Katrine
Katrine (pronounced ka-TREEN), aka Katrini, Jellybean, Cute-trine, KAT-trin. We named her after Loch Katrine in Scotland, where we went the summer of 2000. Loch Katrine was the scene of Sir Walter Scott's poem, The Lady of the Lake. When we visited Katrine's namesake that summer, we found out the pronunciation of the name had its emphasis on the first syllable, but we decided to continue our original pronunciation. She quickly made friends with Toby, plays with him, and looks up to him as a big brother. He's her role model, and unfortunately she's picked up some of his bad habits!
Katrine was a rescue by a friend of mine in the DePaul Library. Her mother had given birth to kittens in my friend's garage, and while the mother was feral and unreachable, the kittens were socialized and brought into the house. We adopted Katrine when she was four months old, the first time we had had a kitten that young. Needless to say, it was quite an entertaining several months to live with such a bundle of energy. Katrine was and still is quite shy and timid, and we quickly discovered that she was a master at finding hiding places, some of which Sparkle had used. We became convinced that the spirit of Sparkle was guiding Katrine to find the choice hiding places, even finding ones that Sparkle hadn't used; the presence of Sparkle's spirit was almost palpable.
Katrine has gradually gotten bolder at approaching us for affection, but it has to be on her terms; if we approach her, she will bolt away. She has discovered the benefits of my petting, and will come up to me for some pets. She will also join us in bed for a few minutes and cuddle next to one of us, but never for very long. Katrine has also gotten better at vocalizing her needs, having found her own voice. When we first adopted her, she imitated Toby's meows, but now hers are quite distinctive and communicative.
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Katrine lying in the doorway leading to our deck. In her bolder moments, she will now go onto the deck, but being half inside and half outside feels safe to her! |
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Katrine sitting on a barstool in our basement, emulating a pose Sparkle took occasionally. Despite the pose, Katrine is a teetotaller. |
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Katrine lying on our bed |
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Another view of Katrine lying on our bed |
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This photo illustrates how long Katrine is when she puts her mind to it! |