Back to my Kitty

Recently I took a little vacation to Mexico for a friend's wedding. I went for a week, and it was beautiful. The only thing I was a little sad about was leaving my kitty Roland behind. I had never left him for that long before. I didn't know how he'd handle being alone for so many days, even if my mom was coming over to feed him every day. He's a very social cat and needs lots of love and attention, and in return he gives you lots of love and attention. Turns out he did pretty well with only a few side effects.

There are things you learn over time about your cat. Things you know they will do and when. Roland, for example, likes the shred the toilet paper when he's mad at me. This normally results when I leave him for the weekend to visit my boyfriend, or when I'm not paying attention to him 23 hours of the day. He also likes to attack feet, and I have learned to anticipate it and dodge it. So I did a basic prep before I left. Put toilet paper in drawer so it doesn't shred. Make sure all his springs are out from under the fridge so he can put them back under there while I'm away. Give him treats before I leave so I don't feel so guilty for leaving him. That kind of thing.

So off I went to beautiful Mexico. It took us 13 hours to get there (including all the waiting time) but it was worth it. It was sunny and hot and more importantly, all inclusive. The wedding was beautiful, and I got a bonus by being there for my birthday as well. We drank all day and night, relaxed in the pool, and I even went zip lining and rappelling for the first time in my life. We also visited the Mayan ruins of Coba which were very fascinating, and enjoyed a dip in a natural pool in a cave.

Highest temple in Coba.

But everything must come to and end. The vacation was over and I went back to reality and my kitty. Roland was pretty good with the whole ordeal. He did, however, meow much louder than he used to. And meowed all the time. Meow meow meow!! It sounded like I was murdering him. He was just really freaked out and didn't know what was going on. Every time I walked out the door he thought I was leaving him again. Eventually, after about a week, he calmed down and is now back to normal. Mostly. He's developed this bad habit now of running out the door if it's open for more time than it take you to walk out it. Any door. Front door, patio door, doesn't matter. He doesn't know what to do with himself once he's out there of course, and just meows until I come get him, but he is persistent! I have taken him out on the leash a couple times now, so maybe that will be the next adventure with Casey and Roland: Roland goes on the front lawn. Until then!

Life's never boring when you have a Bengal!

My life, and everything else

Well, it's been a while and nothing particularly unusual or exceedingly funny has happened with dear Roland. He's just being his normal kitty self, playing with springs, meowing, doing poofy kitty. He does this to himself, gets all worked up and then does poofy kitty. While doing poofy kitty he enjoys walking sideways and meowing funny. His favourite times to do poofy kitty include looking in the mirror, seeing his reflection in a window, or randomly when I'm least expecting it. Maybe he knows I like it and does it to make me happy....ahh..what a man eh? A girl can dream.

Roland doing poofy kitty.

Aside from the everyday cat humor, my life has been pretty all over. I moved into my apartment not too long ago. While it came with a number of things I really enjoy (hardwood, lots of windows, claw foot tub) my appliances have been around since Christ was a cowboy. I didn't mind though, I was happy enough with everything else. Then one day I noticed my freezer wasn't really that cold anymore. I just thought it was old and maybe didn't freeze well. It's normal for an old fridge to be like that I tell myself, and move on. Within the next few days I find my fridge isn't keeping cool. My milk sours. I discover this lovely fact whilst enjoying a delicious and somewhat healthy bowl of Raisin Bran. Hmm, this doesn't taste right I tell myself...I don't think I should eat anymore. Upon further investigation I discover (to my noses horror!) my milk is no longer in its prime. That's funny, I tell myself, the date's no where near the expiry. This goes on for some time, and I am instructed to unplug my fridge to let it thaw out, could be ice clogging the vents they tell me. So like a good little tenant I do as I'm told, keeping my fridge items cool in the snow on my balcony while taking my freezer items to work and putting them in the freezer there. In the meantime I can no longer eat my freezer items at my leisure since they are several kilometres away enjoying the crisp coolness of a freezer that treats them right. Roland eats cat food that has frozen from being outside. The fridge thaws. I put my food back in. All is well.

...until the cycle begins again. I put up with this for another few weeks but enough is enough. I email my landlord (currently in the land down under) to arrange getting a new one. And yesterday, to my immense pleasure, a bright shiny new fridge arrived at my door! It's just under 6 feet of pure black, ice cube freezing, milk cooling pleasure. Roland is getting used to it now, after exploring the inside of the fridge briefly before running out in terrified horror at the sound he made on the vegetable drawer. He had a rather uncharacteristically quiet nap on top of it last night, which is a good sign. I think they will be fast friends soon. After all, he does require the fridge to jump up on top of the cupboards to watch me do dishes.

Now...to deal with the water spot on my ceiling...

Life's never boring when you have a Bengal...or ancient appliances!

