Two weeks ago, I removed the glass shower door in my bathroom. The surrounding floor and walls were starting to rot, and I knew the door blocked much of the airflow needed to dry out the rest of the shower properly, so I decided to just take it out myself and put in a shower curtain and rod. While taking out the door, I discovered that the previous owners hadn’t waterproofed any of the seams… which is mainly why things had been rotting. However, it did make it much easier to remove the door, since all I had to do was unscrew it from one wall and pull it out of the other (it hadn’t been bolted in on both sides). As a reminder, they hadn’t waterproofed the floor beneath the tile shower they installed either. Every time I discover something like this, I’m glad I bargained down the price on my place — I had been very hard-nosed about it since some of the electrical work they’d done was borderline dangerous, which I suspected meant the rest of their “improvements” might be similar. Score one for intuition.

Putting in a curtain really improved the airflow, along with letting in a good deal more light… and a certain water-loving Maine Coon mutt! The video above shows Kanoko playing with the falling water this morning. I could keep him out by shutting the bathroom door, but his never-ending delight brings a lot of joy into my day, and so some old hand towels have now become Kanoko’s shower towels, and he’s happy as pie with the arrangement. When we finish showering, he saunters out alongside me, purrs while being towelled, then contentedly preens while I get ready for the day.

I mentioned some surprise seeds all sprouting in the last post — my pumpkin patch is growing well. All four are still healthy, those two are the largest. And they’re still just young’uns!

Today I gave Grey a shower! Being the sweet cat he is, he complained merely by wailing pitifully and trying to get away from the shower head, but he would still purr when I lathered him and petted him. He never tried to scratch me.

I’ve noticed a real difference in temperament in these two cats that I’ve raised on my own. With unbroken consistency — having a cat with someone who doesn’t understand the importance of consistency can ruin that — and only positive reinforcement (though I do occasionally yell when they do something dangerous), they’ve both become very happy, well-behaved and trusting cats. They’ve never reacted in fear to me. Kanoko has the bad habit of dashing around underfoot, but even when I accidentally step on or kick him (oh, the guilt when that happens!), he won’t claw at my legs like other cats have. He just flips his ears back and puts himself out of harm’s way. Minus a bit of fur that’s stuck under my feet sometimes…

Grey’s coat had never quite recovered from his month or so on the streets; it was stringy, greasy and dandruffy. Although he’s eaten excellent food (Acana and Orijen) ever since arriving, and has regular brushings, his fur didn’t show much improvement. Thus his shower today. Grey’s fur looked much better even when it was damp, as in this photo, and now that it’s dry, it’s definitely nicer!

A year and a week ago (on 25 July 2008), Kanoko came into my life. His whiskers had been cut off by his abandoners, apparently a common tactic to further disorient cats. A year later, they’re now long and luxurious! Kanoko is a delight, very affectionate and creative, although he does love to play with (read: destroy) my plants and can be a bit too energetic when tackling his “big brother” Grey.

Grey is starting his fourth month with us, still a calm and very matter-of-fact cat. He loves nothing more than to be petted and cuddled, with a deep motorboat purr that starts as soon as he knows he’s going to get affection. He patiently allows Kanoko to pounce on his back and his tail, and gives a harmless but firm swat or two when he’s had enough. His favorite activity is stretching out on the terrace and napping in the filtered sunlight.

The new cat is here, and already with Kanoko — I was given no choice in the matter, the three women who brought him let him out in my living room before I could say anything. It’s going well though, they’ve both got their ears perked forward when they watch each other, even when they hiss and growl. Grey needs antibiotics; I had to use a towel to hold him steady for his pill and he’s chosen that towel to nap on. One of the ladies brought Feliway, so perhaps that’s one reason they’re both at ease.

As I mentioned yesterday, Grey got pretty badly beaten up. I learned more of his story today: he’s originally from Le Cannet (just north of Cannes), and people there knew him and his owner. They saw his owner, a woman, put him out on the streets, and asked her what she was doing — “I don’t want him any more, I’m moving” was the answer. When he was found this Monday, he had a 42°C (108°F) fever and was at risk of death from blood poisoning. He was brought to the vet by a lady who rescues cats, checked for any and all diseases etc., and is fine apart from his infections (being treated with the antibiotics).

Grey is very thin and bony, and his fur is rough due to being on the streets for a while. Le Cannet residents said it’s been about a month or two, rather than the week we first thought. Despite having been abandoned and on the streets, Grey is indeed very gentle and affectionate. He’s already let me brush him and showed me his stomach for petting, and has a lovely deep purr. He’s shown no aggression whatsoever other than the occasional hiss at Kanoko, but even those are rare. I’m looking forward to seeing his transformation as he regains his health!

