Burrito West Blog

We brought Carlos home and made him as comfy as we could in our bathroom. I sat with him for a bit and he pretty much immediately crawled into my lap and fell asleep.  That's the kind of guy he is.

We introduced him and Bernoulli as gradually as we could in a 1 bedroom apartment. And it ended up going better than we expected. They were mildly curious about each other but kept their distance. A few hisses, but  no fights. And within a day or two we would find them laying down within a few feet of each other, something Kitty and Bernoulli never did!  If they come across each other unexpectedly, they'll growl/hiss, but otherwise they don't seem fussed about sharing the space.  They aren't playing or cuddling, but they don't seem upset about the new arrangement.

Carlos is sweet (he's on my lap as I type this), but not needy. He seems to have some issue with mouth pain, possibly related to a tooth extraction from a few months ago. I'm looking forward to getting that resolved. He's an old cat and looks/acts it more that Bernoulli (he's got the old cat skinny spine whereas Bernoulli is quite plump) although they are both 14.

It's funny having two black cats. We've had 14 years of seeing a black cat = Bernoulli and now that isn't always the case.

It's also funny having a new cat around. We knew Kitty and Bernoulli so well after 13 years, and here's this cat that we don't know at all. He meows when you try to pick him up and I can't figure out if he hates it or if he just meows but doesn't mind - it's weird not knowing!

We're relieved that Carlos is fitting in so well. I hope he's enjoying the new digs.

We've been busy this weekend with goodbye events - Peter's sister is moving to Krakow to go to medical school. I'm super excited for her, I think she's going to have an amazing time and finally a chance for some independence! But, sad that's she's going at the same time.

 On our way to Peter's family's place for a bbq last night we visited Katie's Place - the shelter that I do fundraising for because they do amazing work. We had a short list of cats to meet and spent a bit of time hanging out and talking to the volunteers. And when we left we were approved to take Carlos home as a permanent foster (if we can get him and Bernoulli to tolerate each other). The permanent foster program is something they offer for their super senior cats who they just want to see live out their years in a home environment. The shelter covers any vet expenses/medications and they just ask you to provide a home and love (and food). So Carlos, a 14 year old chill black cat, who had pretty low odds of ever being adopted (old + black + reserved = overlooked), will try living with us. We're hoping he and Bernoulli will get along and that Bernoulli will be happier to have company.

It's early to get another cat, I'm still pretty gutted over losing Kitty, but it seemed wasteful to have a spot for a cat in our home and not fill it, considering how many cats are stuck in shelters. We pick Carlos up next weekend. Wish us luck!

Kitty is dying. My heart is breaking. There are no words.

I started my holidays on Friday. It's been fabulous.

I took photos of adorable kittens.

And a hedgehog (wearing a cowboy hat).

Some of the kittens may also have been forced to wear the cowboy hat.

I'm very pleased with how the photos turned out - especially considering the photo shoot took place in a dark basement.


I've started weaving on my borrowed table loom. My first time using variegated yarn and I'm enjoying it, watching the colour change as I go (through no effort of mine).

Peter and I have been spending a lot of time playing puzzle-solving games on his ipad (The Room, now Lost Forever). Very addicting.

Tomorrow is the big day in Peter's family so we'll be out in the burbs. Looking forward to amazing homemade perogies!

I hope everyone else is having fun and getting some time off to relax.

Weaving with variegated yarn

borrowed table loom

fun colour changes

Editing the Istanbul photos is hard - so many cats I wish I had taken the time to find food for... feeling guilty for not doing more.

This guy seemed to just want cuddles though. As soon as I looked at him he ran over and hopped in my lap, laid down, closed his eyes and purred. How does he not have a home? Leaving him on that ferry dock was not easy.

Everyone go to a shelter and adopt a cat right now. You have space, right?
Thanks.

Kitty's x-rays and blood work came back clear - no sign that the tumor has spread!  Such a huge relief!!!  Now we're back to the problem of shrinking her tumor so it can be surgically removed, which is not un-stress-filled... but I am taking a pause to be relieved and grateful and happy and relieved. Did I mention relieved?

