Our cats
I know I have not been very original on own content lately, I have constantly been ill. However, this was some great time off to find some artists to adore.
Heather Franzen quickly became one of these đ Scaredy Cat is her first picture book, part of a series of short stories that I call Stories Without Words. Readers are given the freedom to create their own narratives and interpretations.
Here it is, I hope you enjoy đ
ai·lur·o·phile (Ä«ËloÍorÉËfÄ«l,ÄËloÍor-noun) = a cat lover = ME
Finally, I am Wiki described. To celebrate, here is a list of why your cat is awesome. đ
Originally appeared on Oatmeal.
Sorry for the âlong time, no seeâ I have been fighting a flu, then facing a nightmare weekend.
I was about to drive to the pet store on Saturday to buy some litter and food for the cats when my car decided not to open the doors. I first thought the battery of the remote for the alarm went off, but the control light flashed as usual. So imagine little me running around the car desperately pressing the open button. Nothing happened. Frustrated.
So then my boyfriend pointed out  that the alarm led inside the car was not flashing. Hm. Then someone tried to steal the car and disabled the alarm. But why leaving it then? Funny and disturbing at the same time for a first thought.
So what do girls do when their car doesnât start? Call Daddy. It took him 20 minutes to convince me to open the car door manually, as I was dead sure the âun-workingâ alarm will go off and I won’t be able to stop it and the neighbors will come down and beat me up and then it would all turn to a bloodbath. Finally I turned the key and started screaming that the central locking had died too!! At that moment we all knew; it had to be the battery. Still, having a brand new battery not working did not make any sense at all.
We quickly gathered all the memories of our last trip with the car. We went to the vet… Then the whole chain reaction just came to my mind. My middle cat decided she is no longer able to hold it in and in the last 2 minutes of the drive she simply peed on my boyfriend. He checked what happened, couldnât see it, switched the inside lights on…. the rest is obvious. With a comfort feature of the alarm switching the interior lights on when opening and closing the car I had no chance of realizing this. So yeah, we were there with a dead battery and no charger. Luckily one of our friends offered help and he was there with the charger (which first refused to charge the battery) in an hour.
All solved, battery charged, battery correctly placed (after watching 3 Youtube tutorials) we were ready to leave with an 18 hour delay…if the ignition had turned. For some reason my ignition decided not to turn. Ever. I tried, my boyfriend tried, my dad tried over the phone.. nothing.
So when I told Mify (that is the carâs name) that I had enough and I will just go to a corner and cry, she suddenly let me turn the key and she is working flawless since then. Touch wood.
So yeah, weekend was hectic. Week was worse. I was ill. It has been a long time since I have been this ill. The proper thing with fever and all that jazz.
They say cats have a healing power and they will try and come to âfix youâ. It is clinically proven that their purring makes an ultra sound that helps to heal the body. Not just theirs, but ours, too.
And as they say, my cats came to fix me. Literally. They were doing shifts. MĂĄlna was (of course) the one taking care of me the most. If she had thumbs Iâm sure she would have made me tea as well. She spent almost 8 hours a day constantly on me, purring. If she had to eat, or greet someone, sleep or use the litter tray, she sent Feket to sit on me and purr. Feket was not that devoted, but he purred and kissed and even tried to clean me; but that was not that pleasant really. My antisocial middle cat cared less. She came to check on me 3-4 times a day, sniffed around, purred for 2 minutes then left. To give it to her, she did not really have the chance, as MĂĄlna was constantly guarding me. Iâm sure they havenât been this close to me since I have them. When MĂĄlna was little and ill I spent all my time curing and caring for her, so Iâm guessing this was payback time. It worked and I fought this nasty flu like illness off in just 4 days, so if you ask me, they do heal.
Here is a little infographic I came across on a sound healing blog, enjoy đ
So fellow bloggers,
A workmate of mine has just found the perfect Easter egg on Skype.
If you press more than 3 buttons at the same time, you and the person you are chatting with both receive a cat as a message, and it disappears as you click somewhere or start typing normally.
Here’s the screenshot:
Happy blogging all đ
So yes, I finally got around to finishing our YouTube channel. I will regularly upload some cat videos of my cats, and I will try to aim for funny đ
I hope you’ll enjoy.
