The Cat's Out of the Bag

It felt appropriate to name this post "The Cat's Out of the Bag" because John and I have kept a secret from the blog and our social medias... we adopted another cat! Last year!

After moving to Las Vegas and renting a home, John and I had discussed adopting a dog, but we weren't serious about any of the details. Just that we wanted a dog, and maybe we could be a three-pet home. We were handling two cats just fine, why not add another little critter into our home to be loved and spoiled?

We had not discussed a third cat at all. I'd started working a new job, and on my lunch break I walked across the street to go into Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts real quick (RIP) when I felt this unexplainable draw to go into the Petco next door. This was the Petco we normally went to for food and toys, but we didn't need anything that day. I just wanted to escape the Vegas heat and look at some cute animals.

Side Note: It's legal in Nevada to have ferrets for pets. Ferrets! And they are so cute to look at! Next time you're in Nevada, do yourself a favor and go look at ferrets. You will not be disappointed.

Okay, back to the story.

I walked in and immediately went to look at the cats up for adoption. Even though we weren't looking to adopt, I always like to take a moment and give the cats a little attention and offer them hope that they will find their forever home very soon. And on this day, I met an orange cat named Fortune.

I happened to be there at the right time, as one of the ladies in charge of their adoption was feeding the cats and she let me pet Fortune. He was so sweet, rubbing his head against my hand and purring loudly. I felt a connection deep in my soul I had never felt with another cat before. (And I say cat, not kitten, because I felt the exact same pull when I met Franklin as a nine-week-old kitten) I took a picture of Fortune, sent it to John, and said goodbye to the lady and the cats to quickly go run my errand before I was late returning from my lunch break.

About a week later, I got a text from John with a picture he'd taken of Fortune. He was so excited- he met a cat that he felt a crazy connection to. That night at dinner we discussed how crazy it was that we both, separately, felt the same pull with this little guy. John hadn't realized in the moment that the cat he met was the same one I'd met a week prior. We were really excited at first, and then reality checked back in.

It was early September, and John was about to leave on a 2-week work trip. That would be a lot for me to handle on my own, and if we were going to adopt another animal, John wanted to be there at the beginning to create his own bond. And, shortly after his return, we'd be leaving for a few days for a friend's wedding in early October. That was a lot to ask of our boys and a cat sitter. Sadly, we agreed that it wasn't going to be us that adopted Fortune.

John came back from his work trip and Fortune was still in his cubby. We went on our mini vacation and Fortune was still in his cubby. By mid-October, when all our traveling was done, we could not believe that this sweet little cat was still at Petco. Other cats had been adopted. There were new kittens in one of the cubbies when we went back to see if Fortune was still there. It both broke our hearts and filled our hearts with glee that he hadn't been adopted.

It was fate. The only reason Fortune was still there was because he was meant for us.

John and I got in touch with the adoption lady and set a date to adopt Fortune. I've never discussed it on the blog, but John and I are huge Dodgers fans. And the night before we adopted Fortune, Freddy Freeman hit a grand slam during the World Series. It pretty much sealed the deal that Fortune's new name would be Dodgers-releated.

It took a few days to settle on a name. I offered up Shohei or Turner, but John vetoed those. Shohei was more of a dog's name, and Turner had been traded. John wanted Freddy or Freeman, but I vetoed those because we already had Franklin. I didn't want another cat with an "Fr" name. One of John's favorite players is Kershaw, but that also felt too close to Kap as they both start with "K".

Then John said, "What about Mookie?"

And I replied, "I'd thought about Mookie, but you don't like Mookie Betts."

John laughed and said even though that was true, he liked the name Mookie. We took one look at Fortune and knew that we had found his new name...

Mookie!

And so, we changed our new son's name from Fortune to Mookie, took him to the vet, introduced him to Kap and Franklin, and made him a true member of the Batinovich-Morrissey family. The adoption people had told us that Mookie was one-and-a-half years old, and the bet was like, “Um, no… he’s probably about five years old based on his teeth.” Even though this was disappointing to find out, Mookie still has that young cat energy. Give him any kind of toy, or bag, or your unsuspecting foot, and he’s ready to play!

The next blog post will dive into the brotherly dynamics, but I wanted to end this post with some of Mookie's favorite things and characteristics.

He is a true internet orange cat in the sense that he's only got one, maybe two working brain cells on any given day. But he is a very sweet and cuddly boy. If we are sitting or laying down he wants to be on us or pressed against us. He will try to convince us to stay in bed for hours and snuggle (it works on me a lot). Mookie does not like to be picked up, and he doesn't really like to be shampooed, but he doesn't mind being brushed. Pretty much every cat toy we have he will play with, unlike Franklin or Kap, who have/had their favorites. Mookie does have a few favorites, with his number one favorite toy not being a toy at all, but a long, green ribbon.

I made him a little safe area under my desk that has a comfy blanket for him to lay on, and it truly is Mookie's place. It's where the green ribbon resides at all times, and it's where we can usually find Mookie sleeping if he isn't with us. That, or the red bucket we store a few blankets in. He loves curling up in there.

And that's the story of how we got Mookie! I've officially added him to our family page, and you'll start seeing him pop up on Franklin's Instagram. Thank you so much for reading, and if you'd like weekly pictures and videos of Franklin please follow us on Instagram, and make sure you sign up for our newsletter to be notified when new blog posts go live. You can do both things down below. Have a wonderful day!

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