Introducing Beo & Jiji, our new Babies!

Atlanta, GA • June 17, 2024

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Say hello to our new babies Beowulf and Jiji. I haven’t had kittens in many years and while this post is a bit out of the ordinary for me they deserve a quick introduction as the newest members of the family. Since navigating life as a single mama (which is a story for another day) these little babies have brought so much joy to our lives and we just adore both of them so much.

“Cats have an absolute emotional honesty; humans, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but the cat does not.”

- Ernest Hemingway

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Miss Jiji

Miss Jiji was meant to be ours in so many ways. My daughter has wanted a black male cat for years and she always knew she would name the kitten Jiji. If you’re any fan of Studio Ghibli movies, then you know “Jiji” is the black cat from the movie “Kiki’s Delivery Service.” Fun fact: “Kiki” is my nickname in my family since I was a kid so having a cat named Jiji is just meant to be. Anyway, on our hunt for a black kitten we found a little black male named Jack at a local foster/rescue however when we inquired about him he was already adopted.

Lucky for us the lady who was fostering him mentioned she Jacks sister Jill was up for adoption as well which was fitting because we could keep her original name and Jiji as her nickname. We went to pick her up the very next day and I also noticed she was born on 1/26/24 which also happened to be the same day we had to put our dog down. Some people may think it’s ridiculous, but I believe the universe has a way of sending you the should that are meant to be part of your life in one way or another whether they are human or animals.

This sweet girl also took to us right away. Unlike many kittens/cats she is super friendly to anyone she comes in contact with, and she LOVES to be held. Every time someone comes in the house she runs right down the steps and is ready for snuggles and love. She really is such a sweet angel. Jiji also has a very unique color. I may be wrong and maybe it’s common, but I’ve never seen a black-on-black striped cat. Apparently, this is “black tabby” but to me it’s super cool and unique and you can only see her black stripes in the light.

Beowulf Oberon

Beowulf, a.k.a. Beo for short came to us in a completely different way. First off, yes I purchased him from a breeder for quite a high price…don’t come after me keyboard warriors. The last I checked I can do what I want with my own money and I still fully support adoption as we adopted our sweet Jiji., obviously. Anywho I knew I was also looking for a black kitten because I wanted Jiji to have a friend since kittens do much better when they have a companion to play with and do life with. Specifically, I knew I wanted a Maine Coon as I have always loved the breed but as I came to learn, solid blacks are actually a bit rarer than you think. Black Maine Coon kittens are more commonly black smoke which is more of a dark smokey gray.

As I was looking around one of the local breeders in the Atlanta area recently had a litter born 2/26/24 one month apart from Jiji and there were 3 black males. She said two of them looked to be black smoke and the third which was our Beo looked like he may turn into black smoke or may be solid black like the father, which is what I was looking for. She sent me some pics and videos and I fell in love with him immediately and really didn’t care what color he ended up.

Since he is a pedigree cat he was registered and needed a name and they go by the order of the mother’s litter. So, since this was her second little all the babies were to be registered with “B” names. Originally, I picked Beezle but Beezle was the devil of solitude from my favorite childhood movie, The Adventures of Unico….and also happens to be the name of a demon in the bible so we decided against that name as a name holds a lot of power. Immediately I thought of Beowulf who was the hero in the Old English poem by the same name and Oberon who was the fairy king in Shakespeare’s, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The perfect majestic name for a majestic little cat!

Beo is also such a joy as he was the most playful in his litter and is a michevious little soul. While hes not a huge fan of being held, he’s getting much more comfortable with is and loves to come up for snuggles and chin rubs, on his own terms of course! Size-wise he has also quickly surpassed Miss Jiji and is almost double her size now. Maine Coons can reach up to 30 lbs so I’m anxious to see how big my sweet boy gets!

I look forward to watching both of little ones grow and thrive and I know they will be a permanent part of our family for the rest of their lives! Also just an FYI if you are in the Atlanta Area and looking to adopt a kitten or puppy check out this rescue which is where we got Jiji: