Aki's name
Now let me first get this straight, I don't fancy the name Aki at all. If you write it differently it means "here" in Spanish. So I'm constantly wondering if should I just pronounce it differently or just forget about the name in general because we are considering adopting her if we feel we are a match. In this case, her name will change anyway and most likely this is the same if someone else adopts her.
We have to be a match
We are not the kind of people that pick a kitten from a picture though, we have to have a connection. Like with the first foster babies, there were 2 that I'd adopt if it was my saying, and we all agreed on 1 of them. The others would have been our friends as well and if not adopted, they'd be highly considered but from absolute certainty, we'd be all agreeing to adopt Garbanzo if she was available. But each of us had our own favorites.
I think it's a bold move to pick a kitten from a picture, I personally need a bit more than this as cats differ so much and this is the reason we'd always want to get to know one better, also because at some point we have to decide if we think she'd match with Mochi as well. After all the main reason to get a kitten is to have a playmate for him. You can never know what happens, clearly, but still, we need to see if there's some sort of connection with a kitten before adopting her.
Picking up Aki
We went to pick up Aki on Sunday and had to wait a little bit at the (heavenly cool) terrace of the kind volunteer. She's the same lady who borrowed us her trap when Mojo was lost as well as when we had to bring Mochi to the vet. We already knew she was a good soul but now we also met her husband, they are both Ukrainian and are living here for 20 years. Her husband is equally friendly and we had a little chat about where we're from, speaking Spanish and other languages, and had a little laugh about how my daughter could teach her English if she teaches her Ukrainian, it can never hurt to add another language, right?
Our daughter got spoiled there as they gave her a big pile of candy and chocolates, Lucky girl! After a little wait, the other volunteer who had Aki came and we were reunited with little Aki. She was a bit afraid and meowing loudly, but what do you expect she just got used to one person a bit and now moving on to the next. Thankfully we have a lot of love waiting for her and she will be relaxed within no time.
Upon arrival, we let her explore the bedroom without the playpen inside first. We decided she could check out this big room (especially for such a tiny creature) before being introduced to her new room for the nights and whenever we need to keep her safe without supervision around. She was running through the bedroom (super fast!) and mostly climbing up and from the bunk bed. There's a duvet on it with a watermelon pattern, she was constantly trying to catch the black dots on it without them even moving, super funny!
Quarantined
She didn't want to get picked up right away but within 30 minutes or so she started to get curious and was purring loudly when we gave her cuddles. It didn't take her long to eat wet AND dry food as well as drink water. After that, she used the litterbox immediately, which was great. Although I noticed the poop is not really solid so I can foresee another round of Giardia treatment coming up soon. It could also be due to the deworming tablet they gave her at the vet last week. We'll just have to keep an eye out for it, this is the reason why they need to be quarantined, not only to protect them from catching anything but also to protect Mochi from catching the parasite.
We will have to keep a close eye on the poop the next few days and see if she was "blessed" with the Giardia parasite as well, I sure hope not! Little Missy didn't have to be in the closed playpen all day until the evening fell and I wanted to do a test run if she'd accept it to be inside, either way, she will have to because I can't keep her safe during the night without doing so. We sleep in the same room so to avoid us from waking up all night, this playpen is ideal.
You may wonder why this playpen is not round, that's because it came with a faulty stitch which we could not fix without making a hole in the bottom, we decided to just deal with it and use it as is. Not ideal though, lol!*
Thankfully for us, she was tired enough to go into the playpen, this time we added the pink pillow to the interior as this time it's not that likely to get too dirty with just one kitten. Every little stain that gets on the pillow can be easily removed as soon as we notice it. I just want her to feel comfortable during the night inside the playpen without the need to call for us constantly. I added a hot jug and the little sweetheart didn't protest once. Not even when I entered the room once to do a daily compound and leave the room again. The other kittens would instantly check what I was doing and try to get my attention.
When I went to bed, she didn't make a sound either! Seems like we're up for a good night.
