The cat and college frames

During my college years and Year 1 of university, I always had out on my window sill or desk my two pictures of the cats my family I had many, many years ago. They were packed away for the three and a half weeks I was at my mother's house and have remained that way until today. There was no symbolic or personal reason for keeping them packed away other than that my room was a mess as a result not tidying it while ill.

Now that I've tidied my room, I've placed the pictures of my cats on my desk. In addition, at the end of Access, one of my friends gave me a framed photo collection of him and me in London with another classmate, the poster of me from college and a picture of me by myself in London. This was one of the kindest gifts I received at college and I really like having it out on display, as the cats are.

Human cat perch

I've seen this video, filmed in July 2008, appear several times these past few days:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExZ0i04pSeY

It's certainly an interesting routine; I don't think I've heard of a cat that willingly sat atop a person's head. Cats are strange (and lovable) creatures, but this is weird even by feline standards!

There is no way that our cat Smudge could ever have done anything similar. Assuming he had ever developed the desire to balance himself on top of someone's head, his sheer size and weight would have been too much for that person; more likely, though, he would have just fallen off and taken the towel with him.

Poppy, the world's oldest cat

I was saddened to hear that Poppy, the world's oldest cat, has died:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/27794411

Guinness World Records recognised Poppy as the world's oldest cat last month. It's saddening that Poppy died and more so because she only recently attained the title of world's oldest cat. On the bright side, Poppy lived a long and happy life, which is the best life any pet can have.

Poppy

February 1990 - June 2014

Four years here

My family and I have now been living in the United Kingdom for four years. When we arrived here in the morning of 3rd June 2010, it was our first time back in this country since 1996. Moving here was the biggest change in our lives since our move to Oregon in 2000 (although the loss of our two cats in 2009 was also a major - albeit sad - change).

While today hasn't exactly been a brilliant day, I am feeling more hopeful about the future than I was a year ago. Once a few things have been sorted out, we will be undergoing another large change fairly soon.

Black and white cat

My brother noticed this local black and white cat; I took a quick picture:

While I've posted a few cat pictures here in the past and don't mind cats coming into our yards, I'm in two minds about outdoor cats: on one hand, them being outside does give them freedom to roam, which cats are suited for. On the other, domestic cats have longer lives when they live indoors; after all, both of our cats were indoor cats and they live past 12 years of age.

Still, this black and white cat is beautiful; I hope it returns to a good home every night.

The ginger cat returns

For the first time in six months, the local ginger cat returned and visited our yard:

It's the first time I've seen the cat since the heavy snow. It disappeared soon after and until now we thought that either it and its owners had moved away or that the cat had come to harm. I'm pleased to see that it's alive and well.

Sorry about the partial obstruction on the picture; it's either dirt on the window or sunlight.

Tessa the dog

I was fortunate to be linked to this article and video; it's about Tessa, a dog who was once both blind and unable to walk, who was dumped at a shelter. She was about to be euthanised when a kind soul, Annie Hart, walked into her life:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/25/tessa-blind-dog-couldnt-walk-video_n_2951565.html

I am delighted that Tessa recovered and now has a shot at life; however, I am angered that her original owners gave up on her rather than healed her. If you have a pet, it is your responsibility to see to its health — you don't quit: you care for your pet even if it is terminally ill. In fairness, it is possible they were no longer able to take care of Tessa rather than felt the need abandon her; the article's content about them is scant.

I hope that Tessa is adopted by a loving and caring family. Kudos to Annie Hart for her hard work in treating Tessa and ensuring she lived. Enjoy the article and the video.

The runt of the litter

I read this article about a 27-year-old male cat here in the United Kingdom, named Wadsworth. The article reminded me about our cat Smudge; like Wadsworth, Smudge was also the runt of his litter, although Smudge was a healthy cat at birth and died just shy of 13, whereas Wadsworth is still alive at more than twice that age.

As enjoyable as the article was, it did bring back strong feelings of wanting my cats to still be around. Not every article about cats does this to me, but some, like this one, do.

