feline talk

2011-05-12T00:26:00.000-07:00

Kittens growing up.
Practicing life's lessons in games with momcat.

touch you're IT

touch .... touch ....tch ... ouch

I am not playing any more

priceless genuine porcelain ornaments?

2011-04-22T01:58:00.000-07:00

Priceless ornaments

These precious Siamese boys are alive and money can not buy them

Di Bester

www.gizmobears.homestead.com

2011-02-20T06:09:00.000-08:00

Quinn the gorgeous boy. The American
Curl cat has a loving nature towards all
regardless whether they are dogs, mice,
birds or other critters. All are friends to play with.

This is Qiunn, his "mom" Petro Sinclair who sent these photos .

This lynxpoint American Curl kitten was bred by Jackie of Cableo

2010-12-25T01:45:00.000-08:00

In the mood graphics to last through the new year 2011
Wishing you the best for the new year.
Feel free to use the graphics.
They were made by my grand daughter Else

Cat gone bad

cat angel

cat teenager

cute cat

fun cat

special gift

good & evil

angry irrate cat

kitty

kitten with butterfly

looking for love

found love

love

sleeping

cat star

tough cat

thumbs-up

wacky

watching you

2010-11-28T02:58:00.000-08:00

Doing life on the run - that is Siamese kittens.

Do you want more P scented sawdust?

He started it .............

Quick .. back in bed, here comes Mom

Don't be ridiculous, the little angels were sleeping all the time.

For the record Mom had 9 kittens and raised her 9 kittens.
I helped a little with extra feeds as mom is not a large cat.

even if they are kittens

2010-09-29T01:15:00.000-07:00

Boys will be boys even if they are kittens.

American Curl mom has all the patience and love in the
world for her kittens.

Mom sees to the toilet training. The kittens will battle to
get into mom's large toilet even though they have a small
toilet for themselves.
A footstool and a brick inside the toilet helps a little,
but the effort is visible on the kitten's face.

Still covered in dust from playing but he sat still for a moment

non stop

aaaghhh my head !!! where is my head.....

2010-07-28T01:27:00.000-07:00

Watch my lips

This aint no puppet on a string

This is the real thing......

When a cat has talent he has to use it -- Take my word.

2010-05-25T23:23:00.000-07:00

Dancing
Best curls and jewelry as the only make-up

This blog is about Cats remember.
Our star is an American Curl kitten from Samoa Gem.
The photo showing his special talent was sent to us by
his mom Tia

2010-02-19T03:34:00.000-08:00

Friends forever. Cats enjoy a snooze and they enjoy it even more
with a friend. Sometimes they form a tight bond with that special
one friend which is heartbreaking if they need to be separated.
Without the need to look for a mate or raising kittens,
neutered cats have a lot of time to spend on each other. It makes no
difference what sex they are and it is not necessary for the cats to
be the same age, to be siblings, or the same breed. None of these
cats are siblings. Some are related in that they have the same sire.
The Cornish Rex girls are from different breeders and they saw each
other for the first time at their new home and they immediately bonded.
Photos sent to me by their human parents.

Cornish Rex girls   Photo by Yan

Cornish Rex boys photo by Erich

Siamese girls
photo by Gil

Siamese boys above and below
photo by Di

and.................

Nobody to curl up with? No problem for a cat.

2010-01-02T06:03:00.000-08:00

Heads or tails which ever way the coin flips

we wish you a happy new year

PS. The kittens on the photo are American Curls.

2009-11-28T14:56:00.001-08:00

To all the angels who will stop at a roadside to
help an animal, no matter the time, where they were
going or how bad the animal was hurt.

Photo of Johan and the kittens at our home the day the
kittens were adopted.

The poem is to Carol from Vervie the chocolate point kitten.

Below is Jonathan's account what happened.

There was an Angel named Carol

Who found me lying, bleeding next to a barrel

Those dogs got me well, I was so close to hell

And from out of nowhere you came

To rescue my name

I will love you for ever, like I do a dove’s feather

I owe you my life

Come trouble and strife

Thank you Carol!

you are my savior, my hero

Vervie

24 November 2009

Jonathan's account what happened.

Had major drama with one of our little kitties

earlier in the week . . . . Vervie, the choc-point!

The little shit went walkabouts on his own down

the road and was very badly attacked by a dog or

possibly even two dogs. He did not come home

that night and in making my frantic calls to all the

vets in the morning, thanks to the microchip, what

a fucking great idea that was!!! I got a call from

the Animal Hospital in Kenilworth to say that they

had our baby and that he was not in a good way!

Suffice to say, at around 10pm the night before, an

angel was driving to visit a friend of hers who lives

down our street and out of the corner of her eye,

she saw a little white cat lying in the gutter,

motionless on the side of the road. She thought

he was dead. She stopped her car, rushed out

and she could not believe, with all the blood that

he was still alive! She rushed him all the way to

Kenilworth where they gave him emergency

treatment for severe bite wounds to his hind

quarters and around his genitals. He had also

been bitten in the face and had two badly

fractured teeth and a bruised eye

Poor Johan! I fell in love with the man all over

again seeing the pain he went through to see his

little baby in such a terrible state!

The little kitty was so badly bitten at the back

that he could not stand up and his back legs just

gave way when he tried to. We thought that he

had a broken pelvis!

Thanks to our vet’s TLC and X-rays, all the

little bones are intact and all she could find

was just a lot of gas around the joints and

clearly massive bruising from the trauma!

Johan slept on the bathroom floor with the

kitty for three nights.

He is well on the mend now albeit that the

wounds are still saturating and praise the Lord,

he is walking again

Small miracles!

2009-11-07T01:23:00.000-08:00

To all kids who do not like having neck and ears
cleaned.

Be happy your mother does not lick it with a tongue

the size of your face. (Not to mention her teeth.)

The friendship between the two cats is as strong as ever.

Nancy finished her cleaning of Minton and sends him
off with a little nudge.

Any which way Minton the cat, loves the attention.

The friendship between the cheetah Nancy and the
Siamese Minton is as good as ever. November 2009

2009-11-01T07:07:00.000-08:00

Attention you beautiful chocolate eaters out there.

Ladies take it from the rat's mouth.

What happens if you eat stacks of chocolate ?!

gimme !

So what happens when you do eat out on chocolate?

Beautiful shiny hair! Look at me, I am the living proof.

WARNING! chocolate is poisonous to cats as well
as dogs.

This is a serious warning.

Let me spell it out: chocolate is poisonous
to cats as well as small breed dogs.

Do not be fooled by the fact that if the much smaller

rat can eat chocolate, then a cat can eat chocolate.

We all know that rats are very much stronger in their

make-up than most mammals.

As rumor has it - they are going to take over

after we die from pollution.

Do not blame them, it is not their making but our own.

2009-09-12T07:13:00.000-07:00

Rats are ideal pets for children.

They love being handled and it is easy for children

to care for them and to keep them clean.

Here I must add that I recommend keeping female

rats for pets, a male rat is smelly and he spends his

time marking everywhere he goes to make sure

that any female who might pass will smell him.

Pardon this remark all male rats, but that is a fact.

Life will be somewhat different for the rat, depending
whether a girl or a boy adopted her.

