Shanks

### Lady Dingleberry's Home for Janky and Wayward Cates

Shanks's human had two cats in her entire life before adopting Shanks in 2018. She had just moved to a new area when her godmother reached out about this kitten that needed a new home. The Godmother had adopted her, but her older cat could not adjust to having a new kitten in the house, and she wanted to avoid surrendering the kitten to a shelter. With a little help, Shanks had a new home all her own. Her government name is Crookshanks, after a certain literary pet, but Shanks has been one of her top nicknames from day 0 and the longer version is being phased out due to the actions of a TERF Who Will Not Be Named.

## Shanks

### siblings

Ron, Eliot, Todd, Quentin, Nerves and Julia; Nieflings: Dolores, TeenyJean, Sabo, Eddie/ShortJorts (adopted type) and Huelga

### nicknames

Shanksypoo, PoopShanks, Princess Dingleberry, Princess Fluffbutt, Squishface

#### Mine Nerves

Not even a full week after Shanks arrived, the human adopted a dilute tortie kitten from the family of one of her students. Nerves is about two months younger than Shanks. She was also given a legal name relating to a certain magical universe, Minerva but has always gone by her nicknames, mostly Nerves and Mini, both fitting in their own ways. In classic younger sibling fashion, she has always been quite hungry for attention.

#### Brofur Ronald

Shanks's human roommate had long proclaimed that two was the ideal number of cats for a household. It eased her guilt about a cat being lonely while she was away but seemed to avoid the excesses of Crazy Cat Lady behavior. And nearly a year went by with just the three girls sharing their new home. Then, a pitiful little orange boy showed up on the scene. It took a few days for the human, who had no experience with animal rescue or working with stray/feral cats at this point, to determine that the kitten wasn't just a neighborhood cat looking for an easy meal but truly homeless. With guidance from the vet, she brought him in the house and, after a few weeks of quarantine, the family. He was estimated to be 9-12 weeks old at that first vet visit. His name also originates from that same magical universe but was chosen for its connection to an "orange boy" and not a cat.

#### Todd & Eliot

During the summer of 2020, a pair of Porch Invaders began coming around with increasing frequency. Many of the neighbors have cats that spend some or most of their time outside, so it took a long time for the human to figure out if these boys were truly in need of a home. She consulted with people much more experienced in rescue, TNR, etc. Even then, she was a bit unsure about becoming a five-cat household and asked around to see if there might be potential adopters. The only offer, though, was for them to be working barn cats, and although Eliot got spooked when he first emerged from the carrier he had been "trapped" in, it was already clear that they were destined to be spoiled inside boys.

Eliot is a short-haired tuxedo cat and Todd looks like a Nebelung. The human roommate is obviously committed to rescuing animals in need of a home and also wary of breeding practices that can be detrimental to the health of the cats, but it does explain his glorious silvery grey coat (and maybe his piercing green eyes, if memory serves). For TERF-related reasons, the human decided that the new additions would get names from a different book/TV series (The *Magicians*) while still carrying on a theme of magic school. Based on the vet's initial evaluation, they might have been anywhere from 3-8 years old at the time. When Eliot needed an "official" age for a visit to the emergency animal hospital in 2022, the human roommate and vet tech decided he could be 7 for luck. Todd, possibly because of his Nebelung nature, is rather reserved, and the kitchen is his domain.

#### Julia & her Mauslings

Early in 2022, more Porch Invaders started coming around. Like before, the human wasn't certain for a while which, if any, might have "owners" already but decided to round up as many as she could to TNR, at least. However, by the time she was ready to take action, one tortie girl already was pregnant with a litter of kittens. Even though she has only ever been sweet to the human roommate (and let herself be scooped into a carrier), she was somewhat less complacent with the vet, so even he could not confirm the pregnancy with certainty. Julia got her turn to move inside into kitty quarantine, though, and the human waited to see what would follow. Her name also came from The *Magicians* series.

The human eventually learned that Julia's earlier life was even harder than she first imagined. When she had to visit the emergency animal hospital in June of 2022, they estimated that she was only just then about a year old, but she had a broken back leg that never healed properly and a BB in her abdomen, as well as heartworms.

On April 3, a bit earlier than the humans were expecting, Julia delivered her kittens. Because the plan was to place all the kittens in new homes, the human put off naming them for a while. After Twitter friends came up with "temporary" names based on their resemblance to a pair of iconic friends of the labor movement, the human eventually followed suit with the other two so they wouldn't be left out.

