Rainbow felines

Wuppie was my first feline love! The first time I saw him, he was just a little ball of fluff and so adorable! He grew up to be a large, rather dumb tom, but still adorable. I could never be angry with him for long. Even when he grabbed the steak off the table or the sausage from the fridge! When I had to leave him behind in the Netherlands, I cried for so long, my parents had to come down to console me!

Mathilda came along with Wuppie, because I didn't want him to be on his own. She had her own quirks: out of all the cats, she never miaowed, unless in trouble (like being locked in the airing cupboard). She was outgoing, friendly and always wanted to be petted. She would never sit still long enough to take a photo, because as soon as you moved, she thought she might get attention and was on the move as well. 

Sophie was a little farm cat that had definitely not been socialised enough. She was a bit of a scaredy cat and especially in later life, was very prone to being bullied by the others. Which in turn meant that she was allowed to spend her nights with me in the bedroom. The one time she tried to climb a tree was not a good experience though: I had to get her out and after that, she didn't go outside, unless I was out as well!

Julius came to live with us and was such a loving cat. He loved playing catch (actually bringing the little cloth ball back to me, sort of) and could play that for hours. Unfortunately he contracted some bladder problems, after which he stopped using the litterbox. In the end I had to take him to the shelter, because I just didn't have the time for him anymore. Never again though!

Linette was an outside cat that was hungry. And every day she got closer, until she was inside and I closed the door on her. Nobody seemed to own her and nobody wanted her, so in the end we kept her. She always was a very thin cat, especially in the summer, when she would stay outside for days on end without eating. She had a special relationship with Wuppie, needing a lick on her head every so often and being happy after that. 

These were the five cats I owned before Miss Oswin came into my life. They are still very much missed!

This post is for the Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day, which actually took place yesterday. Blame it on the time zones!

Mathilda

When I got my first cat (Wuppie), I didn't want him to be alone and I got his sister as well, who I called Mathilda. She was mostly black but with some ginger stripes deep down as well. 

According to some survey done in Great Britain, people perceive black cats as not as friendly, not as playful, not as nice. Well, Mathilda was all of the above. She loved people and if they didn't give her the attention immediately, she would jump up in their arms. Giving them the fright of their lives of course. 

As for being playful: she loved to play with anything and everything and out of the four cats I had at that time, she was the only one who ever showed any acrobatic tendencies like tight rope walking. 

While I was on holiday to Canada back in 2011 my neighbour looked after my gang and one day she couldn't find Mathilda. Which was unusual and she immediately started looking for her. She was hiding under the dresser, already quite ill. When I got home a week later, she had been in hospital, but only a few days later I had to take the decision to let her go. 

According to Simon's Cat, today it's Black Cat Day to promote the darker of the felines. 

Letting go of Mathilda



26th May 1998 - 13th October 2011



Back home

Three mountain goats. THAT WAS ALL!!!
I will have to come back now...

I've been home now for just over two days and I am still getting used to Dutch time. Especially on the day I arrived, I was able to sleep standing up, I was so tired. But first things first...

On Sunday I had decided to go and see Jasper. I had all those promises of bears, moose and elks in my head and was determined to snap a photo of any of those. There was one small problem with driving up to Jasper though, since it was quite far, I wouldn't have a lot of time to spend there, because my car had to be back in Edmonton by 5.30pm! But the promise of critters was too much to ignore and I headed out anyway. I started the day at 7am and drove up the long and not so winding road towards the West. I entered the park around 11am and was in Jasper about half an hour later. I had already chosen my destination: the tramway up the mountain, which was located just a few km south of Jasper. 

The Jasper Tramway going down

Even though the tramway was quite dear, it was a brilliant thing to do. We went up the mountain in this little basket and we arrived at the top station in about 5 minutes. From there you could take a walk to the top of the mountain, but my outfit didn't really go with the conditions: it was lightly snowing and I wore a summercoat! Besides, I had my timing to think of. After looking around for about 20 minutes, taking photos of the snow, having photos taken of me in the snow and chatting to some people, I made my way down the mountain again. I left almost immediately again, since I had to drive for another 4 hours to get back to Edmonton.

Monday morning saw me rise really early again. My agent was going to pick me up at 5am to take me to the airport. Fortunately I had already packed my suitcase the night before and didn't need much for breakfast, so by the time he arrived (ten minutes early), I was ready to go. The line at the check-in desk wasn't too long, even though us peasants weren't seen to at all: it was first class passengers only it seemed! Very annoying, but in the end we all made it on to the plane. I had a windowseat and was able to look out over both Canada and the USA as there wasn't a lot of cloud covering.

