AlbumNinaChandler

I wanted a cat about 10 years ago, so a friend of a friend got me connected with someone whose cat just had kittens. I had my mind set on a black cat, I find black cats to be attractive. So a couple of friends joined me as we traveled to get the cats. When the black kitten was brought to me, I wanted her instantly. My friend Sarah, who was with me, saw a big gray kitten, and with no prior desire, decided to take him.

Sarah and I lived on the same floor in a brownstone in Boston, so the kittens still got to see each other frequently. At one point we moved into a two bedroom apartment, and the cats were thrilled to be together all the time now. I decided to move out, and we discussed me taking Nina with me, (the black cat acquired that name from my favorite singer Nina Hagen). We decided they should just stay together, since it had been about two years, and separating them seemed cruel. I still lived in the same city, so I could still see them.

Years later I call them 'Sarah's cats' even though Nina was really mine. But when Sarah goes away, I feed them and play with them, and take pictures of them. Chandler, (the big gray one) is afraid of strangers, he is a little neurotic, but I can not see him for many months, and when I go over I call his name and he comes running.

One time Sarah called me because she had some people over, and couldn't find him, she was afraid someone may had forget to shut the back door tightly. We live in the city, so chances are, if your cat is an outdoor cat, it will be dead soon. Well Sarah called me over to find him. We live next door to each other and it made my heart tingle knowing that she new Chandler would come to me, out of hiding when I called his nick name, which is 'Chan-Chan'. Less than a minute after I started calling him, he made a little crying sound, so followed it to the big walk in closet, and there he was, hiding behind all these clothes.

It makes me feel good that he responds to me and remembers me. When people say animals are dumb, I just shake my head. They know when their family it. They know who has been nice to them.

So I made a little photo album with the site builder of my web host with pictures I took today; April 26th 2004.

HARTZ PET PRODUCT WARNING !!!

CAT CARE TIP

If your cat is an outside cat, you should be aware of the statistics of their health. It is estimated that there are 78 million cats living in the U.S.A., one-third are allowed to go outside and roam freely. This can lead to premature deaths and injury. The Humane Society of the United States (HUSU) states; "The estimated average life span of a free-roaming cat is less than three years compared to 1518 years for the average indoor-only cat". The MSPCA is trying to spread the word along with the HSUS, whom have created a website specifically for cat safety; www.SafeCats.org. This information was taken from The Pet Gazette, issue for May 2004 and www.SafeCats.org

I allow my cat Inky outside, but she wears a harness, I have a fenced in back yard and I never leave her out there alone. When she hears the little bell jingle on her collar, as the picture below shows, with Inky and Antonio hanging out, Inky gets all excited and knows it is time to hang-out with the dogs in my in the sun.

She loves to hunt the wild-life....a.k.a. bugs. The funniest thing is, when Inky is done with the back yard, she comes in, (I leave the back door open and if I am not outside I am sitting at my desk, looking out the back door and two windows in my living room to keep an eye on her), and whips the harness and collar off. So at anytime when she is outside she could do this, but she doesn't.

When she was younger, I hadn't used a harness and she kept jumping the fence to the neighbor's yard, and I would get her and tell her "No" and put her inside. So I believe she got the idea that, she can stay outside as long as she wears her harness. She still eyes the big tree and looks up at the fence, but when I say her name, she stops and looks at me, and moves one.

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