For now, here are the first two videos:
xoxo
So we all know cats are great. Not to mention how great it is to be around them. They make us feel better about ourselves and the world, and also help us relax.
Unfortunately, not everyone who wants a cat entitled one. Even though they are stacking up in animal shelters and foster homes many things are there to prohibit us from the sacred animals.
It can be family. Not everyone is cat person, and that needs to be respected. We also live in a world of allergies and many of us are lacking a normally functioning immune system, too. Not to mention certain illnesses, where meeting a cat can be a deadly threat. Imagine if your husband does not like cats at all, or your children are allergic.
On the other hand, many of us can not afford to own a place, and renting with pets can be a tough job to complete. Most landlords donât allow pets at all, or ask for an outrageous pet deposit.
For this same reason, cat cafés were first introduced in Japan, and went booming soon after.
As we all know the Japanese love cats (they even have a font made out of cats) and the ban on pets in rental units hit them hard. Only until thirty-something years old Norimasa Hanada had an idea of opening a cat cafĂ©. Hanadaâs Neko No Mise (Shop of Cats) was an immediate hit. You can read more about this here.
Since then, many cat cafés have been opened in Japan and throughout Europe. I personally love the idea, as it gives homes for unwanted kitties and also gives a quiet place for a coffee and some cat petting time for the people who otherwise could not be around their favourite animals.
No wonder, when one opened in Budapest I was amongst the first ones to visit.
Arriving to Cat Café Budapest, I was stunned by the fact how clean the place was. I mean, I know cats are clean, and I know health and safety regulations apply, but this place was clean. To double check that, I was actually crawling on the floor in my white trousers when making photos of the kitties. Spotless.
Due to the same health regulations all food has to be kept away from the cats, behind closed doors. This might look odd for the first time visiting, but it is something you can get used to easily.
There is table service for drinks, coffee and some cakes. You can also purchase some cat snacks, but beware – these cats really, really want those treats. đ
Waiters were nice, but the place was not stuffed on a Saturday evening, only a few tables were occupied. When I stepped in, all waiters were in the âfood roomâ behind those closed doors, so for a minute or two I had no idea where to go with my booking. One of them shortly arrived and escorted me to my table and took my order.
Children (for the sake of the catsâ sanity) are only allowed in on Mondays, and as I overheard the waiters communicated that to the incoming guests (who missed to read the sign containing this info) in an overly polite manner. All in all I have nothing against the staff, they were nice and they were around enough.
Cats were lovely, too. Out of 16, there are only 5-6 you can see at the same time as they have 300 square metres on 3 floors to rule, and they also have a napping room, where humans can not disturb them.
They were bold and human-centric, some playful, some only there for the treat, but they were all quite sociable.
I could go on about this place forever, but an image speaks more than a 100 words, so please check out my gallery I shot on the premises.
So they say impossible is nothing. I believe in that.
When I told my boyfriend what my plan was for our holiday, he did not even freak out.. And that makes him the only person of this kind, at least amongst the people I know.
First things first. I had this plan of building an outdoor playground for the cats for months now. My idea came from an article I read about the regulations of having cats in certain countries. In many places they are to be kept indoors or in your garden – if you can guarantee they will not be able to escape. Tough job. Through this I found those so called catios which is a short form for cat patios. (Okay, mine did not come out as great as these, but still cool.)
To give you more insight, me and my cats live in a flat on the 6th floor in the capital city, so all they know about nature is that flies come in from time to time, and some sand on our shoes, too. I really wanted them to see more of the world, so last year they travelled with us to a wellness hotel at lake Balaton where we had some walks around the lake, experienced what it is like to travel together, how to eat fish and chips when you are sitting in a bag, playing with grass and meeting other humans, dogs and ferrets. Since then, we had a couple of day trips, but nothing special really.
This year I wanted step to the next level and spend our holiday at my Grandparentsâ house in the countryside. We even bought a fast set pool for them, so we could enjoy a bit of water, too.
When I told them my plan of building a catio in their back garden, they took it a lot better than expected. We found a little space that is protected from the sun by huge trees, made a plan (which later proved to be not-so-useful), and bought all materials needed.