Me in the snow on top of the mountain

In Houston I had to wait for three hours, but I didn't have to pick up my luggage or change terminals. I had another window seat and enjoyed switching between the country side below and the film in front. We arrived in Amsterdam just after midnight Canadian time. Unfortunately Dutch time is 8 hours ahead, so it was already gone 8 in the morning! I was home by ten thirty Dutch time and was met by my parents.

My parents and I had agreed to meet on Wednesday, so to see them at my place on Tuesday was quite a surprise. And not a good one as it turned out to be. My neighbour who always looks after my cats had found Mathilda on Friday, sitting in a corner and being in quite bad shape. Mathilda is normally the first one to meet you, together with Wuppie, so to find her sitting in a corner is a big sign something is wrong. She phoned my parents, who weren't home and decided to leave it one more day. On Saturday she could see the situation hadn't gotten any better and after phoning my parents once more (who still weren't home), she decided to take Mathilda to the animal clinic. Where they discovered she was very dehydrated. It turned out, she wasn't eating or drinking at all anymore.

Finally on Sunday my parents got home and phoned my neighbour. And then on Monday my parents picked Mathilda up and decided my mum was going to stay at my place for the night, looking after the monsters. Mathilda had to be force fed every two hours, using a syringe and some heavy duty food (ie high in energy). Unfortunately after I arrived she didn't get any better (which the vet had hoped for, thinking it might just be homesickness), only worse. She couldn't keep the little food she got down and when my parents arrived yesterday, we took her to the vet again. After feeling and touching and measuring and doing all the things vets do, it was decided to do an echography (like they do on pregnant women) to find any underlying problem in her belly.

Which they found. A thickening of the colon wall indicated a high probability of colon cancer, which would of course explain all the symptoms. Normally food passes from one end to the other, but if the colon is obstructed, it has to come out the same way it went in: the mouth. So, if we feed her using the syringe, at some point her stomach is full again and it will have to come out, causing her to throw up. She has lost quite a bit of weight due to all this and keeps hiding in places she never used to go, like under the dresser or in the little scratch pole box.

Amsterdam from above

Today the vet will be phoning me again, since the oncology vet wasn't in yesterday. What to do? An operation and perhaps not getting all of it out or chemotherapy, which can take months and months and isn't a cure, it just slows it all down. Either way I have to think of her age: she is 13 1/2, which would be about 94 in human years and I want to move to Canada. If it all goes as speedily as I hope, the chances of her being considered healthy and being allowed to come to Canada are slim at best. So, the best option is probably letting her go.

Monstrous Monday 4

Oh, this beats milk any day... (Mathilda being one of those cats who doesn't like milk)

Monstrous Monday 2

She's 12 now and I have not been able to take a good photo of Mathilda. Until last week that is. When I took this fantastic photo. If I say so myself...

Snow monsters

There's nothing else for it: I have to show you some photos of my monsters in the snow! After all, this is the second time in such a short period that we have so much snow and the chances of that happening again soon are pretty slim. The first one I want to show you is of Linette. This was her first time out in the snow. Last time I kept her indoors, but this time she was allowed to experience the white stuff as well. She didn't like it one bit! She cowered underneath the garden chair and she would only step on the snow free zones!

Sophie had been out before, but didn't much like it. This time however, she made her own way out and even walked into the garden a bit. It was really funny to see her though, because after every step she would shake her leg to get the snow off...

Wuppie loves being outside and takes the snow in his stride. He seems to be thinking: 'Hey, I'm outside, who cares what the weather is like?' He doesn't seem to mind the cold, or the wet. If he could he would probably be out there for ten minutes every hour! (You have to snooze and sleep and rest in the warm as well don't you know)

Even though Mathilda is quite an easy-going lady, she did feel the cold at one point. So, there was nothing else for it but put her on my shoulder. Of course it made it hard taking a photo of her, but I think we managed reasonably okay. The reason I am holding her is not that she would otherwise fall off, but to keep her in the shot!

PS: there was 8 centimeters this morning (about three inches). But it's still snowing now...

Feline Friday 30

Whose scratch pole is it anyway?

Feline Friday 29

I'm keeping an eye on you!

Feline Friday 27

Hey, I'm still under here!

Mind you, I wouldn't do this with my laptop, the chance Mathilda would move or get up would be a bit too great!

Feline Friday 22

Cats are known for their ability to walk on the narrowest of ledges. They will wibble and wobble a bit, but use their tails as a way to keep their equilibrium and more importantly: to stay up!

Mathilda can do that as well. This is the fence around my garden and you can see how narrow it is. It can't be more than 2,5 cm (1 inch) wide and yet she managed to walk up ànd down: she changed halfway through and came back.

