New Additions

This week, there has been a special request from Allegra to post information about the newest members of the Sven Schunemann family. We have been waiting for a long time to make these additions. In fact, according to Sven, Allegra has been asking every since she was a little tiny girls for just this sort of event to happen in her life.

The new additions to the family are quite small, young, super cute and irresistible. We rescued them from a local shelter and they have been with us now for almost one month.

Their names are...Puss and Boots, two of the sweetest kittens in the world.

The story is that Aurora, Allegra and I were walking through town one Sunday on our way to the local Art's Festival when we saw the cluster of cages with the rescue cats and kittens ahead. As we approached, the girls started their usual chant, 'Mama, can we please have a kitten/puppy/pony/rabbit/small furry animal?' PLEEEEESEEEEEEEEE???? 'It would be such good fun'. PLEEEEEESSSEEEE???

I then gave my usual response, 'girls, some day. I agree it would be wonderful but we have just arrived, need to settle in, we are in rented accommodations, Papa would need to be consulted etc'. Same old line from me. However, none of us were prepared for the kittens we encountered a few seconds later.

There were a total of 6 cages housing both cats and kittens. They were all very beautiful and appeared to be well cared for. As we stood before the felines, the girls and I all agreed at the same time that the cutest of all were the two little kittens in the corner cage. One a Russian Blue and the other a grey American shorthair with four white boots, both around 4 months old. They were very curious about us and we were all so interested in only these two. After a few minutes, I could tell that my resolve was weakening as I could really imagine that we could make it work but knew that I had some lobbying to do and no sense of whether I would be successful or not so I suggested that we carry on - after I took the person's name and contact details - just in case.

As we were walking along, I noticed that Allegra stopped pleading for the kittens suddenly and she seemed to be holding her breath. As I turned to her, she let out a big breath and said, 'ouch! My fingers hurt from crossing them so hard. I really hope that we decide to get the kittens. I really do. I really, really love them already!' I burst out laughing, as it had not occurred to me that she was walking beside me with as many fingers crossed as she could manage, praying with all of her might that we would get the kittens. I thought that was so sweet and began to prepare my sales pitch for later.

When we arrived home, we shared our findings with Sven. He was unmoved by our story, by the pictures that were taken of the cute kittens and of the good we would be doing in the World if we rescued these two kittens from an unknown fate or worse. Unmoved.

Needless to say, we had the kittens delivered to the house 4 days later. They arrived at night with the intension of surprising the girls in the morning. Aurora was sadly awake when the woman delivered the kittens so she was in on the surprise early but Allegra was over joyed the next day to discover that the little kittens had arrived.

They are now well entrenched in our lives, even snuggling up to Sven when he is working on his computer and finding that they are not sent on their way. They are growing rapidly and doing very well now.

What I have most enjoyed is watching the girls with the kittens. Little Allegra is such a creative little butterfly that generally struggles to complete the simplest of tasks such as taking her fleece off and putting it in her bedroom, anywhere in her bedroom in a 24-hour period. Yet, can spend hours on end playing with the kittens demonstrating such focus, care and commitment to these little creatures that goes above and beyond what anyone would expect a child or owner to ever manage. It is if she gets lost in another world that they are both so happy to be apart of it, as they feel so safe and happy there.

What is also wonderful to see is that she always remembers to check if the kittens have been fed, watered, litter changed and generally provided for - without being prompted! It is truly amazing to witness how well she cares for these small creatures. I have long believed that having animals around is actually very good for children. It teaches them all sorts of things such as responsibility, caring for someone/something other than self, etc. Allegra certainly seems to benefit greatly from having them around and these young cats could not be happier as they are the direct beneficiaries of such unconditional love.

Aurora is also very attached to the kittens but in a different way. Where Allegra shows focus and commitment, they uncover in her older sister a more playful, fun loving and carefree side of her personality that does not shine through as frequently as any parent would like it.

For that purpose alone, getting the kittens has been worth it.

P.S. Apologies for showing pictures of the kittens asleep! They charge around the house so quickly it is difficult to get photos of them when they are awake. More soon I am sure!