Sophia relaxing on one of the heated cat beds.
The staff at our cats' vet's office names all the kittens who are up for adoption. They named this little girl Sophia, which we liked and wound up keeping.
The Bug.
Sophia is a little red-tabby-and-white short-haired girl. She was the runt of her litter and when we got her, she was alarmingly small and delicate. After a short adjustment period, she began eating voraciously and put on weight quite rapidly - to the point of being slightly pudgy. Ultimately, she grew out of the pudgy phase and wound up being slender and petite - around 8 pounds (3.6 kg) She's the smallest of our cats.
Her eyes are a lovely orange color.
Her meow is rather hoarse and raspy and on the low side for a girl cat. She started out being quite talkative, while her brother was very quiet. They have since reversed positions, though Sophia does have little fits of meowing when she's really happy.
She has quite a loud purr, which she fires up whenever we pet her. She saves her biscuits for special occasions: when she has affection fits. Even then, she makes very gentle, non-painful biscuits.
The Fall of 2009 through late June of 2010 was a stressful, depressing time in our household, as we dealt with both Andromeda's and Arlo's terminal illnesses then lost them both within a month. When Arlo died on June 24, we discussed adopting a kitten in the near future. We didn't plan on it happening the very next day, however.
When I called our cats' vet to let her know about Arlo, I learned that they had kittens up for adoption. A litter of four had been found motherless in the downtown area and needed homes. It's always nice for kittens to have playmates and we had room for two, so two it was.
Sophia's disposition is as sunny as her coloring. She's a cheerful, good-natured, affectionate little thing and is fairly adventurous without being obnoxious. As a baby, she tended to be the first to try new things, such as climbing the big cat tower in the living room, with her brother quickly following suit. More independent than her brother, she quickly grew out of the Clingy Kitten phase and doesn't sit on laps very often, though she likes to stomp all over people when they're lying in bed.
She absolutely loves being petted and having her little head rubbed. She loved the head-rubbing even when she was a tiny baby, which is kind of unusual.
She is fond of other cats and enjoys cuddling with them and washing them and would never dream of picking on anyone. Unfortunately, she is quite submissive and thus three of our cats tend to pick on her. This drives us nuts, but we've taken steps to minimize it.
None so far.
She's a bit more placid than the average young cat, but she does spend a fair amount of time pursuing the usual activities, such as playing with toys, climbing things, and wrestling with her brother.
Her most unusual hobby as a kitten was playing with water. She loved to fish around in water bowls, in glasses of water, and even in puddles outside and doesn't mind at all when her paws and legs get wet. She appears to have mostly grown out of this phase now, but here are a few examples:
She mostly hangs out with her brother. Flynn loves her and often plays with her, and in turn, she views Flynn as her surrogate mother. She is also quite fond of Tamerlane, Calypso, and Mosaic.
She was terrified of it when she was a little baby, but doesn't mind it as much now. She's the only cat I've had who started off frightened of the vacuum cleaner then changed her mind later.