##### Dolores

She is the eldest of the litter, and a feisty calico. Despite garnering the most inquiries, her adoption plans fell through when her prospective family ended up fostering a litter of bottle babies found in a box at the football stadium and had taken in another cat for a family member. She is a feisty girl who will do whatever it takes to avoid going to the vet, which is a bit unfortunate because she needs cortisone shots every few months to help with her allergies. She was named for labor hero Dolores Huerta.

##### TeenyJean

Something of a Mama's girl, TeenyJean is also a tortie but with a much shorter coat. She is feisty like her big sister but even more inquisitive. She also had eager interest, but the home that was lined up for her already has an elderly dog who is growing increasingly impatient with her underlings and may not have been tolerant of a new kitten. She was named by Gonzo for her resemblance to the incomparable Jean.

##### Eddie (ShortJorts)

Julia's little orange boy was originally named ShortJorts by friend Garfield. The only kitten to actually end up adopted, he was renamed Eddie by his new human, probably after Eddie Vedder. He joined a scruffy orange boy named Larry and a tripod tuxedo girl Betty. Although he was quite the mama's boy, he seems to be loving his new family. He is a sports enthusiast, enjoying "biskitbowl", golf, and tennis.

##### Sabo

The human mistakenly assumed that both of the tabby kittens were boys but got a surprised call from the vet after dropping Sabo off to be "neutered." This sweet girl has a knack for causing mayhem, though, so her name (originally intended to be temporary) still seems apt. She is named for an even older (and possibly more iconic?) cat of the labor movement.

#### Quentin

This guy was supposed to be a TNR. He started coming around right around the same time as Julia and her buddies, but he seemed to keep more to himself. He also (allegedly [citation needed]) killed a bird on the front porch, so the human thought he might be set in his outside ways. It probably should have been a sign that he let himself be "trapped" so easily, but she still planned to "release" right away until the vet said he needed antibiotics for a puncture wound on his hind quarters and injured/infected toe when she picked him up from getting neutered. She got him set up in the garage so that she could be sure to get him his meds twice a day, still thinking it was a temporary situation. Right around the time the kittens were born, he moved into the house "temporarily" to free up space for another Porch Invader that was going to need antibiotics before he could be neutered and released. It became clear fairly quickly that he would adjust to being an inside boy and showed no desire to return to hunting out on the streets. Some of the other cats could have been more welcoming, but he showed the human there was nothing to fear about him being around the kittens. He is a buff or pale orange tabby, and his name also comes from the *Magicians* series.

#### The Garage Fosters (Penny & Fogg)

These guys had been coming around the porch around the same time as Julia and Quentin. They were also supposed to be TNRed, but a bit like Quentin, the patchy tabby needed a bit more medical attention for possible infection, including an upper respiratory infection that meant putting off getting neutered until he was breathing well. Although his fluffy tuxedo buddy was in good shape and could have been released right away, they seemed to spend a lot of time together, and the human thought Penny the tabby might accept his confinement better with a companion. It was still a very slow process, but the human wanted to make sure everybody was healthy before they were released. Gradually, they seemed to adjust to their life inside well enough that the human shifted plans to work on getting them socialized for adoption. After an escape scare with Penny, the human decided to get them situated inside the house for safety and to better protect them from the summer heat and get them ready for adoption. Their names also come from the *Magicians* series.

#### Huelga

Saturday morning of Memorial Day weekend, the human got a call from a work friend who had found a small kitten on the highway. The friend had no idea what to do and had no luck with nearby shelters. Shanks's roommate thought there was no way the house could fit another cat that would need to be quarantined but agreed to keep the kitten in her bathroom until a rescue organization could step in. Besides having a case of conjunctivitis and tons of fleas, he also had signs of infection that led to an emergency vet visit before the trip planned to the local vet. Once he did get to the local vet, he determined that the limp wasn't just bruised with a puncture wound but broken. The surgical team at the animal hospital reviewed his X-rays and records but determined that the best course of action they could offer was amputation. He came through the surgery like a champ and quickly began plotting to escape the bathroom. Once his stitches came out, he was cleared to begin meeting the other cats and exploring the rest of the house.

He is now officially a "Foster Fail" and got another labor movement name to go along with Julia's kittens; Huelga, which means "strike" in Spanish was the name of one of César Chávez's beloved dogs.

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