This is life !? It is heaven.

2009-07-25T11:28:00.000-07:00

The magic of a sunbeam.

It can melt kittens. They will flop down while playing inside or outside.

Even a brick turns into a comfortable pillow.

Take a look at the one at the bottom of the pile, where I market zzzz

2009-07-25T10:49:00.000-07:00

The life of a tomcat is one big adventure .

But sometimes it can become complicated even for a tomcat.

No way she will convince me I am the father.

2009-04-26T06:29:00.000-07:00

Career cat - key cutter and shoe repair. By removing all kinds

of vermin the cats have been working for man since they joined our

society some 4000 years ago. The cats performed their duties

from farms to the post office wherever they were needed.

Now in modern times cats has many other duties as well,

mostly as a companion and relieving stress in our lives, but

there are some career cats too. They may hunt to feed

themselves but most of the time their services pay for their

food. There is such a career cat in Malmesbury, Western Cape,

South Africa. Working in the shop every day without fail.

She can come and go as she please, but she is at her post

on the counter every day that the shop is open.

This small neat workshop is situated down in the basement
at the car park of the shopping centre.

The owner Trevor busy cutting keys and repairing shoes while you wait.

Meet the very special career cat. Her formal name is O.P.

She will be on the counter ready to welcome clients, every day.

Always friendly, she is respected as one of the personnel.

O.P. is satisfied with the work done.

Thank you.. It was a pleasure.

2009-04-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

I hope Garfield sees this blog.
He has only a teddy

Bed time ... Good night all.

Putting the cats to sleep needs some patience

I'm thirsty !

2009-03-28T06:56:00.000-07:00

cheetah games in the trees

Magda wrote:-

"Japie bought the cheetah at an auction near
Bloemfontein and we plan to keep her as a pet.
Nature conservation had a lot of specifications for
the fence, size of the yard, and we had to present
a managing plan. A permit was issued, which has
to be renewed yearly. We have joined the SA
Cheetah Breeders/Owners Association."

"It was quite a handful to intoduce all of
them: the young German Shepherd (8 mnths),
the Cheetah (3 months), the Siamese kitten
(2 months) and the Pug (old).The kitten and
the pug were easy, but I kept the other two apart.
They were allowed to see each other through
the glass sliding doors and after two weeks it
was easy to bring them physically together.
The cheetah and the German Shepherd chases
each other on the lawn, so it saves me a lot of
energy to exersize them (I am 59 years old!)."

"The moment the little Siamese goes out of the
house to play in the garden (normally at sunset),
he has the full attention of both. The dog (playfully)
puts his whole mouth around his little body and
the cheetah tackles him.(It amazes me that the
Siamese tolerates it, and does not make use
of the trees to escape). After a while the dog
gets bored, and the two cats wander off to
play in the garden.

"Sometimes at night it is quite a challenge to
get the Siamese back into the house, but
most of the time he is eager to be back."

Last one down is a kitten.

2009-03-21T06:53:00.000-07:00

Some exceptionally interesting cat-people

I would like you to meet. Japie Pienaar, his wife Magda
and their four legged children.

Magda will introduce the lovable four :-
"Initially the cheetah was called Nancy but it changed to Jolie
(the people who bottle fed her from birth called her Angelina Jolie !)

The German Shepherd is named Frankie (The first photo we
received of him showed a blue reflection in his eyes from the handlers
handlers clothes, which reminded my husband of Frank Sinatra,
Ol' blue eyes!).

The Siamese is called Anix (named after a friend, Anika,
who organised him for us), although mostly we call him
'The white one' (die witte).

The Pug is just called Boelie."

Their farm is situated in the central Free State 20km from
Wesselsbron, South Africa. A portion of the farm is a nature
reserve and is also a working argicultural farm as well as a
working Arabian horse stud farm

(click on the photos to enlarge)

There is a self catering camp next to the river in the game area
with a vehicle to do game drives. Game includes various antelope,
buffalo, rhino and hippo as well as lots of birds (200+ species)
and fish in the river.

Brakfontein private nature reserve.

Contact detail: Magda Tel. (+27) 057 899 2426

I can see what goes on in that buffalo's mind while he is chewing
on the straw. He is just itching for a scuffle with the cheetah.

Now that I introduced you, action photos will follow on the next blog.
However, before you get too excited to sleep keep the words
"action, cat and sleep" in mind. Like in the first
photo.... but not quite.

2009-03-21T06:47:00.000-07:00

:No matter what I do that
bitch has eyes for Petro only.

2009-02-28T10:38:00.000-08:00

Rough play or kisses the bull terrier enjoys it all.

We raised our kids with bull terriers and our grand children

are raised by bull terriers too. But any dog is the best

playmate a kid can get and the pooch will see to it that the

kid gets enough exercise to boot.

This is Petro enjoying Patch. Here they are where Patch

was still a puppy.

Small warning. These dogs are excellent hunters.
No other pets are safe unless raised together and
even there ...it is taking a chance. An over-weight
sluggish bull terrier can catch a pigeon.

Now the trampoline. What's keeping you ?!

If Petro should fall and break a leg, what will be the

difference be between Patch and Lassie?

Lassie will run and fetch a phone;

Patch will grab Petro and pull her to the phone.

Rough, tough and loving, that is the bullterrier

2009-01-10T00:14:00.000-08:00

Nautical cat; give me the sea and the sky ..

Cubby the nautical cat is an American Curl short hair. His ears need a little more curl but his intelligence and personality is top of the scale.

Hurry up we do not have all day.

That's more like it. Full speed ahead.

Well done Skipper !

Cubby celebrated his first birthday enjoying a sushi meal with mom Wendy and dad
Glenn.

2008-12-27T02:55:00.000-08:00

Rudi's cat brought this little chick for us as a xmas gift on the 24th December 2008 .. I would not like to think what this chick's thoughts were when she realised that she was caught by the cat, but it turned out completely different as what should/could have happened. My wish to you is that your problems would have the same happy results in the new year 2009.

some times you need a miracle ..

but most of the time .... no matter what stupid situation humans may get you into, make the most of it.

10 January 2009

Our little bantam chick is growing a mile a minute. She more than doubled her size in three weeks but she is still small and light, compared to other foul. She is now in the "ugly" half-feathered stage. We would love to keep her but with the cats, bullterrier and foxhound she will have to remain in a chicken pen and that is not available or fun for anybody. We already found a home with other bantams for her.

The bantams have been roaming free on the farm opposite our home for something like a century or more. Very few survive all the feral cats, house cats, dogs and humans looking for a meal.

The cocks are beautiful with long curving glossy feathers draped over the tail feathers ranging in color
from bright golden yellow - orange - dark red, as well as the glowing neck feathers. There are many more cocks than hens.
They seem to survive at least the cats better than the small hen.

2008-11-30T00:16:00.000-08:00

ET returned in the form of a cat. - If he did it in the first place he would not have left Sol's third planet -

ET's return may be just a rumor but I decided to investigate at the CASA cats show in Cape Town South Africa.

