Written by Elizabeth
I was visiting the Watsonville shelter to show pictures of Bambi to the woman who had fostered her, when I passed by the newly accepted kittens cage. I really didn't have in mind to adopt another cat. I already had three others. I just like to look at all the newbies whenever I visit. There he was among his siblings. They all ignored me except for a little white kitty with a splash of black between his ears who rolled over and looked at me eye to eye. I was surprised to see one blue eye and one gold eye. Then, he blinked at me. So, I blinked at him, and he blinked back.
This was a very alert and conscious kitten in my opinion. It was love at first sight. I asked about him, but he had just arrived and was not available yet. He had to be seen by a vet, given his shots, and neutered before he would be placed for adoption. It was not even determined yet, if he would be offered at my local shelter or one further away. I dropped in often after that asking about him. They did not have any way that I could request him ahead of time or put a hold on him. I just had to take my chances and trust that if it was meant to be, he would come to live with me.
A couple weeks later, I dropped in just before closing, and there he was. Fortunately, I just happened to have a kitty crate in my car at the time. Unfortunately, the shelter didn't have any special way I could adopt him at a lower price. I'm a senior, and sometimes they have reduced adoption fees on kitties for seniors. So, I took the leap of faith and put the charges on my credit card. It would be a tight squeeze on my budget, but it was meant to be!
It took a long time for him to get his name. The shelter gives a name to each cat that arrives if it was not surrendered with a name already given by it's family. Since Spyder and his siblings were found kitties they were given names that were related to the area they were found. Crespi was the name given as that was the name of the street next to the slough (swamp) where he and his tribe lived. Ugh! I knew that wasn't the name he was meant to have.
Because of his one blue eye and one gold eye, The Monk and I tried out several names to fit his looks. I know that David Bowie has two different colored eyes and we tried on names related to him. David was out of the question as I have a brother by that name. We thought of names of his songs. Rebel was out of the question, too. I believe the name we carry applies to our personality and I didn't want a Rebel cat.
Since he is all white with just a touch of black on his head, I thought perhaps he could be named after a childhood kitty who he resembles... Topper. But, no. that was not his name. One day, as I picked him up and held him like a little baby in my arms, I began singing to him. Do you know the song? "Can she bake a cherry pie, Billy Boy?" So, I thought, Ah Ha! That should be his name. But, no, that didn't stick for long. So, Billy Baggins was next and that's the name I told the vet when I took him in for his first check up at three months old. But, you know sometimes a kitty names himself.
There I was one day when Bambi was playing with a mousie in the bathtub. Funny cat! And suddenly I saw a spider scurrying across the tub. Bambi got very excited and wanted to play with it. Billy Baggins, somewhere else in the house, picked up the vibes and came out of nowhere to jump in the tub. He wasn't about to play. Before I could stop him, he ate that spider!
I called the vet right away to see if I needed to bring him in. No, the spider was a harmless one, and the joke was that my kitty now had spider blood in his veins. And so, that is how he got Spyder as his name. Oh... and the spelling? Well, I think the little guy is somewhat of a spy, as it seems he knows what's going on even from another room. Was he spying on Miss Bambi, while she was playing?
At about the age of two, Spyder got another new name. He has always been a bit timid due to his wild ancestry. I always thought he would grow out of it and become relaxed and friendly like the other kitties in our family. But, even at age two, when people come to visit he still hides, and has so many other timid behaviors. One day I just looked at him and said, "I'm changing your name to Timmy, the Timid. Then I called him. "Here, Timmy!" and he came right to me. I can mention his name, "Timmy" and he perks his ears or looks at me or comes to me. So, finally... Timmy is his name.
