Anywhere but her bed

She sleeps on the couch, on the ottoman, on a chair, even on my feet. Anywhere but her own bed.

Evita at 3 months

She's growing stronger, wittier and crazier!

Meet Evita!

We have Evita for 5 days now. She’s such a darling.

Mon Chat

Meet Mon Chat. We don't know her name. So that's how we call her.

This is the cat that has appeared in several entries in our blog. We don't know if she belongs to anyone in our neighbourhood. She used to go from house to house for food and lodging. We suspect that she ran away from a nasty master. Her history remains a mystery to us and she never talked about it.....

Since she got to know us better, she has been coming to our place regularly. And now, she's practically living with us. At first, we thought she comes for the food. Then we realised that she's not that mercenary after all. On some days, even salmon skin doesn't interest her. She comes to see us.

I think that she's pretty happy to get daily "bonjour" and caress from us, sleeping in her box on rainy days and lying on the balcony on sunny days. Her life is worry-free. She makes us realise that many simple joys bring great happiness.

La Maison du Chat

I’m shouldn’t be surprised by how extensive consumerism could be nowadays. But I find the products made available for cats, a bit unnecessary. Not to mention how much it costs. I read that our furry friends actually don’t quite mind the look of their habitat. What counts most is the warmth and dryness of their “home”. My neighbour’s cat is contended when given a simple cardboard box and an old scarf and I don’t think she minds it at all as she makes herself comfortable on our balcony.

Cats & scents

I recently found that cats probably like the smell of argan oil. I used some to massage my foot last Sunday afternoon. Then the scent stayed on my palms the whole day. So when I went out in the evening, I ran into two stray cats at different occasions. On approaching the cat, I reached out my hand and it smelled my hand and seemed to like the scent. I knew that cats like and dislike certain scents and it didn’t surprise me that they like argan oil. But what really surprised me was when I read that cats like the smell of bleach!

I taw, I taw a putty tat!

I always have a picture in mind that cats love hunting birds, recalling Sylvester and Tweedy bird. I thought that the love and hate relationship between cats and birds exist only in cartoons. Until yesterday evening, I realised that it’s not a myth after all.

So yesterday evening, we got home at the usual timing and found that our neighbour’s cat wasn’t at his favourite spot. Surprise, surprise…. We saw him sitting in a discreet corner behind the hedge, eating a pigeon! The “murder” sight was rather gross but I must say that his “job” was done in a rather organised manner. He removed all the feathers in one corner and then brought it to another place for bouffer. When he realised that we were watching him, he looked as if he blushed. We called him and he wanted to approach us but instead, he gave sort of a Cheshire Cat grin before leaving the scene. I guess he needed a little sieste…..

Neighbours' Cats

The curious siamese cat looking out of the window to check out the passers-by. Bernard caught him looking at him while he was taking photos of the blooming plants outside our apartment.

This one is naughty. Once he came to our balcony and played with the fresh soil that we prepared for the spring plantation, leaving traces of its footprints and soil all over the balcony.

Not a grumpy persian!

Compared to the grown-up persian cat of our gardienne this kitten certainly looks a lot friendlier. Like all persians, it has an owl-like face. But what I like about persian kittens is that they have a very cute and innocent look. But once they grow up, they somehow turn grumpy.....

Desperate cat lover

Sometimes, particularly in the afternoon, I feel bored in the office. I would take a look at videos of cats in YouTube because I don't have a real one at home to go to and receive a big hug from. I love cats but we can't keep one in the house until I am sure that I will not be pregnant anymore (pregnant women who have no immunity to toxoplasmose is advised to stay away from cats). All I can do now is to watch them on videos and on my neighbours' balconies and windows. How desperate!

My favourites are those with dark and short hair and athletic body types. No, I'm not talking about men. I like for example, the french breed called Chartreux and the british shorthair. With shorter and darker hair, their features are more distinct.

Cats are beautiful animals but having them as pets come with responsibilities. They are not merely some soft toys and we should be aware of that before jumping into the decision of adopting them. It would be a learning experience for both adults and children that pets are living creatures and should be treated with care and responsibility. I read in a cat adoption site that certain cats get along well with children. I like the idea that both the children and the pet keep each other company and at the same time the children learn to appreciate and treat living creatures with care.

I like animals in general. I think that God is such a genius that he created them so beautifully and sprinkled them all over as decorations on the earth. I mean, not literally decorations but essentially, they beautify nature. That's what nature consists of, isn't it? Flora and fauna.