This leads to a bit of a concern regarding the cat’s collar – not only must an owner make sure the collar itself is stretchable, so it can easily slip off if their wearer is in danger of choking or worse, but it should also be ultimately able to tear or snap to get them out of a jam. That being said, the collar not being as fixed as it could be does lead to the more rambunctious feline losing more than their fair share.

And this presents a difficulty in and of itself – what about the tag?  One can only have so many collars around the house, especially with a cat that goes through them like most people go through underwear.  And of course there’s no way we would allow Mary out without a tag on her collar.  If she were lost and someone picked her up, they’d have no recourse but to deliver her to the SPCA, which (like many well-intended animal organisations) is animal welfare- and not animal rights-oriented, and largely a bureaucratic farce, so definitely not a place I’d like my girl to ever see the inside of.  This is assuming, of course, that those who find her have good intentions and aren’t just out to steal her for themselves.  And who wouldn’t want to?  You’ve seen her pictures, right?

To cut a long story short, the pain of having to have a set of pre-engraved tags, or having to rush about looking for an engraver and/or pet tags while her majestic-ness sits at home growing more inclined to pommel any people-flesh she sees exposed with her incredibly long claws while we sleep, is not conducive to a healthy cat-and-person relationship.

Imagine our glee (srsly, glee) at finding a little collar called the Rogz – it’s a little plastic tag doohickey that allows one to scribble/print down the relevant details and snap the tag together themselves.  Also handy if you need to change said details.  You can check out their site for more info (and no, we’re not getting commission from them, just appreciating the product), but the pic below gives an idea of what it looks like:

Plastic Rogz tags

The following images show Mary wearing her own Rogz tags – obviously they suit her rather… er… active lifestyle:

Cat and tag caught unawares

And from another angle

Waking with a camera up the schnozz

Cat, unamused.

However, be that as it may, recently we found ourselves crossing this line with Mary.  Not for the reasons one would imagine, though – it was simply the least complex solution in order to stop our silly Siberian from over-grooming a wound.  The Victorian collar option was out, as the wound was outside the area, meaning she could still reach it with her hind legs.  We’d tried bandaging her paw, but that led to her toes becoming painfully sensitive for some reason.

As a last resort, we bought her a blue cat (or dog, more the humiliation…) shirt, tore off the very badly thought out sleeves – she could barely walk with them hampering her movement – and put the thing on over her collar.  Needless to say, little Miss Fluff was very indignant about the whole thing, but it paid off in the long run (+/- 3 weeks, cringe) as her wound finally healed.

Adjustments around the collar area.

Final tweaks around the collar area.

Finally shirt is on...

And not even a solid under-shirt scratch...

... can stop Mary keeping her distance from the those shirty savages.

When outside for the first time, Mary checks to see if anyone is watching her misery.

And like many before her, uses grass to feel better.

Heading out into the cruel world.

Finally at rest, plotting her revenge.

Mary and Murphy. Nice ring to it yeah?

Murphy

Mary and Murphy

]]> http://www.maryqueenofcats.org.za/2007/08/21/mary-and-murphy-sitting-in-a-tree/feed/ 0 http://www.maryqueenofcats.org.za/2007/07/01/back-in-to-the-routine/ http://www.maryqueenofcats.org.za/2007/07/01/back-in-to-the-routine/#comments Sun, 01 Jul 2007 15:46:59 +0000 Nikki http://www.maryqueenofcats.org.za/2007/07/01/back-in-to-the-routine/ This past week I went back to work and for Mary it meant back to being locked up during the day. She adapted pretty quickly as she always does, but Monday morning we had to deal with a bit of sulking. She was sitting on the bed, very clearly with her back to us – you had to be a complete idiot not to get the message. I went and sat next to her and ever so lightly started stroking her. She simply got up in a huff and went and sat on the other side of the bed, with her back to me.

The upside is she is milking my guilt and getting treats galore! Except, now she expects treats. The moment either my partner or I walk towards the kitchen, madam is there, right in front of the treat drawer, looking at us with big googly eyes and the sweetest look on her face. It is incredibly difficult not to give in.

The weather has been bad for Mary – it has been really cold and raining buckets. This of course is good news for us as she is inside with us all the time and she likes to snuggle. She was snuggling up tightly against me the other night as I fell asleep and feeling the rise and fall of her soft warm little body and hearing her breathe next to me…..it was the best damn feeling in the whole world.

