Love Cats
I've just had my first go at putting a photo story together (had to do it as part of my course) and it's turned out better than I thought. Here's the link:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=EljIk8v88MY
Published Date:
14/05/2008
Modified Date:
14/05/2008
Love Cats
I've just had my first go at putting a photo story together (had to do it as part of my course) and it's turned out better than I thought. Here's the link:
<A href="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=EljIk8v88MY">http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=EljIk8v88MY</A>
Published Date:
14/05/2008
Modified Date:
14/05/2008
The (not so) Great Escape...
We're not big on sunshine and hot weather, here in the Katkin household - the daft dobermutt absorbs the sun's rays and sulks, the other half is asthmatic and spends the days gasping for breath and I'm allergic to most things, including cats, pollen, dust and paint fumes. I wilt under the mid-day sun and prefer to stay indoors. Maybe I should have been a Goth.
Anyway, whilst most sane folk were outside scorching dead meat over fume-soaked barbies or drinking in the atmosphere (aided by whatever cheap plonk their guests had brought along), we decided to spend Sunday afternoon cellar-sorting.
Cellar-sorting takes place roughly once every couple of months when I decide I'm sick of tripping over cardboard, empty packaging and DIY tools the other half keeps promising to put away but never does. There's something therapeutic about clearing a space and either freecycling or throwing out unused STUFF, once in a while.
So we were pretty engrossed for a couple of hours, down in the murky depths of our cramped cellar and it was only when the other half remembered he'd put a bid on something on evil-Bay (which explains why we have to clear so much rubbish so often), that we emerged into the daylight - and the realisation that the screen door leading to the backyard was not properly fastened. Uh-oh...
A quick headcount revealed that we were one short. Not just any one, either. The one most likely to get into trouble - ALfie the barmy bengal!
I checked, double checked and then triple checked all the likely hiding places indoors, just on case he was just a heavy sleeper and hadn't heard my frantic cries, but there was no sign. We had to admit it- he was outside...somewhere.
No sign of him in the backyard, and, more worryingly, no sound. Alfie has a very distinct voice and he's not afraid to use it. The lack of yowling suggested he was probably already some distance away...
I headed up the street calling his name and craning my ears for any response, whilst the other half headed down the street. I could hear Aero the inscrutible Havana cat howling in our kitchen (she knew something was up) but not a peep from my spotty babe.
Trying not to think of all the awful things that could have happened to him, I pressed on - calling him, peering up passages and listening...
And then I heard the most wonderful sound - distant, but distinctly bengal. A few seconds later, the barmy one came into view, clinging desperately to his 'daddy' and telling us he was not a happy bunny.
Other half had found him two streets away, huddled in a doorway, petrified out of his little wits and very close to a busy road. It doesn't bear thinking about. He was pretty subdued when he got back indoors and only came round to his normal mischievous self again on Monday. Arnie and Charlie the nutty Norwegians made a huge fuss of him and gave him plenty of wegie cuddles and kisses (a trait all the wegies seem to have inherited - they make wonderful mother-hens!).
All I know is, we were SO RELIEVED to get him back unharmed and we've had a wake-up call and we'll know in future to double-check the security arrangements before we leave the little spotted trouble-seeker on his own.
Published Date:
13/05/2008
Modified Date:
13/05/2008
We had a little visitor to stay last week...
Well, Arnie is now 7 months old and bigger than both our barmy bengal Alfie and our havana oriental cat Aero http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...ArnieApr08.jpg (Arnie is in the foreground)
This is Arnie over-shadowing Aero- remember, Aero and Alfie are both 4 years old.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...ArnieApr08.jpg We've got Blackbirds and Wrens nesting in our garden/next door's so the stable-door shelf in the kitchen gives the felines somewhere comfy to sit and watch the world go by...
His kid brother Solo came to stay last week- and boy was THAT fun - here is is with Alfie n Arnie
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...NSoloApr08.jpg I still can't get over the difference in markings and fur between Arnie and Solo. Arnie looks like a fluffy snow leopard, which is apt, when you put him alongside the bengal tiger Alf!
They immediately bonded again -here's Solo giving Arnie a bear hug
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...arHugMay08.jpgand soon even mum n dad were giving fuss and attention to their estranged son. Sorry, couldn't grab the camera quick enough to capture that Kodak moment, but I got Solo with Ailsa the daft dobermutt, who decided he was 'just another flipping moggie' and then went back to licking her bits, like dogs always do, as if she'd never been disturbed http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...AilsaApr08.jpg
Happy times! http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...NSoloApr08.jpg when they weren't wrecking the house, they were playing together like best buddies -they were too much for poor Alfie at one stage- he had to go and hide in the wardrobe to get away from Solo (who can be a little intense, bless him!).
It was lovely to have Solo back again (along with his more quiet and much older brothers and sister, who spent their week upstairs away from the mad-house), but so nice to hand him back again on Friday...
I'd love to know how their other brother Kaboos is getting along.
Published Date:
06/05/2008
Modified Date:
06/05/2008
Arnie's big day...
Yesterday, Arnie the baby Wegie went on a great adventure - to the vets, for the unkindest cut of all.
