The Kitten To Be Named Later remains formally unnamed. Should this situation continue, she’ll probably wind up as Little Bit, thereby ensuring that she’ll grow up to weigh eighteen pounds.

Name aside, she is a most striking kitten. She strikes her toys. She strikes Maggie and me. Last night, in one of her first interactions with her siblings, she struck Yuki. Bopped him a good one on the nose when he got into her personal space–which apparently consists of an oblate spheroid with a diameter of approximately eight thousand miles.*

* It hasn’t been officially announced, but I understand she’s also claimed the larger, yellow spheroid some ninety-three million miles away.

Nor is striking her only skill. She’s almost seen here in a furious assault on Maggie’s shoelace.

Her favorite toy is whatever happens to be dangling above her head. We’ve seen more leaps, flips, somersaults, and tumbles in the past few weeks than in all of the last four Olympic gymnastics events combined. The leaps are especially impressive. We’ve seen her stand on her hind legs and jump upward high enough to get her hind feet above where her head was before the jump.

And that’s no small distance. She’s gotten past the novelty of eating everything put in front of her and demanding more, but she’s still eating enthusiastically*. She’s more than doubled in size and weight since we brought her inside–hence our fear that “Little Bit” will be a case of naming by contraries.

* Her favorite food is venison gooshy food. Clearly she remembers the deer who inhabit our neighborhood and still harbors hopes of bringing one of them down.

In recognition of her physical stature, we’ve begun to allow her to wear jewelry. Hopefully, being at the same level of dress as her siblings will simplify introductions. (Translation: She’s got a bell, just like they do, so nobody can sneak up on anyone else.)


Well suited to her personality…