One of the hardest parts about this trip is being away from our cats - especially since Kitty is going through this stuff. Am unspeakably grateful for our cat-caretaker who has a heart the size of Canada. I will never be able to thank her enough for what she's doing for us. Bernoulli has been moved to Peter's sister's place where he quickly made himself at home and instead of hiding under the bed like I expected, has been happily sleeping on her textbooks while she tries to study. So, he's doing okay - another relief!

At the risk of turning this into a cat blog... more cat photos!   Everyone went to the vet on Saturday where Kitty got the all clear for being perfect.... except that the mass on her eye was sampled and found to be cancerous.  We're assuming benign and will just keep an eye on it since it's in such a tricky spot it would be pretty tough to remove it entirely anyway.  She's had it for a while now and it's not growing, it just is. Fingers crossed for her that it doesn't do anything.

Bernoulli's eyes aren't 100% better yet but they are healing and we got drops to replace the ointment he was hating, so that's a huge improvement. 

He's free of the pillow and is totally back to normal.  So yay!  (Kitty doesn't necessarily agree since part of 'normal' is him chasing her.)

Kitty

One of the funny things about Kitty - whenever vets have noted her 'breed' on forms they've put Siamese. We were pretty sure she wasn't - it just didn't seem to match.  Finally someone suggested she might be Birman - and lo, an internet image search turns up much better matches. The dark face but white paws = Birman. She doesn't have the angular head and big ears of a Siamese (though she's chatty like a Siamese).  Just fyi in case you come across a seal-point coloured cat and think it's Siamese.... if it has white paws, might be Birman.  Not that it matters really, just kind of interesting.

Siamese

Birman

My cats are seniors! They're 10! That's crazy! Though really, since I expect them to live to at least 20, it's really just middle age. In the shelter world, 10 is definitely senior though.

Anyway, we took both cats in for dentals on Friday. Figured it was time. Kitty had 2 extractions and Bernoulli zero, but Bernoulli had to get the hard core sedative to go under and he's been weird ever since. There's something funky with his eyes so we'll be heading back to the vet shortly so they can reassure us that he is not going blind.

It's kind of funny that Kitty - who is startled by Peter walking in the apartment, handles trips to the vet okay, but Bernoulli, who is unphased by anything at home (except a shortage of food), seems to freak out. You should hear him meow as we carry him to the car - it's deafening.

 Anyway, fingers crossed his eye thing is nothing and goes away soon. He's been staying on the bed being cuddly, so I've basically spent the weekend just snuggling him (so warm and purry), but I'd feel better if he was back to his usual self, mixing up the snuggling with no-gooded-ness.

To celebrate my cats being old, here's a photo of them loving each other as kittens. This has pretty much been the relationship ever since, except they never lay that close together. ever. unless they're already asleep and I rearrange them. Not that I would. Except I totally would. I do. I can't help it.

This time, I'm trying greeting cards!  I've got 4 designs: 2 birthday, 1 holiday/christmas, and one blank\all occasion.


The proceeds from all of the cards will go to animal rescues in/around Vancouver (HomeFinders Animal Rescue & Katie's Place Animal Shelter - since their cats are featured on the cards this time).


If you're the sort of person who sends cards - and these tickle your fancy (or might tickle the fancy of a recipient), please consider buying a few of them. My hope is that this print run sells out and I can do more designs!

All the cards are posted in my etsy shop.  Please feel free to share the link widely. Let's raise some $ for these great rescue groups!

Yup, another photo shoot with kittens.  :)  I forced them all to cuddle, yes I did.


Photos by the amazing Cindy Hughes of Muddy Love Pet Photography.

Photos will be added to the gallery on Orphan Animal Pics (see the blog also).

Denny - a bit shy around new people, but still awesome.

George and Avery

I got to hold more kittens! The one thing that makes me wish I lived in a much bigger space is the fact that I could have a room dedicated to fostering kittens. KITTENS. So instead I just go and assist while kittens are photographed so that YOU can adopt them.  We also photographed lovely older cats that are even more in need of homes (16 year old cats have a very hard time finding adopters), so I shouldn't go on about the kittens - but small things are just irresistible and I am weak, especially with the purring.

