When the transfer arrived everyone was looking in the Persians carrier (her name was Dumpling!) but I just sat at the computer typing up some paperwork. Finally a coworker said "Melissa, look at this!" and handed me one of the cutest things I've ever seen. Dumpling was a full grown, 2 year old cat that weighed in at 4lbs! She had been found as a stray severely matted and covered in fleas, so not only was she tiny and grumpy looking but she was shaved and had a lion cut! And she was being sooooo nice, purring and being so sweet that my eyes welled up with tears.
The pictures of this cat don't do her justice...you HAVE to see her in real life to fully understand what she is! I sent a picture of her to my husband Cameron and he was cracking up, but I just had to show her him in real life. Lucky for everyone she needed foster for a week so she came home with us, and after a day we knew we weren't bringing her back. Within 2 hours of bringing her home Cam had set up all of his camera equipment and did a photo shoot with her. Check out his blog: Cat and Gremlin Photography
It's not easy picking out a name for a critter, especially not for us! I mean, we have an Italian Greyhound named Slim, a blue cat named Blue, and hen named Baby Bird. After tossing a couple ideas around, the obvious ones just weren't sticking (Gizmo, Smalls, Biggie). Cam called her a blue oyster the first night, and as we were watching TV I heard the word "oyster" and thought of the name Pearl. It was purrrrr-fect for her, She looks roughed up on the outside, but she's a sweet little treasure. The official dictionary definition is "a precious thing; the finest example of something".
Ultimately it was Slim, Stan and Blue who had the final say on adding her to the family, and they think she's pretty rad too! We don't think that Slim has ever seen anything smaller than him so she's been an ego boost for him and he's been a great big brother by sharing the fireplace warmth with her!