The Devon Rex is known as the ET-cat. I doubt ET would choose to hide behind the Devon Rex, it would be too obvious. or not?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

This Cornish Rex lilac girl had an attitude that did not seem to fit in with her soft looks and that glow in her eyes was suspicious. Suspect number one.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Talking about attitude, here is the grand master. He does not give a *
about ET and all that nonsense. aha... notice those eyes (?)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

A chinchilla boy, isn't he gorgeous and cuddly - but those eyes are just the most suspicious I have seen. Odd color glow! Even on the photo below taken in profile.
oh-ooh

----------------------------------------------------------------------

A young Persian bi-color boy. Gorgeous those eyes exactly the same color as his fur.

Until I saw the photo below I did not suspect him.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

The Siamese tried to dodge the camera using claws. Impressive glowing eye (hint -wink)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Pe-leeeze no photos ! Why not!? Because I say so.
- I saw that coming.
No offense, but would ET want to hide as a sphynx - so .. exposed?
----------------------------------------------------------------------

I promithed I would not tell where ET and hith family ith.
(ooops)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

You are welcome to send in photos of ET if you happen to find him. It will be much easier to find him if we join forces. Or should I say find them...

2008-06-21T06:51:00.000-07:00

That is what mom's are there for. These photos of the little kitten do not need words. May there be a warm loving place for all babies at the start of their journey through life.

A precious life to cherish

2008-04-01T12:50:00.000-07:00

Jorian showed no sign that he noticed the heat wave. Cats love to be warm and he was playing, running and purring from day one. Then his tail started to loose some hair which is normal, but not quite like we know it.

Take a look what happened to a the boy's tail. He lost it! Completely lost it.
Can you beleave it ?! The obvious loss happened in 2 days about 2-3 weeks after he arrived. The tail looked a bit thinner the one day and was gone the next day. The hair lying in heaps where he slept.

Come on Girl. Don't turn away....

It will all grow back long, new and shiny.

Loosing a few tail feathers is no big deal.

2008-03-29T03:45:00.000-07:00

Jorian arrived from winter in Belgium to summer in South Africa.

It was during one of the hottest heat waves we had this summer the day Jorian arrived from winter in Belgium. The first day we kept him inside to get used to the climate and smells. He showed no sign of stress so the next day we let him wander around in the garden and meet the other members of this family.

Jorian has, amongst other titels, three Grand International Champions in his line. He was bred by Josee Wijnants Ludo of CurlFantasy in Belgium. We are satisfied that Jorian is beautiful in type and sure of himself, without being aggressive. He shows promise to continue breeding the adorable loving temperament of the American Curl and adding excellent type.

Just a catty way to say "Well hello there. Nice to meet you." That swipe of nails missed by a millimetre but that was the aim.

The puppy is cornered so she passes through the door with body language that is obvious even to a human. However she is not bullterrier only by name, just you wait mister cat. We had some doubts as to the safety of the puppy's eyes when the cat lashed out, but the Jorian does not lash out to make contact and both the dogs seem to know how to protect their eyes. So far cat and dogs get along fine.

The older stud Enigma, is something else. Jorian very much wanted to meet the guy, so we introduced them for a short while. Enigma ignored Jorian. A six months old boy is no threat to his ego.

Everything was under control until the teenager made a major mistake.

aghhhh no! use your head Jorian ....to think !

The next moment was a whirling of dust with a black bundle in the center. I
stripped my blouse and threw it over the black spot and was lucky the blouse covered and
confused Enigma. Jorian escaped.

I did not even think to hessitate and take a photo - too much damage can be done in a minute.

Jorian learned. He now looks away respectfully if Enigma is in view. They take turns playing in the garden. We will not allow them to make physical contact again. Playing with the girls is the most fun they will have and I doubt that they will complain.

2008-03-15T08:59:00.000-07:00

Precious Kittens and their new homes. It is emotionally difficult to let the little kittens go into the rest of their lives with strangers. No matter how clever you may think you are, it is not possible to know for sure how this little kitten will be treated.

In one instance I felt happy for the kitten up to the point when the new mom took the kitten to leave. She carried the kitten in her hands away from her body like a parcel. When I saw that I was very worried but I could not think of a reason to cancel at that point. I phoned a few days later to ask if all was well with the kitten and this person could not stop talking about what the cute kitten was doing. I did some spying there to be sure, but she really adored that kitten.
Seems she was just not the hugging type.

First impressions can be wrong the other way round as well. A person may coo and love the kitten like a baby and forget about him after the novelty has worn off.

Some instances the person do not have experience and something the kitten do will be perceived in the wrong way. This may result in complete misunderstanding and aversion towards the kitten. Most of the time - 99% - it is easy corrected. Contact the breeder the internet or e-mail me if the kitten "misbehave"..

Once when a couple came to take their kitten home I found out that the woman feared cats. My thought was "What about this kitten, will he have to live outside?" . She said: "No- do not think that!"
Her husband loved cats and he missed a cat since they were married (more than ten years). She was the one who decided he may have a cat she will do her best to avoid direct contact with the cat. After a while I could see that husband and wife were two very nice people and it was pleasant to be in the company of two people who are loving as well good friends towards each other. When he picked up the kitten she waited, he moved the kitten into one arm and she went to the other side. I felt the kitten will be fine and I hoped this kitten will get her new mom over her fear.

One incident stands out - Two little Siamese kitten boys were friends from the time they started moving around. One was beautiful but the most neurotic introvert of the litter and the other was an easy going extrovert boy. It seldom happens that people buy two kittens, but it happened in this case and it was ideal to let them go together.

A few days later I had a phone call from the kittens' new mom and she told me in a hushed voice that her husband will ask me to take the shy kitten back and please do not do it. Soon after this call he phoned and told me in no uncertain terms that I should put that kitten down (kill it) and not sell a kitten like that.

The kittens were bought for two kids who now both shared the other kitten. The shy kitten found a loose place in the lining at the back of the sofa and he was hiding inside the sofa all the time. I told the husband to let the kitten settle down. Be patient kitty will find his friend in the family. When I refused to take the kitten back the husband was furious. That night I could not sleep as I was worried that he would kill the kitten.

The next morning after he left for work the new mom phoned and explained her love for this kitten. Every morning when husband left for work and the kids were off to school the kitten will crawl out of hiding. Then she would make a nice breakfast for them both. The kitten followed her from room to room as she did her daily chores, and he disappeared as soon as somebody else entered the house. Two soul mates bonded in their private world.

Now and then in the same litter there may be a neurotic fearful kitten and an overly friendly dumb kitten who does not know the word "fear" exist.
The temperament or character of the rest of the litter will fall somewhere between these two extremes. The fearful kitten will lead a life of hell in the wrong hands, but if the little kitten bond it adores that one person and it will be for life. The friendly kitten loves the world everything and everybody. A very easy kitten to own and always there for whoever needs (or rather can give) a hug. Now the warning - these friendly kittens get stolen too easy. The friendly little ones should wear a badge: "I work for hugs, if you want loyalty I will fetch my brother".

Fortunately like humans most kittens are in-between the extremes and like humans no two kittens are the same in character and it seems there is a match for every one.

Feel free to add your experiences selling or buying kittens.

