A New Member of the Family

I do not like mice. I might go so far as to say I HATE mice. Strong words I know, but true words. Anyone who lives in the city will tell you that mice, or worse rats, are a part of life. I know that is probably true, but that doesn't mean I have to accept it. So what's a girl to do when she sees a mouse run across her kitchen counter (besides scream)? My first response was conventional traps to which I found still baited traps sans peanut butter. Next we tried sticky traps which actually caught the nasty little bugger. Mind you, this was all pre-New Years'. All is well. Right? Wrong!! Last week, we saw another mouse(probably the afore mentioned rodents' cousin). Did I mention how much I dislike mice? Did I also mention I am not a cat-lover? I'm not sure why, but they are just not my thing. You must know I am at the end of my rope when I start talking about getting a cat. However, a second mouse is the final straw. I don't love cats, but I really HATE mice, so you guessed it... We got a cat! And what some of you might find even more surprising than the actually acquisition of said feline is that I really like him. I do! Weird huh? 

So our furry feline is male, without a name* and of unknown age, but still a kitten. He is quite skinny and a little skittish still, but is slowly warming to us. Jack is another story altogether. He and Jack do not get along. We have tried to keep them in separate ends of the apartment and slowly allow more face-time between them. I think Jack is most curious and kitty is just plain mad. Only time will tell. 

Okay, I will be the first to say that I encouraged Jack in the chasing of cats when we lived in Utah. I didn't like what they did to my garden, nor how one winter they took up residency in our garage. But the fact is, we are city dwellers and we live in an apartment which means no matter how fastidious I am about cleaning, storing food, etc. we will probably have mice - unless we have a cat. So I welcome him to the family with open arms. Now get to work! :)

*As far as names go, we have been calling him Claudio. Jack is named after Jackson Pollock. I picked Claudio after Claudio Bravo an artist I really fell in love with in Italy. Kind-of random, but Jon had just finished a piece that reminded me of Mr. Bravo's. I think it fits him, but the jury is still out. Et calls him Claude which works as well.