Well, we certainly didn’t expect the kittens to follow Sacha’s example. But, want it or not, they are now just as gross… hunters. Pollux has honestly beaten a world record. There is currently the remains of his first squirrel rotting away in the garbage can (scheduled to be disposed of this evening); as for all the squirrels that followed their buddy in the litterbox, they at least had the chance to go in whole. Pollux is now officially obese.

He just came back in a few minutes ago… he was so heavy I couldn’t even hold him on one arm and open the door with the remaining hand. To think that he was such a lean little kit just a few hours ago! Now if I wasn’t so sure he’s a guy, I’d assume he’s pregnant and about to give birth. HONESTLY! Those cats beat me up…

Then he quickly lied down and started his slow digestion. We expect him to barf it all out at any moment now, so we locked him up in the kitchen; we thought it was safe until he retreated in a far corner… behind the dryer… and started his ceremonial hick-ups. Now we dragged him out as gently as we could and let him finish his job at a more accessible spot.

On a brighter note, we got a lovely little postcard from our favorite vet who was reminding us that it was time for the kittens’ booster shots.  It’s the first time this ever happens and we are really glad to have found such a caring (and CHEAP!) vet.  Oh well!  Appointment in two days…

That’s all I’ve got to say.  Hope you’re all having a purr-fect day!

Irregular updates.  Sure, I knew this was going to happen.  This blog is yet another one of my un-updated flops…  maybe not.  But anyway!  Though this is a far cry from what I wanted it to be, I will hang on to it…

The cats are all doing wonderful – say, in FEELING.  But Kashmir has again started to pee on of the litterbox, and tomorrow or Tuesday is another trip to the vet!  This time I think we will get Revolution for the three of them – plus, booster shots for the babies.

No recent pictures to share… with the new school and the pile of homework I get every day, I barely have the time to feed those cats!  But yesterday, we went to the NDG Pet Fair – a yearly neighbourhood party with hotdogs and a doggy parade.  It was rather boring but I met such lovely dogs!  I should have brought the camera, but FORGOT… can you believe it?  The event of the year and I had to go and forget the camera… ah well, it doesn’t take good pictures anyway.  I know what I want for Christmas!

That’s all there is for today.  Wishing you people a lovely week, and don’t forget to hug your pets!  And check out at www.petsweekly.com – there’s a new update on my friend’s lovely website.

Wow! Finally safe and sound in our cozy little home… Oh yeah, cozy – that’s for sure. Is there somebody saying there must be a lighted fireplace to make a room cozy? Here we needn’t such a thing – the weather is so boiling hot, a fire would only make me sweat more! It’s lovely, though, to have to warm air after the chilly countryside weather…

Now the trip back home was *ahem* quite exciting. Let’s say, it turned out great at the end, but started quite, let’s say… freaky. We left at about 3:00 PM (needless to say, my dad, the driver, was quite exhausted by then) and we were barely an hour and a half through the drive when a HUGE truck passed us abruptly and slipped right in front of us. It wasn’t really dangerous but when he started going slower and faster and the slowing down again… we wondered what the HELL was going on. Finally when he was going so slow, somebody honked a horn behind us (at least, right then we thought it was because he was going slow… but let me finish my story first), we decided to pass him. As we looked up we saw the guy shaking his arm and gawking at us with enormous eyes, obviously trying to get a message across. So we couldn’t do anything but park by the side of the highway…

So the trucker parked right behind us (I cringed when I saw this MONSTRUOUS machine at our heels, but fear not, readers – he knew how to park…)

I’m so sorry not to have updated my blog these days… We are incredibly busy as we pack up and tidy the house; yes, today is the big day! We’re driving back to Montreal for my parents’ meetings and my online school program starting on the 24th. And, also, because we’re quite fed up of being in the countryside. I know you might find it unbelievable that we can grow tired of being in such beautiful country with a gorgeous landscape, but I just know we can’t survive much longer in a place where the nearest grocery store is a fifteen-minute drive. In Montreal, we can practically go anywhere with our bicycles and therefore save a LOT on gas!

Sacha probably won’t agree, though. He is miserable in Montreal… Now that he can finally go back outside (yup, we let him go yesterday morning – it just wasn’t right to torture him so much, and his medication is over now) I worry that he’ll disappear as soon as he spies the trailer hitched up to the car. I know that he understands what it means – a big trip… He enjoys those five hour trips, but only when they lead to the countryside. He knows what it means when we’re in the countryside and the trailer is hitched… Ahoy, Montreal!!

