A Classic Moment...Captured!

The four babies in my house: Pico (in front), Mina (behind him), Billu (cat on the right) and Motu (cat on the left).

Mina joins our family!

Big news people! We have a new baby at home!

She is of the four-legged kind. And her name is Mina.

My family thinks we're nuts. What? We want to add one more dog to our home-zoo of two cats and a dog? We must be crazy or just plain masochistic.

Against all advice from the wise, we went ahead and adopted Mina, a happy and beautiful terrier mix, this Saturday.

I first saw her on Petfinder and something about her seemed to call out to me. I called Nanu over to my computer and asked him what he thought. He liked her too. And so the wheels were set in motion.

PAWS, the shelter where we adopted Mina from, stands for Pets Are Worth Saving and is located in Anna, Illinois. We adopted Pico from them almost two years ago and it was sweet to be able to go back to them for Mina.

Apparently Mina's former owner - an old lady - gave her up to the shelter saying she was unable to take care of her any longer.

At the shelter, she was microchipped and spayed and then put up for adoption. The folks at PAWS, think she is about a year old.

The PAWS ladies called her "Angel," but since she doesn't seem to respond to "Angel" we figured we'd change her name to something nicer; and Mina seems to fit the bill.

So far, Mina and Pico get along like a house on fire. But the cats are mad as hell about having their space invaded. So they are still sulking.

The past two days have been crazy-fun. The dogs go for their potty breaks together, eat together and chew each other's bones.

We took them on a 2 mile walk this morning and both doggies did fine. There's a Discovery Channel documentary on animal behavior unfolding in my home and its fascinating and often funny to watch the craziness as it happens.

So congratulate us on our new baby and send a friendly bark across Mina's way! :)

Portrait

A portrait of my beautiful babies - Billu and Motu.

This is what I came home to...

Billu and Motu cuddling on our bed!

New additions to the family

Methinks Pico needs a playmate.

Billu has Motu to play with. But Pico has no one.

I think he would be so much happier if he had another doggy to shake paws with and chase around all day.

And so the hunt is on.

We will adopt from a shelter. Pico is getting a brother or a sister very soon!

Yippee!!

Cats in a Trailer Park

Went to get my car serviced and captured these images.

Tom's trailer is surrounded by cats. I suspect they may be feral.

They are bold as brass - they will leap off trees and walk right up to you, if you give them a chance.

More Cats!!

Went to my friend's place the other day and finally got to meet her adorable cats! Miss B. lives with four beauties, with four fantastic names!

This is Toonses. He may be 10 years old, but his energy levels are more on par with a younger cat. He took a special shine to me!
This here is Dolly - looks a lot like my cats doesnt she?

This is Blasted. She's such a cutie. She likes to lick people if you scratch her on her back!

And this gorgeous guy is James MonkeyFriend. Yes I know thats a crazy name! As you can can see, my friend can get pretty creative with cat names! He's the youngest of the lot and crazy active as can be.

Cat Show!!

After much persuasion, Nanu accompanied me on Sunday, to the annual cat show held by the Southern Illinois Feline Fanciers in Marion.

And reluctant as he was at first, he pretty much ended up having a BLAST!

128 cats from 12 states, vied with each other over two days, for various crowns. It was a beauty pageant of sorts for cats!

We saw so many Persians, Siamese, Main Coons, Abyssinians; that it was literally a visual feast for us.

I wanted to bring every cat I saw home with me! They were all so adorable!

When I got home, Motu and Billu sniffed me suspiciously. Or so I thought, feeling guilty,
since I had looked adoringly at other kitties, when I had two darlings of my own!

This is what I came home to today...

Aren't they just adorable?

Billu in the Sink

Billu is our official bathroom escort!

Every time you need to use the bathroom, you can count on Billu to race at top speed and get inside, before you can shut the door.

Then he will either:
a)Pace around your legs and purr from time to time
Or
b) Jump onto the wash basin and lie down in the basin!

Feeding Time

The cats don't seem to mind Pico all that much these days. But this is still a rare event - feeding them their treats all at the same time!

I particularly love how Motu, Billu and Pico all sat in front of me before I gave them their treats!

The Fur Magnet

This is what I came home to today. Motu and Pico sleeping on the same sofa in the family room.

Funny how this old, ugly sofa has become the favorite resting spot for all my pets.

It gets so covered in pet fur that I have to keep putting different sheets on it, just so I can take the sheet off every week or so and wash the damn thing!

If you're dressed in black you wouldn't dare sit down on this relic. You'd get up with a furry backside!

A Portrait of Billu

He's just beautiful, isn't he?

I just have to lie in bed for him to come racing at top speed and take a flying leap onto the bed.

Then he'll curl himself into a tight little ball, right in the crook of my arm and fall asleep.

Pets Day Out!

We loaded up my car with all the pets this evening. Guess where we were headed?

The vet of course, for their annual vaccinations and check ups!

Billu and Motu made quite a fuss before we could get them inside their respective crates.

We then put the crates in the backseat of my car, leashed up Pico and got him to sit in front with me and then we were off to Striegel Animal Hospital.

One hour later, all my babies have been vaccinated, poked, prodded, tested for various intestinal diseases and examined.

The verdict? They are all in excellent health.

Though apparently Motu might have to watch his weight. The vet says he is nearing obesity. I found this funny, coz it's like he's trying to live up to his name! Ha ha.

Gosh we are mean parents. What were we thinking when we named our chubby kitten "Motu?"
Bwahahaha.

Cats in my Life - Part Deux

Since Mom insisted that Yosho is a part of my life too, I figure I need to make amends and put his picture up.

Yosho is my mom's pampered little kitty in Chennai, India. He wakes her up at crazy hours - late at night and early in the morning, whenver he feels he needs some attention. And mom promptly gets out of bed and cootchie-coos to him, thinking nothing of it.

When mom came to visit me in the US for almost 2 months, the person she missed most was....Yosho of course! She'd call home every day to find out how he was doing, much to my father's consternation! :)

Cats in my Life

A public email that worked!

From: Me
To: All my co-workers at the office

My apologies for the mass mail, but is anyone looking to adopt a kitten?

He’s about two weeks old and the cutest little thing you ever saw. We found him last night in our backyard, hungry and lost. It looks like he’s hurt himself on his left paw, since he seems to be limping a bit…

I already have two cats and a dog and really can’t take this little guy in. Right now he’s sitting in a crate with food and water in my house, waiting to be adopted.

I plan to take him to the humane shelter, if no one wants him.

But if any of you are looking for a kitten or know someone who is, please get in touch with me as soon as possible. This kitten really needs a home.

This was taken a few days ago, when we heard him mewing but couldn’t get to him, since he’d run away every time we’d come near. So we just settled for leaving a bowl out for him…(I added a pic here).

Please do get in touch, if you’d like to offer him a home.

Guess what? That email really worked! Two of my co-workers, mailed me right away asking to adopt the kitten. They both live on farms with plenty of animals.

So I said yes to the person who mailed me first - a young girl who works as an editorial assistant. She said her parents live on a farm, where their cats have just had a couple of litters, about 2-3 weeks ago and those kitties are probably the same age as my little kitty. She said my kitten would have lots of playmates and she would love to take him home.

So she came over to my place, the very next day and took him away with her. I should have been so happy to see him go into a loving home. But I felt so sad. I think I was secretly hoping that no one would adopt him, so that I could keep him.

The house feels kinda empty without him. Isn't it strange how attached you can get in just two days?

I asked her what she's named him. She said she calls him Ringo. Oh well...!!