Une Envie de Sel

Q has a new cat this week, and we have a new mouser.
Her name is Sawyer, and she's a girl. Our family has a propensity for girls with boys' names. She's 9 mos old and extremely small for a housecat. I think that she was undernourished in her early days. I know that she lead a hardscrabble life and lived mostly out of doors.

I should tell you that we are not cat people, and I am not a person who does cat posts, so this will most likely be the only cat post you will see on this blog. But I think that Sawyer deserves an introduction, because as cats go, she is a pretty special one. And as you can see, she is a born mouser. We got our wish.
In spite of her very diminutive size, she is an innate predator. She started off her life in our family by slapping my dog very hard in the face. My poor dog may never recover his dignity, but he'll have to get used to Sawyer, if not make peace with her.
Q and I spent half a day at the pound looking for just the right cat, and I have to admit that I had seriously cold feet. I had little faith that I could find a cat that would fit in with our family - our dog-loving, sarcastic, rough-and-tumble family - and that would also be a good hunter. We live in an old house in an old neighborhood, and by mid-winter our house is generally overrun with mice.
But Sawyer proved herself worthy in short order, and began hunting immediately. Her size and agility allows her to wriggle into the smallest spaces - behind cabinets, under baseboards. She also wriggled herself into the hearts of both my husband and I with her tilted eyes and baritone purr.

Though Q has badly wanted a cat for some time now, I think that she was not entirely prepared for the fact that she'd have to share her family's affection with said animal. But when Sawyer lept into Q's bed today at nap time, curled up against Q's back and closed her eyes, I think an initial bridge was crossed.
Q was less enthusiastic when Sawyer stole her favorite balloon (old and decrepit as it is). But it will be give and take for a while until they form an understanding.
Sawyer, like Q, is extremely bold and confident for her diminutive size. She's handsome and charming, and she knows it. She is also sharp as a tack and takes direction well. She is, as far as I can tell, pretty much the ideal feline.
Q was really hoping for a purple cat, but failing that, she thinks Sawyer is pretty cool.