It was a traumatic time for us all - having lost a young Wegie to analphylactic shock during a routine castration op back in 2003, we have always been nervous when the time comes to take another. It was Arnie's turn for that trip yesterday. and I'm pleased to announce all went well and he is none the worse for his ordeal.
He wasn't best pleased about missing his breakfast, nor with being bundled into a cat carrier and stuffed into the back of the car - he doesn't do travelling, does our Arnie. We were treated to the delightful sound of HOWLING all the way to Millhouses - not a longtrip, but purgatory when you're having your ear-wax melted by a feline chorus.
When we collected him again later that afternoon, we were advised that he would probably be quiet for a while and would only want a bland meal. Ha! No one bothered to tell Arnie that though - as soon as he was back home, he launched himself out of the carrier, ran off in search of sustenance and then spent the next hour tearing around the house, shredding the one-and-only houseplant and chasing imaginery bugs... He was pleased to be back with his mum n dad again too. http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/20080330_54.jpg
He did eventually settle down http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/20080330_41.jpg and seems to have forgiven us for taking away his crown jewels.
Published Date:
16/04/2008
Modified Date:
16/04/2008
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALFIE!
Today it's the barmy one's birthday- he is 4 years old exactly and he's just had his bumps (if being slobbered over and generally prodded and poked about by the daft dobermutt counts as 'bumps').
Alfie joined our happy family in 2004, aged 13 weeks and life in the Katkin household has never been quite the same since then.
He's seen his fair share of comings and goings (and has been responsible for some of those goings, but the less said about that the better...) and you never know what mischief he's going to cause next, but one thing is for sure- we can't imagine ever being without him and hope he'll be sharing a good few birthdays with us still.
He'll always be top cat (just don't tell any of the others!), so:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALFIE!
Published Date:
29/03/2008
Modified Date:
29/03/2008
It's SO UNFAIR!
The daft dobermutt is sulking...
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/20080313_39.jpg It doesn't take much: I suspect this time it's because I won't open the cellar door to let her trot down and help herself to a pig's ear. Usually, she persuades her furry spotted partner-in-crime to open the door for her, but I've gotten wise to this ploy now and keep a heavy doorstop in front of it that even the most determined of barmy bungles is unable to shift.
I think it's a day (or even a week) for sulking. The barmy bengal is STILL in a huff because I wouldnt let him finish off ITSY the ex-gerbil. http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/20080313_4.jpg He sits on the sofa pouting and sticking his nose in the air whenever I call his name and even a pep-talk from his wegie pal Charlie hasn't improved his outlook on life. http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/20080313_17.jpgHe seems to forget he's not the aggrieved party - poor ITSY was the one left friendless! Mind you, she's getting her fair share of attention now... http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/20080313_87.jpgSadly, it's the sort of attention she could well do without!
Meanwhile, that nutty norwegian baby Arnie http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/20080313_23.jpg is getting bigger and bolder... It started with him copying mum and reaching new heights http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/20080313_31.jpgThen we had the chewing anything that had a plug on the end of it - and hassling the senior sensible moggie http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/2004_0714pix0014.jpg followed by
the inscrutible Havana http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/IMGP2931.jpg
Now, he's made it his duty to lay on top of the cockatiel cage with one paw dangling through the bars ever-so-tantalisingly-close to Pooh, (the occupant), who is non too pleased at this intrusion and goes to great lengths to make his feelings known, hence we either have to get up in the middle of the night to extract one or more norwegians from the bathroom, or else firmly close the bathroom door leaving poor Beauty confined to quarters - http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/katkin2/20080313_51.jpg at a time when we're trying to integrate her into the Katkin household, not segregate her...
Cats will be cats, of course, but I'd love to know why the dynamics have suddenly changed and we seem to be going through a stage where rodents and birds are fair game rather than extended family!
Published Date:
20/03/2008
Modified Date:
20/03/2008
Natural Born Killers2: this time it's purrsonal
Some bad news to report in today's 'blog' entry...
Last night, one of our gerbils (Bitsy) met an untimely end, when she made the mistake of peeping out of the inner lid of the gerbil tank (whilst I was trying to change the food and water), through a hole she and her sister had gnawed big enough for a gerbil to peak through.
I quickly put my hand over the hole to persuade her to go back to safety but was not quick enough to prevent one very determined bengal from spotting the sudden movement from across the room and launching himself onto the back of the sofa.
With one giant leap, an almighty YOWL and an effortless lunge, the barmy one pounced and poor BITSY was no more. She was despatched swiftly and without mercy. She didnt even have chance to utter a squeak, poor thing.
We had the devil of a job prising Alf's jaws open to release her though and he's been in an almighty sulk ever since.
In his defence, I know it's instinct, but I'm always so careful and it's such a shame. I've owned gerbils and cats all my life and they've co-existed happily until now, but with such determined and prolific hunters as the barmy one and the nutty norwegian to contend with, maybe it's time to rethink this arrangement...
Thing is: what do I do about our one surviving gerbil, Itsy?
And my next job tonight is to face the gales and go outside to bury poor Bitsy. Of course, if Alfie had his way, there'd be no need.
Published Date:
12/03/2008
Modified Date:
12/03/2008