Meet Truffles

We have a new addition to our family - he weighs in at 1.4 lbs and is just 7 weeks old. He is a kitten and his name is Truffles. I wish I could say I had a weak moment when the kids begged me for him...you know how kids are..."PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZEEEE!!!!!!" - "I'll take care of it,MOM!" "I'll never ask for anything else" "PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZE!!!"

Yes, I wish I could say that but I can't - It was all me! I fell for the little thing as soon as I saw him...the kids didn't even bother to ask because they anticipated the usual answer of , "No way! Are you out of your mind?? Don't ask me again!" ..

So I imagine their shock when I did it.

Here's how it happened............

We volunteered at an event this past weekend: Kids Fest. An all day event that celebrates being a kid. I worked the registration table, while Kyle manned the Messenger's table for me where we asked kids to tell us what was so great about being a kid. Kyle's friend, Andre, manned the Energy Fair's table where we had "go green" coloring sheets for kids to color and take home. Then Justin, who didn't want to go and before we left for the event complained "You mean I have to volunteer to be surrounded by twerps like Kyle?" ...got to man the dunk tank....and he ended up enjoying the day.

So there we were, a busy bunch. Plus while there volunteering I also took pictures of the event for an article for the paper...I was wearing many hats at once...so maybe that's why I lost my mind when I saw Rosemary from the Carl W Nelson Animal Shelter come in with a cage filled with kittens.

"OH KITTENS - BABIES- YAY!", I said as I followed her like a stalker over to where she was setting up for the day.

And that's when it happened. I should have had blinders on...I should have anticipated that they would be there with animals (I am a softy). My cat Ripley who is 17 years old is basically at her end of days...the thought of that has been killing me. Yet another loss for the kids and I. (see how I was justifying it all in my head?)

Immediately I was drawn to the little black face mewing about with his sisters.

"Maybe" I said to Rosemary - and right then and there she opened the cage and pulled him out to hand him to me...yup, she's a born salesperson!

"Oh geez, Rosemary don't do that...why did you have to do that???," I said as I held the little life in my hands...his cute little face looking up at me. DAMN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Need I say more?

I then went about and gathered up my children to tell them when they got a chance to look at the kittens...and to make sure they checked out the black one because he was going home with us when we leave later in the day. Both my sons stood there with a blank look on their faces...stunned into silence.

I am sure they thought that I had finally gone over the edge...that the stress of the past few years had finally gotten to me, and I HAD lost my mind!

Truffles, who was named Cricket before he came to us, did in fact come home with us, and the children have been acting like little mother hens. We named him Truffles because actually his coat is a deep chocolate brown with highlight here and there of lighter brown, and few wisps of white fur.

He's a friendly little guy...not shy at all..and appears to be extremely healthy. Although we're keeping a very close eye on him because on Monday Rosemary called me to tell me one of the other kittens had died Sunday morning, and another one was ill. Apparently all was fine with them until a sudden onset of something made them drastically ill. She had me rush him over to the animal hospital to be checked out at the shelter's expense.

They ran tests and all came back negative...but still we were told to be warned and cautious as it could be a virus kittens get but there's no test for it.

So far no signs of Truffles being ill...he eats..he drinks...and he poops just fine. He bounces all over the place and climbs everything in site....the boys are making sure Truffles never wants for anything - yes, spoiled rotten!!!

And yes, I know, kittens grow up to be big cats...and I look forward to it. I've passed up many animals over the years, including ones that Rosemary has had at other events in the community...but there was something about this little guy that caught my eye - call it fate...whatever..that's my excuse.