Catnip and elefunks

When we first got Kili, she was 4 pounds of malnourished, half-starved shy and wild thing. Her documentation from the shelter said "three years old, already had a litter, spayed."

We started feeding her high-quality, expensive cat food (Same stuff Oleg Volk's Gremlin gets), and her coat became soft and shiny. She also doubled her weight in a month. (Orijen, for the curious.) We also tried to interest her in catnip toys, but she was completely uninterested. Springs, bottlecaps, boxes, hands under covers - those are the good stuff.

Well, a small percentage of adult cats are, like all juveniles, unresponsive to catnip. They don't have the genetic switch, you see. So I accepted a tiny 8-pound adult who wouldn't play with catnip.

Except today we caught her, red-pawed, dragging a long-forgotten catnip toy out of some recess (probably under the couch), and rubbing herself all over it in glee. I eyed my now-11-pound cat, and considered how small and curmudgeonly she'd been when we first got her. Nope, not fat - just seriously, seriously off in estimated age. And now fully adult, and stoned out of her little furry head.

Note to self: check with vet if she needs any follow-up shots, and if she's actually spayed or not.

So, of course, what do we do after going off to member night at the zoo to see the elefunks and zebras? Why, stop at out favorite pet store just before they closed, and buy a fresh catnip toy. Because our little ambush predator is hilariously mellow when stoned.


Oh, and if you're looking for publishing thoughts, go check out calmer Half's post on Mad Genius Club on the correlation between rankings and sales.