New Kitten Update: Smoky Jones

Smoky had her first vet visit for a round of vaccinations and a clean bill of health. The vet techs enjoyed saying her name repeatedly. She’ll need to be back soon for boosters, and again to get spayed.

Smoky's first vet visit #kitten

They also gave us a Purina-branded “new kitten” welcome box, with some brochures, a sample bag of cat food, and accessories like a measuring cup, silicone can cover, and grooming brush. Weirdly missing: kitten toys. (Although the box eventually became a toy itself.)

New kitten box

She’s gone on adventures onto the shoe bench, the sunny deck, the Corsi Cube, and my shoulder:

Smoky Jones goes out on the deck Smoky #kitten Smoky #kitten atop Corsi Cube Shoulder #Kitten

Amelia’s getting used to having her around and doesn’t mind sharing her spot on the armchair or on the bed.

Smoky and Amelia Amelia #cat and Smoky #kitten

True to her name, Smoky really does look like a little puff of gray smoke.

Smoky #kitten Smoky #kitten

I continue to add more photos of Smoky to her kitten album on Flickr.

New Kitten: Smoky Jones

Please meet our new kitten, Ms. Smoky Jones*, an 8 week old Maine Coon** mix, last of a litter from a home in Lower Sackville, NS***.

Smoky Jones #kitten

I wasn’t sure what to name her until the moment I got her home, sniffed her, smelled the cigarette smoke of her previous home on her fur, and said out loud, “You’re smoky!” The name fit. We added “Jones” to indicate succession from our previous cat, the late Companion Kitten Martha Jones.

Amelia is, of course, understandably apprehensive:

Smoky and Amelia: building trust

More photos of Smoky here, and of course the relevant Flickr tag.

* No relation to the country music group Smokey Jones and the Three Dollar Pistols.

** Not entirely sure she’s actually got any Maine Coon in her as the breed is tightly controlled, and there are sellers who will just call any domestic longhair a Maine Coon, out of ignorance or to boost sales -— but it’s not uncommon in this region, near Maine, for there to be descendants of older feral Maine Coons, and Smoky definitely shows some signs of the breed with her shaggy coat, bushy tail, long ears, chirpy vocalizations, and strong snout. Real Maine Coon mix or no, she is a pretty kitty and a cute floof.

*** I know we should really adopt rescue, but demand for rescues has been overwhelming, with kittens hard to get lately, so I admit with some shame that we purchased Smoky from a Kijiji seller. This meant she came unspayed with just one vaccination; we will have to bring her to the vet for further feline initialization tasks, including spaying and additional boosters.

Re-Brook

Walking by this brook on the Forest Hills Greenway again:

Idyllic brook flows over scattered rocks under trees beginning to fill with leaves

Compare with how it looked in winter a couple months back.

As of last year there was a proposal before the municipal council to name this waterway “Bissett Brook” — which seems to be what they’re calling it now.

Long Overdue Haircut

Procrastinated on getting a haircut for a couple years, but with hair flowing over my shoulders and down my back and as far down as my elbows and generally being a tangled mess I figured I’d probably better get the standard buzz I usually get. Still fighting the reflexive urge to tie back a ponytail days later.

Before haircut: long messy locks over my shoulders, and after haircut: military-style buzz and fade

Buzz and fade courtesy Tom at Chinwag’s Barber Shop. The shorn locks are now in a baggie with the Trailer Park Boys costumes and production designer Nicole, who may use it in a wig or as a prop.

Hair

Thus cementing my legacy with the show in hair forever. Or something.

Sleepy Sunny Cat

Here’s Amelia sprawled on the bed in a sunbeam putting a paw over her face:

Shorthaired tabby cat lying on sunlit bed with a paw over her nose and mouth Same tabby cat but she has moved her paw up to cover her eyes