Mother's Day 2013

Today is Mother's Day in the United Kingdom. Two days ago, Dad surprised Mum by buying her flowers, chocolate and a card early:

This was the first time since we lived in California that my Dad bought Mum flowers. For years, our cats would eat parts of or play with any plants we had; while she misses the cats dearly, Mum appreciated the flowers.

I should note that Dad did this on International Women's Day; while he didn't buy them specifically for that day, I found myself appreciating his timing.

Resting orange cat

The orange cat we frequently see around here was recently taking a break in a place that was not safe for it to rest at for too long! Even so, I took a nice picture of it slumped where it was comfortable for a quarter of an hour:

Have no worries, the orange cat moved! It became interested in a bird that decided to enter its territory (the bird got away, too).

Local ginger cat

A feline named Fudge was the cat we saw the most frequently during our stay in Littleport. When we first moved to our place in Northamptonshire we hardly saw any cats at all, but recently there has a been a beautiful ginger cat wandering around our neighbourhood.

The picture was taken with my main camera through a window on the top floor of our home. It has been good to see a cat in the area around our house: we have seen several cats when goings on walks through the town, but this one is the most prominent at our location.

The significance of "Fur the Color of Dark Grey Skies"

Fur the Color of Dark Grey Skies was written in September of 2002, two weeks before I wrote Colors of Tabby. While Colors of Tabby was about our cat Tinker, Fur the Color of Dark Grey Skies was about our Smudge, our other cat. That the title uses both an American-spelt word and a British-spelt word was likely an oversight, but now I think it actually works for the poem.

There are no nonsensical verses for "filler" in Fur the Color of Dark Grey Skies: each line is about a different aspect of Smudge. For example, the title is a reference to his fur, which was a grey color; and "Feral though domestic" refers to the fact that his mother was a feral cat, although Smudge himself was domestic. When we lived in Patterson, California, one of our neighbors came across Smudge's mother and litter in her yard, and she took them inside her house to look after them (the kittens anyway, I am not sure about the mother). All of the kittens were given new homes, and we were the family that received Smudge (and it was my Dad that named him).

Smudge had a different personality to Tinker, but he was still very good-natured and a character; while Tinker was happy to meet people, Smudge would hide in either mine or my brother's bed; it took him time to get to know someone new, but when he did feel comfortable with them coming to our house he would greet and even purr for them. Whenever he was given a brush, it took at least two of us to get the job done (he was a large, strong cat, likely because of Maine Coon ancestry in him); if anything, he preferred being bathed to being brushed. He often came into my room and my brother's, and was happy to sleep on either of our beds. Smudge did not have a near-constant purr: he only purred (and it was more of a "rumble" than a purr) if he was in a really good mood or was on someone's bed or lap. One of his habits involved dipping his paw in water and licking it off himself, and later in life found he preferred fresh water (he would lick the bathtub and its curtains, the sinks after recent use, and drink from cups). As for Tinker and Smudge's relationship, the cats did get on well: they would often play and sleep together, as well as occasionally pull some silly stunt that would either confuse or amuse us.

He died on March 6th, 2009, and would have been thirteen years old that May. As Tinker was dying Smudge had developed a serious problem with his kidneys; the condition was critical, and at his age it would have been very difficult to treat him. We were devastated to lose both our cats within a month of each other; as with Tinker, Smudge's life was happy, long, and eventful.

The significance of "Colors of Tabby"

I wrote Colors of Tabby in September of 2002 about our cat Tinker. Tinker was a tabby cat whom we brought with us from the United Kingdom to the United States. She was one of two cats we had while we lived in the United States; I posted previously a rhyme about Smudge, our other cat, here.

Most verses in the poem are about Tinker, although a couple are nonsense purely for rhyming purposes. For example, "Colors of tabby, Partially flabby" refers to the fact she was a tabby and somewhat overweight; "While braver than voles, She’s chased by lizards and forced into gopher holes" is a reference to her hunting voles in the first couple of years or so of life, but at the time of the poem's writing she had completely lost interest in hunting other animals (she backed away from lizards).

