Ken-chan!

Ken-chan is a 12-year-old miniature pinscher (not "miniature" anymore,
owner joked). The owner was involved in a traffic accident and his
right leg was quite badly hurt. Ken-chan was taken care of by a friend
of the owner while he was in the hospital. During that time, Ken-chan
was injured by a car, and hurt HIS right (front) leg! His paw had to
be removed, and he only has a stump now, so walking is hard, hence the
weight gain. Yet another example of there being no coincidence, i
truly believe. It's ALL connected in a mysterious way...

おやすみなさい...

Late night...

...snack!

Saizeriya!

Royal Host in my neighbourhood changed to Saizeriya!! Yeah ("-")!

Yuki being held.

Till not too long ago, Yuki was scared to death of being picked up and
held, as well as a host of other things. She gets frightened super-
quickly, probably because she feels completely incapable of escaping
and unsure about her body, seeing she can't walk or stand or maintain
any form of balance. I picked her up, held her down toward me so she
couldn't move, and slowly the panic disappeared after about 10 minutes
being held. Now she loves it! Baby steps, but giant progress in trust.

Yuki.

Yuki!

I just took a break from stretching and next thing Yuki sits on the
mat: great C O L O U R-S C H E M E, no ("-")?

Aaaaa....kaaaaa ("-")/

KuROOObe!

Kurobe is a beautiful black 17-yr-old cat that doesn't need anyone to
prop her up or support her: she just HANGS ON by herself!! The owner
can move around, cut veggies in the kitchen, Kurobe just hangs on in
there("-")!

Betty!

Betty is a cute Yorkshire terrier that was adopted by an acquaintance.
Betty lived at a breeder's for 2 years, the people that think living
things like cats and dogs are nothing but things to make money off,
and luckily found her way to an animal welfare group, through which
she was adopted by a lovely woman who spoils her to bits to make up
for the life Betty had at the breeder's.

Another

rainy day...

Rainy...

Sunday....

A bit too

close for comfort...

Grey, O-kaasan, Aka.

Aka and Kaachan.

Aka.

Aka.

O-kaasan.

Took two years for O-kaasan to trust me enough to let me touch her
without her feeling "attacked" and fearful. Last year one night i was
meditating outside my door, and suddenly she slowly climbed onto my
lap! Had to control myself from laughing and getting too excited, she
must have been attracted by the meditative vibes and i didn't want to
disturb the peace, but it was difficult ("-")!! Since then, she'll
climb up from time to time. Today, two of them..

Boko.

Both Boko and O-kaasan.

Cutie!

This cutie i saw in a small shopping street around here. Some people
might not think he's that cute. They're not looking in the right place
(the place BEYOND the face)!

Jinja cat..

The Power of Now..

Five years ago i bought this book, read it, and found the content quite difficult to understand. Then, 2 years later, i bought A New Earth, by the same author, Eckhart Tolle. That book "spoke" to me, as they say, it connected on a very deep level, with me thinking again and again: "eXACTly, eXACTly, THIS is what i've been thinking, but never read in any of the other books on spirituality i'd read before!! I then reread The Power of Now, and was surprised to see i found it so clear and precisely to the point! Don't know what happened, but the meticulous and clear description of where human beings have strayed from the path, with all the craziness in this world as result, helped explain a lot in terms of how people can do the things they do to animals, and to people as well. Thank god for us mortals, the author from his unique viewpoint offers a way out of the insanity. His quote, that he "studied with many zen masters, all of them cats", i often remember when i'm with them.

Adopt a pet..

ちょと待って、里親になって。

Friendly..

Friendly.

Friendly.

.........

"Ooooh..."

O-kaasan and Friendly in the kitchen. The weather has become
comfortable enough to leave the kitchen door open, with the sliding
door to the rooms closed so the strays won't go in there and give my
pets a heart attack. Friendly must have been an indoor cat, he really
relaxes when he's inside!

Grey!

It IS contagious, ISN'T IT??

O-kaasan.......

O-kaasan.....

O-kaasan..

"hmm, she loves me!"

O-kaasan is in love..

O-kaasan is quite interested in the relative newcomer in the
neighbourhood. She's been busy the last years, playing mother to all
the other cats, and no time or interest romantically in any other cat,
but THIS GUY, this guy peaked her interest! She's been very careful
not to approach too directly, the newcomer felt easily threatened and
was bullied by some of the male cats, always cowering and being chased
away. The biggest bully culprit was Boko, till about a few weeks ago,
when Friendly, as i call the new cat, suddenly came out from under the
neighbour's car, his safe haven, and charged at Boko. Guess he was
tired of being bullied. Boko didn't know what hit him, and since then,
the 3 male cats that gave Friendly a tough time have left him alone.
Friendly is also less stand-offish with the other cats, and even comes
up to the 2nd floor when he's hungry. O-kaasan, meanwhile, is taking a
shine to him, and carefully puts herself in a position close to him,
without looking directly too much.
Love is in the air, ta ta ta taa taa taa taa taaa("-")!

Sunbabies!

After breakfast, catch some rays. Aaah!

Grey sees something..

The branches and leaves of the tree of the neighbour's have grown and
now hit the roof over the stairs. Grey's most interested!! Grey, by the way, is a smaller, male cat with a beautiful, peaceful disposition. He NEVER, ever fights, and when a new cat comes into their territory and the other cats get their backs up, Grey will saunter over out of pure interest, with not a speck of "you came into MY neighbourhood". He still nurses with O-kaasan from time to time, no milk comes out, they've all been fixed years ago. O-kaasan is also not even his real mother, but she kindly lets him go through the motions..

Nando!

Yesterday i met this beauty in a big park close to home. A gorgeous 6-
year-old male Munster dog, if that's the right type name.. The owner
said that he was actually very shy and although he was calm when i
stroked him, he didn't look at me or turn his head in my direction
once. When i asked if i could take his pic for this blog, the owner
said: "sure, no problem, but he won't face you or the camera". She was
right ("-")!!

Luca!

Luca and his owner i met a few days ago. Gorgeous and huge and crazily
playful German shepherd, apparently high pedigree origin. One year
old, rumbled with him, my shirt and pants were mudstained all over
after, love big dogs!! They have their own aura that doesn't seem to
become too affected by the neuroses that the owners, being people,
inevitably have, and which smaller dogs don't have any defense
against, it seems...

Taro!

Taro is a very beautiful Australian shepherd, one-and-half years old.
First saw him taking a walk with his owner about a year ago, then just
once or twice after that. The other day, i saw him with the owner's
wife.
Not Tucker, Tirebiter, Tipsy or Tricky, but...
Taro("-")!!!

Jiro!

Jiro is a male cat i saw from far away as i was biking along Koshu
Kaido highway. All relaxed on a lounge chair in the sun. He belongs to
a homeless guy who has been living under the overpass for the past 12
years. The authorities that asked him to move have long since given
up, and the owner lives in a tent/house there. Nice guy, beautiful cat!