Vet

From top to bottom: Sophie, Mathilda, Wuppie and in the corner (barely visible) Linette

Yesterday it was time for the yearly visit to the vet. Always a massive operation in this household, since I've got four cats, three baskets and my only two ways of transport are my bike and my feet. Now, usually I would take my bike, put the trailer behind it and cycle off to the vet's. However, when they changed my wheel a while ago, they put the coupling on wrong, so I can't use the trailer anymore. Very annoying. Fortunately I have a very nice father who does own a car and he was willing to come and help me out!

So, yesterday as my father was pulling up weeds in the front yard, I made my way to the vet with several unhappy monsters. And they made it very known they were unhappy! After arriving at the vet's, I had to wait for half an hour. When it was finally my turn the vet told me she had expected four kittens! Well, if you want to call a 6 kg (13 lb) ginger monster a kitten...

Checking out Sophie's heart rate

First up was Sophie. She is always most scared, so I try to get her over and done with asap. She had lost some weight since the operation a few months ago, but she was doing fine. After her shots she moved back in to her basket as quick as she could.

The colouring paper used to determine the exact damage to her eye

Next up was Mathilda. She had some problems with her left eye, so after the vet stuck a piece of paper in her eye, making it look as if the Hulk personally was treating her, the vet found it was only a small infection and with some ointment she should get better reasonably quick. Then Linette was up. Her weight was good, teeth as well and she is generally a very lovely cat, so no problem there.

Wuppie was last in line. Both he and Mathilda love to just roam around the room, sniffing and looking. This time however, he wasn't so much into that. He was a bit grumpy, because he kept hissing as well. He didn't even want to come out of the basket. However once out, he didn't cause any problems. Probably because he is the most laid-back of all my monsters. Nothing fazes him.

After receiving the ointment for Mathilda, the anti-worm medication for all four and paying up, I was able to go home again.

I can't wait for next year...

Feline Friday 15

Every three months I have to give my monsters a medicin in their necks to protect them from lice, ticks and fleas. I don't have to force their mouths open, I don't have to shove anything down their throat, just put a little bit of fluid in their neck. But for some reason Mathilda hates it. No, that's too soft a word, she loathes it. And whenever I have to give it to them, I have to catch her first, otherwise I can't catch her at all! It's funny to see, because she is the most laid-back of monsters living in my home!

Feline Friday 4

Three monsters on my lap. From left to right: Linette, Mathilda and Wuppie. Whenever I don't have anything on my lap (like my computer or my dinner), they are fighting over it. So, in this case all three managed to find a spot on my lap. It was heavy and it didn't last long, just long enough for me to take this photo. As you can see Sophie is missing in this photo, that's because she can't stand Linette and because she doesn't really like to sit on my lap, unless it's on a towel (?). Then again, three is plenty enough thank you very much...

Feline Friday 1

I took this picture just over a year ago. It is of Mathilda, although it's hard to see (I know my cats though). She always gets up the roof of the bicycle shed when she gets the chance to go outside. She doesn't get that chance very often though, because there are still some weirdos in my neighbourhood who like to give 'treats' to neighbourhood cats. Those treats consist of bathing sponges baked in fat and then thrown out. Cats love the fat, but while eating also eat the sponge: which is not so good for them and can kill them! Fortunately my cats usually come back home within about thirty minutes and I've never found anything weird in their mouths (not counting the toads)!

BACK!!!

I finally managed to get back online properly. It wasn't easy, but in the end (and after a whole hour on the phone to the help desk) I got through. It's quite a relief to be online again.

To celebrate my return to the www, I've decided to post some photos of my cats. I've taken them during the last few weeks, so they're new in my collection!

This is Linette, who has taken an incredible interest recently in both my laptop and my television. As soon as I turn on the computer, she will sit next to it and watch it. Occasionally she will also try and capture images, which is quite funny. Sometimes she will just sit behind the computer or television and probably wonder where everything has gone!

This is Wuppie. He must be one of the dumbest cats ever! But apart from being extremely dumb, he is also my big cuddly cat. He loves to sleep on my bed, preferably next to my knees and he doesn't mind very much when I move him out of the way so I can turn. He will be back in two seconds!

Sophie has lived in this house and with me for nearly ten years now. She was only six weeks when she arrived and was probably a bit young. She has grown up to be a very angry-looking cat, but she is lovely nonetheless. She will (after nearly ten years) sometimes come and sit on my lap. She's a neurotic and will probably cause me the most anxiety when I move to Canada: she doesn't take well to strangers or new places!

Mathilda is the one that is hardest to photograph, so I was extremely lucky to get this beautiful one. She loves to be close to me, driving me absolutely round the bend, since she will try and kiss everything about me: my face, books and hot cups of tea (and I can tell you: that hurts). Right now she is sleeping beside me and very contented with it...