So many have sadness going on with pets…

Let me share a little something that is, however crazy, at least true in the way I look at the universe. Jane and I have always said that our kittehs' nine lives—and I'm sure doggies have something the same—is their way of keeping up with our long human lifespan. And when a kitteh is getting ready to leave us, somewhere a kitten or cat or other four-foot is getting an extra life, not maybe apparent, but so there, one will.

So when Efanor left us, I showed Jane pix of black kittens I'd found on the interwebs, and most were meh, nice, but—

And one of them just reached out and grabbed her. We were and we weren't going to get him—and finally did; and it was just instant. He hit Jane's lap and stayed there, all during a 50 mile drive home, and never cried, which was very odd for such a tiny kitten. His mannerisms are sometimes like Efanor, but oh, now and again he resonates with that Prince of Cats, Elrond, that Jane lost in OKC. So we're sure we nabbed a couple of spare lives that so needed to come home.

I nearly lost Ysabel this summer, too; and she's had her off and on crises—dangerous, since Eushu was such a handful—he'd hit her like a ton of furry bricks.

To protect Ysabel from Demonkitten, we decided we needed a kitten. We planned on it. I looked. And then I saw Seishi's picture, and I couldn't stop looking at it. I read the body language in that photo, and I just was hooked. An adult cat. I'd never planned on an adult tomcat. We went to get him, with Shu in tow, to see if they could possibly get along. Seishi was a whole year old, and a little more. But strong enough to stand up to Shu's rowdy antics. To our relief, that part worked. They love each other. And Ysabel gets to have her naps secure in the knowledge she won't be landed on.

But the spooky part. I'm getting to that. When I got Ysabel, it was because I'd lost my dear old Khym, right along with Elrond; and Khym was so special I declared I wouldn't get another Persian. I couldn't. I'd get a kitteh as different as possible, and start over. Well—I found Ysabel—quite by accident. The kitten I'd agreed to buy for had gotten sold, right before I arrived to pick him up, and here I had a female I hadn't planned on, who turned out to have allergies and every strike against her.

Except two. She had me. And Jane. And she was our kitten, our odd little we-don't-know-how-we-got-her kitten, Who reminds me most of my streetwise Tabby, who was the kitty that started all my kittehs, when I was about 6—independent. Self-willed. I had no idea what her name was. But on the way home in the car, she informed me her name was Ysabel. With a Y. No reason. No figuring. Peaches, Queen of the Universe. And I have loved her every step of the way, and she does remind me most of long-lost Tabby. She brought up Efanor. She lost him, and nearly pined away. And then, poor old dear, she took on Eushu, tried to teach him manners—and needed help.

Well, so we got Seishi. He was shy. A little standoffish. But the hour I got him to trust me, he couldn't contain himself, just wanting to be held. And I realized suddenly what I'd seen in that photo. That was Khym's look. That was absolutely Khym's look, the one I thought I'd never find the like of again.

I still have Ysabel, thank goodness. I'm lucky. She's taking care of the household and keeping the boys in line, being the matriarch, She Who Must Be Obeyed. But every morning, once I've given Her Furry Grace her brushing, and her kibble, and her fresh water, and her respect as head of household, here's Sei, sweet and shy, and so wanting to be held and petted for a little while, not in Ysabel's Chair, but in the one I work in.

I think they find us. I don't know where Sei got his extra life, or if he was born with it. I'm not a superstitious sort, but that's my Halloween cat story, for October, and that's what I'll say about Seishi.