This feed contains the 10 most recent pages in the "cats" category.

I love cats, so of course I've a tag for cats :-)

Actually, I'm not going to write much, I really just wanted to display these pictures of a dog watching a cat chase after something under a bookcase.

Posted Sep 12, 2010, 8:35:08 AM +0200 | Tags: cats

The cats had met him before, this Griffon Bruxellois... him spending the afternoon, evening, night and morning here was, however, a bit new. Before, he had only spent two or three of hours here at most.

This was a bit of an experiment, but I wasn't worried, I knew that this dog had lived with cats before, and his owner was used to both dogs and cats, and these cats aren't scared of much.

The first few hours, the dog was in a leash, so the cats had a chance to get used to him without him running after them. After trying to engage them into play with a few small barks, the dog eventually tired of it all and just lay down resting. Ever so slowly, the cats would approach him, sniff the air around him and sniffing him.

There were moments, like when Padmé came nose to nose with the dog and the dog tried to engage in play, and Padmé just sat there, not quite knowing what to do with this weird creature, but not running away either. Or when Padmé and the dog came nose to nose, seriously checking each other out. Or when the dog slept on the bed and Sirius was on the bedroom windowsill, calmly observing. Or when, in the morning, I was petting Padmé and the dog was sniffing her butt the way dogs do, and she was just calmly purring away.

For a first experiment of this sort, I think it was mightily successful :-) ... gotta love this kitties for their calm and for their social skills, be it with humans or other animals.

Posted May 20, 2010, 3:11:06 PM +0200 | Tags: cats

I introduced Padmé and Sirius to fire today... just a flame on two big sturdy candles...

It was interesting to watch their approach... they both first approached, sniffing very close to the flame, just to back off a bit when they noticed the heat... then they just watched the flame for a bit, and made some more slow approaches, sniffing... after a while, Sirius did that typical cat thing, getting to know something new by pawing it rapidly, and that dancing yellow thing was sure interesting! The result was that the flame disappeared and that he had a bit of candle wax in the fur of his right paw, something he didn't even notice...

Well, after that (and after I re-lit that candle), they simply spent easily half an hour to an hour just watching the flames, seemingly transfixed, until they grew tired of them and went away doing something else.

Introductions have been made, and it went very well. Instincts work! And I think I can have candles at home :-)

Posted Oct 25, 2009, 9:27:36 PM +0100 | Tags: cats

Every so often, our cats will have a small playful fight, and more or less constantly end up in each others paws, licking each other over their faces, and sometimes bodies...

Watching this happen again this morning, I'm realising that this is very much a social glue for them, maybe their kind of "kiss and make up"? It's amazing to watch, purr lick lick lick purr.

I wonder, is this something that happens commonly among cats that live together, or is this an unusual show of kinship because our cats are brothers and sisters?

Posted Jun 20, 2009, 7:46:14 AM +0200 | Tags: cats

About a week ago, day before my birthday, Charlie and I got three kittens home. We had visited them a few times before, so they would get a feel for us, and the first time was kind of magical, one of them chose us rather than the other way around.

When they came home to us, they immediately started exploring and have been doing so since, and they have adapted very well. And it's fun getting to see what they discover and how. This morning, I had the pleasure of three kittens exploring the basin in the bathroom and flowing water (I let it trickle just a little bit). It's fun to watch a cat trying to figure out how to handle a trickle of water, putting his nose squarely into it (with a resulting sneeze), trying to bite off pieces of water until he figured out that using his toungue probably works best.

Anyway, three kittens... all three are siblings, Sirius (inspired by Sirius Black) is the largest of the three and has a black coat, as well as his sister Ronja (inspired from Ronia the Robber's Daughter because she's wild at heart, talkative and a enthusiastic hunter), while the other sister, Padmé Amidala, has a beautiful tortoiseshell coat. All three good hearted, purring their hearts away at a blink of an eye, and yet with visible distinct personalities.
Sirius seems to be quite the explorer, always the first to go forward and discover something new, perhaps a little bit too uncautious for his own good, and maybe a bit macho.
Ronja is quite the talker and has a knack for walking on your keyboard when you're by the computer, she also turned off my laptop one time (which Karin, who was using it at the time, took as a sign she should get off the computer for a bit).
Padmé, while being the more cautious of the three, also seems to be the fearless one. Less than a week ago, a couple of friends helped Charlie-has-moved-in, some of it went into the bedroom, and after, we found Padmé lying on the bed, calmly watching the whole thing, while the other two were hiding under the bed. That's quite telling. But don't get Padmé wrong, she knows how to have wild fun as well, and is quite the explorer, she just takes it a little slower, taking her own pace.

A few pictures, maybe?

Ronja exploring the computer shelf
Padm� doing a balance act
Padm� and Sirius resting together on our bed
Charlie with all three of them
Posted Dec 28, 2008, 11:23:37 AM +0100 | Tags: cats

I think this clip speaks for itself ;-)

( link to the clip )

Courtesy of cute overload.