2008-02-09T00:40:00.000-08:00

Some more really cool cat graphics by Else for valentine or any other cards or your site or whatever you choose. These pictures can fit into most any mood or situation and they will not slow down your page. Feel free to use the graphics. right click on the graphics to copy.

No registration or follow up e-mail strings attached but a small link would be sooo nice.

finally found you been searching all my life.

mad about you.

you changed my world into a wonderland

you are my perfect gift

dotty over you

2008-01-12T04:42:00.000-08:00

aaa so sweet Bullterrier mom with babies

and the puppies six weeks later

You have to cuddle them to really enjoy them.

bring the cuddles

they grow up so fast

she is so-oo sensible for a human, isn't she.

2008-01-06T00:46:00.000-08:00

I have been tagged by wildcatsthree .

With all the tagging going on, I suggest you keep something up your sleeve for later. Do not take the "seven" serious, just write # weird things.

Here are the rules:

Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog. Share seven random weird facts about yourself. Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a notification on their blog. Here are my weird things:

I can not find anything weird about me. I am just one of the crowd. Most people will agree, that is weird. aaha.

Maybe it is weird that I like cooking but my cooking is just about edible. the worst is when I cook for a special occasion. Not weird you think? There are many writers, singers, artists and more with the same problem. That is weird. If you like something and give it all you have got, it should be good - I think.

Let me try again... I like to dig in the garden. Turn the soil. I can keep on digging as long as my back and breath allows me.

Now for some tagging.

image impression
Fossforous
Predator Press
artsy catsy
What the Pets!?
Reading in the dark
amazing animals

2008-01-03T10:48:00.001-08:00

We are siameze .....

There was a time when all cats with the Siamese color were 'Siamese', then it progressed to pedigree Siamese and Siamese. The Siamese factor was added to the Persian breed and the new very popular breed was named Himalayan or Colorpoint. The Himalayan and the Birman would be two of the first breeds with the siamese facter and not seen as Siamese. It started slowly but the past few decades the new breeds with the siamese factor took off. A new name like the Java were given to some of the breeds but in other cases it is just another color of the breed under the name 'pointed' (which is what it is, only the color).

I am NOT Siamese

American Curl and Balinese are new long haired cat breeds with the siamese factor. These breeds are much easier to groom than the Himalayan breed.

The Siamese factor was already in the genes of the first American Curl female. The color suites these cats to a T and for those who do not like the constant talking, the American Curl is a calm, quiet, friendly cat.

The Balinese is the medium hair Siamese. It is very much the Siamese with a thin silky soft medium length coat. Very easy on grooming. I found them softer than the Siamese in voice and temperament too. These cats are extremely graceful. The name suites them 100%.

The kitten on the photo below would be seen as an apple-head. It is not a recognized breed but they are popular. The round head is more obvious in the adult cat, but a photo of a kitten is cuter.

The so called "apple-head" is not what the first Siamese looked like. Apple-heads are the result of Siamese and Persian cats when the Siamese factor was bred into the Persian for the Himalayan breed.

There are many people who like the old fashioned domestic type Siamese cat ( known a.o. as classic Siamese). The squint was adorable but it has been bred out even in the classic Siamese. Same for the kink in the tail. In 18 years of breeding I had one kitten with a kink in the tail and three with a slight squint. (not on the same cat and not from the same lines). If ever I breed a Siamese with a squint and a kink on the same cat - he/she will be priceless. I promise not to breed with it, but I will enjoy the cat.

The other breeds in the siamese colors are beautiful in their own right and they do not take anything away from the Siamese cat. The color is a very small part of this cat. That long slinky body with flat short coat, large ears and oval eyes of the Siamese breed is special. Add the attitude and the fact that they have the last word ( in their special language which does not include the word mew) and the Siamese is a cat like no other.

There are cat breeds in a range of body shapes, sizes and hair length in the siamese color to suit any taste.

2007-12-01T06:22:00.000-08:00

Feline and human look-alike poll. It is amazing how much a cat or dog can look like the human who love and care for them.
Whatever the complicated theories may be as to the "why and where" is not important, all that matter is the love between owner and pet.

It has been a long time that I was so frustrated with a blog. All I wanted was a poll for fun - a few photos and a poll script.... It was easy enough on the web site, but it does not fit into this blog. If anybody knows where I could get a horizontal poll please let me know. The vertical poll takes up way too much space and then it skips a large open space as well. I spent the afternoon searching for a script, but I just do not find the right one.

I have the poll on my blog web site for anybody who would like to play.
Which feline and human " look alike" photo do you like best.

A Andree with Tashe

B Yan with Créme

C Anne with Son

D Gail with Paitoon

E Gernes with Kruloor

F Ian with LittleStar

G Julia with Luneo

H Petro with Toyger

I Else with Sanda Not a cat! Says who?

2007-12-01T05:44:00.000-08:00

The miracle of life

Come quick, come quick", their mother said "The time is getting near"

She feels that when the kittens come the children should be here.

She told them that a big orange Tom took "Kitty" as his wife

"It's wonderful, a gift from God, the miracle of life"

At half a year young "Kitty" feels too painful and too scared

to appreciate six miracles, blind-eyed and yellow haired.

But she knows these lives depend on her and nature tells her how

and as she cleans them, children ask "Mom, can we go now?"

But now and then for six more weeks the children visit her

to play with six new magic toys made of life and fur.

The six weeks pass, the newness gone and new homes yet unfound,

Mom bundles up six miracles and takes them to the pound,

Where lovingly, with gentle hands and no tears left to cry,

the shelter workers kiss them once and take them off to die.

And "Momma Kitty" now shes called mourns her loss and then,

she's put outside, and of course, she's pregnant once again.

Dad tells "Kitty" STOP THIS NOW or you wont live here long!

but deep inside of Momma Cat, this time something is wrong.

Too young, too small, too often bred now nature's gone awry,

Momma Kitty feels it too and she crawls off to die.

She too is freed from this cruel world, and from her time of strife.

How harsh the truth, how high the price this "Miracle of Life"

-By Barry Taylor, DVM

2007-10-21T11:56:00.000-07:00

Where is the pudding?

A balanced diet is always important. The right food is even more vital for fast growing kittens. Mom would have brought a mouse, grasshopper or bird, but we are far away from natural foods for our pets.

We do not feed dried foods to the kittens. At least they get a chance to eat some fresh foods before their taste buds are jazzed up by taste enhanced foods with added this-that and some more. I have been feeding "fresh only" after the last scare with pets dying from dried food, but with summer heat and flies coming up, I will have to put down some dried food during the day for the cat mom and feed the main fresh meal in the late evening when it is cooler. Fortunately we can buy a South African brand with SA ingredients.

Where is the pudding?

'I did not get any pudding'.

' I told you I can not eat three portions of food and have space for pudding. I
promised to help Lovely first.'

'Can I have pudding now please, my plate is empty.'

2007-10-20T07:51:00.000-07:00

Are cats and dogs our prisoners

On average: - Cats can come and go as they please, excluding large cities where it would be cruel to let cats out in the traffic. Yet a cat will opt to stay in any home unless treatment is extremely bad and provided a better home with another human is not available. Fact is the cat will prefer
another home with humans rather than without us.

