New Here, Mama of Two Cats

csts

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Hello Everyone,

I go by "CeliaSilver the Short" here on the internet since I am not really comfortable with using my real name anywhere online. As I wrote on my profile, I have extreme social anxiety and am also very introverted but I am trying to get better at social interactions. One of the few topics that can really get me talking are cats and I am hoping to make new friends and share and receive advice here. I have always loved cats and have had them for over half of my life. I also used to volunteer at the Virginia Beach SPCA (and their Adoption Center in PetSmart) for a year until we had to move away because of my husband's job (he is in the military) to the middle of the desert. Even then, I am finding that I still learn something new about cats everyday! I and my husband have two cats, male and female, named Charvone and Sakura. They are both strictly indoor cats.

Charvone is a very large black and white male "almost-tuxedo" moggie. I like to say that he has torn his tuxedo from playing rough or fighting crime. Both of his parents were full tuxedos. Sometimes we call him Char-Char, or Char-Char Binx. We adopted him from the VBSPCA at the PetSmart Cat Adoption Center during my time as a volunteer there. He was ten months old at the time and about 10 lbs. Now Charvone is two years old and probably close to 15 lbs. I don't think he's all that fat. The back part of his body looks very big in proportion to his front. Charvone is a gentle giant for the most part, though. He is very friendly to both people and other cats, very playful, affectionate, and very talkative. He has a "mustache" and a "soul patch" which is shaped like an upside-down heart and is as mischievous as he looks. Charvone is also very smart and learns quickly but he is also very stubborn. Now for pictures of Char-Char:

Charvone laying in a weird position on the bean bag chair.


He thought he was stowing away on a trip that he was already coming with us on. "That's not your carrier!"


Using my husband's notepad as a pillow.


Sakura-chan is a brown mackerel torbie with white female moggie. She is one year old and came to us just last month. Long story short, my husband's friend is deploying soon, so he gave her to us. Her former name was "Kibby" but I thought it sounded too much like "Kitty", which would result in both cats appearing. We decided to re-name her "Sakura" at my mother's suggestion, which is a classic girl name in Japan and means "cherry blossom". For context, I am half-Japanese on my mother's side. Sakura-chan is extremely sweet and follows us (mostly me) everywhere in the house. She likes to lay down right next to or on me or my husband when we are asleep. She trills every time someone pets, scritches, or even makes eye contact with her, reserving the full high-pitched meows for the kitchen. Sakura is probably 8~10 lbs and both her front and hind legs look kind of wide-set. She has large ears, a long nose, and a long neck, but I don't know anything about her parents so I have no idea what she could be a mix of. Or maybe she will grow into them. Although Sakura used to live with dogs (they all got alone well) and never met another cat before, she warmed up to Charvone within three days. They regularly touch noses, chase each other and playfight, often at odd hours. I think they are becoming best buddies. I can't wait to see them curled up together.Sakura-chan has the strange habit of dragging her toys (and my stuffed animals) around the house and trying to rip the "fur" off of the toy mice with her fangs. Pictures of Sakura-chan follow:

I was playing with Sakura in her room on the first night.


Sakura on laying on the bed between me and my hubby's legs.


Sitting in a kitty loaf on my chest and posing for the camera.

 

margecat

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What lovely kitties! They look fun to have around, too!  Welcome to TCS!
 

GemsGem

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Welcome to the site :wavey:

What beautiful kitties :heart3:
 

Norachan

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Hi CStS, Welcome to The Cat Site. Great alias by the way.

You have two very lovely cats. Which part of Japan is your mother from? I live in Yamanashi ken with all my cats, around half of them are Japanese Bob-tails. I'd like to be able to tell you they all have lovely classic names like Sakura chan, but apart from Hiro, Jiro and Gin kun they mainly have English names. (I'm from England originally.)
 
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csts

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Hi CStS, Welcome to The Cat Site. Great alias by the way.

You have two very lovely cats. Which part of Japan is your mother from? I live in Yamanashi ken with all my cats, around half of them are Japanese Bob-tails. I'd like to be able to tell you they all have lovely classic names like Sakura chan, but apart from Hiro, Jiro and Gin kun they mainly have English names. (I'm from England originally.)
Thank you for all of the compliments! I use it as my gaming handle too, though I usually have it in the abbreviated form that is my sign-in name here.

My mother's family is from a little island in the Inland Sea (Seto-naikai) which is considered part of Hiroshima-ken and I was born in Hiroshima City myself. I did live a prefecture away from Yamanashi in Kanagawa for a year when I was stationed in Yokosuka for a year while I was in the U.S. Marine Corps. Ah, you are very lucky to have so many Japanese Bobtail cats! All the ones I saw during all of my time (also lived in Iwakuni for four years as a child when my father was stationed there) in Japan were super feral and would immediately run away and hide if anyone came close. Well, except for the female calico Japanese Bobtail at Neko Café Leon in Yokohama. Incidentally, her name is also Sakura! I swear, it was a total coincidence!


