Little Kitten(s) Lost

So, last Thursday, we let Mama Cat and Boyo outside. Not a big deal; all the cats go outside at some point or another (except for Bear, unless he is under supervision), and then come back in. Mama Cat spends 75% of her time outside, because she doesn't really like being around the other cats, never mind that she's the one that frickin' spawned them, and Boyo gets really annoying and cries and scratches at the door unless you let him out. But they always come back after a couple of hours.

Well, they haven't come back. Which is weird - really, really weird. Because about 2 months ago we let Napoleon out because he doesn't like the other cats either, and he never came back. We were sad, but chalked it up to him being an ungrateful little bastard and moved on. Now, we have 2 cats that went missing at the same time. I highly doubt that both of them got hit by cars. It's possible that someone decided to take them in, because they are both very friendly towards people, but if that's the case, the people who did were really really mean because the cats had collars on - clearly they were already marked as being owned - although they didn't have tags, because we've never had to worry. So now I'm starting to wonder if there is someone in the neighborhood that is poisoning cats. I really don't know. But I'm really sad that they are gone. I hope they come back. Boyo lets me use him as a pillow when I go to sleep. :(

Anyways, so today when I was talking to my mom (I originally called to let her know my final exam schedule) she mentioned that she and Leanna had been to the animal shelter to see if they had been brought in. If they were, they weren't there; it would have been too soon for them to be euthanized so if they did pass through then they might have been adopted out since they are both cute and friendly. Or they might not have been brought in at all. So, all of a sudden, my mom says "Do you want to talk to Leanna?" and I, not really having anything to say to Leanna (not out of meanness, I just didn't have anything I needed to talk to her about, you know?) say "umm no not really..." but my mom just said "ok here let me get Leanna on...Leanna! pick up the other phone!..." and meanwhile I'm just sitting in my chair like wtf? Ok, something is definitely going on...Leanna tells me how they're at the shelter looking for Mama and Boyo but they weren't there...blah blah blah...so then I ask, "Leanna, did you guys adopt a cat from the shelter or something?"

Dead silence on the phone, from both my mom (who was still on the line from the phone in her room) and Leanna (using the phone in the kitchen). The short answer is: yes.

Apparently, the cat is about 8 months old and was brought in as a stray. Leanna says it has longish hair. I immediately asked if it was a calico cat, since Leanna had always been saying how much she's wanted a calico cat, but she said no it wasn't calico, it's something called "tortoiseshell," which basically means that it's black with spatters of orange in it, and sometimes a little bit of white but the white isn't required to be considered tortoiseshell. They said they will pick her up from the shelter on Thursday because they will spey her first. Leanna said the cat's name is "Zin" but we all agreed that needs to be changed. Any ideas, anyone? I sort of like "Zia," but maybe that's just me...(I looked it up, and apparently it's Arabic for "light." Kind of cool, no?) I haven't seen what the cat actually looks like myself, though. Leanna's tried sending me a picture but for some reason it just won't come through on my end... :( Anyways, help me brainstorm some names!