This relationship started thousands of years ago. At first the cats had a loose relationship making use of the shelter and hunting mice. The humans saw the advantage of the cats removing vermin and started to encourage the cats to stay. Except in that dim time in the history when people spread the lie that cats were witches and had them killed. The result was an explosion in the rat population and the plague followed killing about 25% of the European population. Looking at that 300 year long episode of history baffles me. It was so absolutely idiotic to think that even the church joined in condemning the cats and had them killed. The plague came repeatedly as well as poisoning by rat droppings, not to mention food loss. That was dark ages for sure.

Different animals living together where both benefit is nothing new in nature. We did not tresspass against nature by adopting the cat in any way. There are many examples of other animals living together, but I am not going to list them. From my own experience I had the luck to see a gobby (fish) and a pistol shrimp living together in a tide pool near Durban. The claws of this shrimp species are formed so that it can give a loud click easy to hear above water. If I did not know about it I would not have believed the loud snapping sound came from that little shrimp underwater. It would certainly frighten enemies and I read it will also stun or confuse prey long enough for the shrimp to catch it. I watched these two creatures for a few days - they are roughly the same size.. They made a hole under a stone and took turns to clean it with one of them always on watch at the entrance. The loose sand and waves gave them no rest. It was odd to see creatures that differ so much working as a team. The gobby on the photo above was not the one I saw not even the same species, it is just to show a gobby. We took the photo and let the little guy go again.

Many animals and birds are joining our cities much in the same way that cat and dog did thousands of years ago. It will be interesting to see how the relationships develope after 2-3 thousand years from now. -- If the human race still exist and hoping that people who twist information and the meaning of "animal rights" do not create another dim time in history.

2007-10-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

cattitude, catonal, catroscious and catonic

are fit names and descriptions for most cats.

I can add catavism, cattune, cattire, cattempt and catribute.

What is better than an electric blanket with automatic snooze music?

There are more photos on my website

2007-09-05T12:35:00.000-07:00

cattitude goes with all cats, but the Siamese cat have developed it into a fine art. Other cats may tell you to "Leave a message and I will get back to you.." but a Siamese do not bother to read nor listen to their messages.

The Siamese temperament tend to be either - loving, social, intelligent and hyperactive
or neurotic, independent, intelligent and hyperactive.
Few Siamese are overly social, but if they are they end up being "stolen" under the misunderstanding that the cat is lost and looking for a home. People are usually put off by an extremely skittish or shy Siamese kitten, but they are not really a problem. The kitten will form a very tight bond with only one person and never wander away. In fact that kitten will never get lost, run over in traffic or killed by the neighbor's dog. However those kittens are very sensitive and if you can not bond with the little one, both you and the kitten will be unhappy.

By the way - those ears are for private use by the kitten only. They seldom listen to anything they do not want to hear.

Do you think you could cram any more attitude into one photograph? Mr. in the front as you can see is fit and healthy. Mrs. behind standing in her usual authoritative manner.

Steve

Photo and mail from Steve who adopted these two a year ago.

Thank you Steve for the update and photo. Eurica

There are more photos on my website

2007-07-28T04:41:00.000-07:00

A wedding party for Mr. andMrs. Feline.

This is one of the happy ever after weddings.
Come to think of it, I have not seen a feline wedding which had a bad ending.

There are more photos and on my website.

The groom with his exquisite bride

The caterers deliver the refreshments. Only the best.

The baby-sitter arrived and everybody is ready to go except Grandma who can not remember where she put her jewels.

The feline party

The CoolCat brothers' band with non-stop entertainment and dancing

..and you put your left foot out... dim the lights ...yeaah ..

The next morning

Switch off that sun.. How did I get here? Where is my car.

quiet pleassse ..... I do not do mornings.

There are more photos on my website

2007-07-01T07:05:00.000-07:00

Real live toys - There is nothing that the cats and kittens enjoy more than to get real live children to play with. We enjoy it too, when the grand children fill the house with laughter.

This is fun!!!

Two kids to win, that is better than one, ready... steady ....

Three kids ... the fun does not end.

2007-06-17T05:28:00.000-07:00

The American Curl cat is a new breed with healthy "survival of the fittest" genes and therefore the American Curl kittens have a strong immune system. It is up to the humans to select healthy cats as breeders to keep the American Curl breed strong.

Breeding for perfect American Curl ears and show quality cats are very difficult. Exactly how the curl ear is inherited is not clear. Supreme America Curl parents may give pet quality kittens and a cat with a bad American Curl ear may give supreme kittens.

The American Curl cat may have short , medium or long hair. These felines are
easy to groom, healthy, friendly and not neurotic.

This tortoiseshell-tabbypoint girl is gorgeous. Her sire is Grand International Champion Samoa Gem's El Donna Evita Kenzo. She enjoys a life in Namaqualand running through the dirt and climbing trees - she would be a doll bathed and brushed sitting on a pillow, but her answer was " ".

The American Curl cat on the photo above right is a medium hair girl Siriuksen Candy, bred in Finland by the Siriuksen cattery (photo by her owner Pirkko-Liisa Tarvonen). Our stud Grand Champion Samoa Gem's Sarcenet Enigma on the photo left is the sire of her parent.

Photo above: Thank you to Pirkko-Liisa Tarvonen. This is Siriuksen Candy's liter.

Stunning kittens!

Our American Curl cats are not afraid of water and they do not hunt. Those are concepts that they do not understand at all. They love all creaturers including bugs but especialy humans, other cats and

a dog is the best pal.

Note how the kitten plays without nails showing.

for more photos see the Samoa Gems web site

A very special reminder to myself and fellow American Curl breeders - Breeding out to unregistered cats while it is still permitted is very important, as healthy lines for the future depends on what breeders do now.

CH SAMOA GEM’S VAGABOND OF PETITSPAWS
has achieved a National Breed/Race Award for the 2006-2007 Show Season in Canada.
Thank you to Aleida of the Petitspaws cattery for taking such good care of him and going that extra length to show him.

2007-04-20T23:41:00.000-07:00

cats dreaming What would a city cat dream about if the cat never had the experience of stalking a mouse?

Cats make the best out of life no matter the situation, so here is my guess as to the dreams of cats. That includes farm cats. Stalking mice is not all that exciting to dreaming about.

A horrible nightmare will be stranded in a dark fig tree 1500 cm above ground level.

On the other hand, that ghastly experience creates an opportunity to share the experience with ecstatic fans while entertaining them with some background music.

Now that is a dream worth having.

The Siamese would want a more elaborate dream.

Music lessons with mom - not very exciting

With friends at midnight - now you're talking.

Fine so far girls, but when will the studs arrive.

2007-04-08T11:03:00.000-07:00

my fault
For the moment I lost all feeling in my green thumb due to kittens and a
diarrhea crisis. I will do a garden blog entry in a few days - I think.

I will tell about the kitten drama, maybe somebody will pick up a tip or two.

We do not let more than one girl have a litter kittens less than eight weeks apart. Then we have a break of no kittens from June - August for us to do some traveling. Now and then if the girls are on heat exactly the same time and they are friends we will let them raise two litters together. A litter kittens is like a baby and that = attention all the time.

