Meet The Kitties: Java

It's time for another installment of crazy-cat-lady-in-training indulgences!
Java was, to put it bluntly, an accident.

I was working at a self storage facility and had just gotten promoted to general manager which came with a nifty free apartment. I had Bunny and I thought that since I wouldn't have a roommate anymore maybe another cat would be a good idea to keep her company. I didn't want to just up and get another one before finding out how my baby reacted with other cats.

At the same storage company there was a customer, and we were on pretty good terms. She mentioned how she was going to be out of town and asked if I knew anyone that could watch her cat. I saw it as a perfect opportunity! I would watch her cat for two weeks and if they got along I could look into obtaining a kitty of my own once I had the funds and met the right match.

It was mid march when she came in with the cat crate. I should have known something was off at that moment. There was not one, but two cats in this crate (this second cat is Mary, but this story is not about Mary, it's about Java). So this girl told me that her friend had abandoned this second cat with her and she couldn't just leave her and would I possibly also watch the second cat as well?

I looked into the crate and two pairs of beautiful eyes peered curiously back at me. My heart melted and I agreed. It couldn't hurt, it was just for two weeks anyway. Then the second warning came about when she mentioned that I should be careful about letting them get outside because neither one of them was spayed.

"They're so beautiful I just think it would be sad if they never had kittens!"

Being adamantly against backyard breeding I wanted to say something but I held my tongue. It wasn't my cat, it wasn't against the law, it wasn't my choice. I took the cats.

Bunny did not like either Mary or Java (they called her Maui at the time. Like the Hawaiian island). Java was too bossy and didn't like to share. She would cuddle, but only when she wanted it. She liked sitting on peoples laps, but she didn't like people to pet her while she was sitting on their lap. She didn't hesitate to make her displeasure known by swatting at a hand that didn't know its place.

Her wide blue eyes spent most of their time narrowed in an angry expression, a warning that this was not a cat to be messed with. Over the two weeks she and I had grown fond of each other. She allowed me to pet her, pick her up and play with her. She liked curling up with her head tucked under my neck and it was very sweet.

The third week passed. I called the girls phone but it went to her voicemail. I left her a message asking her to call me back.

The fourth week passed. I called her again and it went straight to voicemail. I left her another message asking her what she wanted me to do with the cats.

The second month passed. I called her phone but the voicemail box was full. I was unable to leave a message.

The third month passed and I called her phone to find that it had been disconnected.

I came to the conclusion that she had evaporated.

I went upstairs (the apartment was conveniently located directly above the office for the storage facility where I worked) and I came home to Java (I hated the name Maui so I called her Java, since she's a javanese, thinking that it didn't matter so not a whole lot of thought went into the name). Her large blue eyes greeted me accompanied by a meow and a rub against my leg. I picked her up, kissed her nose and said, "Well, I guess you're mine now!"

I fed them, cleaned their litterbox and then sat down for some TV and cuddles.

Bunny and Java still don't really get along. They have a tenuous truce where they have spats but once one of them runs away they don't seek each other out. It works.

-E