Photos are being loaded on the Orphan Animal Pics site, check out the blog for a few more.

I woke up this morning with a terrible headache. Probably because we went dancing last night - this is the return of the morning-after-dancing-headache. Booooo!  I took my headache pills and went back to sleep, woke up again at 11, still headach-y. Got up anyway.  Was a useless lump until around 3 when I finally started to feel better.

This is all to say - it's late, I should be in bed, but I'm not tired and I'm hopped up on caffeine (my headache pills have caffeine in them). So I'll be up for ages, then wrecked for work tomorrow. Am very annoyed at my body.

I've already sewn a new zipper in the broken $4 sequin pillowcase I bought weeks ago (it's fahbulas), finished 2 necklace projects I started months ago, cleaned the coffee table, and made cookies.  So now I'm going to use this bonanza of late night time to share with you the most mind-blowingly lovely cat furniture I've ever seen. Before I do, I have to warn you - it's European and crazy expensive. Of course. I'm sure you're not even reading this sentence, you've totally skipped ahead because of the photos below of the amazing furniture, haven't you? I know, it's good stuff, I'd skip the boring bit of the blog post too!

Stylish cat tree

Bookshelf + cat tree = !!!

It's by German design firm Wohnblock.  I love the mod-shaped cat tree, and the bookshelf with hidden play/climbing spaces for cats. (I found this via Moderncat.net). It's all brilliant. Wish they sold the plans so you could have it made locally.

It's a shame there aren't more options for furniture that provides space for cats while also looking stylish... ikea should totally get into this market.  In the meantime, I'll continue trolling the internet for it in the wee hours of the morning.

 I've got a whole pinterest board of cool pet stuff, if you want to see what I find.

Got back from a long weekend in Portland yesterday. No photos because Portland trips aren't about taking photos, they're about... wandering. and eating.  Portland is a great town for aimless wandering - you'll stumble on interesting stuff, for sure. This trip I got to go to a Timbers soccer game, thanks to Sam - that was loads of fun. We were in the hard-core fan section, which is quite the experience. You're standing and chanting/cheering the entire game - I especially loved the chant that required you to shuffle/dance several seats to the right, then several seats to the left at every chorus... it's hard to watch a soccer game when you're doing that, but it's pretty funny. It must look hilarious to see an entire section of a stadium shuffling left and then shuffling right.

Anyway, now back and trying to catch up on everything in life that got put on hold. Being without my smartphone is hard (no data when roaming in the US, it's too expensive), and staying in a posh hotel means you have to pay $25 for internet access (or rather, not pay it, because it's ridiculously overpriced). Why is it that super cheap hotels can provide free wifi, but the Hilton can't?  I fondly remember our hotel in Riga Latvia which provided free wifi and free breakfast.  But, the Hilton does have the best bed ever (and pillows), and we always get it for a steal on priceline, so it's become our Portland hotel, which is funny to us.

Actually I do have photos for you!  My fantastic photographer friend, Ben, and I did another photo shoot of orphan cats in need of homes (also desperately needed: foster homes, if you can foster a cat, even for a few months, please please please contact your local animal rescue!).  Ben took some wonderful shots, I just love them. I love how he captures the spirit of the cats. I hope it helps get them adopted more quickly.  All these animals are fabulous and are available for adoption from HomeFinders Animal Rescue. Check them out here.

I've been meaning to get a photograph of this for years.  This is one of Bernoulli's favorite places to hang out - scarfed over someone's shoulders.  He'll lay up there and purr for a very long time, until your neck gives out under his 15lb weight. But he's super soft and warm and it's quite nice, really. 

Also - these are photos from my new camera (the one I won!). A Nikon Coolpix L120. So far, I'm liking it - especially since it seems to take good pictures in low light, which we have a lot of here in Vancouver in winter. The 20x optical zoom is also pretty special. :)

In honour of the season, I hereby post this photo of Bernoulli as a kitten, inside our christmas tree.  He took one look at the tree and ran straight up it, it was priceless.

