#and also bc Ottilie sort of like slant rhymes with Ruby Dee

[arlo-venn]

Who is Ottile? I thought you had two cats and one was named Dinova??? Where did a third one come from..🤨

You’re correct! It was originally Rory and Dinova. There’s still only two, but here’s the story:

Chapter One:

When Rory and Dinova came to live with me here after the surrender prevention program they were in, Dinova became severely depressed. Worse than I’d ever seen her; she’d always struggled with Arlo, but even with medication and time to adjust, she wasn’t coping— she would not leave from her shelf in the tool room/basement cat room, stopped eating, stopped grooming. So even though it was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make, I had to allow the people from the surrender prevention program to find her a more suitable home. They did, and although I’m not allowed to know the details of where she is or who she’s with, I do know that she’s happier and healthier now, and she’s in a home with no dogs. I know it may seem terrible to rehome my eldest child for being unable to cope with my youngest, but Arlo would not be okay without me (and I wouldn’t be okay without him), whereas Dinova can be taken care of by anyone so long as they’re loving and are able to provide a space that she feels comfortable in. I wasn’t able to provide that for her.

Before we lost our home, I’d moved us into a larger, two bedroom home for the same reason— she wasn’t coping in a smaller space with Arlo, even after a few years. Unfortunately, even once I’m approved for disability, I will never realistically be able to afford a home large enough to accommodate the space she needs to comfortably live with a dog again. It would have been selfish of me to keep her with us just because I loved her.

Chapter Two:

Rory had never been an only cat before, not ever in her life. She’d also gone through the trauma of losing her home and her parent for a whole year without being able to understand why, only to lose her sister not long after being reunited with her parent in a bizarre new environment. So, after Dinova left, Rory became incredibly depressed. My silly goofy silky wind ferret alien thing was confused and lethargic and wouldn’t play, not even with her buddy Arlo. This lasted for some time with no improvement.

Eventually, Tyrell adopted Ottilie for Rory. How I came to find and select Ottilie is a whole story in itself, for another day maybe, but— Tyrell paid for Ottilie to be adopted and agreed to cover any emergency vet costs that may arise until we’re back on our feet (and cat food when I am unable to cover it myself). Once we brought her home, Rory was back to normal almost instantaneously. Not only that, but— while Dinova did love Rory, she was still always very standoffish with other pets and had trained Rory not to engage in play with her. Ottilie is the exact opposite— she’s brave and bold, playful and silly, and not shy with any animal, so over time Ottilie re-taught Rory how to play with her own species. It was very sweet watching Rory figure it all out.

Tyrell was also okay with adopting Ottilie because she and Thom had recently lost their 18+ year old gray cat, Winky, which was very very hard on them both. So on top of filling the Dinova shaped hole for Rory (and me), it also filled the little gray cat shaped hole in their hearts, too. Rory is happier than I’ve ever seen her. Ottilie has a home. Wherever she is, Dinova is happy and thriving for the first time in almost 7 years. Tyrell and Thom’s hearts are a little more soothed. My guilt is practically cured.