Our little guy has a name: Caruso.  Here's how the name came about.  He was
born on May 4, 2 years to the day after the death of my dear cat Pepper.
When I first got Pepper as a 3 month old kitten, back in 1975, the people
who had him before had named him Caruso.  I thought they meant Crusoe, as in
Robinson Crusoe, but when I got him home, and he started meowing non-stop, I
realized they meant Enrico Caruso, the famous tenor from the first part of
this century.
 
Well, our new little Caruso seems to have some of Pepper's sweet nature, as
well as being a noisy little bugger, especially compared to Belle, who barely
made a peep when she was a baby, and even now, only dooks when very excited.
Caruso squeeks, squawks and grumbles: when he's hungry, when he is excited,
when he's wary of new things, and when he needs to go to the bathroom and
can't find the litter box.
 
He and Belle are getting along fine.  At first Belle didn't want anything to
do with him, but she is getting used to him now.  A couple days ago, Caruso
decided to move into Belle's cage.  He just climbed in and went to sleep in
her box, and did it several times during the day.  Last night we moved them
together.  Belle slept in the hammock and Caruso in the box.  When we put
Caruso in the hammock (he can't get in there himself), he squirmed around so
much Belle finally pushed him out so she could get some sleep.  They've
played together a couple times, and Belle is very gentle with him.
 
We took them outside yesterday evening, when it had cooled off some and there
was a nice breeze. Belle had a great time tunnelling through the grass and
jumping about. Caruso was a little nervous, and would run squawking after
whoever was nearest, Joy or Belle. Joy had a great time crawling about in
circles with a little tan ball of fluff racing after.
 
Now all we have to do is get Caruso to climb INTO the litter box (which is a
little taller than the travel box he was using before) instead of pooping next
to it.
 
Linda, Richard, Joy, Belle ("I guess he's not so bad after all") and Caruso
("Oh boy, I have a name now!")
[Posted in FML issue 1232]