All in all, it took us 3 days (and about 2 broken nails and 70 little injuries) to build this cube shaped cat-patio, that is 2 metres wide and equally tall. It has a door and plenty of cat furniture. We made sure they are not able to escape and nothing can enter either. Even though it seemed completely safe, protected from sun, rain and other animals, I still felt like I wonât be able to sleep without them. As I respect my grandparents strict rules of âno animals in the houseâ I needed to come up with an idea for sleeping together.
I have never been camping, so buying a massive tent looked like the best option. So why not?
âAre you completely out of your mind? You are seriously going to camping with the cats to your Grannyâs back garden!?â
Well, it may sound stupid, but yes.
So we did.
After only one night, the cats got used to the new situation quite well. They knew they were staying in the catio while we were in the pool, sunbathing, having a barbeque and some chit-chat with our friends. They liked to watch us and the fact they could actually have a good view of the whole backyard. We took them out for walks 2-3 times a day, the rest they spent sleeping, hunting for insects, any moving objects or each other. Oh, and they also enjoyed meeting with other cats who came around to check them out. Some of them sat at the catio during the day, some only came at nightfall. Xeni even had a little lover, some serious wooing was involved! đ
The cats slept the whole night through (this never ever ever happens at home) and even if they woke up they were careful not to wake us. They knew breakfast was served in the catio at 9 and they knew dinner time was at 10. At about midnight they came sitting at the door waiting to be transferred to the tent, and as we killed the lights they went to sleep straight away. They behaved a lot better than they do at home. Never tried to escape, and if they somehow managed to go around my back and leave the catio, they went straight to the tent for some âon pillow sleepingâ.
All in all, we had a great time, they had a great time and seemed confident. I do know that not all cats are suitable for travelling with, but I am blessed with mine. They are also young, so they can get used to this quicker. If you start travelling with them from an early age, they get used to it quickly. MĂĄlna enjoys these adventures a lot, Xeni gets a bit frustrated and likes to spend all her time in the tent with pillows and plush animals, but even she got relaxed and made friends with the secret admirer of hers.
The most important thing is to have trust in them and this needs to be mutual. Your cat trusts you when he/she comes and sits in your lap when the thunderstorm comes, they need to know you are able to protect them, and that you took them on this trip because you love them and want to spend time with them. If they donât feel neglected or left out and you can give them shelter for fear, they will never wander away from you. A trip like this needs a lot a of precautions, but if you know your cats and they know you, nothing can go wrong.
xoxo
Different cats, different behavior.
So I just realized how different my cats are. Many people (obviously, not cat people) say they (the cats) have no personalities, and they are just some lazy, selfish, food wanting creatures, that have no love for their owners and do everything on the purpose of making themselves feel better.
Well, if thatâs the case, I soooo want to be a cat.
Moreover, I want everyone to be cats. So they would just mind their own business and happiness.
The fact is, cats do have emotions, feelings and moods that are not simply concentrated around the food question. I am not talking about the obvious pet reactions for fear, excitement or so. I am talking about personalities.
To me, if they only reacted to certain impulses in an instinctive way they would all be more or less the same.
No. My three cats differ from each other in all ways possible.
MĂĄlna (Raspberry)
She is about 2. She is the first addition to the family and she was found in a box, very ill. When I first took her to the vet, he said she wonât be around for long, as she had several illnesses and she was very tiny and weak. She is still around and 1,5 years later: fit as a fiddle. She stayed tiny though and looks very skinny. Now, she is the one with the most complex personality. She thinks of herself as a human being. No, seriously. When I make dinner, she assists. Not for the food. (Although she would really love to taste that meat. Really.) She even assists when I cut the onions (and some teardrops fill her eyes, too), peppers, and also when it is cooked she âhelpsâ with the dishes.
When I set the table, she jumps on a dining chair and sits at the table waiting to be served.
She sleeps in our bed and needs blanket. She comes to the bathroom to clean herself. She likes to travel in a car, and looks out the window or sleeps through it all on the back seat. She doesnât mind traveling on a train, sleeping in a hotel room or walking on the beach. She likes to look at the water. She likes homemade, spicy âhuman foodâ a lot more than cat food. She likes to drink from the glass, not the bowl. She does not meow. Ever.
