Romeo and his pet goldfish

Our friends have a very unusual cat - he has a pet of his own. Yes - that is a live goldfish in the bowl and he is perfectly safe swimming around underneath Romeo's wet tongue. Every day Romeo jumps on the table for a quick drink - but he never reaches in for a tasty little fish snack. If this goldfish bowl was on our table, we would only see a flash of orange as he disappeared into the mouth of one of our cats!

Sebastian sleeping after a hard day's run

It is very unusual to see Sebastian sleeping out in the main area of the house, especially when he is being photographed. He also doesn't seem to take to any cat beds/tents, rather he prefers to snooze (snooze lightly, that is) upstairs tucked away in the guest bedroom, head towards the door. When he first joined the household, we purchased a large cat bed and put it in younger son's room. Sebastian tried it once or twice but decided that younger son's bed was more to his liking. Then we bought a cat tent...and then another..but the most we saw Sebastion do was sniff at the front of the tent or attempt to chase another cat into one of the tents. Then we saw these cat beds and bought three of them, hoping each cat would lay claim to one apiece. Spike loves to sleep in any one of these - but has spent most of his downstairs time tucked away in the cat bed under the side table. This one was moved to the base of a table by the front door - and Papa Bear was very surprised to come out today to find Sebastian fast asleep. Usually when Sebastian hears anyone approach he runs off at high speed. Then, once he is at a safe distance, he turns around to see what is going on. This happens most of the day and as a result he remains the most athletic cat in the house. (Perhaps Mama Bear and Papa Bear could look at doing some running themselves!) So Papa Bear fully expected that as soon as he brought out the camera, he would only see a flash of white tail headed down the hall. Surprisingly, he was able to take this photo without a movement of fur in any direction - and it was a treat to see a relaxed Sebastian!

Looking for a new home in Manitoba

These are two beautiful and loving cats who have lived together for 9 years (brother and sister) and now they are looking for a new home due to allergies. If we were able to take them in we would gladly do so but have already have a full house with our three furry boys. If you live in Manitoba and have room in your heart and home for two wonderful new family members, please contact my good friend at the email address below.

(PS: neutered/spayed and declawed)

susie_253@hotmail.com

A Cat Tale

Each cat in our family has a distinctive tail. The fluff cat has a long plume of fur and he walks proudly, waving his tail in the air. When he is being held in someone's arms and is not happy, he sweeps his tail back and forth like a big feather duster wiping a bookcase. Sebastian appears to have a normal tail until something scares him - then it turns into a thick bristle brush of a tail at the turn of a dime. We aren't sure what frightens him - since all we see is a cat running by us heading to the safety of younger son's room. When he is in his relaxed mode, his tail still doesn't settle down - he walks with his tailed curled like a question mark. In fact, this is the way we can tell the difference between Sebastian and Angel at a distance. They both have the same body type and length of fur - and even their heads are similar in size and shape. However, when Angel walks by, his tail is usually held parallel to the ground and we can quickly tell which one is up and about.
But Angel has an unusual characteristic that has earned him the nickname "hook tail". Whenever he is sitting on a shlef, table or cupboard, his tail curls up to create a hook at the end. In this photo, his tail actually has curled right underneath the table. We tried to unhook him but as soon as we stopped, his tail went right back into the curled shape you see here.

Spring is in the Air

April usually means melted snow and chirping birds ... but this year the snow continues to blanket the back yard even into the second week of April. It was a little warmer today so we opened the dining room window for some fresh air. Within two minutes, these two had sniffed out the fresh air and climbed up for a closer look. Alas...no birds..no rabbits..and no squirrels in sight!

Playing Dead

Have you ever had that sinking feeling that something was wrong with your cat? I don't know why I worry about our furry boys - they are all young (at least, two of them are) and quite healthy. But every once in awhile I just have that brief moment when I have to look twice to make sure all is well. Spike never runs out of new ways to show us how to sleep - and this one certainly made me stop in my tracks as I walked by. He looked extremely uncomfortable but wasn't moving a single muscle. I had a closer look and saw his tummy moving ever so slightly so I knw he was OK. SO then it was time to madly hunt down a camera to get a photo. Papa Bear hauled out his trusty Sony camera and took several shots. We thought Spike would realize he was the centre of attention but he kept sleeping soundly through all of the flashes - and not even a twitch when Papa Bear came in for a close-up.