Meet Lucy: Our Newest Addition!!

Manic:  My daughter asking to us add a 3rd pet to our already full household!  She made this request back in October and she spent the entire school year researching hypo-allergenic puppy breeds and writing reports for us arguing her case!

Managed:  Explaining to her what a huge responsibility it is to have a pet.  Telling her maybe this summer if she showed us she was mature enough with behavior and grades all year.  We even met with our vet about how to introduce a new pet to our very content feline boys, Tucker and Stanley.

So now 8 months later, Lexi told us that she has decided on three things:  a kitten instead of a puppy for a variety of reasons, a black kitten because she thinks a lot of people don’t want black cats and a female because we already have two male cats.  And what impressed me the most was that she said that she wanted to adopt a rescue animal.  So after all of this and her excellent behavior this year coupled with great grades, well….I bit the bullet and well….Meet Lucy….

After visiting Petco and seeing the cats they had there from the Arizona Welfare League & SPCA Shelter, Lexi spotted two kittens, one was an orange male and the other….a black female, of course!  The next day we returned to find that the orange kitten had been adopted quickly, leaving little black baby alone.  We visited the little black kitten daily for four days and on Thursday night, my teenage son (who is sort of a cat whisperer) told me that if we were going to keep our word and give little sister her own pet, that this sweet little black kitten is the one.  He told me that he could tell that this kitten had already chosen us and although I was nervous about adding another pet to our busy household, I felt like he was right.

So yesterday, I adopted that little black cat and when I arrived at school to get Lexi it was a sight to see!  When she got in the car and saw that I had adopted Lucy (Lexi had already named her on our daily Petco visits), she burst into tears of joy!

Waiting for Lexi to come out of the school. I had to get this styish cat carrier for the new princess!

All the way home, little Lucy sat happily in Lexi’s lap purring and playing with her new Mama’s braid!  I couldn’t believe how right my son had been!  This little girl is the sweetest kitten ever.  And last night, she slept in her own little bed, not disturbing Lexi’s slumber once!  And she doesn’t cry when we leave, either.  She simply grabs a toy, rolls around and plays so happily.  Once we return she hops over to us like a clumsy bunny and jumps into our arms, eager to welcome us back with huge purrs, gentle nudges and sweet kitten meows!  Truly a love!

They had already bonded at Petco, so both cat and child were so happy to be together!

It seems that all three of our kitties know that they are adopted and are so grateful to be a part of our family!  It sounds crazy to me when I tell people that we now have three cats!  Wow!  But Lucy is so easy!  So loving and so playful and she absolutely adores Lexi.  There is already a big bond.  She loves all of us and even snuggled with several friends that came to meet her last night.  I love how my kids knew that little Lucy was the right choice for us!

Now at my son's school parked and waiting for his arrival, so I get to hold little Lucy! Such a love!

And last night as my son attended his first dance ever and my girl snuggled and played with Lucy, I said a prayer of thanks for my full life.  How wonderful that we are able to rescue lovely little Lucy.  In the 24 hours that we have had her, she has already given us huge amounts of love, snuggles and laughs….a true stress reliever for our busy family!

So in the next few weeks, we will make the introductions, as Lucy will meet the kings of the house, Stan and Tucker.  Our boys are pretty mellow and have been curiously sniffing under the door, wondering who the new little princess is that arrived yesterday.

The boys! Soon they will meet Lucy, but not yet!

We have read about these recommended introduction steps…

1.  sniffing of each other under the closed door

2.  Week 2 – putting Lucy in a safe room, away from the boys, while they are allowed to enter Lexi’s room to check out Lucy’s kitten scent

3.  A few days or weeks later (don’t know yet as Lucy is only 8 weeks old) allowing one cat in at a time, with our supervision, to see how they do with each other.

And everyone is fixed, so that is supposed to help, too.

Do any of you have tips on how to introduce a tiny female sweetheart of a kitten to our very mellow and content 5-year-old boys who have been here since they were kittens that we rescued from the Humane Society?  Tell us your tips because so far Lucy is a dream and we hope to continue smoothly, as we all adjust to having a new little princess in the house!