Welcome Home, Giovanni!

Hi everyone, it's the Mom today with some news.

While I expected Carmine's death to hit Tylan, I didn't expect it to hit him as hard as it did. Tylan wasn't eating very much and spent much of his day curled up in Carmine's favorite bed. When my friend, Steve, came over, he said Tylan looked sad. The poor guy. Tylan lived with numerous cats in Thailand in his hoarding situation. Then he lived in a foster home with his friend, Mek, for about eight months or so. Then he came to live with me and Carmine. So Tylan has never not lived with at least one cat friend. He was very sad to not have any friends for company.

I went to PetFinder to see what orange male cats were in the area for adoption. Most of you probably already know how much I LOVE orangies. 

I actually didn't find many around. But I did come across a cat named Claudio. He was a tiny little boy. He was too adorable, so I stayed up later than I had planned and filled out an application for his rescue. I found two other orange cats from the same rescue I was interested in - another kitten and a five-year-old orange male with one eye. So I told the rescue I was interested in all three of the kitties.

I took this photo of Claudio in his foster home when I went to visit him last week. 

My application was approved the next day, and the fosters were told about my interest in the kitties. 

Well, one of the kittens I inquired about got adopted the very next day. 

Claudio's foster mom emailed me and told me Cllaudio and his littermates all came down with kitty colds so she had to postpone meet and greets for a few days. That was okay by me. I wanted to talk to Carmine and get his blessing first anyway, and the right kitty is worth waiting for.

I had a very nice chat with Carmine through Linda - the wonderful animal communicator who helped us before when Carmine wasn't eating well. Carmine said he is fine with me adopting another kitty; he knows how much I love him, and he knows he is not being replaced. 

With Carmine's blessing, I went to visit Claudio and his littermates last week. There were four kittens in his litter - and orange and white boy, a calico girl, a long-haired gray girl, and Claudio. 

Here's Claudio with the catnip snake I brought him and his littermates.

While his littermates were playing and exploring, Claudio sat in the corner and watched. After a little bit, he decided to come over to me and say hello! He hopped up on the stool right by me. I brought the kittens a few toys. I showed Claudio the snake I brought. He loved that! He batted at it some. Then he put his head on it like a pillow (like Lita used to!) and fell asleep. 

My friend, Logan, had taken me to visit the kittens. We played with the kittens for a long while!

I wanted Claudio and asked his foster mom if I could put the adoption fee down on him. She explained that their rescue wasn't a first-come, first-served rescue. They choose a few interested people and then choose what they think will be the best home for the kitty.

Of course I thought I could provide Claudio a wonderful home, but I was anxious that he wouldn't pick me. So I waited anxiously last weekend to hear. I heard on Saturday afternoon that they chose ME to be Claudio's human!

On Sunday, Steve and I went to get Claudio. I decided to change his name to Giovanni.

Giovanni loves his Turbo Scratcher! Sometimes he even naps on it.

By the way, I never heard from the one-eyed kitty's foster, but I did hear that he got a home! 

When he first came home, he wasn't all too thrilled about seeing Tylan. He hissed and growled at him. I figured he was probably overwhelmed with all the changes he had gone through that day. 

On Monday, Giovanni was hissing at Tylan only when Tylan got right in his face (which Tylan likes to do....). 

By Tuesday, the hissing had stopped. Giovanni only complains (mews) if Tylan is being a bit too rough when they wrestle. Otherwise, they get along very well. They are having fun chasing each other around! Tylan is eating more, and I know he's happier now that he has a friend again.

I took Giovanni to the vet yesterday to make sure he is healthy, and he is. He got an FVRCP vaccine and a dewormer. He will get his final kitten FVRCP vaccine, rabies vaccine, and dewormer in July. The vet staff fussed over how adorable he is, and our vet says she has absolutely no concerns about him (thank the Lord!). 

Giovanni decided this was his throne at the vet's office.

Giovanni has certainly brought new life to this home. He is happy and energetic (and yes, sometimes a bit naughty). 

He was born March 29, 2023, so he is only about 11 weeks old. He was neutered and microchipped before the rescue let me take him home. 

I do believe that Carmine helped pick this little boy for us. He knew we would be sad and lonely without him. I named him Giovanni because I wanted to honor Carmine by choosing another Italian name. Our dear, dear friend, Terry, from Brian's Home suggested Giovanni because it means, "Gift from God." It was a perfect fit!

Right now, we are working on training him on the SureFeed so Tylan doesn't eat as many kitten kibbles and trying to slowly acclimate him to a collar. He spends his days playing and exploring. When he does calm down for a little rest, he usually curls up to nap near me and/or Tylan.

He is so very sweet. He is exactly what we needed. I am so happy that this all worked out and everything fell into place. 

Giovanni is already mimicking his new big brother. He demands tummy rubs often!

Welcome home, Giovanni! We love you to bits and pieces already!

Don't Forget:

We are holding a commentathon for Colorado Foster Feline Rescue (Giovanni's rescue). If you haven't already, please pop over and leave a comment. I know Blogger is finicky sometimes, so you can comment as "Anonymous" if you need to.