Conclusions

I don’t even know how many days have passed since I last wrote… It’s been a while, that’s for sure.

I have decided to stop this blog. Maintaining two blogs is getting to be too much. I have a lot going on right now, and, as you have seen, I just don’t have the time for writing…

So take a look at http://woolandflour.wordpress.com for some more news about Santosh and Onni, and other things I’m up to. I promise I’ll tell you about the cats there…

We’ve had Santosh and Onni for over a year now, and I honestly can’t even imagine what life would be like without them. They are such a joy – and such a headache as well… Just this morning I found a huge pile of yarn on the floor when I got up; they had unravelled a whole ball of wool… I was not amused…

I found a list that we’ve been keeping about things the cats eat (even though I’m not sure if they’re supposed to… But these are mostly things that fell on the floor at some point.) Here:

Foods our cats like

Olives (Onni)
Grapes (Onni)
Baba Ghanoush
Lettuce
Roasted red pepper dip
Potato chips
Zucchini
Peanuts
Ice cream
Yogurt (plain, not with fruit)
Garlic bread (!!!)

Foods they do not like

Bananas
Green peas
Chocolate (what???)
Cucumber

Day 331 – Back to a normal life

Holidays are over. We landed back inVancouver on Sunday evening and got home later that night. I opened the gate and looked in through the window, half expecting to see two furry friends looking to see who is coming; of course they weren’t there…

Then, on Monday we picked up the cats. They had been a great source of headache and entertainment for Mikhail (read his blog for some diamond ring related details…) and I have a feeling he might be missing them now… But I’m happy to have them home.

When we first went to pick Santosh and Onni up I don’t think they recognized us… They were sniffing our shoes, just like they always to do visitors at home – I’m sure we smelled like my parents’ house. They must have been shocked when us, almost completely strangers (“have we seen these people somewhere, Onni? They seem vaguely familiar…”) just unceremoniously dumped them into the carrier boxes, ran to the car through the rain and left.

Once home, Santosh and Onni were actually quite fine. I was expecting long sulks under the bed. Instead, they did a couple of rounds around the house, made sure their food and litter box were there and then got comfortable. And all is well.

The only difference since has been that Santosh and Onni seem to need even more attention than before – or am I just imagining it? It looks like the boys need constant affirmation that we are still here and not planning to abandon them again…

Day 324 – I forgot…

…to mention that I’m on holidays!!! I’ve been spending some time away and so there has been nothing to update…

On the other hand, my friend has had lots to say about the cats. He’s taking care of them for these two weeks! Take a look at Mikhail’s blog and you’ll see what the boys have been up to…

J. and I will be back soon, and starting next week, the cats will return to our (mostly) cheerful company… Until then…

Day 311 – Morning show

Ladiiiiies and gentlemen, it is time for the world’s most popular morning entertainment- raccoon wrestling! I know, I know, it’s only 4:45am, but hey, it’s totally worth it. Today’s match is between two long-time champions, Waldo the Wild and Meanie-Mama! But who will emerge as the untimate champion? Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen, the show will start soon.

And now, let’s bring on the contestants. First, the four-time junior champion who is now ready to move to the adult tournaments. Ladies and gentlemen, cheer him in – Waldo the Wild!

*clapping and cheers*

The next contestant does not need much introduction! She’s the strongest, the biggest and the meanest in the neighbourhood – and she is doing it for the sake of her three little ones. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up to - Meanie-Mama!

*more clapping and cheers*

So the gong has sounded and the match is on! The contestants are starting slowly, trying to intimidate each other with deep stares and growls… But now, what’s happening, Meanie-Mama is attacking! She has decided to show Waldo the Wild who’s who on this backyard. Waldo is driven into the corner… Can you hear those growls and the hissing? I’m sure the whole neighbourhood is awake now!

More growls… Meanie-Mama has managed to deliver some mean punches and bites… And now, what is going on? Waldo the Wild is giving up! He is running, ladies and gentlemen, can you see him run? He’s done! He must be injured since he’s howling while running right out of the yard and off the spotlight. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a champion! Meanie-Mama has once again shown who is the queen of the hood! And here are her three children, congratulating their mother. They have a reason to be very proud!

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s hear it one more time for Meanie-Mama!!!!!

Day 310 – Travel arrangements

J. and I are flying over to Finland tomorrow. We’ll be spending two and a half weeks with my family, after a long time and many delays. And while we’ve been really excited about the trip, it has caused a little problem… What to do with the cats???

We asked one of our friends who promised she’d take care of the boys while we’re gone. Meaning, she would come daily to feed them and hang out with them a while. We thought it would be way better than finding a place for boarding and paying lots of money so that the cats could live in a cage for two weeks… No thanks!!!! But at the same time, I felt bad about leaving the cats alone for most of the two weeks. They’d be so lonely!!!!

And then the solution just presented itself… We were in church one Sunday morning, and a lady to tends the little vegetable garden outside was complaining about a mouse eating the zucchinis. We made a joke about needing a church cat… “We could bring ours here for a couple of weeks”, I said. We had a laugh… But then, why not…

See, there’s someone who lives at the church. Mikhail Lennikov is our friend who comes from Russia and used to work for the KGB during the Soviet era. His Canadian immigration application has been denied because of that, and he’s taken sanctuary in our church in order to avoid deportation. While I could write a lot about the Canadian government’s unfairness and political powerplay I’m just going to post a link that will tell you the basics about Mikhail. Anyhow, we knew that Mikhail is a cat person and also quite lonely at the church. So we asked if he’d like to take care of our boys while we’re gone. We also checked with the pastor, and so our little rascals will move to our church tomorrow. That way they will have some company and Mikhail will have some entertainment! 

