Disclaimer: I have nine cats! But I'm not an expert on cats, I'm learning as I go along. This blog is about my cats, their crazy natures, their fights and the mischief they get up to! If you are looking for advice on how to take care of cats, this is not the place for you!!
I have a herniated disc in my neck. Most of the time, it's alright, but every now and then it becomes painful. My neck becomes stiff, I have pain radiating down my arm and across my shoulder blade.
This morning I managed to see a doctor. He has prescribed a lot of different painkillers and something to help the nerve. He also suggested that I wear a neck brace, so I can rest my chin on it and take the pressure off the back of my neck.
As the nurse was fitting it, my son, who was translating for me, said, "Now you know how Fluffy feels" I couldn't stop laughing at that!
Fluffy looks a lot cuter in her collar than I do in mine!
Each one of my nine cats has a very different personality!
Alfie and Toast are rather stand-offish; they only allow a few pets before they've had enough. They never seek out people to be with.
Alfie
Toast
Fred is aggressive; if there's a fight, I know I'll find Fred in the middle of it.
Fred
But he loves to get attention from us.
The other cats go hot and cold, sometimes they want lots of pets, belly rubs and being with us, other times they just walk away!
Then there is Sam, he is a total lovebug!
Sam
A few weeks ago, he decided to sleep on my bed. I tried to discourage him as he likes the centre of my bed, which makes it very uncomfortable for me! He sits outside my door crying. When I let him in, he has this really cute meow, then jumps on the bed purring like crazy. He knows how to melt my heart.
This is a little video from yesterday when Sam came to my room!
The video is only a minute long, but this went on for about 10 minutes. Sam then settled on my bed for the rest of the night!
The house we live in is rather cold. We don't have central heating, just kerosene stoves in a couple of rooms! For me to keep warm, I layer up, but then I can't move much, or I stay near the heater.
I worry about the cats being warm enough. Especially Fluffy, as she tends be by herself more.
This is her usual place.
On the edge of the table! She either has to be on something, even just a tissue or on the very edge of the table or counter top. I've tried to encourage her to find somewhere else to sleep, but these are her favourite places.
Today, however, I found all the cats snuggled up together!
All nine cats together. The electric blanket was left on, so very warm for them!
February is usually the coldest month here. I'm wondering if I need to find some boxes for the cats to get into or just leave the electric blankets on all day!
I have a bit of a cold, nothing serious, just annoying!
Last night I went to bed early, about 10 o'clock. The house was nice and quiet, I thought I could have a good night's sleep!
I was woken up at midnight, the cat's nighttime party had started!
At first, they were running up and down the corridor, which was the noise that woke me up! I don't mind that; they need the exercise, and it's somehow comforting to hear them! That went on for about half an hour, then the crying started. First, it was Steve, he picks up a toy, then carries it around crying! Again, that's alright. Shortly after that, the yowling started!
I could hear two of the cats yowling at each other. I got up, separated Fred and Steve, then went back to bed! The problem with getting out of bed is that the house is very cold, no central heating in Japan!
I got back into bed, got warm, was just dozing off when the yowling started again. This time it was Fred and Frodo. I got out of bed, got cold, sorted the cats, got back in bed, got warm, started to doze when the yowling started again. At this point, I'm wondering if the cats have some 6th sense, that they know when I'm warm and about to sleep! I'm not sure how many times I had to get up last night, at least 7 or 8 times. At 3 o'clock, I gave up and fed them! I know it isn't good, but I really needed to sleep!
This morning, I found three of the cats like this.
After fighting most of the night, they curled up together!!
Hannah sent me some photos of the first litter Mama had. I forgot how tiny and cute they were. They are still cute but not so tiny!
I decided to see if I could find more photos or videos of them. I came across a video of when Mama first turned up at our house. She was very friendly, even on the first few visits, she would go and sit on someone's lap! I think she belonged to someone before, but we checked local places that had listings of missing cats and asked our vets, but no one came forward.
About a month later, she came inside and, as they say, the rest is history!
Here are some of the photos from Hannah, and some that I found!
I love my cats. They are the most amazing creatures ever.
But they are also very destructive! I guess living in a house with paper doors isn't a good idea with nine cats!
This is the tatami room.
The top photo shows the shoji doors that separate the tatami room from the engawa, which is like a corridor that runs in front of a tatami room.
The cats don't wait for the doors to be opened; they just climb through the shoji!
The bottom photo shows the doors that lead to the entrance and the corridor. They are completely destroyed. There is a hole in the one that the cats can crawl through!
