Category Archives: animals & pets

family portrait

30 Friday Sep 2011

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It’s now been a week since I first let Luna “roam free” with the boys and, health worries aside, it’s been a seamless transition. None of the hissy-spitty stuff on Azar’s part like when I first introduced him to Loki. And of course it was love at first sight for Loki.

Here’s a pic of them hanging out on the stairs last night … the first family portrait! Though I couldn’t get them to look at the camera.

Luna is so confident that it’s totally endearing to watch her. She’s even making some headway with charming Azar by coming to play on my bed in the morning, which of course is Azar’s Territory, but he doesn’t mind. And instead of just playing the String Game with Loki (which I still do) I get to watch the Chase Kitten Up & Down The Stairs game, which is pretty hilarious.

My happy family. Warms my heart.

luna rules!

28 Wednesday Sep 2011

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[click to biggify]

Took these pics yesterday while Luna was prettily lounging on the cat bed, which you may recall was adopted by Loki when he came to live at casa az (previously used once by Azar and later taken over by Sunny). For the moment it’s being shared by Luna and Loki, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she ended up taking sole ownership. She may be tiny but Luna definitely rules! At least when it comes to Loki. She doesn’t seem to know what to make of Azar, who is immune to her charms, so she still hisses a bit if she suddenly finds him “too close”. But she pretty much has Loki wrapped around her little paw.

Although Luna has filled out quite a bit since she first arrived, you can see here (during Battle For Rug Domination last night) that she is still eensy compared to Loki. At first I worried that he might play too rough with her, like he does with Azar, and end up hurting her. But so far what I’ve seen is Loki barrel over top of Luna and knock her down, then look totally surprised as she spins around on her back like a tiny ninja, flashing needle claws in every direction, which sends him running. Ha – he’s not used to dealing with cats that have four working paws. Serves him right.

So I am very pleased at how well the new addition has fit into the household. Still keeping fingers crossed that she isn’t a FeLV carrier and that the slight trace found in the test Yolanda did turns out to be antibodies from previous exposure or a false positive, which is common when testing kittens. Meanwhile, Luna is just what Loki needed – a little playmate who is as energetic as he is. From the minute they get up in the morning it’s non-stop kitteh fun around here. They tear around the apartment chasing each other, are constantly up and down the stairs, and wreak havoc on my rug and curtains. And I love it.

protected

26 Monday Sep 2011

Posted by in animals & pets, cats, change, home

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On Saturday morning, after having decided the previous evening that it was time to let Luna roam free, I realised it was also clearly time to put up some kitteh protection.

When I first moved here in February I decided that minimal protection was fine for the boys as the railings have a curly metal design along the bottom that would prevent any accidental slipping off the balconies, even if either of them could squeeze through the bars, which seemed doubtful. This was a far cry from the massive protection that I put up at the old casa az when I first got Loki, who was a crazy climber back then, and I had constant visions of him going “over the top” in a split second. Luna is a much calmer kitten but she is so eensy that, as you can see in the photo, could easily tumble through the railing if she leaned over too far. So it was off to the hardware store for some mesh.

This time I’ve only put it up half-way because I don’t think Luna would actually try to jump through – this is just to protect accidental falling and also put my mind at ease. And so now all the kittehs can enjoy fresh air out on the balconies and I don’t have to keep the doors closed in this lovely autumnal weather.

Haven’t let Luna out on the terraza yet – one step at a time…

testing testing…

23 Friday Sep 2011

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I really hope I don’t end up regretting this but this afternoon I decided to take Luna out of quarantine. I’ve had a couple more chats with vet Yolanda and she says this kind of situation is always fraught with “what ifs”. The only totally secure thing I could do is wait awhile and get a specialised blood test done that is only for feline leukimia, but then what would I do if Luna tested positive? When I told Yolanda I really couldn’t see myself giving her up at this point she said that Loki’s vaccination should keep him fairly well protected and that – frankly – even if Azar did contract the leukemia now he would probably end up dying of something else before it developed into anything life-threatening. And so about an hour ago I brought Luna out and let her wander around with the boys…

I’ve actually been bringing her out all week and having her sit on my lap while watching tv or working at my desk. She is very content in my lap and will happily stay there for ages, purring way. So Azar and Loki have got used to the idea that there is a gatita around. Azar is only mildly interested but Loki is completely smitten. At first Luna would do the cutest hissy-spitty-growly thing – hilariously “ferocious” in one so tiny – but she soon got used to the guys and no longer feels threatened by them. So when I brought her out this afternoon and plopped her on the chair next to Loki … nothing happened! There was a bit of sniffing and chirruping but no weirdness and nobody seemed put out. Azar even played with her a little, but mostly it’s been The Luna & Loki Show since then. Luna is clearly in charge and Loki is following her around like lovesick schoolboy. Adorable.

Anyhow, this is all a bit of a test. There seems to be no risk of scratching or biting, so even if Luna is positive there is little likelihood of her passing anything on immediately. I think for now I’ll just let her out under supervision and put her back in the “air lock” to sleep with Nog at night. Still not sure if I’m doing the right thing…