Fred The Kitten

I wrote those lines a couple of years ago when I put up Bob's page.  As Bob aged I'd begun to think about his successor.  I never imagined I'd find another cat like Bob.  Intelligent, beautiful, vocal, super personality, loves to travel, bobtail.  That is until last Tuesday, 08/14/07.  That's when I got word that the local Game & Fish officer had trapped a Manx kitten.

Seems that some cretin had dumped a mom and dad Manx mix pair at the fish hatchery and mom had kittens.  When the ranger saw her toting the kittens off to the woods with the message "go forth and prosper", he knew it was time to find them homes.  A couple of nights with a puddy-food-baited Have-a-Hart trap and....

When I saw Fred I was stunned.  A veritable clone of Bob.  Same color, same markings, same huge eyes.  The only difference is that Fred has but a stub of a tail.  It was love at first sight.  For me, at least.  Fred was pissed at being trapped and was hissing and spitting to beat the band.  I gently picked him up in spite of the hissing and within 5 minutes the purr motor started.  It hasn't stopped yet.  Fred's standard operating position (SOP) now is on my chest above the shirt pockets.

Of course, Bob is royally PISSED at this young interloper.  He wouldn't let me touch him for over a day - hissing and spitting every time I got close.  A week's gone by and now Fred is driving him Nutz!  I've given Fred the nickname "Torpedo" for the way he assaults anything of interest.  Feet under the covers, bits of paper, Bob....  Bob hisses and swats the l'il punk but they're starting to grow on each other, I think.

Fred has a brother, Jake, who joined the family yesterday.  So far he's spent his entire stay hiding behind the washer and dryer so no photos yet.

Without further ado, here are Fred's baby pictures.

Meows dished out since 08/22/07