Introducing... Sebastian!

[vilakins]

I meant to post this yesterday but LJ was down.

Allow me to introduce... Sebastian.


Yep, that's the source of the icon. :-)

He's seven months old and came from a local Lonely Miaow foster home on Sunday. He was rescued at four weeks from a Mangere (South Auckland) street, and was the only non-tabby in the litter. He's very sweet and affectionate and playful so I have no idea why he wasn't adopted till now. (But damn, I could have taken two other younger kittens with him who were swarming all over me at the home and I feel sort of guilty about that but three cats are expensive enough to board when we go away).

Sebastian is black except for a white spot on his front, another bigger one on his underneath, and a couple of white hairs in each ear. He has lovely green eyes, more gold at the edges. Why Sebastian? I suggested a lot of names to Greg and I expected him to laugh and say no, but he thinks Sebastian will grow into the magnificence of his name.

And in fact he's already about the size of Jasmin and Ashley, but they're little cats. I hope he doesn't get too big because he's a really smoocher. I'll have to train him not to knead though.

Ashley likes him and has even played with him, but Jasmin's very uncertain. She's better each day, but he hasn't helped by running after her to make friends and play, and, what's worse, sleeping in all her favourite places. She sniffs each one and looks outraged as she stalks off. :-) I'm sure it will work out fine: she didn't like Ashley at first and Sebastian is a very friendly, gentle little boy.


About to make a leap at the camera.


Aha! In one of Jasmin's favourite spots.

There will be more of all three cats. :-)

Comments

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Jasmin's getting more relaxed but she's still a bit put out. She's interested when he plays though, and I heard him and Ashley charging about upstairs last night. Jasmin was halfway up torn between interest and wariness. Poor wee Jasmin.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Eep. I hope this guy isn't! They said he'd be medium which is what I suppose Vic was and that was a good size.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

We have a lot of birds too, but really, all the cats I've had here have only ever caught fewer than one a year in total. We've managed to rescue most of them if we've been home.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Sebastian says "Mrrrp?" :-)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'm glad people like it. We experimented with several but it was the first one we both liked and yes, it's right for him.

He's very inquisitive. I'll have to shut him out of here when I'm not here in case he breaks something. Jasmin broke a few things as a kitten but she seems to have grown out of it, or less clumsy. :-)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

He really is! I hope he doesn't get too big because he's so cuddly.

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

Aww he is a darling.
Sebastian seems a good choice, but does he like it?

Aww he's like our Monkey (he's aptly named and answers to it too) only with a little more white. Monkey is classic Carbonel style with 9 white hairs.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

He's got a lot more than nine! His ears sport two each. I looked up coat patterns for bi-coloured cats and couldn't find one like his.

I think he likes his name, though he comes running to my voice anyway. :-)

[maegquare.livejournal.com]

Awwww! He is so cute! My sister has a Sebastian, too. Hers is grey, but he has a brother who is all black, named Raven.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

That's the second Sebastian someone's told me about! Yay for a great name!

[corvuscornix]

Ah, nice reasoning, but alas we do not say that our cats snore (that would be "snarka") but that they "spin" ("spinner"), i.e as in "spinning a thread". I've actually never really reflected on why before, but I suppose it may originally have been because people thought the sound similar to the rhythm of a spinning-wheel?

Snurre OTOH is related to the word snurra, (spinning around) and its effect of making you snurrig (dizzy/confused) - making it a suitably "cute" name for a lively kitten, but less so for the cool, laid-back adult he has grown into...

[vilakins]

Ah! So she was a dizzy little kitten! Yes, names for baby animals don't always suit the adults. I always give people names right from when I was five and allowed to name the new puppy: Peter. :-)

The German for purr is schnurren; what linguists call a false friend because it's like "snore" in English. :-) Snore in German is actually schnarchen; my mistake.

[corvuscornix]

Yes, "cute" names should be avoided. A more neutral name will "adapt" to the animal's character with time...

Oh, but now I wonder if "schnurren" and "snurra" are false friends too, because if not, maybe you were sort of right anyway, if both the Swedish and the German word for a cat's purr have to do with "spinning" (assuming that the "spin" in "spinning a thread" comes from "spinning around")...

Oh, I've got myself confused now. Time to go to bed I think. :P

[vilakins]

I'm not sure; I thought the word was just onomatopoeic. However in German if you say someone spins (spinnen) you're saying they're crazy. This just gets more complicated. :-P

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

I'm impossibly late, but he's absolutely adorable!

I hope that the relations with the other cats work out ok....

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I thought you especially would like him. :-)

Ashley's happy with him, and Jasmin's much better than she was. They're all eating in a row now. I still have the cat door set to allow cats in but not out which is annoying them a bit as I have to open doors for them, but Sebastian has to get used to being outside (for short supervised times) and learn how to come in.

[jecono.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I'm sorry I didn't make it earlier to read - what a cute little guy! Such a darling! And I love the name. :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

He's a sweetie! I've had him for two weeks now and he's settled in well. He just needs to figure out the cat door. It's too cold right now to leave a door open for him to explore.