I tried to stop them from scratching at the doors, but I'm not here all the time. They have lots of scratching boards around the house as well. Maybe some vertical ones would help!
Once I have a bit of money, I will change out these doors. Also, I saw some shoji paper that is strong enough so the cats can't break it! But I wonder if the manufacturers know how strong my cats are?
Alan is a lot better. I really hope he doesn't get sick again.
Alan has recovered from his urinary tract problem.
He is now back to racing around, digging his claws into anybody who is standing near him and fighting!
Six of my nine cats
When I see my cats like this, I think how sweet they are.
But I know the reality!
This is when they are waiting for food! They were purring and meowing, giving love to anybody who came near them. Real cupboard love!
Just staring at each other. This went on for a few minutes. They came to blows, a few swipes and a lot of hissing!
I know cats fight, I know that this house is too small for all the cats, but the constant fights drives me crazy! I've been wondering what I can do to help. I try to play with them, to use up their energy. The problem is I'm the one who gets tired, not them!
Still, they have their moments of absolute cuteness, so that outweighs the bad things!
This one comes every other day. If our cats are near the window, he'll sit and talk to them!
This one is new, he started to come around the past couple of weeks!
Looks a bit like Mama. He's very shy, so difficult to get a good photo!
This little black comes every now and then.
He'll come around for a few days, then disappear for a couple of weeks!
I like to see these cats, just to know they are alright. I don't think they are strays; they look well-fed. But I don't understand why people let them out! I know we live in the countryside, but there are still a lot of dangers; people drive very carelessly here. Also, the farmers use a lot of chemicals on the crops. I would worry about the cats getting poisoned! Plus, the wildlife here is really wild. Wild hogs, snakes, massive insects, crows and sometimes monkeys! Maybe the cats here are used to the area, but I'm not sure my cats would survive!
It's gone very cold here; we even had a few flurries of snow the other day!
The cats are very good at finding the warm spots!
One good place, in the morning, is in front of the big window. It gets a bit of sun on it, and there are usually birds outside for entertainment!
Alan is enjoying the morning sun.
Of course, the best place is on the beds, especially when the electric blanket has been left on! I don't like the cats in my room, but these three managed to sneak in! I was going to kick them out, but they looked so comfortable!
Sam, Frodo and Mama, all snuggled up!
Then there's Fluffy, who always has to sit on something! Even one sheet of tissue.
Fluffy on a sheet of tissue.
According to the weather, it's going to get a lot colder next week. I like the cold weather, but not this cold!
Update on Alan, he's doing much better. His last vet visit was on Monday. The vet said that he was peeing alright, just finish the medicine he was given and keep an eye on him. I can see that he is a lot better; he is walking around meowing at everyone and everything, which is normal for him!
Alan is enjoying the sun.
All of my cats got spoiled over the holiday. They all got some of the leftover chicken, plus my daughter is home for the holidays, she loves these cats and really misses them when she's at her own place. She has spent most of the holiday playing with them. They follow her around all day!
Just a couple of photos.
Steve looks angry, but he was really purring.
This is Sam's favourite spot, the middle of my bed.
Fluffy is guarding my cup.
Alfie, sitting with his paw up. There's nothing wrong with it!
The Christmas festivities were great! We ate, laughed, and I watched a musical with my daughter, just enjoying ourselves! I have another blog where I wrote in detail about that (here's the link, if you are curious, Jackie's Japan Journal).
But poor Alan has spent most of the holiday going back and forth to the vet! Christmas isn't a holiday here in Japan, so everything is open. I've always struggled with that, it feels funny to be able to go to the bank, shops or anything over Christmas. But this year I'm very grateful that it's not a holiday. The emergency vet is over an hour's drive; our vet is just 10 minutes away.
On the 24th, we noticed that Alan wasn't peeing again, so we took him to the vet. The vet emptied his bladder and did a thorough check. It looks like there are a lot of little stones, almost like sand in the urethra, which means Alan can't pee!
From the 25th until the 27th, Alan had to go twice a day, to empty his bladder and see if the medication was working.
Alan is doing a lot better, but has to go again on Monday. I really hope this is resolved because the New Year is a holiday here in Japan. Most places close from the 30th to January 2nd. I don't know about the vet; his house and clinic are together, so he might open if needed. I really hope we won't need to go!
Another thing about this vet is that he doesn't charge too much. Each visit costs about 1,000 yen (about $5), which includes the check-up, treatment and medicine! For that, I'm very grateful. I've heard some places charge up to 10,000 yen (about £50) per visit! How about where you're from? What are vet fees like?