Mary fell in love with the rug/mat we put on the bed. Whenever we put our hands close to the rug, she goes all psycho on us. Mind you, very often she does not need any provocation at all. Out of the blue she would just start attacking either the rug or herself. The once she even spat loudly twice in a row which of course had us in stitches!

I love Mary so incredibly much. I can’t wait to get back from work during the week to see her. I wish I could let people know what a massive joy it is to share your life with a cat – not only do they love you unconditionally, but they truly enrich your life and bring beauty and joy to it.

Mary on her mat/rug on the bed, cleaning herself in the Sunday afternoon sun

This one speaks for itself!

Sleeping on top of her “house” instead of inside

Exploring the new furniture

But of course, Mary does things that we simply don’t understand. The window is open, but she prefers to stay inside. The moment the window closes, she HAS to go out. This makes little to no sense to me. I wish I knew what went on in her mind.

I moved the furniture around inside the apartment, and Mary now has her own little “jungle gym”. This “jungle gym” comprises her two stands on either side of two big trunks I placed on top of each other. These trunks are covered with a large piece of textile and on top is her blanket, neatly folded up. This construction is place by our big window. When I open the curtains, she has the most magnificent view. But NO. Madam is scarcely interested in this beautiful little nook. She has chosen a new mat next to my partner’s side of the bed, which she frequently “attacks”. We have even gone so far as to put this mat on the bed and man she was as happy as a pig in poo.

On a more serious note – two cats of the same unit on our complex disappeared on the same day. I find this massively disconcerting. One cat missing, one can understand. But two cats from the same household on the same day?

We will have to keep a very close eye on Mary.

Typical of Mary Mary Quite Contrary, she is dealing with winter in a strange way. She loved being outside when it is wet and cold, but when it is dry and cold, she comes inside. This does not make for a pleasant experience for us. As mentioned before, wet cold cat is not all that charming, especially when she tries to snuggle up next to you at night when you are sleeping. I am starting to wonder whether that is not the reason she likes being outside when it rains: so she can come in and take revenge by plonking her cold wet body next to our warm dry bodies!

She is currently the most amazing shades of grey. Her down has grown in full force and is a light silver white in colour. And it is incredibly soft!

Today is a lovely day outside (in cat terms) – the sun is out and the day is crisp and clear. Kitten (who is a boy kitty) is outside and so is Mary. Mary was rolling around on her back, performing for the kitten – it was too cute to see! I ran back inside to fetch the camera, but by the time I came out, Mary was quite relaxed, while Kitten was rolling around in a frenzy trying to outdo Mary’s rolling spectacle.

Mary with Kitten in the background (by the car’s front tyre), just after her rolling performance. If you look carefully, you can see the bald patch on Mary’s cheek (on the right as you look at the picture).

Kitten performing for Mary

I have taken a week’s leave this coming week and I have set aside a day or two to spend just with Mary, and I honestly and truly cannot wait. I miss her company so much when I go to work. I like the people I work with, make no mistake, but I prefer the company of my partner and Mary, who both love me flaws and all.

Kitten and Mary

]]> http://www.maryqueenofcats.org.za/2007/06/17/winter/feed/ 3 http://www.maryqueenofcats.org.za/2007/06/06/war-wounds/ http://www.maryqueenofcats.org.za/2007/06/06/war-wounds/#comments Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:36:37 +0000 Nikki http://www.maryqueenofcats.org.za/2007/06/06/war-wounds/ Late last night, Mary came in with the left side of her face full of blood (there was even blood on the door and all over the floor). We did not immediately notice – she jumped on the bed, refusing to look at us when we spoke to her, and the side with the blood was turned away from us. I don’t know how stupid she thinks we are, but we immediately figured she was trying to hide something. Upon closer inspection, my partner found the left side of her face wet and when he looked at his fingers, it was blood. We cleaned it up and found a deep red hole about 2mm in diameter, just behind her whiskers. Our minds raced in all directions and our imaginations ran wild. From running in to something, to a snake bite, to a cat fight, to pellets guns crossed our mind. We cleaned the wound as best we could (and kept her inside for the rest of the night) but we would have to take her to the vet the next day to make sure everything was okay. Even though the puncture wound was too small for stitches, it was deep enough to form an ugly abscess if left untreated.

So today after work it was off to the vet. Mary usually behaves like an angel when she visits the vet. She is any vet’s dream patient.
The only way the vet could see the puncture wound was to shave the area. *Pwhaaaaa* Mary was not happy and both my partner and I and the vet had to hold her down. I have not seen Mary that pissed off in a long, long time (if ever). Because she struggled so violently, her whiskers were shaven off as well. We had a bald patch, half whiskered, fat faced, sulking, angry kitty on our hands and we could not help but laugh!