I’m going to miss the cats… But if they end up in too much mischief I’ll probably find out from Mikhail’s blog…

Day 305 – Excavations

We decided to move the fridge yesterday, to clean up the space underneath. Besides some dust, here’s what we discovered:

• two pens
• a marker
• a highlighter
• two corks
• three twist ties, more or less chewed
• two pencils
• half a feather
• glass pebble
• a catnip-filled pouch
• Vicks inhaler (J’s; it’s been missing for a really long time!)
• little blue house, belonging to our Settlers of Catan game (now we just have to find the white one…)
• many little paper balls

I was actually beginning to wonder where all the pens disappear; I never seem to be able to find one when I need it. Maybe we should do this under-the-fridge clean-up more regularly…

Day 287 – Beating the heat (hopefully)

So today is the hottest recorded day in Vancouver. The cats are not amused… It’s the third or fourth insanely hot day, and they are just so uncomfortable… They lie in front of the fan or, when outside, in the shade on the cool pavement. And they pant. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cat panting before… (Except Onni when he runs around too much!)

We’ve tried some things to keep the cats cool. We make sure they have water to drink; we gave them a little bit of yogurt to eat. (It cools humans down, so why not cats?) I sprayed a towel with water and put it in the freezer for a while. Onni was lying on it but I think it was too damp and he didn’t want to stay for long.

I’m not sure what else to do. Last year, during the hottest days, we’d open the doors and windows after sunset, to let the cool air in. Now I’m worried about the raccoon that shows up almost every day to eat the cherries that have fallen on the ground…

Apparently there’s no end in sight for the heat. We’d better think of something…

Day 282 – New bully, episode 2

Last night I came home from grocery store and let the cats out. All was quiet… Except the neighbours, having a party and playing bagpipe music. (Why would anyone listen to that? Beats me…) And then, all of a sudden, the cats ran inside completely horrified and their tails and backs puffed up…

First I thought it was the bagpipes. But then I walked into the living room and saw Santosh standing on the desk, staring at the door. And there was the bully – a huge raccoon, on his way in! I ran towards it, yelling and clapping my hands, and scared it out. I also scared the cats more in the process… They took cover under the bed and didn’t come out for the next half an hour!

That was really scary… I’m happy the raccoon wasn’t all the way in the house. And I’m even more happy that it didn’t attack back… Those things are vicious…

Later that night the raccoon returned to the back yard. There’s a cherry tree, with lots of overripe cherries on the ground – it was having a feast… Until I decided to be brave again and chased it away with a broom…

I managed to get a picture. It’s quite shaky – it was twilight and so the shutter speed was very slow without the flash but the flash only got a picture of the raccoon’s eyes… But here’s the beast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I made sure to bring the cats in well before sunset. I was totally expecting the raccoon to show up again to eat more cherries but we didn’t see it tonight.

Somehow, during the evening, Santosh lost his collar while roaming around the hood. I wonder what happened to that one… Maybe it got stuck in a bush or something.

Day 277 – Early bird (or cat)

For the past while Onni has been driving me nuts in the mornings… He used to wake us up at 5:30am every morning to get breakfast – that’s the time we get up anyway during the week so it wasn’t so bad. He used to jump on the bed, purr loudly, head-butt us or walk around and over us until we woke up.

Well, he’s changed his strategy. First, he starts at 4:30am now. I think it has something to do with summer and earlier daylight but I’m not sure… Second, his approach isn’t quite so subtle anymore. He just comes to the bedroom and starts making noise! He does things he never does during the day – scratches a box in the closet, plays with the hairbrush on the dresser, anything at all that makes noise. I totally refuse to feed him at that time – I don’t want to start a habit… On the other hand, that might just be the easy way out. Onni just keeps making noise until one of us gets up – and since I’m the lighter sleeper it’s always me…

I’ve tried kicking (not literally, yet) him out of the bedroom and blocking the door. It usually stays quiet for about three minutes that way – just long enough for me to maybe fall asleep again… Then he starts banging the door. He doesn’t scratch the door like a normal cat, no, he bangs it…

I’m not really sure what to do with him… But mornings are hard and I’m usually quite tired after. Should probably just go to bed early enough so that I’d be ready to get up at 4:30am… *sigh*

Then something completely different… I haven’t posted photos in a long time! Here are some…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oops, I’m not sure why they piled up like that… Oh, well…

Day 276 – New bully in the hood

Last night, at about the time of sunset, I was outside watering the garden. Onni and Santosh were roaming around and J. was up on the deck collecting our laundry from the clothesline. All was quiet… Until… (*dramatic music*)

Suddenly there was hissing and angry meows from the neighbour’s yard. The crows flying overhead went bonkers. “Quickly”, shouted J, “throw me a pebble or something!” But by the time I understood what he was actually saying, found a pebble and managed to toss it up, it was too late.

Neighbour’s bully cat Sherpa (a.k.a Snob, as we call him) had a nasty but quick fight with a raccoon. Sherpa escaped into the house, and raccoon disappeared behind the corner – and I missed the action completely… Sherpa’s owner came to see what the noise was, so we told him. We haven’t seen him since but hopefully Sherpa is OK… He’s mean for sure but I’ve started to like him, especially now when it’s more and more obvious that he’s not going to beat up Santosh when he visits their yard…

We took our cats in quickly. A cat is no match for a raccoon… I guess it was just another reminder about the dangers of city life for cats… *sigh*