Category Archives: Larenti Photos

Death and destruction

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Or not so much.

Grendel lying on the love seat with Larenti

And on the other side of this mayhem?

Loki lying on the arm of the love seat with Larenti lying below him

That’s right!  It’s the devil himself.

You can see the chaos engendered by Larenti‘s addition to the xenogere home.

Grendel has erred on the side of dominance, something I’m working on without causing too much stress in the natural pecking order.  His behavior has surprised me a wee bit, although not horribly given he’s the alpha male.  Still, he’s been a bit “Gonna kick your ass!” lately, at least from time to time (okay, I can count these instances on less than three fingers, but still. . .).

As for Loki, he’s rather uncaring about it all, careful not to push Larenti’s buttons or cause too much disorder, yet not entirely restrained or concerned.  He gives the new kid a bit of wiggle room, but otherwise he is who he is.

Vazra seems completely unconcerned.  Mind you, he knew Larenti long before his own rescue, let alone this most recent adoption from the streets.  In fact, I’ve seen Vazra and Larenti playing in the most comfortable of ways.  They’ve brought many a smile to my face with their beer-buddy antics.

Kazon has taken it all in stride.  While he generally gives Larenti all the room he needs to be comfortable, he’s also enjoyed several rounds of cat-chase-cat with his new sibling.  Add to that his unending desire to be friends with everyone.  Needless to say, nothing of concern has cropped up in their interactions.

But then comes Kako.  Her bitchy attention suddenly finds Vazra quite acceptable.  Whereas he had been the outcast in her eyes since his adoption, Larenti’s presence has offered a new target for her “Get out of my house!” attitude.  I suspect that will take some time before it smooths out, or at least becomes less hostile.

As for Larenti, he’s coming along nicely.  He day by day grows more comfortable.  At first, he wouldn’t leave the cat carrier in the bathroom.  Eventually, he came out of that phase and began exploring his new world.  Now he sleeps in the bedroom with the rest of The Kids.  He doesn’t frighten as easily.  He lets the rest of us walk near him without fleeing.  He talks incessantly and expects his morning lovin’ just like the rest of the spoiled brats in this household.

Progress?  You betcha!

[please excuse the quality of the photos; my camera increasingly offers me nothing but headaches; more on that later]

Autumnal kitty

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I’ve begun work on Larenti’s page (it’s blank at the moment), making the site changes necessary to move his posts, photos, and videos into the various “The Kids” categories, making the content edits in response to a definitive finding on his gender, adding him to the “The Kids” section in the sidebar and the The Kids page, and all the other site modifications necessary for his recent addition to our home.

Meanwhile, I’m also doing laundry, washing dishes, vacuuming, dusting, taking out the garbage, spending time with all of The Kids, trying to fix a major registry problem on one of my computers, finding something for lunch, researching a replacement video card for the main home server, and a litany of other tasks.

Since I’ve been running like a fool and have yet to stop and rest, let me offer you these photos of the autumnal kitty.  Taken last Tuesday as the sun set on yet another unseasonably warm day, he and I enjoyed letting the rays blanket us from low on the southwestern horizon while a southerly zephyr caressed us.  The very next day our arctic friend moved into town, after which Larenti moved into the cat carrier.  The rest is history.

Anyway, I rather like the way these images turned out and felt them a marvelous way to mark Larenti’s last day outside on his own.

Larenti sleeping on a bed of fallen leaves as the setting sun shines on his face
Larenti lying on a bed of fallen leaves looking at the setting sun
Larenti lying on a bed of fallen leaves as he casts his gaze in my direction

Bring me Solo and the Wookie

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Larenti resting against the patio wall in a very unladylike position

Larenti rested quietly against the patio wall in what had to be the most entertaining position I had ever seen her in, one immediately reminiscent of Jabba the Hutt.  Her belly looked like a bulb of fatty flesh with her body curled up the way it was.

Larenti resting against the patio wall in a very unladylike position

It tickled me to see her lying there comfortably, not caring for the scene she was making.

