Cat-tastic Entry #1: Nobanion

So for the first of my five - yes five - entries to introduce and discuss the true rulers of our household, I figured I'd start with the comedian of the group:

Nobanion (pronounced No-BAN-yon)

But before I start this, you'll notice a theme with our cats-- they all have long, formal names, and then they have daily nicknames. I'm really not sure why. But they all do.

Anyway... Nobanion, or Noby, as we normally identify him, is now just about 18 months old. He's an orange and white tabby - all of his orange patches are very distinctly striped. The spots over his shoulder blades make a perfect Mickey Mouse ears image. He has light copper eyes that are just a couple shades paler than his orange spots. His whiskers are white, and both his nose and his paws are pale pink. He's the twin of Elly, who I'll talk about in my next entry.

His name is the god of cats (and is represented by a lion) in the Forgotten Realms universe. I loved the name, and with his personality... it fit. Immediately.

Noby (and Elly) arrived in our house in September 2005 by pure dumb luck. On our way home, we turned from the main road by our house (a U.S. highway) onto one of several side streets that connect with our street. It was very dark, so it had to be well after seven p.m. As we passed a streetlight, I caught a glimpse of a cat with two kittens stumbling behind her. I just exclaimed "KITTENS!" and we pulled over.

We could tell immediately that all three cats were feral. The mother was quite young and thin. The kittens were not in good health- with a myriad of issues (the first we noticed was the severe conjunctivitis in their eyes). We managed to get the kittens, but couldn't get the mother as she ran off into the darkness. After asking at a couple houses if they knew who these kittens might belong to (if anyone), we were able to determine that yes, they were in fact strays. And they were in dire need of medical attention.

Three hundred dollars in emergency vet bills later, we'd bought ourselves two kittens. The conjunctivitis was a secondary infection to a serious case of herpes-- the cat version of cold sores. They had fleas. They had worms. They had ear mites. They were definitely scummy little kittens. But the vet, after a second checkup about a week later, said they were just fine-- despite being ill, they were romping around like any other kittens, eating well, and doing just fine.

Noby warmed up to us first- that first night at the vet, we were in the exam room with him sitting on the metal table as the vet went to get some flea medication & run the tests for mites. Noby turned around to groom himself, and we could just SEE the fleas run away from the pressure. But as soon as Erich reached to scratch his ear... he purred. Seven weeks old, around complete strangers, and he purred, leaning into Erich's fingers.

He's never changed. Noby is definitely the extrovert of the bunch- he greets anyone who comes over to our house. He tends to be the performer, investigating things or playing with things in front of guests for their amusement. He pounces fingers on the bannister as we head down the stairs. He attacks the wall for no reason as we come up the stairs. And most recently, he made quite an impression with the roofers last Saturday as they worked on the sunroom. The entire time they were there, he hung out in the bedroom window, fascinated with what they were doing - the leader of the crew remarked how "that orange cat was just so friendly."

He's also incredibly affectionate. He comes up between the two of us as we settle down to sleep and generally flops down on my head for attention. He cuddles as close as he possibly can (normally... on my nose). He has specific ways of being held, though-- if you try to pet him when he's not in the mood, he'll start chewing on your fingers and kneading your hands as if he's trying to nurse.

Per the photo above- he sleeps in weird positions. We've wondered whether or not he's double jointed, although the idea of a cat (which is already made of rubber) being double-jointed just seems odd. Then again, so are those angles in which he rests his front legs as he sleeps every day- chin flat down on the chair, front legs splayed out and bent backwards, back legs tucked under him, and tail stretched out long.

He has the most pathetic little mew of a voice-- it sounds like the cry of a tiny kitten needing attention. It's not the voice of a nearly ten pound male cat. Perhaps we snipped him a tad too early? (but really... it couldn't be helped... we had both a male and female kitten of the same age... we had to be extra careful with our dates).

He's our little monkey cat, and I can't imagine life without him.