Posted Nov 7, 2008, 11:14:10 AM +0100 | Tags: cats

My cat has always been an indoors cat. Taken outside, he would just go flat to the ground and then crawl to a covered place and stay there. My then wife and I tried to take him out a couple of times, but he seemed so pitifull that we didn't really make a point of it.

He would, however, go out into the stairways of the appartment building we lived in. And a little now and then, he did enjoy a stroll out on the balcony.

So a while ago, I decided that I would take him out, somewhere calm. I finally did so today, taking him into the woods of Kärsö. And he blossomed!

He started out as he used to, flat to the ground. Then I saw him bring his head up a little bit, start crawling to what looked like a safe spot, and then continued! He went exploring instead of hiding! I see that as great progress, especially on the first time.

A little later on, I decided to change the setting, and brought him over to a rocky spot, and the exploration went on. Up on one rock (incidently looking like the Lion King), down exploring the cavity of the next, nibbling on grass in passing. He seemed to have a great time!

I'm gonna do this again, next weekend, and the next, and...

Besides, it's the perfect excuse to get myself out to the open air :-)

Posted Sep 18, 2005, 8:11:40 PM +0200 | Tags: cats

Today, on another forum, two threads appeared, one that encouraged people to vent the things that were bad in their life, and another with the good stuff. I've decided to reproduce my two response here, just for the sake of having my own archive of the stuff I write.


The "bad things" thread:

Oh my, this is quite a thread after coming out of a mini-depression...

I hate to express myself in terms of hate. It feels like there's no nuance.

The doctors have just discovered my mom has some kind of lung sickness, probably the same as her mom, who ended up having lots of fluids in her lungs. It hit me like a ton of bricks that one of those who have been there my whole life has suddenly taken a giant step toward her own death, and I have no idea how to deal with it. It makes me really sad and it's really hard to realise this.

Quite soon (in a couple of months?), I'm probably going to watch my son travel away to the other side of the Atlantic, together with his mother. I know that he's going to have a good time and that there is stuff over there that he probably needs, and at the same time, I can't help but feel crushed that we're placing the burden of our divorce on him even more by giving him parents who are physically very separated instead of living about 600 meters (yards) apart. I'm working out the chagrin that I currently feel within, so I can go past it.

I absolutely hate (there, I said it) that I have been so numb, so out of touch with my true feelings for so very long (roughly 1990 to last christmas. That's a long time). I hate that I couldn't express the deep love I now know I can feel, and know I did feel. I hate that this numbness brought me to say "yes" when there was a big resounding "NO" deep within me, or even when there was just disagreement. I hate how I, by consequence, promised things that weren't grounded in me, that weren't what I wanted to promise. I hate how I, even further by consequence, broke those promises, because they weren't really grounded in me.

I hate that I ignored the child within, and let it reign on it's own or have someone else pamper it or even parent it. I hate that this still happens. It's my job, damnit!

I strongly dislike (and always have, I just didn't know how to express it before last spring) when someone wants me to take care of their inner child, instead of doing it themselves. I've had that happen with 3 people, one of them being my mom. Having someone else take care of your inner child does not help, especially yourself! It doesn't help that inner child grow.

I have an increasing difficulty with people who think their own perspective of the truth is The Truth, The Whole Truth and Nothing But The Truth. It leaves no space for the rest of the world. I hate it when I catch myself doing exactly that.

/Richard

P.S. interesting how I can express hate about my own stuff...

P.P.S. it feels good having expressed all this. THANK YOU!


The "unrant" thread:

Great thread!

I love my son Jacob. I love the way he laughs and runs into my arms, almost tackling me down, each time I pick him up from dagis and sometimes from his mom. I love the way he can melt into a hug with me. I love watching him play. I love his very apparent joy for life.

I love my cat Kattie (I didn't name him! ). I love the way he curls up on my lap or on my tummy, especially when I need it the most. I love how he suddenly gets a burst of wilderness in him around 11pm. I love him for being so patient with Jacob.

I really enjoy this new path of growth and increased spirituality that I'm walking, slowly finding my way to understand the world beyond the immediately apparent and to feel love for and connection with everyone and everything. Some day, I'll even be able to love myself fully.

I love computer programing. It's my art. It's the ultimate expression of my creativity blended with logic, accuracy and the feeling that I do the right thing.

I love interacting and being with people. I increasingly throw myself into groups of people, new situations, new challenges, things that might ultimately provoke something in my inner core and help me grow a little bit more.

I sometimes like being alone, just to recapture my life, brood over something I've been through recently, or just enjoy a little bit of quiet time.

I love going to the movies once in a while, or going out to eat in good company.

I love my current companion, for her straightforwardness, for her awareness that goes beyond what I have experienced (or been willing to see, perhaps) before, for her accepting what I have to give (things I didn't even know about) and for what she has to give me, and for encouraging me to follow the path I'm currently following.

I love my previous partners, for having wanted to share a few years with me, even though they have sometimes been very difficult. They will all be part of my life, forever. I'm deeply grateful to them all, and especially to Lisa, for everything I've learned and for the path that they have lead me to.

/Richard

Posted Sep 20, 2004, 1:53:00 AM +0200 | Tags: cats

To see all of them, check the archive-cats.

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