Nothing out of the ordinary then for this litter. It was a litter of seven and mom did not feel up to feeding seven, which I could not blame her. My day was busy between the normal duties with the cats and feeding kittens 15 -20 minutes every 3 hours, mom helped and also cleaned them. Cat milk is twice as strong as cows milk with more protein. I use half a cup of the unsweetened condensed milk with a teaspoon egg yolk. For kittens less than 4 days old I use only the milk without egg.I never had an upset kitten where I fed a little milk to what mom is feeding them.

It is Rudi's fun time with the kittens when they start eating at age five weeks. They climb up his hairy legs, often drawing blood with their tiny but very sharp nails for tidbits like a small piece of raw sheep liver. This time Rudi left to visit in Namibia just as the kittens started leg climbing. To make up for missing him I thought of giving them a real treat - no, I could not have thought that, I was not thinking - I decided to give them a plateful of raw chicken liver. Chicken raw !!! Where was my brain?

They got diarrhea and like with any baby that is bad. Kidney failure is a weak point in cats. I had to drip liquid (glucose and salts mix from the chemist) down their throats day and night for 2 days. They are too small and it is too much stress for them to take them to the vet to rehydrate on a drip. (I tried that years ago, better results at home) Then by the third day it went somewhat better with longer hours on chicken broth. I did not sleep more than two hours at a time and after three days I was starting to feel like a sleepwalker. I could not just take time and sleep, I felt terrible to look at them sitting in a bundle because the tummy hurt and know it is my fault.

I will never complain about time flying again. This was a very l-o-n-g week. Two kittens were skeletons and the rest were eating but fragile. I tried what I could think of with those two. Got all the fancy foods from the vet which not even the adult cats liked. Then I remembered Rescue Remedy. That got them out of depression and eating in less than 24 hours. 8 days since it all started.

The kitten on the photo sits in the my tummy hurts" position. She was one of the stronger kittens.

It is only 10 days since that stupid mistake, but it feels like months. Rudi is back and that is comforting. I still feel like "why do I have to sit with babies?" but I know that feeling will not last and this is not the last sleepless drama.

I think I will have to drink a dose of Rescue Remedy.

Hooligan's bed of roses

2007-04-07T13:37:00.000-07:00

Hooligan's bed of roses

Hooligan's naps on the car did not work out - maybe there is a bed of roses somewhere.

It has been mentioned often enough.

Who doubted there would be a bed of roses !!

Thank you for the photos Sandra

cats sleeping in odd places

2007-03-31T08:54:00.000-07:00

cats sleeping in odd places. On the subject of cats sleeping in awkward positions and odd places. Here is some more photos. Cats fall asleep quickly and they wake up in a flash.

This neutered boy is Hooligan, the cat who likes to smell roses. This photo was also taken by his mom Sandra Legg. I have another photo of Hooligan where he pretends to be a meerkat in the South African garden.

The warm engine of a car is a favourite sleeping place. It is essential to expect some slippery drawbacks.

2007-03-21T12:55:00.000-07:00

Knot sleeping. Cats can sleep in awkward positions. Here are a few such knot sleepers.

Cats can sleep any time if it is warm, soft and cozy - or even if it is not warm etc. Rumor has it that they sleep longer than they are awake. I have never bothered to time them, but as I find them more often asleep than awake, it could be true for daytime, at night I do not know.

This Cornish Rex neuter boy knotting with himself. If you happened to notice the difference in his coat, there are a few months between the photos, the coat difference is summer and winter.

When two cats bond it is for life. The bond is usually between friends, nothing to do with the sexes. On the photo above are two Siamese neutered brothers, a sealpoint and a chocolatepoint.

Two spayed CRex girls. They are not sisters but they bonded immediately they met each other.

For the busy moms it is not sleeping and not knot sleeping.

The moms like to raise the kids together. It has advantages in nature as there will always be a mom with the kittens. When the kittens are small the two moms(can be more) lie on both sides with the kittens protected in the middle. This is more a family bond as the females live together even after the kittens are raised but they sleep in a group not quite so knotted together - their concern is for the kids not each other.

On the photo is an American Curl momcat above left and the sealpoint Siamese momcat in
the middle with nine kittens between them.

2007-02-03T00:47:00.000-08:00

Camouflage is necessary here. There is a jungle out there in our aloe garden, do not go there alone after dark. Teamwork is needed to watch the front and the back.

We always found that it was easy not to see the cat in the garden, but on these photos it became obvious to us that the dog could disappear too. Not that he stands still long enough for us to realize it if we did not see it on the photo.

How about a game, Find the cat. Not that the dog helps much to make the game interesting for us.

By the way that yellow secret radio transmitter next to the dog is a tape measure. We wanted to measure the flower stalk of the grass aloe. It is necessary to wait until the sun goes down to take the photo of the aloe as the sun and shade make a very ugly blotchy photo. Darkness is setting in, so photo time for the aloe was over. Even without darkness with these two in and out of the everything it was difficult to take a Plant photo - not an action photo - please guys play around the next tree.

Find the dog. The cat is more of a sport by pretending not to see the dog
The dog is not registered but she is an English Foxhound. Note those huge lungs. I understand they outlast 3 horses. Well she outlast quite a number of cats. However she is suppose to be a watch-dog but if she barks it is a funny howl ah-ooooo and people passing by who do not know her have a good laugh. We hope the burglars will laugh and forget what they came for. ;-D

It is never necessary to cut off the tail of any dog in any breed. Please think about it - Can we change that cruel habit in the new milenium?

adopting a grown cat

2006-12-20T11:45:00.000-08:00

Adopting a grown cat. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind when adopting your new pet, from our experience at samoa gems cats and kittens.

One myth must be pointed out and that is - A grown cat is more difficult to rehome than a grown dog. A dog lives in a pack where the other members are his life, a cat lives in a home (the cats territory) and accepts you as part of his family. For the dog you are number one, for the cat you are a close second. It is much more traumatic to a dog to adjust to a new pack if he was happy in the old one. The cat will be nervous not to intrude on the territory, but as soon as the cat feels sure that he is welcome in the new home he will relax.

Cat or dog would adjust quicker if the new home is better than the previous one.

A grown cat will live a long life with you. The record age for a cat is more than 32 years

The adjustment is from your side, not from the cat. As we pride ourselves with being more intelligent than the cat, that should be easy enough to let the cat show the way

First get the cat to like you and give yourself time to know the cat's preferences.

Bad habits can be sorted out later. Any cat loves a nice warm lap and being stroked. If family members are willing to help that is so much better.

Luxury will be appreciated, but not always prefered.

One deffinite advantage of a grown cat is that he can be left alone when you are out working. The cat will enjoy to sleep. Some cats are real loners, while others would want some company.

Get some back ground if possible. If the cat is a rescue cat then you can opt for leaving him alone, or if it was obvious that the cat had a friend in the rescue center, take that cat as well. Double the joy.

Cats can be friends with any other pet and that includes humans. There is no need to keep two cats if it is not practical, but if you do not have the time to spend playing with your cat then it is kinder to get him a friend, any friend.

Remeber if the cat likes the new home, he will welcome you to stay there too

2006-11-12T09:48:00.000-08:00

The real facts on the sixth+ senses of cats of which not all are known, are just as remarkable as the folklore and legends told about cats.

