Madam Zebras Blog » Domestic

My cats

Brenda Webley — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 23:30:56 +0000

As you are aware, my primary “wild” animal is the Zebra. However, my “domestic” animal is the Cat and I have always had cats in my life from a young age. The cats we had while I was at home with my parents, lived outside. Much to my dismay, my mother did not like having animals in the house and in those days I often dreamt of having an indoor cat who would sleep on my bed. That was not to be until my first marriage when I had my first two cats who lived both indoors and out. A female tortoiseshell named Picaninny, and a stray ginger tomcat whom we had desexed and named Boris. Picaninny was 8 years old when she was diagnosed with FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) and had to be put to sleep. Boris died peacefully at home at the age of 15.

Currently I have three cats: Nimue the female cat is a Singapura and Osher, a male cat is a cream Burmese. These two live indoors with supervised time outside. Joey is a brown burmese and comes in and out as he pleases.

Nimue, my female Singapura cat

Osher, my male cream Burmese cat

Joey, the male brown Burmese cat originally from across the roadÂ

Our house has also become a haven for a neighbour’s cat who visits daily and demands to be fed and I am not surprised as my cats are only given premium dry food to eat which is not available at the supermarket.

: Phoenix, the male tomcat from next door

Joey, (originally a neighbour’s cat who was left with us when they moved back overseas) was in the beginning quite overweight and first sneaked into our yard to steal Phoenix’s food which was readily available. Phoenix regarded the front yard as his territory and did not appreciate such blatant intrusion by Joey.Â Poor Phoenix is not allowed in our house as unneutered cats tend to “spray” to mark their territory. Over time, he has come to realise that Joey is an accepted member of our household and Phoenix is now more tolerant of his presence although I occasionally still hear the odd grumble from Phoenix.

Living with cats – not only are they completely different in appearance but their individual personalities are definitely unique.

Post from: Madam Zebra's Blog

My cats

Guard cat!

Brenda Webley — Tue, 19 May 2009 02:00:27 +0000

What can I say? Just happened to come out of my gate to see Joey’s head pop up from behind the sign on the wall near our door bell.

Despite laughing so hard, somehow I still managed to take a photo with the camera on my phone.

The glare on this cat should be enough to put anyone off *smiles*.

Post from: Madam Zebra's Blog

Guard cat!

Dewey Readmore Books

Brenda Webley — Fri, 01 May 2009 03:00:05 +0000

I have just finished reading a book about the true story of an extraordinary cat named Dewey Readmore Books who lived for 19 years as a library cat in a town called Spencer in Iowa, USA.

Librarian Vicki Myron, discovered one very small cold kitten underneath some books in the book drop on a Monday morning in January 1988 – it was minus 10 degrees!

Dewey lived out his life of 19 years in the Spencer Public Library and as it turned out, was the perfect personality for the public. He loved people and the antics he got up to brought this library to life in a way no other public library could match. Dewey became known all over the world and the local patrons adored him.

Dewey was one very special cat with a big personality and tears flowed freely as I got to the end of the book and the end of his life. It is a book definitely worth reading: Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World.

Sioux City Journal published an article about Dewey after his final departure from this life.

I may have missed Dewey’s time here on earth but am very thankful that Vicki has put his wonderful life story into writing for us all to share. His memory will live on in those whose hearts he touched both during his lifetime and after his passing.

Post from: Madam Zebra's Blog

Dewey Readmore Books

Three cats outside

Brenda Webley — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 23:30:09 +0000

Every morning, Nimue is allowed to go out in the front yard under supervision for a period of time. Sometimes that is for a few minutes and other times it may be for an hour.

Phoenix, the black cat from next door, used to be very territorial about our front yard which he considered to be his territory for a long time. Joey from across the road has been hanging around our place for so long now that the tension between him and Phoenix has virtually disappeared. As you can see, they can be in the same place without any dramas although I very much doubt they will ever become best friends.

I find it fascinating that the three cats are totally oblivious of each other and are comfortable enough in each other’s company to concentrate on their own thing. Once upon a time, there was NO WAY Phoenix would EVER have had his back to Joey!

We as humans can learn a lot from cat behaviour!

Post from: Madam Zebra's Blog

Three cats outside