And lest you think I simply posted some images strategically timed as she groomed. . .

Larenti sleeping against the patio wall in a very unladylike position

Believe me when I say I tried to explain to her how unladylike her position was.  She didn’t listen.

I don’t know how long she stayed there before moving.  I do know it was long enough for me to feel better.

You see, I came home early from work as I’ve been fighting either a cold or a sinus problem since the weekend.  I napped a bit after arriving home, and then I caught this amusing scene on the patio.

While I’m on the subject of Larenti, the time has come to expedite her capture and rescue.

A very large and very mean tomcat has arrived on the scene in the last 24 hours.  He’s easily her size (she’s a large cat) and is full of viciousness and wrath, demonstrating overnight a mean streak a mile long.

He first appeared around 10:30 last night.  I was trying to sleep through my headache and general misery when I heard a slow moaning, the almost-growl of an angry cat.  I rolled over to see this very cute face looking in the bedroom door.

Good looks aside, however, this feline has one goal in life: to pester and attack any other cat in the vicinity.

What was he growling at?  Vazra.

My Persian friend sat just inside the door grooming before bedtime.  The new interloper found that unacceptable and sat outside voicing a very passionate rage.

I finally got up for a closer look.  Of course the rest of The Kids joined me.  As each one approached, the outside cat’s heated vocalizations grew louder and more outraged.

How dare he!  Having never been seen before, he certainly had his share of gall to show up and make a huge fuss about the inside cats.

When I opened the door, he vanished.  Fine.  Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Only he didn’t vanish.  He found Larenti hiding beneath a nearby car and proceeded to pester her until he could attack.  I had to jump the fence to chase him off.  Wearing nothing but my robe, thank you very much, at best a questionable scene for anyone watching in the darkness.

Was that the end of it?  No.

Around four this morning I heard a great commotion outside.  It was a cat fight.

I rushed out there and found the bitter ol’ fiend had cornered Larenti.  He then jumped on her and a vile tussle ensued.

I feared for her.

I picked up the bowl of water I leave out overnight for her, and I promptly threw its entire contents at him.  And it struck with pinpoint accuracy.

Ever seen a mad cat get madder when doused with a large quantity of water?  It ain’t pretty.

Off he went into the night, a shadowy, ghoulish figure mad as hell and unlikely to forget our interaction.

Which all brings me back to the point of needing to speed up things with Larenti.

As has happened before, if a large male like this makes the area his territory, he’ll chase Larenti away—if not actually harm her.  I can’t let that happen.

It’s impossible for me to be here all the time keeping watch and protecting her.  The only way I can keep this from escalating is to get her off the streets as quickly as possible.

[for the sake of consistency, I’ve named this black-and-white devil Goa’uld; if you’ve ever watched the Stargate television series, you’ll know that’s the name of an arrogant, evil, selfish race of parasites who think themselves gods with ownership rights to the whole universe; that name fits this new monster]

It starts with comfort

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Larenti quietly slept just outside the patio fence, her belly turned toward the sky in absolute comfort.  She lay dappled with sunlight.

Larenti sleeping on her back with a bit of sun dappling her fur

Then came the stretch.

Larenti lying on her back with her front legs stretched out in front of her

After that, she congealed into a curly ball of fur that epitomized contentment.

A moment of Larenti zen

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Larenti has become a permanent fixture on the patio.  Rare is the time when she’s not out there.  A great deal of her initial fear of people has disappeared when she’s around me, although she does on rare occasions still react with something akin to panic when I move my hands unexpectedly.  It startles her in a way that makes clear she was abused by someone before she was thrown out to fend for herself.

A close-up of Larenti's face in natural light (200_0025)

I do intend to adopt her.  It will take more time, and there is always the fear she carries some communicable and untreatable ailment that will pose a risk to the rest of The Kids.  Should that wind up being the case, I will have to alter my plans to bring her inside—but I won’t alter my plans to adopt her.  However, such an outcome would create a plethora of issues when I finally move away from Dallas.  But one step at a time. . .