Batty is the newest animal member of my family. It was tentative for a long time whether or not I would be keeping him.
Basic story: Neighbor found 3 kittens in a box left by a dumpster, called me over to see them and to see if I knew anyone who wanted one. Friend took one, co-worker of friend took another, another co-worker of friend took the last one, but brought him back because the kitten and his other cat were hissing at each other (I mean, duh). My neighbor was very stressed out from caring for them for those few days, so I offered to take him while trying to find a home.
Some good friends and family expressed interest in him, but everyone fell through. I mean everyone. I was so disappointed, but I kept taking care of him. After a while I was obviously attached to him, but because he and my other cat still weren't getting along after some time, I kept his status as available, but only to very good friends (of myself or of my brothers). There were a couple of potential takers, but again, they all fell through.
Batty had a rough beginning. When the kittens were found, they were covered from head to toe in ringworm and they all had ear mites. After a lot of care (and an emergency with one of them, read in this post) they are all doing great.
Here are some pictures of Batty from 5 weeks old to the present.
See those big bat ears?
Isn't he handsome?
Batty is very happy in my house, although I'm still having trouble socializing him with my other cat, Toulouse, who is 13. Surprisingly, my dog seems mostly okay with Batty at this point, but my cat is not a fan. Which sucks, because Batty REALLY wants to play with him, but Toulouse just won't have it.
He chases Toulouse around, rolls around in front of him, makes all these little happy chirpy noises, and he rolls around in spots that Toulouse hangs out, to cover himself in Toulouse's scent, I guess?
If that's not love, I don't know what is.
And in case you were wondering, he's named Batty after the character from one of my favorite animated movies, Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest.
