Those of you who aren't interested in cats can skip this post, but for those of you who are, here she is:



(The bald patch is from being spayed, not a permanent feature; the vet swears she was up to mischief two hours after surgery, bless her.)

After much discussion, we have decided on the name Mika. The internet informs me that Mika means 'beautiful smell'. While I wouldn't swear that this was a literal description - mostly she smells like cat, and it took me a couple of days to persuade her that the litter tray is where all the cool kids pee - I look at it like this: cats are very smell-oriented, and if a cat could choose a name, it would probably choose one that means 'lovely smelling'. It seems like a name she might pick for herself. Anyway, she looks like a Mika.

And she's adorable. Her main activities involve: fighting a running battle with my pot plants, mad dashes, purring, pouncing on a toy named Mr Prey, cuddling up on laps or nearby anybody sitting down and purring some more, climbing my legs, and, on one occasion, taking a flying leap into the toilet, an incident I still get heartache when I think about. (I have now learned to put the seat down, and fortunately she has a forgiving disposition.) My boyfriend, worryingly, is proving slightly and intermittently allergic to her, but he swears that it's not bad and he'd rather have sneezing and Mika than no sneezing and no Mika, which I think stands as a testimony to how lovable she is; fingers crossed on that score.

She purrs so much, in fact, that I'm starting to feel slightly haunted. Whenever I'm not sure where she is, I call 'Mika!' and listen out - and a lot of the time, I'm half-convinced I can hear a purr. Sometimes I can; sometimes it's a passing airplane, or the boiler, or a washing machine... I now have the perpetual sense that I can hear purring. It would be spooky, if it wasn't so cute.

Anyway, I have little else to say right now, as I've been spending much of my time settling her down. As she now seems capable of exploring the house without panicking, I'm looking forward to getting back to work. But still, she's so sweet...