The Stand Off

 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!

A Few Cat Visitors

 We've had a few cats wander around our garden.

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!

Keeping Warm

 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!

Happy New Year!

 I hope that 2026 will be great for you! 

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!

Poor Alan

 This past week has been very stressful here!

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?

A couple of photos of Alan

Poor Alan!

Caring Cats

 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!

Naughty Cats

 I came home to this yesterday!

Cat food, opened by the cats

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!

But how can I be angry at these faces!