Kitty Memories

Friday. Best day of the week. Made even better by a rather humorous and unexpected memory this morning about little Roland and his shenanigans. Now when I say 'little Roland' I of course mean Big Roland. He's not so small anymore but the name has stuck.

I was standing in the shower, waiting for my conditioner to sink in and do its magical work. I like to follow the recommended 2-3 minutes of conditioner application for optimal results, as I enjoy silky shiny hair. Much like a shampoo commercial, yeah that's my hair. So as I'm waiting I hear this crash. I peek out the shower curtain and here is Roland, on my bathroom counter, inspecting the recently knocked over flower candle holder and Pantene frizz reducing, silk enhancing hair goop (as I said, shampoo commercial hair). And this reminds me....hey...I remember when....

It was a day not unlike today. I was in the shower with my boyfriend enjoying the water while he had to wait in the cold air for his turn. We heard a crinkle and the soft thud of kitty feet hitting the floor in the bathroom and running off down the hall. Now, as anyone who knows Roland will attest, he never does that unless he's up to trouble. Actually, now that I think about it, when is he ever NOT up to trouble? Anyway, I peek out the shower curtain, and what is he enjoying in the hall? Nothing but the most delicious tampon he's ever laid eyes on! A new tampon (in wrapper). A Tampax super tampon to be specific. This tampon seems to be the  most exciting object he'd played with in days. The look on his face was one of pure satisfaction knowing that he was able to sneak my tampon away right under my very nose. Needless to say, I removed the tampon from his possession. After all, I'm pretty sure I needed that tampon more than him.

I had forgotten all about this until this morning. But looking back, I remember just how hilarious this is. Roland running down the hall with a tampon in his mouth! How unexpectedly, delightfully funny.

Life's never boring when you have a Bengal.

What goes down must come up.

It is reputed that Bengals have sensitive stomachs and Roland is certainly amongst those who do. Getting dry food he will actually be able to digest has been a struggle. Yesterday, however, was the Mt. St. Helens of pukes. He not only puked once, but twice - or so I thought. All in a short period of time, poor boy. Big ones too, like puddles. Not the fun kind you want to splash in either. But the kicker is the one I didn't see.

I woke up this morning a tad late, but that's not completely unusual. The bed and I have a love - love relationship which makes it hard to break up with in the morning. Once I could bear the heartache of leaving it's warm softness I showered, and then brushed my teeth. I like to brush my teeth sitting on the edge of my bed in the mornings, unlike a normal human being who does it in the bathroom. The question of me being normal, however, has never really been posed since I'm not, strictly speaking, normal. Anywho, I'm sitting there, brushing my teeth, and my eye happens to wander into the corner of my room beside the door. There, in that very corner, is puke. But not just a nice little puddle of puke, oh no. This puke is splattered up the wall and molding, into all its little crevices and hollows, into the very corner of the walls, and down onto the floor. And it's dry. And crunchy. It must have been there overnight and I just didn't see it when cleaning up the barf from yesterday. I really wish I'd taken a picture of this puke. I had to laugh, since in order for the puke to get there Roland would've had to have been sitting, facing into the middle of the corner. Why would he sit like that? And what made that the optimal place to puke? I suppose it will remian a mystery.

So I cleaned up this crunchy puke (which took some time, as I said it was right into all the cracks) and continued on with my morning ritual. Nothing as exciting as the brushing teeth on bed part though. And now, 3.5 hours later, I'm still thinking about it. And laughing.

Life's never boring when you have a Bengal.

The First of Many

Well hello there,

This will be, I'm sure, the first of many posts I write. I decided to begin this blog to write about my life, and the crazy shenanigans that my wonderful, off the wall, and sometimes rather aggravatingly cute Bengal cat Roland gets up to.

Roland and I came to know each other on a rather terrifying day (for him) back in May. I came to pick him up at the cattery and, much to his dismay, remove him from the only home he'd ever known. He cried and cried the whole 5 hour car ride home. That was when I first got a taste of Roland's skills as a vocalist. He was so tiny I could pick him up with one hand whenever he got into trouble. This, as I have come to think, was a rather wonderful thing. Roland is now 10 months old, and about 13lbs of pure muscly man cat. Long gone are the days of "bad kitty!" followed by a quick scoop up with one hand. A 13lb cat is not easy to lift with one hand, I can tell you that.

But Roland's skills as a vocalist are the very beginning of his talents. He loves to play with turkey feathers, climb his cat tree and cat shelves, shred toilet paper, break plates, create self inflicted kitty burritos with blankets, go wild and make funny noises when playing with the laser pointer, do running jump/spin attacks at unsuspecting ankles, and most recently, climb doors and sit on top of them. I have attached a picture for your viewing pleasure.

I know I will have some rather entertaining stories to tell in the future about the adventures of Casey and Roland. Life's never boring if you have a Bengal.