Yesterday was 13 years since my husband passed away.
It was a hard day, hard week, actually. I think part of that had to do with being very busy and feeling a bit under the weather with a slight cold.
After lunch yesterday, I was talking to my son, just chatting about this and that. I know he misses his Dad, but he doesn't say much, typical man! As we were talking, Fred jumped up on the table, pulled David's arm and curled his front paws around it and rested his head on David's arm.
Fred hugging David's arm.
Fred is not the most affectionate cat; he'll tolerate a bit of fuss, but after a couple of minutes, he walks away! To see him like this for about 20 minutes was very unusual!
It was nice and reminded me that our animals are a lot more sensitive to our moods and feelings than we are aware of!
I'm not sure who the culprit was, but they managed to open a cupboard door, drag the big bag of food out. The white bag contained the smaller bags. They got the smaller bags out and chewed them open!
The cats aren't starving!
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! The photos were taken after most of the mess had been cleaned up. Coming home from work, I don't expect to be greeted by such a disaster!
All of my male cats have problems with their urinary tract. They get stones, which makes it difficult to pass urine. I'm very vigilant with their diet, also making sure there is always water for them to drink. But of course, they still get sick now and then.
David noticed that Sam was going to the litter box but not doing anything, just squatting there for ages. Sam seemed alright, still eating and drinking, still racing around the house, chasing the other cats or being chased. Last night he was in my room again, every hour he got up to go to the litter box, but didn't do anything! So of course, he needs to go to the vets!
Then this morning, I noticed Alan was also squatting in the litter box but not doing anything. Also, he was moewing very loudly, a sure sign that something was wrong!
When David came home from his night shift, I asked him to take them to the vets. Which is where the entertainment started!
I was trying to clean out my kitchen cabinet, but I was getting too much help from the cats!
I don't know why the newspaper was so interesting!
David got a couple of cat carriers from the storage place. The cats saw them and took off!
We managed to get Alan in, but Sam wasn't having it. He ran off and hid under the sofa! It took half a dozen attempts to get him in.
I didn't go to the vets; I was busy cleaning up the mess the cats had made.
David said that we had caught the problem early; both had small blockages. Alan had to have a catheter put in to drain his bladder. Sam had no urine in his bladder, so he just needs medicine.
On the way home, David said that Sam got out of the carrier and sat on David's lap! Fortunately, it's only a 10-minute drive!
When they got home, Sam went into hiding again. He actually got on the cat tower.
Sam is not happy!
Alan, however, was complaining to the other cats! He followed them around, nudging them, then he started to meow again!
One thing I'm very grateful for is the price. I thought that with two cats being seen, it would cost over 20,000 yen, about £100. But it was only 8,000 yen, about £40, including the medicine.
I really hope that the other cats don't get sick.
Looks like going back to only giving this expensive cat food.
With nine cats, that's a lot of money, especially since our budget is very tight. So we've been giving cheaper food. Not every day, maybe two or three times a week! Looks like that isn't working! So, back to the expensive food!
A couple of them are rather stand-offish; they aren't interested in being petted, but enjoy playing with whoever is around.
Then, three of them are the troublemakers; whenever there is a fight, I know that one of them will be in the middle.
Then there is Fluffy, who is stand-offish until it comes to getting people food, especially chicken. She knows how to be very cute to get what she wants! She is also good at imitating a parrot!
Fluffy, being a parrot.
Most of the cats will get on your lap or sit next to you when it gets cold!
But Sam is the biggest love bug. The past week, he has decided that sleeping on my bed is the best place, it's warm!
He sits outside my room crying until I let him in. Once I open the door, he runs in with a very cute, quiet meow, as if to say thank you!
Curled up on my bed!
Before he goes to sleep, he purrs and starts making biscuits!
I don't mind, but he likes to be in the middle of the bed, so I have to find a way to lie down around him. I try to move him to where I think it would be better, but he always moves back to the middle!
My daughter sent me this video she found on her phone, with the question, "What happened?"
Time! That's what happened.
These cute little kittens have grown into cute big cats!
This is Steve now, the white kitten in the video
And this is Fred, the kitten in the boot.
They have really grown!
Of course, they are still cute and rather naughty! These are the two culprits if there's a fight!
Time goes by so quickly! And of course, animals don't live as long as people. So I'm trying to enjoy and love my cats as much as possible now. They drive me crazy, but also bring me a lot of joy and laughter!
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