I just can’t wait to be there. It isn’t much safer for the cats but it’s just much nicer…

Yes, Kashmir has learned how to sit pretty!  The photo above doesn’t show him in his best moment (usually he gets the two little paws up in such a sweet manner) but I wasn’t able to take a better shot of this adorable trick.  But the funniest thing is…  Sacha can sit pretty too!  And since he’s got one BIG bottom to rest on he does it even better than his little brother…  I’ve got to take a picture of that one, but for the time being he’s eaten enough biscuits.  His bottom needn’t get any bigger…

Yup, I am training Sacha too.  He isn’t as lazy as I thought, though I don’t expect he’ll jump through hoops very soon!  I first tried training him “kiss”, but that requires a certain amount of love and trust, and he doesn’t have enough.   Yes, my cat hates me.  To him, I am a machine that fills the food & water bowls, cuddles him when he’s sad and scolds him when he’s bad.  But oh, no never! Never will I be a cat like him!  I am a lowly human…

Ah well, I must say, it’s better than being a lowly mouse.  I wouldn’t want to be bitten to death by this unworldly creature.  Though one thing I discovered when clicker-training him: by far, he’s got the strongest jaws!  Is there any way you can clicker-train a cat not to eat your fingers along with the treats?!

Here are a couple of short videos showing my cats doing their clicker tricks!   You will need QuickTime Player to view them.

Pollux giving me a high-five (794 KB)

Kashmir kissing me! (623 KB)

Sacha is rapidly recovering; those little pills are doing wonders! But the better he feels, the more he wants out… Last night, my parents left their window an inch open to get some fresh air in, thinking that Sacha might just sit in front of the window. Little did they know that, with his stupendous strength, Sacha might also stuff his muzzle in there and open it whole. At three o’clock in the morning, my dad woke up by sheer luck and guess what he saw?

Sacha’s rear end coming out from the window – the rest was preparing to jump two meters to the ground… Needless to say, Dad lost no time and snatched his tail to yank him back in. Poor Sacha – once again, he had to accept the fact that he was still our unhappy little prisoner…

Of course, he was fleeting mad! He first attempted to murder his little brothers (who are doing very well with their clicker-training, by the way!), then he tried to commit suicide by climbing up his giant scratchpost for the first time in months, and finally, he decided that the best way to get outside was to destroy the wall.

Obviously I wouldn’t let him scratch my room to shreds, so I picked him up (he was so furious that he was purring!) and placed him on my bed. Sitting down next to him, I placed my hand on his tummy and let him bite me savagely.

“Go ahead, let it out,” I told him as he clawed my hands with fierce relish. He really needed to let out his anger, so I let him do.

Then he started meowing. He growled and he cried plaintively and he howled and he let out deep, painful meows. He sounded like he was letting me know about all of his miseries in his long, mournful song, and as I listened and petted him he bit and scratched softly as he went on with his heavyhearted complaining.

I must admit I was quite amazed; did Sacha really understand when I told him to “let it out”? When he finally stopped chanting his melancholic music and looked at me with miserable eyes, I stood up.

That’s when I noticed that, all along, I had been sitting on his tail…

Silver was found in Aloha, OR. I’m not sure if they made up the name, or if she was wearing a collar with only her name on. Gives us a lesson – a name is useless if your cat is lost, it needs a phone number!

Have you lost a black cat/kitten? This one was found in Mesa, AZ, and wants her mama badly…

This is what Sacha looked like when he came back home yesterday afternoon!  Needless to say, it wasn’t the prettiest of sights (I won’t post a close-up picture, for your sake…) but it feels good to know that he’s doing better.  After having shaved part of his forehead the vet thoroughly cleaned the wound so now he’s staying inside for a long time so it doesn’t infect again.  And I just DON’T want him to meet another fox!!

We got a vet appointment at 3:00 this afternoon; sadly I had homework to do so couldn’t go, but the vet did a great job and said Sacha was going to be okay.  The left part of Sacha’s forehead has been completely shaved and the wound is all clean now – and GROSS!  I’ve taken a couple of photos which I should publish tomorrow if I get a second.

So Sacha is doing great; we have some pills to give him daily, and the vet told us to rub some antibiotic ointment on the “hole” – yup, it looks like a hole.  (Poor Sacha, I hear him yowling now as he gets his treatment…)

As for the kittens, Pollux is doing great with the clicker-training; he now gives me high-fives and this is just too sweet!  Kashmir, though, has decided to learn everything until the step when he has to high-five, so I’ll have to proceed in smaller steps;