I dropped Peter off at the airport today, which was weird. I've got plans for the next few days, to ensure I leave the house and don't turn into a hermit, starting with some dance classes tonight. 

On my way home from the airport, I picked up some Kool-aid, because apparently it's good for dyeing yarn with (doesn't that make you want to go drink some? ugh), and I've got way too much white yarn. So, we'll be trying some yarn dyeing this weekend, hopefully!

On Tuesday, I got to go do another photoshoot with cats.... except this time it was mostly KITTENS!

It's been a long time since I've been around kittens, and having seven 5-week old ones running around was seriously cute overload. It was awesome.

And, Ben took more fabulous photos!  Don't these photos make you want to adopt them all?  I think Ben and I both want to quit our jobs and photograph cats full time.

 

Since I can't foster or adopt any more animals, I've been trying to think of other ways I can help animal rescue groups with their work.  One way was roping my friend and talented photographer into the pet portrait business. And by business, I mean he does it for free. He seems to be enjoying it too, which is great and I'm gleefully working to book us more photo shoots with other rescue groups (I'm the helper - I wiggle the cat toys/treats).  He's also offering to do personal pet portraits for people in exchange for a promise of a donation to the BC SPCA - which is AWESOME*.

Anyway, that's one thing.  The other thing I'm also excited about because it's going so much better than I hoped. My team at work moved into new offices recently, on the 7th floor.  The nearest food is down in the cafeteria in the basement or across the street in the mall. So if you need a snack, it's easily a 10-15 minute journey to get it. And people in my office are BUSY. So busy that they may not be able to squeeze in a 15 min break, no matter how much they've got the munchies. Sometimes you want a snack but don't want to break out of the mental space you're in by going on a journey.

So I cribbed an idea I saw in another office I work in - a snack basket for charity.  I supply snack items, charge higher than retail prices and all the profits go to charity. My co-workers get snacks close at hand, and we raise money for good causes!  The basket is located in a locked file cabinet where anyone can access it and it operates on the honour system. In the first month of operation, the basket made $40 in profit!!  It's not a huge number but for an office as small as ours, it's a lot!  And it's money that will go to charity that otherwise wouldn't have - and no one felt like they were hit up for charitable donations, they bought stuff they wanted to buy anyway. 

The only complaint I've had is that I've made it too easy and convenient to get chocolate bars! (I have healthier options in there too but we all go for the chocolate bars.)  My plan is to let a few months of profit stack up and then donate to Katie's Place Animal Shelter, then the next few months of profit will go to another animal rescue, etc.

I'm super happy to have found a few ways to help, though I still wish I could do more. To be honest, I wish I could be a foster home for kittens... *sigh* adorable, little rascally kittens who just need a home for a few months.  Maybe one day.

*If anyone in Vancouver wants to book him for a portrait, send me an email and I'll put you in touch. You should totally do this. One friend is booking him for a sneak photo shoot of someone else's dog as a Christmas present for them; money to charity + christmas present = double win.

I am ridiculously excited.  I just spent my evening helping wrangle cats and kittens (SOCUTE!) for my super talented photographer friend, Ben Johnson* to take photos of.  This is my way of helping a local animal rescue organization, by roping my very talented friends into helping.  He took some beautiful photos (in very challenging lighting) of some skittish cats (cats are not co-operative models generally, just fyi, especially recently feral cats).  This animal rescue (HomeFinders - soon to have a website, as soon as I finish making it) has no shelter and relies on people finding their animals online.  I think having beautiful profile photos in the online listings will help them stand out in the crowd and hopefully get adopted quickly!

I can't wait to get the photos from him - I'll be sure to post some for you.  My favorite part was the 3 grey kittens at once, and of course the tiny, lanky black kitten Hank (love).  *sigh* I need a bigger apartment so I can become a fully crazy cat lady.

*see his photos of his cats (and chickens) as examples of his talent. His cats are hilarious.  I'm not sure which is my fave - this one of his cat in a tree, or this one of his cat flying.

Update - PHOTOS!  Isn't Ben good??