Xenomorph
She is the âmiddleâ cat. She had to find a new home, as her ownerâs boyfriend was allergic to cat fur. She was a healthy, bubbly nice little cat. Since we thought MĂĄlna would appreciate some company we took her home and imagined they will play together for hours and run around happily.
Xeni turned out to be anti-social, unfriendly and incredibly lazy. She lives in her own little cat world. She plays alone (once a week), and hates if other cats want to play, too. She owns all possible plastic bags in our home. Two things she likes, her tummy and dressing up. Her favorite color is pink (she chooses pink every time. We tested it, as we could not believe they actually see colors).
She wears a lot of things: hair-bands, hats, plastic bags (any bags really), my bathrobe etc.
She wears some overleft plastic thing as a skirt.. I came home to this the other day.
She likes to be complemented, if you say she looks good she turns into a model and everything is a runway for her. Oh, and if she wears something, she is very proud of it and holds on to it for at least a day. She hates travelling and throws up every time when has to travel in a car. She does not like to be away from home and hates to be outside. She also hates walking and adventures.
Blac(k)et:
He is the boy, and the youngest. When we realized MĂĄlna is still bored, as Xeni does not like company we figured we need a boy for MĂĄlna. Rumor has it, that black cats are very intelligent so we decided to get one of those from a cat shelter. It wasnât long till we found him – he looked like a little bat and was the cutest little thing on Earth. He had a strong voice and talked all the time. He loves playing, adventures, doesnât mind traveling but can be startled very easily. Everything takes him by surprise (he actually looks surprised all day long). MĂĄlna loves scaring him and running away.
He loves everyone whether it is a human being or a cat. He gives out a 1000 kisses a day. He likes to play hide and seek, but gets angry and meows if he canât find the others.He likes to hunt. He hunts down anything and everything. If he can not reach something he gets very frustrated and meows hysterically. He is âcat likeâ. He likes boxes and hiding under things. He wants the attention constantly and follows us around. He is just very different from the girls.
All in all, I really donât think there are two identical cats. They are all different in shapes, colors and personalities. It is easy to say they lack affection for their owners, therefore are bad pets. There is no denying that they can not be told what to do, and when to be with you. Thatâs what makes them so special for us. They are creatures that can not be controlled and formed to please us.
You have to earn a catâs affection, it is not given by nature. And that is something that needs to be learnt. This is the basis of human relationships. Or at least, should be. I some ways, they are so sooo ahead of us.
So Blac(k)at has a new habit. He eats flies. Gross. At first I got really nervous about the fact that he does. I mean, how disgusting is a fly? The other day, a really big green coloured one came to the kitchen and when I hit him/her with a newspaper little worms came out of the dead body instantly! So I figured I should look into this fly eating case. After doing a little research, I figured the best option is always…. just to think logical, and donât panic.
Is it dangerous for your cat to eat flies?
Well, think about a catâs natural habitat. If he (say it is a him) lives out in the wild what would he eat? Mice? Squirrels? Less disgusting, but do they carry diseases as well? Of course they do. Even though it is icky and gross, your cat is designed by nature to be a predator. It is in his instincts. The only reason why eating mice can be dangerous is the fact that people poison them to keep them away from their home and storage. A weak, dying mouse is a very easy target for a cat, and he will probably catch and eat it. The poison is not designed to only kill mice and rats, it is deadly for our beloved pets, dogs or cats, too. This is something to worry about, and not the fly eating.
Is hunting flies good for your cat?
Definitely. What does your cat do when a fly is in? Concentrates. Good. It is good for kitties to use their brains and improve their senses. They also learn a few new good moves. They learn to jump, and to jump higher. They run around, and running surely burns some calories. Neutered, in-home cats can go lazy and put on some excessive weight which is a lot worse for their overall health, than the bacteria the fly carries.
Is this whole fly thing good for you?
We all know the funny sound they make when hunting for flying prey. Think about it. You are smiling already. Imagine them running and jumping around. They stumble and fall and get angry and meow, and meow harder, and the fly doesnât care, and they use their paws…….. You are actually burning 1.3 calories per minute while laughing at this.
Oh, and after a good hunting session, they sleep for hours. They might let you sleep at night as well (naaw, donât really get your hopes up).
Life with the Cats 