The Egyptian word for cat is Mau. The Feline goddess Bastet had a body of a woman and the head of a cat. Even today, in some Asiatic sanctuaries, divine powers are attributed to the cat and it is believed that in the hereafter the soul of a cat speaks to Buddha in favor of its owner that still lives on earth. In Buddhist temples across Asia, cats are kept as mousers.

Among the most charming of Japanese cats is Maneki-Neko, a small cat believed to ensure happiness and good luck. Japanese Buddhists venerate cats after their death. The temple of Go-To-Ku-Ji in Tokyo is dedicated to cats. Vested priests serve the temple and intone chants for feline souls. Crowded into the temple are sculptures paintings and relief carvings of cats. In each of these, the cat has a paw raised as if in greeting, the classical pose of the cat Maneki - Neko. Cats continue to be worshiped as deities in countries such as Thailand and China.

The power of cats to see in the dark was also considered useful to hold evil spirits at way. Since it was usually thought that eyes of cat were more active at night, the walls of many Asiatic houses were adorned with images of cats.

Today, people in many societies believe that cats bring good fortune. In England, a black cat sitting in a house on a wedding day is thought to bring good luck. In Thailand, a green eyed cat is believed to be a symbol of good luck. Some people believe that a black cat crossing the path of a person means bad luck. In the UK and Scotland, a black cat crossing the path of a person means good luck .White cats are thought to bring good luck in the USA. The Russian Blue breed of cats is considered lucky in Russia.

Many legends, folklore, myths and superstitions are associated with cats. Many people find cats mysterious because they move swiftly and silently and because their eyes seem to glow in the dark. Some people think that cats have the ability to predict future. All cats are believed to have nine lives. Black cats in particular have long been regarded as having occult powers and as being the familiars of witches.

Facts
There is a popular notion that states when a cat licks its paw or puts it in its ear, it is a sign of rain or a change in atmosphere, but the cat does not give such open signals, that is only part of the legends going around. In the realistic world it has been proven that cats have the ability or sixth sense, to predict earthquakes. Cats have barometric sensitivity, they can feel the tremors before the onset of the earthquake. Using this sense they feel a drop in atmospheric pressure, thus cats can forewarn us of a storm, coming rainfall and change in atmosphere. One more sense that cats and an assortment of other animals have is that they can detect the onset of an epileptic attack in a human and can be trained to warn the person involved. There is no doubt that the sixth+ senses of cats can be used in a variety of circumstances but the most important use for the cat is as a loving companion in a hectic world.

cats can read

2006-10-29T02:25:00.000-08:00

The secret is out, cats can read.

I wrote the blog last Friday 13 October. Today 20 October I caught the cat sitting next to this vase exactly like I wanted him to sit next to the proteas. He must have read the blog!
I tried to take a photo of my cat next to a vase with proteas in my aloe blog ( on Aloe haemanthifolia high in the mountain with the lovely proteas). It was so frustrating to get the cat to sit next to the vase. Eventualy the photo below was the best I could do after I gave up getting the cat next to the vase and took the vase to floor next to the cat - which cat would have expected otherwise?

and here is the pose I so desperately wanted for the aloe & protea blog last week.

That is obviously not a flower in the vase but the empty seedpods of the lily, Boophane disticha. The lily grows an inflorescens with a ball of flowers on the end which falls off when the seeds are ripe. click for a photo of the lily (unfortunately not in bloom, but it is a lovely plant ). This is a very efficient way to distribute the seeds as the seeds fall out when the feather light ball tumbles along. As can be seen on the photo below, the ball is loose on the stalk which I put in the vase. It balanced perfectly, even turning when a gust of wind caught it. - until the cat sat next to it and bumped it off. No harm done, it is no problem to put it back on the stalk and I did want a photo !
Next time I get protea flowers I will put them in the vase on the fridge in the kitchen, maybe the cat will treat me by posing again.

you have to go WOWWW

2006-10-23T14:30:00.000-07:00

Kambi is a young Kudu doe at home on the Elisenheim guest farm outside Windhoek, Namibia. It is very interesting to visit the web site for more information and to see the farm.

As you can see on these happy photos all the animals are in top
condition. Loved and cared for by people who have warm hearts for animals and people.

Cats form a bond with horses which is a win situation all round when the cats keep vermin away while they get an easy meal catching the rats and mice that come to feed with the horses. However it seems that the cats formed an even stronger bond with the Kudu doe. Kambi is much more exciting than the horses, it could be because she shares the cats' interests in watching the human beings.

With a "good morning" from Kambi and her cat friends every day is a good day.
What a lovely scene to start the day with.

Photo above: Kudu doe Kambi with her cat friend Mummel

Photo below: Kambi with cat friend Peet

Kambi must have extra charm as she is so popular with cats and dogs that she does not have a moment, day or night, where she is alone - that is not even including her human friends

Kambi the Kudu doe never sleeps alone.

ancient cat service

2006-10-20T22:11:00.000-07:00

The ancient cat in the service of man. Cats served us well by removing rats, mice and other vermin for thousands of years. Who knows where we would have been without them. For example, the plague in Europe came after cats were killed because people labeled them companions of witches. In modern times cats still look after our well being by their affection and calming us down in these hectic times, let us look after them too.

Who can be tense when a cat purrs? As for relaxing, the cat is tops in that too - photo below Michele with one of her Siamese kittens. Look at that tummy, that is one happy kitten.

The Cat lived in the company of humans possibly six to seven thousand years ago according to bones of cats, mice and humans that were found buried together on the ancient island of Cyprus.
In India cats were mentioned in Sanskrit writings around 100 B.C.. The Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, of about 500 B.C., both contain stories about cats. The Indians at the time of Ramayana and Mahabharata worshipped a feline goddess of maternity called Sasti and for decades Hindus were obliged to take responsibility for feeding at least one cat. In India cats often played an important part in religious or occult ceremonies.
By the 5th century B.C., images of cats appeared on Greek coins, and they were depicted in Roman mosaics and paintings and on earthenware and shields. According to Roman Mythology, Diana the roman goddess of hunting angered the giants by taking a cat form. Many legends, folklore, myths and superstitions are associated with cats appear in the mythology of ancient Greece and Rome.
In South America, the Incas revered sacred cats, representations of which can be seen in pre-Colombian Peruvian artifacts.
Much appreciated by the Buddhists was the capacity of cats for meditation which they sensed in cats. Cats are held sacred in Buddhism, so much that they were venerated as gods in the Buddhist temples. In Buddhism, it is believed that on the death of a person who had reached the highest level of spirituality the soul entered the body of a cat. It remained there until the cat died, when the soul entered paradise.
A lot is known about the cat in ancient Egypt.
The Egyptian word for cat is Mau. The earliest representations of domestic cat were Egyptian tomb paintings and sculpture. The cat was considered to be a sacred animal in ancient Egypt, and was a pet at least five thousand years ago.
Cats were worshipped as a feline goddess named Bast, Bastet or Pasht, in ancient Egypt for more than two thousand years. The Feline goddess Bastet had the body of a woman and head of a cat. The goddess Bastet was associated with fertility, motherhood, grace and beauty. It was believed that the goddess Bastet controlled the fertility of man and beast, cured illness and watched over the souls of the dead. Aelurus, an Egyptian cat god, represented the moon. The Egyptian Sun god Ra was believed to assume the form of a tomcat each night for his battle with the serpent of darkness. The Egyptians believed that their gods took on the appearance of cats in order to pass down orders and omens.
In ancient Egypt, if a house caught fire, the rule was to save cats first and humans second. A person killing a cat was punishable by death. If a pet cat in ancient Egypt died, then all the family members used to shave their eyebrows as a sign of sorrow and the entire family went into elaborate mourning with chanting and pounding of chests as an outward sign of grief. After the death of cats they were mummified. The dead bodies of cats were then wrapped in rich bandages of various colours and decorated.The faces of the cats were covered by masks on which the nose, eyes, ears and whiskers were evident. The mummified cats were placed in boxes made of wood or bronze and these boxes were then placed in cat tombs or pyramids. Mummified rats and saucers of milk were kept near the cat mummies. In ancient Egypt, the cat mummies outnumbered human mummies. In the ancient capital city of Egypt, more than 300000 cat mummies were found in 1890.
The Egyptians believed that divinities assumed the semblance of a cat, and so the high priests decreed divine orders and omens of the future according to its behavior. The Egyptians considered that the cat's unblinking gaze gave it powers to seek out truth and to see into the afterlife. However the cats were not only sacred with a lazy life, they were used not only as hunters of mice but also as catchers of fish for their owners.

