Icarus

Ron found a litter of kittens in September 2012 while working in Clifton.  All of the kittens were suffering from horrible upper respiratory tract infections.  After a few calls, he was able he managed to get one of his friends to foster the litter.  Had he not found and trapped them, the kittens would have died.

After the litter was nursed back to health, he was offered the option to adopt one.  At the time, we just put our eldest, Juno, to sleep from congestive heart failure and tumors.  Ron was ready to adopt another cat just yet.  But, later that October, Boots and Prometheus came along.  While we didn’t plan on adopting Boots, we were going  to adopt Prometheus.  Ron felt responsible for the litter he adopted and said he was obligated to adopt one.  Although I wasn’t sold on the idea of adopting a kitten, Prometheus was the youngest of our bunch and could use a playmate closer to his age.  Let’s face it.  Kittens are a lot of work.  We were at the tail end of a hellish kitten season at START II (the most kittens I’ve seen come in since my time volunteering there), and I didn’t want to clean up after a kitten at home.  Reluctantly, I agreed.

We decided to name the kitten Icarus.  I had no idea what to expect as far as personality, and the pictures Ron showed me were poor quality cell phone photos.  After our power was restored from Hurricane Sandy, Ron picked up Icarus.  At this time, Prometheus and Boots were already assimilated with our other cats, and we felt confident enough to reserve the art studio for Icarus to adjust to his new home.

Icarus immediately climbed up onto my shoulders when Ron let him out of the cat carrier.  He was soft and squirmy, and smelt like cheap perfume.  Every time Ron tried to hold him, Icarus came back to me.  I had to admit, he was cute, even though he had a funny looking face.  I was eager to introduce him to Prometheus.

However, Prometheus came down with ringworm and giardia.  He had to be quarantined.  This meant that Icarus had to be kicked out of his safe room.

Icarus didn’t adjust too well with the other cats at first.  He was frightened of them, and perhaps overwhelmed.  After hiding under the bed for an entire day, we decided to set up the bathroom as a safe room for him.  Icarus felt more comfortable with this option.  Soon, he came out of his shell, and after a week or so, felt confident to explore the rest of the apartment at his own pace.  He had some help, though.  Boots would visit him in the bathroom (although, I think Boots was more interested in water drips from the faucet in the bathtub at first).  They bonded pretty quick.  We weren’t expecting that.  In fact, Icarus taught Boots how to play, bringing out Boots’ inner kitten.  Before Icarus came along, Boots didn’t really know how to play.  He tried.  Often, he failed miserably.

When Prometheus was finally let out of quarantine, Icarus didn’t know what to make of him.  He was wobbly, yet strong, and loved to pounce.  Once Icarus got used to Prometheus, they became best buds.  Eventually, Icarus, Boots, and Prometheus became the three amigos.