Flynn relaxing on a heated cat bed.

NAME ORIGIN

Flynn was named by my sister-in-law, who thought she "just looked like a Flynn." Oddly enough, Flynn is the name of a branch of my family on my father's side. Because of that, I liked the name and we kept it.

Other names considered:  None.  

NICKNAME(S)

We call her The Squirrel or Button Eyes pretty frequently, but just for fun. Mostly she goes by her real name.

DATE OF BIRTH
Around February 22, 2009.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Flynn is a lovely, medium-long-haired dilute calico - calico number three in our family, though the other two are standard calicos, rather than dilutes. Her mama was long-haired and was on the petite side, and Flynn resembles her quite a bit. She's more delicate looking and not as heavy as her sister, weighing just under nine pounds (4.08 kg). 

Her eyes are a nice, light greenish-yellow color.

MEOW

She sounds rather like a rusty gate - very high-pitched and squeaky. She's not much of a talker overall and usually only meows when she's hungry.  She was very loud as a kitten and could sustain a meow longer than any cat I've ever had, but she's gotten quieter as she's matured. She tends to hit one note and hold it without varying her pitch. 

PURR / BISCUITS

She has a fairly typical medium-loud purr, which she generally reserves for nursing and cuddling sessions with other cats. Biscuits are infrequent and usually of the "air biscuit" variety (instead of kneading on a blanket, for example, or a person). 

HISTORY

My husband's sister found a pregnant, orange, stray kitty in February of 2009. Around February 22, she produced four little ones: three girls and a boy. We aren't sure of the exact date of their birth, since mama disappeared for a while to have them.

Our intention was to wait until the babies were weaned, then adopt one. Sadly, mama kitty was killed by a coyote when her babies were four weeks old, so our plans changed a bit. We took two girls (Flynn and Mosaic) and my husband's parents took the remaining girl and the boy, now named Sheba and Leo, and we all bottle-fed kittens for a while. Click here to see pictures of Sheba and Leo.

PERSONALITY

Flynn started out as the more adventurous and precocious of the two sisters and was the first to make it to the top of the big cat tower and the first to go up the stairs. She also ate solid food first, tended to get the upper hand in wrestling matches with her sister, and was more likely to approach the big cats.

At about three months, she began to lag behind developmentally because of the health problem described on her medical page. For quite a while, Flynn didn't have the energy to be very adventurous, so Mosaic took the lead in that department. When we got the medical problems under control she began to catch up on her growth again, but overall she's usually pretty easygoing and not nearly as psycho as her sister.

For a while there she wasn't very cuddly with people at all, but that's starting to change and now she enjoys curling up on people's laps every so often. She gets especially happy when people are in the bathroom.

MEDICAL CONDITIONS

Chronic, severe constipation, probably the result of congenital lack of nerve function to her colon. See details

HOBBIES / INTERESTS

For the moment, she's into the usual young cat activities: playing with anything and everything, and  playing tag with her sister. She loves playing with her feather toys and soliciting washing from Mold, and for some reason, enjoys dumping her toys into the water bowls.

FRIENDS

Mosaic, Sophia, and Ceylon are her primary playmates, but she often plays with Dubh and sometimes with Solentiname and Calypso, also. She and Mosaic both view Mold (Molly Maguire) as a substitute mother. Flynn was nervous about Sophia and Ceylon when they first arrived, but now just loves them. When she's not washing them, she's playing with them.

SCARED OF THE VACUUM CLEANER?

She was all right with it at first, but then decided it's scary and she should probably hide from it.