Ninja's panther face.

Ninja playing catch.

Ninja is feeling fine.

With the pain meds in his system, Ninja seems happy and like he's not feeling bad at all.

Ninja got neutered.

 Today was a big day for Ninja.  He got neutered at the Arizona Spay and Neuter Clinic.

 When I picked him up after the surgery, he seemed a little confused.  I would be too, anesthesia sucks.  

When he got home, he and I stayed in Rene's bedroom so he couldn't wrestle with the other kittens.  In the above picture, you can see where the vet shaved him for surgery.  The surgical area looks very painful right now, but Ninja has pain medicine for the next three days.

 Gracie didn't understand why Ninja and I were locked away in the room; here is her little white paw under the door.

Ninja didn't understand either.  Why was he locked in the room, and why does she want in so bad? 

Luckily, Ninja is a tough little boy, and he is already doing quite well.  I expect him to be fully recovered and back to his Ninja self in a week.

Evil kittens.

Ninja attack.

Kitty city.

Window sharing.

Meet Mittens.

 Mitten is a kitten, and her previous name was Scrunchie.  She is one part of sister duo, and she was adopted from the Pima Animal Care Center in December 2011.  Though the shelter said she was already a year old, we think she is more like 7 months old just now.

 The day I picked Mittens up, she was very sick.  We went straight to the vet--it was an upper respiratory infection caught in the shelter--and she and her sister, who was also sick, spent two weeks quarantined from Ninja while they recovered.

Mittens and Patches (formerly Scrunchie and Gracie) are blue tabby sisters.  They have bunny-like fur, and they are approximately seven pounds right now.  Rene knew they were his cats the first second he laid eyes on them, and they just happened to be put out for adoption the day we went to the shelter to get him another cat.  

Though she looks like her sister, Mittens' personality is very much different.  Mittens would always choose a toy over play fighting, and she tends to play in the kitchen on the tile by herself a lot.  Her favorite toy is a small grey mouse, pictured above by her left paw.

 Mittens is brave, and she is always curious about new situations, even if--maybe even especially if--the situation is scary.  As you can see, she had no problem riding in my car.  And she investigates the vacuum rather than running from it like most cats.

Don't let her graceful tiger looks fool you.  Mittens is silly, and the above picture shows her normal goofy face.  She is an independent girl.  She only likes to be petted when she's in the mood for it; she'll slap Ninja if he tries to play with her when she's not interested; and she has a singular focus when it comes to interaction with humans: food.  Mittens is already quite skilled at asking for canned food, and her distinctive bird-like chirpy voice often echoes through Rene's apartment.

Meet Ninja.

 Ninja is a ten-month old, eleven-plus pound black kitten.  I have known him since he was about three months old, and it has been so much fun watching him grow up.

Ninja was born to my boyfriend's brother's cats in April 2011.  He was the only kitten in his litter, and he has spent most of his life around only Rene and me.

As I think you can tell in the pictures, Ninja has a pretty goofy personality.  At first, he was all claws and teeth, and he was hard to touch or hold.  I diligently gave him "sweet boy lessons," which consisted of lots of hugs and kisses, and now he is quite a bit easier to interact with.

 Ninja was an only child at Rene's until December.  We spoiled him with tons of toys, and he thought he owned the apartment and everything in it.  Everything that was brought home, be it a box, a table, or anything else, was instantly claimed as his own.

 I knew Ninja needed company to keep him happy and to burn up some of his energy, so I kept asking Rene to get him some friends.  In December, Rene brought home the two girls, and Ninja has never been happier.

Ninja is very special to me.  He is the first kitten I had been around in years, and there's nothing like playing with a little wild kitten.  Not only is he wild, but he looks like a little black panther.  Everything on him is solid black, except three things: his yellow eyes, his white toenails, and random white hairs on his chest and legs.  He often blends into the shadows or black furniture; he truly is a ninja.

Introducing: my other cats.

Okay, so technically they are my boyfriend's cats, but they are as much my little kids as they are his.

 Ninja = the big black panther boy, top

Scrunchie/Mittens* = silver tiger girl, center

Gracie/Patches* = blue tabby and white girl, bottom

(* we are in the middle of a name change for the girls)