this poor guy needs to go to the vet badly...

This is a beautiful stray that came into the neighbourhood about 6 months ago. First from time to time only, now more regularly. He walks with a limp, his left hind leg seems to hurt him a lot, it might be broken. Yesterday i noticed he had a patch without hair behind his left ear,

Today it looked much worse, you can see it in the bottom pic. I haven't been able to touch him yet, unfortunately. If i try to catch him and put him in the pet carry bag, and fail, he won't be coming close again for a while. this poor guy DOES need help.

I'll try to at least touch him next time, hopefully tomorrow, and see how he reacts. Then put my winter gloves on and give it a go. There's a vet in the neighbourhood here that will treat stray cats (some vets don't touch them here - don't know if that's the same back home actually), and will do it very cheaply if he knows you have no money. He takes in strays all the time, he's got 18 at the moment! They're everywhere, in the waiting room, in the examination room, in the dog trimming room. The vet showed me a pic: come dinner time, 18 plates are set on a long dinner table, and after they're finished, the vet and his wife have dinner (^-^)!! I love those guys!

Yuki getting excited!

Here's a short vid of Yuki, chasing the string. Of all the cat toys you can find in a store, the old string still rules. She falls all over herself and gets a bit dizzy afterwards, sometimes, but she gets so excited, and i'm just really happy she still has the same zest for play as before the accident. It would be so sad if she had lost that as well...

If dual-tasking is too much already, who needs multi-tasking?

"This is what happens when you try to cook and

blog at the SAME time!"

rare moment!

It only occasionally happens that my cat

licks my rabbit, and
i just happened to have the camera there!
This is where "kawaii" comes in!

Strays in the neighbourhood!

Here are some of the strays in the neighbourhood. There used to be around 35 when i moved here 7 years ago, there's only about 12 now. They're all fixed, with the help of an animal welfare group.

This is O-Kaasan, the oldest and wisest female that every other cat respects, looks up to, and wants love and attention from. When the two little dogs from downstairs go for a walk with the owner, all cats take off in all directions. She stands there and doesn't budge. "You may be dogs, but i was here FIRST!"
Boko and O-Kaasan
Aka and O-Kaasan
Cha. Just woke up. About 5 or 6 sleep in this area just outside my apartment on the 2nd floor. Two-liter plastic bottles with hot water, covered with 2 socks, keeps them warm at night in the winter, and there's always food out there.

Yuki. Stretch time!

Yuki. 3 years old, had an accident at 6 months when she was still a stray that left her unable to use her lower half. She can't stand, walk, scratch or groom herself, and i need to push her bladder to drain the urine. With massage and stimulation, she can get rid of her feces. Still a kitten in many ways, needs a lot of attention, loves to play, and CAN move by herself, pretty fast too when she wants to, dragging the lower half of her body across the floor..

I help her in a position and hold her so she can stretch her spine the other way. The first year at home she would vomit if I would try it with her, she has gradually become stronger and loves it now, can't get enough of it!!

Jackie!

Beautiful Golden Retriever/Akita-ken mix i saw for the first time a week ago, lying inside his doghouse. Nine years old, had to move to his doghouse after only 1 year inside the house, because allergies of one of the grandchildren, the owner told me. Very playful, and very lovely!