My first cat ever (well, my parents' cat) had a classic Japanese cat name, Tora-chan ("tiger"). She was a brown mackerel tabby and we adopted her when I was 12 years old. Tora-chan was 18 years old and crossed the Rainbow Bridge last month, two weeks before Sakura-chan came to live with me and my husband. We definitely don't have a theme with names though, since I have no idea where Charvone's name came from and it is kind of difficult to say in Japanese/write in Katakana (I came up with "Sharu-von-nu" as the closest approximation). I think that was the name his previous owner gave him. We kept his name since he responds to it.
 

brendan2282

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Welcome!  Your kitties are beautiful and I love their names.  We're pretty new to TCS as well, but look forward to keeping up with you!
 

Norachan

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Thank you for all of the compliments! I use it as my gaming handle too, though I usually have it in the abbreviated form that is my sign-in name here.

My mother's family is from a little island in the Inland Sea (Seto-naikai) which is considered part of Hiroshima-ken and I was born in Hiroshima City myself. I did live a prefecture away from Yamanashi in Kanagawa for a year when I was stationed in Yokosuka for a year while I was in the U.S. Marine Corps. Ah, you are very lucky to have so many Japanese Bobtail cats! All the ones I saw during all of my time (also lived in Iwakuni for four years as a child when my father was stationed there) in Japan were super feral and would immediately run away and hide if anyone came close. Well, except for the female calico Japanese Bobtail at Neko Café Leon in Yokohama. Incidentally, her name is also Sakura! I swear, it was a total coincidence!


My first cat ever (well, my parents' cat) had a classic Japanese cat name, Tora-chan ("tiger"). She was a brown mackerel tabby and we adopted her when I was 12 years old. Tora-chan was 18 years old and crossed the Rainbow Bridge last month, two weeks before Sakura-chan came to live with me and my husband. We definitely don't have a theme with names though, since I have no idea where Charvone's name came from and it is kind of difficult to say in Japanese/write in Katakana (I came up with "Sharu-von-nu" as the closest approximation). I think that was the name his previous owner gave him. We kept his name since he responds to it.
I've been to Hiroshima, it's a nice place. Itsukushima jinja was just breath taking.

There are a lot of feral cats in Japan, aren't there? Mine are all the friendlier cats from the colony I took care of and did lots of TNR with. All the really cute little kittens went to new homes, the really wild ones stayed as part of the colony and the friendly ones that didn't get adopted live with me.

I have the same problem when it comes to thinking of names that can be written in Katakana. I tend to think in Japanese when I'm trying to come up with new names now. 


Do you miss Japan? It must be very strange living in a desert after being born here. This must be the only place in the world where it rains more than England. 
 
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csts

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Originally Posted by Brendan2282
Welcome!  Your kitties are beautiful and I love their names.  We're pretty new to TCS as well, but look forward to keeping up with you!
Thank you very much, and welcome to you as well! Your kitties are very lovely and look very cuddly.
Originally Posted by Norachan

Thank you for all of the compliments! I use it as my gaming handle too, though I usually have it in the abbreviated form that is my sign-in name here.
My mother's family is from a little island in the Inland Sea (Seto-naikai) which is considered part of Hiroshima-ken and I was born in Hiroshima City myself. I did live a prefecture away from Yamanashi in Kanagawa for a year when I was stationed in Yokosuka for a year while I was in the U.S. Marine Corps. Ah, you are very lucky to have so many Japanese Bobtail cats! All the ones I saw during all of my time (also lived in Iwakuni for four years as a child when my father was stationed there) in Japan were super feral and would immediately run away and hide if anyone came close. Well, except for the female calico Japanese Bobtail at Neko Café Leon in Yokohama. Incidentally, her name is also Sakura! I swear, it was a total coincidence!


My first cat ever (well, my parents' cat) had a classic Japanese cat name, Tora-chan ("tiger"). She was a brown mackerel tabby and we adopted her when I was 12 years old. Tora-chan was 18 years old and crossed the Rainbow Bridge last month, two weeks before Sakura-chan came to live with me and my husband. We definitely don't have a theme with names though, since I have no idea where Charvone's name came from and it is kind of difficult to say in Japanese/write in Katakana (I came up with "Sharu-von-nu" as the closest approximation). I think that was the name his previous owner gave him. We kept his name since he responds to it.
Originally Posted by Alismama

Thank you very much! Your Ali is very pretty too, especially her golden eyes.
 
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