone, so I got a couple of photos. I tried to get one of Neko and Lily side by side, but they refused to cooperate. But Neko had an extra bounce in her step when we left. She knew Lily was kin.


Neko at ten months

The reason we call her Munchy

Kitty Ranch

Well, she may not weigh much (1 pound) but she finally has a name: Munchkin. Everyone who has met her agrees that this is a good name for the little runt. Here she is last Friday, boning up on her Chinese and learning to use big words like "gustatory" and "voracious." She is also dangerously close to one of Neko's toys, the famous blob we were given as part of her welcome package at the Deluxe Hotel in Portland, and the plastic bone, also included in the package.

This tiny little critter may not live past twelve weeks. In fact, there are moments when I am sure she will not live to see another day. She has a healthy appetite (voracious even) and can muster a lusty cry, but to be honest she can't really walk. She lurches and rolls and drags herself around somehow. She does get places, though. Last night, we left Munchkin and her bigger brother BB (for Big Brother, although this name is subject to change) home alone. Unable to find a restaurant open, we did a quick store run and came home thirty minutes later. The kittens were gone! We looked everywhere. I was convinced they had found the hole at the back of the wardrobe and had bolted, but in fact they had crawled into the smallest and most suffocating space they could find--right behind the dishwasher. How Munchkin managed to drag herself that far is beyond comprehension.

They seem to have returned to sleep there as well. Their bean bag chair was empty when we got up this morning. Munchkin is making up for that wild night behind the dishwasher today, with sleep interrupted only to lap up some milk and wolf down a bit of solid food. I have mixed some baby food (organic squash) into her milk, hoping that this will solidify her little stools a bit. This is why I wonder if she'll make it: diarrhea can be fatal when you weigh one pound. There is a condition called Fading Kitty Syndrome to describe kittens that gradually fade away and die before they survive their twelfth week. She is beginning week eight. I may be wrong, but I'm hoping that if she can make it to twelve weeks she will live to be at least twelve years old.

Everyone says that even if she doesn't, she will have ended her brief life in a happy place. She looks happy, and has been elated since BB showed up. But she also looks so tiny and so frail. I just don't know. If we took her to the vet now, he would tell us to put her down. Gotta run. I just heard a lusty, insistent cry.

July 8, 2008 update: Munchkin has gained two ounces and now weighs 1 pound and 2 ounces. She is also much stronger and can sit up without assistance. She loves to chew on and do battle with towels and other objects, and has just discovered her tail. Like Neko, she loves to try and capture it. She also loves to watch me work. If only she knew a little French; I can always use extra help.