Polydactyl Madness!

After being a total kitten slut (I had no fewer than 3 simultaneous appointments to look at kittens last night!), I went with the Hemingway cat! He is a 10-week-old little gray thing; looks like there is some slight stripe-age going on, but he's mostly just gray. And judging from his older brother, he is going to be a BIG boy. His paws are quite large; but what else can you expect - he's got 24 friggin' toes.

Unfortunately, Audun has yet to really take to him. That's not surprising. The kitten hid mostly behind the bathtub, but he did wake me up in the middle of the night crying. And he ventured out into the wide world this morning before I left for work. I played with him; Audun watched from the futon; all was well. Leaving them alone all day is cause for mild concern; but the hiding place behind the bathtub seems pretty secure, there's food & water there, & the litter box is just outside the door.

Now, the most important question of all - what ever am I to name the creature? I toyed briefly with Half Dozen (y'know, "six of one...") but decided that was far too silly for even a silly creature like me. Then, last night, I thought I had settled on Xavier (using the mangled English pronounciation "ig-ZAY-vee-ur" like the barbarian I am). I've always adored the name; plus I figured I could call him X for short. But when I woke up this morning, I found myself almost automatically wanting to call him Jasper. I attribute this to my current (re)reading of Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca, which ranks up there with Jane Eyre on my list of many-times-read guilty pleasures. (Hmm, I wonder why...could it be because Rebecca is in some ways just a retelling of Jane Eyre?) At any rate, Max de Winter's faithful dog happens to be named Jasper.

So, there is a battle. Xavier vs. Jasper - who will win? We shall see this evening, I am sure, for I am determined to settle on a name as soon as possible.

EDIT: He is Xavier. And so sweet! He's already figured out that Audun is naught but bluff & bluster. Last evening Xavier managed to climb onto the futon without awaking the beast slumbering near my knees, & he cuddled with me all the night through. Appreciate your fortune that I possess not a digital camera, or this weblog here shouldst be inundated with an unseemly array of photos.