The wound, the bald patch and the short whiskers

The good news is no one tried to shoot her with a pellet gun, no snake tried to make a meal of her – with the fur shaven one could clearly see a scratch leading from/to the puncture wound: a cat claw. Mary got an antibiotic injection and the wound should heal nicely.

Back from the vet, straight to her brown paper bag

I don’t know how many times we have taken Mary to the vet for one thing or the other. I am sure if we had to add it all up, we could have amassed a small fortune. But there is simply no price on Mary’s health and well being. I said to my partner last night – I am so incredibly, incredibly happy to know we can afford to take her to the vet when she needs to go. We don’t have to worry about how we are going to pay or trying to treat her ailments ourselves because we can’t afford to get her proper care. We are tremendously blessed in that regard. He was of the opinion that even if we could not afford to go to the vet, we would still be able to get her care at places like the PDSA (People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals) or PUPP (Project for the Upliftment of Pets and People) or one of the clinics serving communities in need ( such as Mdzananda in Khayelitsha). Not that I never appreciated what these places do, but it kind of brought home how unbelievably important the work is they do. If we had no money for vet care and there were no PDSA or PUPP, Mary (and we) would have absolutely no choice. That scares me. As my vet said to me tonight: there is not (comparatively) that much cruelty going on in South Africa, but there is a lot of neglect. And in my opinion, neglect often stems from a lack of available resources. Simply because a person is poor, does not mean they are incapable of loving animals as much as we who are not poor.

There are heaps of organisations out there doing good for and by animals. But please – make a special effort to give your support to the clinics who give vet care to animals who would otherwise have no help at all.

Then towards the end of the week, she became VERY VERY friendly towards us again. She even fell back in to her old routine of sleeping with us during the night before going out and coming back inside.

Yesterday morning, my partner noticed Kitten through our bedroom window, playing with another cat. This would explain Mary’s behaviour: seems she has fallen out of favour with Kitten and Kitten found a new buddy. Thus we became Mary’s fall back buddies.

Kitten and the new buddy

Right now she really could not be bothered with Kitten or with us. It is Sunday, the sun is shining and she is doing what she loves second best: sleeping in the Sunday afternoon winter sun!

Sunday afternoon: The Queen dozing on her Throne

Well, winter has finally set in. About time too! Summer in Africa is not always bearable and the hot weather just seems never ending. Mary prefers summer over winter – this I know because as we all know by now, she loves the outside. Winter inevitably means rain and Mary does not like to get wet.

This weekend was pretty cold(ish) and it rained buckets! It would burst out raining, and then it would stop…. And then it would POUR down and then it would stop…. And as suddenly as it stopped, as suddenly it would start again. Poor Mary got caught quite a few times and came in wet and unhappy. It is also not great if in the middle of the night you get woken up by wet cat. She eventually gave up and decided it was more comfortable snuggling up inside with her humans, where it was warm and dry. Sunday afternoon I took a nap with Mary asleep next to me, in my arms. When I woke up, her body was stretched out against mine, her paw was on my face and I opened my eyes and looked straight in a pair of yellow sleepy eyes. I relish private little moments like that. By the time we woke up, the sun has broken through the clouds and it was shining directly on to her stand. She left me to make herself comfortable in the Sunday afternoon winter sun.

Enjoying the winter sun on a Sunday afternoon

]]> http://www.maryqueenofcats.org.za/2007/05/21/mary-and-winter/feed/ 0 http://www.maryqueenofcats.org.za/2007/05/14/sleeping-beauty/ http://www.maryqueenofcats.org.za/2007/05/14/sleeping-beauty/#comments Mon, 14 May 2007 16:49:06 +0000 Nikki http://www.maryqueenofcats.org.za/2007/05/14/sleeping-beauty/ Mary’s favourite things in the world would be (in no particular order): outside, biscuits, grooming and sleeping. In typical Mary style, she does everything dramatically and spectacularly!

Here is a collection of photos of Her Royal Highness enjoying her sleep (at times, taking over the bed, leaving either one of us with no space). Not much excitement, but for those of you who own cats – you will know what it means for a cat to be so relaxed in human company. For those of you who don’t quite understand the fascination: cats are vulnerable when they sleep, so when they are completely and utterly relaxed (as Mary clearly is in these photos), it shows how much they trust you. I would say we are pretty damn good house mates/parents to Mary!