2017-04-17 21:29 Don't surprise me!
Y (Kuma's owner)
Do you have any pets? I have three cats and each of them have different personalities, just as we do. One of the three cats is a senior ginger cat named Mittan. Usually, ginger cats are male because of some reasons related to DNA (I forget exactly), but Mittan is a female cat.
Having cats at home is fun; they make me laugh, relax, and sometimes they make me feel displeasure at making a mess but they are worth all the hardships. Oh, I forgot to say the other important thing caused by cats. It's astonishment.
If you have a cat, you might know how they act. Their ancestors were nocturnal and they still have the habit of being active at night. So does Mittan. She walks around the house and looks for small lizards and insects during the night. I think she catches cockroaches too. I sometimes see cockroach's legs on the floor, only the legs. No wonder I haven't seen many cockroaches in my house. One day, I mentioned to the vet that Mittan might have eaten cockroaches and I was worried that she might get a disease. The vet said to me if a cat that is a healthy adult, it shouldn't be a problem. What a surprise!
Finding cockroaches' legs is not such a big surprise for me, there's more. One night, I was awoken by a squeaking sound, which sounded as though someone was opening a sliding door. The noise was coming from inside of the room where I was sleeping. I thought it might have been a burglar, and I slowly opened my eyes but I couldn't see anything. Then I heard the noise that was similar to something scratching. It sounded familiar.
"Wait, I have heard the same noise. I know this noise!"
I jumped out of bed and I was right! I saw Mittan trying to open the sliding door of the built in closet.
One night before Christmas, I heard a strange noise like something light was rolling across the floor. I could hear that strange sound but nothing else. I didn't want to get up but I had to check what it was. Then I saw that it was Mittan again. She was chasing a Christmas Tree ball excitedly across the living room.
I'm not sure how many times has she has surprised me.
Thank you, Mittan. You stimulate me everyday.
2017-02-22 06:45 Cat Day
Y (Kuma's owner)
The 22nd of February is Cat Day in Japan. Every language has different expressions of animal sounds, for example in Japanese a cat's voice expressing "meow" is "nyan" or "nya." These sounds are similar to the pronunciation of "2 (ni)" in Japanese. You see, the 22nd of February has three 2s, "nyan nyan nyan" (meow meow meow) therefore Japanese cat lovers decided to call it Cat Day.
Cats are common animals in Japan and when I was small people kept cats freely, cats could go outside as they wanted. Nowadays people, especially those who live in big towns, keep cats inside of their houses. According to one of the surveys in 2014, 75% cats are indoor cats in Japan. Personally, my friends who have cats all keep their cats indoors.
I saw the website of many cat shelters when I was looking for a cat in Japan, and I noticed that all shelters required giving cats a vaccination and keeping them inside the house. If there's someone who cannot keep a cat inside the house, shelters don't give cats to them. Commonly, rented houses or apartments are not allowed to keep pets (except small animals and birds), therefore most cat shelters make sure that someone who wants to adopt a cat lives in a pet friendly house or owns a house. Some of the shelters are very careful and they visit the applicant's house to make sure.
I adopted a cat in Australia two years ago. I thought that the shelter was going to ask me if I was able to keep a cat inside of the house but they didn't. It was surprising because I heard that there are many indigenous animals in Australia that are facing danger by cats.
One of my Japanese friends loved cats very much. One day, I went to a mountainous area with her in Japan, which has a variety of birds. A souvenir shop displayed bird's postcards that would be a donation for a wild bird foundation. She said that it's very important to protect those wild birds and I agreed.
However, after that I heard that she was talking about her cat and said proudly "My cat is wild, he is good at catching birds."
What!? She did not notice that she contradicted herself.
I have heard that some people think that cats are mysterious animals, but to me human beings are more mysterious. People say something completely opposite on a different occasion.
Cats and other pets' lives depend on their owner. If they cannot find good people to live with, their life will be miserable. I hope that cats in shelters are able to find good people.
Happy Cat Day!
2016-12-19 06:31 My Cat has a Hobby
Y (Kuma's owner)
Do you think that it is only human beings that have a hobby? As at least I know, one of my cats has a hobby. A hobby that is annoying!
His name is Midon. He loves to tear up advertising, letters, wrapping paper and receipts. It won't be serious issues even if he tears up advertising or wrapping paper, but receipts are different. I have to keep them for at least five years. This is decided by law.
Whatever human beings say, he doesn't care at all. He does what he likes. One day, I was doing bookkeeping and left some receipts on the desk. At the time, I didn't know that Midon loves to bite and tear off papers. I left the desk only for a bit and when I came back I saw him biting a receipt. He was trying to tear the receipt to pieces! I said "No, no!" then I grabbed him and put him onto the floor.
Since that has happened, I have been very careful. Every time I left the desk I made sure that the all the receipts were in a plastic holder.
I don't think it will happen but if the taxation office ask me to show them a receipt, what can I say?
"That receipt was torn to pieces by my cat and I don't have it."
I think it sounds like a lame excuse.
I always scan receipts because the ink on receipts loses its colour little by little and I don't think it would last for five years. This procedure is also effective for a countermeasure to Midon but keeping originals is important too.
Midon is a genius to find papers, therefore I have to put things in order on the desk all the time. Thanks to Midon, my desk became neat and tidy now.