As for a bit more about Tinker, she was a social cat: she would often greet people when they came over...there was one time when she had not seen my grandparents for two years, yet when my grandmother entered our house and started talking, Tinker remembered her and came bounding into the living room to enthusiastically greet her. Tinker loved being brushed (especially by me), playing with Smudge, wanting food whenever one of us went into the kitchen or she heard us open the fridge door (she did this more in her later life, and it was our food she was after, not her own), and looking out of open windows (she became an indoor cat when we moved to America, and she came to prefer looking out of open windows to actually going outside). She was a happy cat, as she was near-constantly purring, and it took a lot to anger her.

Yesterday, February 12th, was the third anniversary of Tinker's death, and I decided that a fitting tribute to her would be to post a poem that I wrote a long time ago about her. Tinker's death can be put down to old age, as she was fifteen years old, and would have been sixteen in May of 2009. She had been losing weight for the six months prior to her death, but she had been behaving normally during that time: in fact, she was more active than usual in her last six month of her life until the final two weeks.

It would be great it our pets lived as long as we do, but sadly, they do not. The most we can do is to ensure that they are given the best and happiest lives as possible in the time that they have: Tinker had a good, long, and eventful life.

Abandoned rabbits

I read this article earlier about three rabbits that had been abandoned, with the most probable reason for their abandonment being their ears:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2092618/No-loves-Three-earless-pet-rabbits-abandoned-basket-doorstep.html

I have always hated it when people abandon, neglect, or outright abuse animals; if the reason for Benny, Bluebell, and Polo being abandoned was solely because they were "imperfect" from the state of their ears, then the previous owners are truly despicable. It is not as though the rabbits chose to have one ear (or in Polo's situation, none at all), and they deserve to be treated kindly and given a good home regardless of what they look like.

Smudge and the Fudge Grudge

We used to have two cats, and one of them was named Smudge. A very long time ago I wrote a rhyme about him, and I thought it would be good to share it here:

My cat Smudge,

Always has a grudge,

Against a little bit of fudge.

He said:

"Fudge is made out of sludge,

So do not get me to budge.

For a little bit of fudge".

I cannot remember how old I was when I wrote this.

Bridleways

In the past I have written about public footpaths in the United Kingdom. Since moving to Northamptonshire, I noticed a sign for a similar type of path: public bridleways.

On a bridleway you are allowed to ride a horse down it, unlike public footpaths which are limited to people and dogs: other than that, I do not think there are any other differences between them, though I guess that bridleways are more common in rural areas. I suspect I did walk on some bridleways in Nottinghamshire and Cambridgeshire, but I do not recall noticing signs similar to the one pictured above.

The ginger and black cat

Remember my posts about the ginger and black cat with the ginger eye patch? Prior to us leaving Littleport, we found out from the lady next door to us that the cat's name is "Fudge".

So far I have not seen any cats at our current location. There have been people with dogs, and judging by the abundance of birds, I doubt there are many cats around this part of our town.

Local cats (again)

The ginger and black cat with the ginger pattern on her eye that I blogged about yesterday outdid herself today: while we were in the living room sorting a few things out, Mum heard something from the kitchen, and when she looked over she spotted the cat coming in through the open window! My brother and I merely watched the cat as she noticed that we were looking at her, and after looking at us for a few seconds, she slowly turned herself around and went back out of the window.

That was not the last of it though: I went to the kitchen window to watch her walk slowly away, but then, another cat jumped up onto the window ledge and attempted to come in, this cat being black with white feet. It took two seconds for this one to notice that I was there, and it jumped back down almost immediately after that.

Both of these occasions were times when I wished I had one of my cameras on hand!

Local cats

I love the local cats around here, and I will miss them when we move. While there are quite a few of them around, three of them stand our: there is a white and gray one, which we are sure is a male; and two ginger and black patterned cats, both of which we think are female. The gray one rarely goes near our house, but we see him nearly every day at the nearby homes, but the two female cats often come to our house, climb on our fence, and go in our backyard (one of them even came running into our house once!) It is fun to watch the cats interact with each other, or to watch them watch other cats and people.

Here is a short video I took a couple of weeks ago of one of the female cats while she was on our kitchen window ledge and looking into the house. She can be distinguished from the ginger pattern over her right eye...a feature the other ginger and black cat does not have.

Look at her big eyes and lovely pattern...she is a wonderful cat!