First Tulip of Spring

Although it feels like spring here, it's a little premature.  But at The Folly one multi-colored Tulip arrived unexpectedly. 

And the joke's on me!  As always, be careful what you wish for--or at least what you mention to your daughter!

MEET TULIP

I miss having a cat and thought if I ever got one, a kitten would be a good idea.  It could grow up with the dogs and I think they'd be intrigued and careful with a tiny creature.  I've had a certain breed in mind--Norwegian Forest cat--because Jaime rescued one (or a Maine Coon) once and he was big in size and even bigger in personality.  But I really don't want to buy a cat by breed when so many kittens need homes.  So (and since it's only been six months since I adopted Barks--with all his quirks) I put it on the back burner.  Until a couple weeks ago.

Jaime called and said a friend at work had a stray cat she and her neighbors had been feeding who was super friendly and wanted to come into her house.  But since she had four cats, she couldn't take it in.  They'd been calling her Tulip for some reason.  I was told she's calico, only about a year old, fixed and tagged--so not really feral.  And for some reason, Jaime said I'd take it!  She decided an indoor-outdoor cat would be perfect for my situation.  

Interesting tidbit:  Calico cats are not a breed, but a color pattern, and 99.9% of calico cats are female.  This is due to a genetic mechanism behind their coat color inheritance having to do with their X chromosomes. 

It took the girl offering Tulip over a week to 'catch' her in a raccoon cage.  Then we went to pick her up...  First off, she's definitely not friendly, definitely not a one year old, definitely not tagged, but does have a clipped ear, so she was probably spayed and released as a feral cat by the Humane Society.  But she is a healthy and pretty short-haired calico.  I decided to stick with the name 'Tulip' on the chance she was familiar with it. 

Since bringing her home, she's resided in one of my guest room.  At first she was just in the bathroom and the windowsill was as far away from me as she could get.  There I could approach her, she'd hiss but didn't strike out, and I could pet her.  Since then, she's eating, using a cat box (!!) and even playing with the toys I've set out.  But I can't get near her.  I'm getting lots of suggestions from my (slightly guilty-feeling) daughter, and the latest was to sleep in the room with her.  So now I'm doing that.  While I'm tucked in bed, she'll wander about, even play a little, but the minute I get up, she slinks under the bed.  This may be a long process!  (One positive outcome, I now think it's a good idea to sleep in each one of my guest rooms to see how comfortable they are.)

Sadie is super curious and I know Barks will just squeak at her, but I don't know when I'll be able to introduce them all.  The funny thing is--everything's relative--Sadie's always been very attention-seeking, but when I got Barks, Sadie became my low-maintenance dog.  Now, Barksy is looking pretty easy in comparison to Tulip! 

Why did I agree to take Tulip?  Who knows!  I do love animals.  And I think Jaime immediately realized if I didn't take Tulip, she'd committed to take her.  So I decided to try.  And since I'd wanted a cat at some point and wasn't doing anything about it, this got me there.  It's a challenge, but I already feel attached and I'm determined Tulip and I will be friends.  And at some point I'll get a photo of my three tri-color pets!  The menagerie is growing. 

The End