the thought counts

2006-10-14T08:07:00.000-07:00

It is easy to congratulate somebody on a special day via e-mail or e-cards on internet sites. Even if the reminder is automatic, it is still the thought that counts. Buying a card and sending it via snail-mail needs more effort and are usually more appreciated. Then there are the self-made cards! Now that I do appreciate over 100% especially if it is from a grandchild.

Else (in her early teens) made some free cat graphics for anybody who wants to make some hand made cards or decorate a website or blog. The cat graphics are fast loading and will not slow down the website. For hand-made cards she suggested that the pics could be printed out, add some glitter, ribbons or beads to make a card or use it to decorate the room. See my silkworm blog for more ways to decorate hand made cards.

Feel free to use the images. It would be nice to let Else know you enjoyed it.
Please send me a short note and I will forward it to her. My contact is
euricat at gmail.com replace the "at" with the "at"
@ sign. I do hope that no robot can read that. Why are there spammers?
- because people buy from them. If I may ask, open a new window and type in the name of the product instead of buying directly through the spammer. Ideal would be not to buy any product which permit spammers - but that is asking too much or not ??

Back to our graphics. There are some more on my website.

Enjoy!!

may your friendship be like cat and dog

2006-06-17T05:59:00.000-07:00

Cats and dogs can become the best of friends. Their friendship is without strings attached - they are absolutely devoted to each other.

How would you like to have a friend who watch your back and are there for you twenty-four/ seven !? A friend who love and adore you without ever doubting your intentions.

Keeping pets are as popular as always. In this world of concrete and machinery, we do need the warmth and contact of our pets.

There is a small problem in modern times as the pet would have to be alone while the owners or owner is working. The best solution is to get two pets. I suggest a dog and a cat as pets, and not two dogs or two cats. For the reasons that the dog does not feel the need to fight for attention and the top-dog position against another dog (he knows where he stands with the cat). And on the other hand unlike two cats together, the dog will not follow the cat up your curtains, so the cat will not bother to run alone, that will save wear and tear on the furniture. The pets will be perfectly happy and so will you.

do not worry mom, he just had a little oopsy on my foot, nothing serious.

This is true. Momcat is cleaning the foot of the dog after baby.....

Just thinking :- What about a parrot ... maybe not. That bird can kill the cat.

By the way, these two were great friends, but they do not sleep together and have that real close friendship that the pets above enjoy... and the parrot had this ambition to close the cage door on the cat.

2006-05-06T11:19:00.000-07:00

Understand your feline friends by learning the body lanuage of cats.

It might be best to start at the tail. That is the part of the body that the cat seems to used most in body language.

A broad sweep of the tail symbolize annoyance or impatience. A rapid sweeping of the tail back and forth suggests an extreme agitation in your cat. Extending it's bristled tail upwards with a curved back signals a conflick with another cat or animal. Body held low, ears to the back and tail extended indicates attack. Lowering it's tail between the legs shows obedience and submission. A tail raised straight upright with the tip slightly relaxed indicates that your cat is in a friendly mood and wants to play. A slight twitching of the tail while your cat is lying down near you shows that the cat wants to be with you.

Kneading with both paws on a person or soft surface is a sign of contentment, affection or both.

It is a mystery why a cat would run away from a cat loving guest and choose to sit on the lap of the one person who does not like cats. Showing off ? Teasing ? Trying to win the person over?

So maybe we humans need 9 lives to puzzle that one out.

Meet the cats

You do not expect me to actually lift that tail do you ?

cat and dog chat

2006-04-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

This photo above was sent around on the www. I do not think that cat happened to be passing by, he probably was part of the drill.
Even so - What is the cat saying with his body ? The cat's body is keeping a low to the ground profile. The tail is not in attack mode. That cat knows exactly the distance it needs to outrun the dogs and in this case kitty knows that the dogs are too close for comfort. He wants the dogs to know that he is not challenging them.
A cat is an expert in judging the distance to keep. Some years ago our Alsatian did not want the kitten on the front stoop. He had no problems with cats, so it was not personal. He decided that was his sacred territory. After all, the kitten had the whole house.
Whenever the kitten strolled past the stoop Mr. Dog would lie down and try to paw the small kitten ( about 3 months old) through the grid, but Kitty pretended not to notice and kept on walking in the garden just outside the iron grid, a hair's width out of the reach of the dogs paw. The dog was so afraid the kitten will walk through the grid onto his stoop, that he could not step over the 40 cm high grid and chase the kitten away. The kitten might run over his stoop.
In all fairness that dog was not stupid, he accepted the garden as our territory and he respected the fact that he will be breaking the rules chasing the cat in our garden. He never chased the cats on certain areas, and he never came into the house which he accepted belongs to the cats.
The real insult was when the kitten rolled up on the spot next to the stoop and sleep, but the dog was too nervous to sleep, he must guard his stoop. Eventually the dog just gave up one day and ignored the kitten, which was a terrible blow to kitty's ego. It took kitty days to accept the fact that the game was over.

2006-01-14T05:40:00.000-08:00

Cats Biting. - Not play biting, where kittens did not learn how to bite softly, or the kitten learned that it pays to bite just that little harder than he should to get what he wants.
Cats biting like in attacking
Cats do not like to defend or attack with their teeth. Those thin canine teeth are worth a lot in catching pray for food. Life depends on it. The cat does not want to break a tooth.
Cats fight mainly by a cick and ripping with the hind claws.
Now as to domesticated cats, they have learned complicated ways to talk with their not so intelligent human companions. If you want to be treated well by your cat then you must remember the cat will restrain itself from biting, but there is a line that you should not cross.

... let me point it out to you. Do not cross this line.