(As for his name, “Grey” may very well stick with him since he is indeed a striking grey, even his eyes. I had a list of other possible names, Grey not being among them! None of the others fit, though. Update: I’m going to stick with Grey, using “Earl Grey” as his full name. Not terribly original, but most French people recognize it better than just “Grey”!)

I’m back to write about adopting a second cat, since I learned quite a lot about animal adoption agencies other than regular refuges (animal shelters) in France. Two weeks ago I asked a few friends and colleagues whether they had or knew of any kittens available, and also asked my kind neighbor, “Francine” (name changed for privacy), the same lady who gave me Kanoko. By “kitten” I meant aged 3 months to one year, hoping for a cat near Kanoko’s age to be a companion for him. Kanoko is well-behaved and careful with his claws, but unlike Malo (my previous cat), who had been able to go outside and find other friends for playful cat tussles, Kanoko can’t. Francine checked with a friend who works for an adoption agency that rescues cats found on city streets and puts them with foster families until adoptive families can be found. I had no idea such associations existed before. If something like this would interest you, ask around since it works best by word of mouth. It’s cheaper than going to a refuge as well, since donations are “optional” (you should donate), and smaller amounts (40-100 euros) are fine. Refuges here ask for anywhere from 400 to 800 euros for a cat. (When donating, do be sure to take into account whether they’ve had to vaccinate, operate, etc.! Vaccinations for a cat cost about 50 euros, males are about 60-80 to operate, and females are 100-150.)

The association lady set an appointment to visit my apartment and meet Kanoko, since she wanted to be sure my place was cat-friendly and that any cat she found would be a good match for Kanoko’s personality. Without me saying a word about Kanoko, she noticed he is indeed very affectionate, gentle and intelligent, so she assured me she wouldn’t set me up with a hyperactive or aggressive cat. There was a black, seven-month-old female kitten available for Saturday, so I agreed.

However, it turned out that the black kitten’s foster family had a small girl, who had fallen in love with the kitten and didn’t want to be separated from it! The adoption lady said that there was a female calico kitten she could give me on Sunday, though. “Great, I love calico cats!” I said. Sunday she phoned to say that it had been given to someone else, but no worries, there was a black and white male she’d try and have that afternoon. Sure enough, it happened again; the black and white kitten was given to another person by a different member of the adoption agency.

The lady handling my case was so unnerved with the other agency members that she had Francine phone me to explain: like many adoption shelters and associations (in many countries), some members gave cats to the first willing person to come along, without checking up on them or notifying other members trying to place cats. Francine’s friend was, clearly, of the sort who prefers to go forward carefully, so that each cat is placed with trustworthy people who are the best fit for its personality. Francine said her friend would phone veterinarians the next morning to check for adoptable cats and call me once she had any leads.

Monday morning she phoned to say that she had indeed found a cat who needed a home, and that he was very sweet. There was a small catch — he was five years old. Now, if you know much at all about animal adoptions, you know that adult animals can be nearly impossible to place, and once abandoned, often spend the remainder of their lives in shelters, if not worse, when in reality they can be great pets since they’re out of their rambunctious stage and are happy to have a real home. So, knowing he was a gentle cat, I agreed. This was when I was very happy to have a face-to-face relationship with the person in question, since it made all the difference: had I not trusted the adoption lady’s judgment, I would have feared the older male be more aggressive and take over Kanoko’s place.

The adoption lady continued the poor cat’s story: last week he’d been put out on the street by his previous owner, “since she was moving” (quoting her excuse). He’d been fixed and had spent his life as a single apartment cat, so he had no idea how to defend himself against other street cats, and promptly got beaten up by them. Since he’d also been vaccinated and ID’d, when he was found by an agency member who rushed him to the vet, they were able to contact the previous owner and get the cat’s back story. The previous owner confirmed she was abandoning him, and hung up. (I’m pretty sure her heartlessness goes without saying.)

Apparently he’s a beautiful semi-longhair, light blue (grey) tabby who charmed the vet and his rescuer with his gentleness, despite being in rough shape. (Cats are not usually gentle when injured.) He’s been under observation since Monday, and will come to join Kanoko and me tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. I’ll have to give him antibiotics for the first week he’s with us. He probably has a known name already, since he was registered, so I’m waiting to see what it is before deciding whether to rename him or not. It could go either way, since if he already has an identity that fits, it would be good to keep it, I think, but then again, the poor dear was abandoned cruelly by the person who gave him his name… it might be nice to have a new name to commemorate his “rebirth” into a new life. We’ll see tomorrow — I’ll also post photos here!

Following in the footsteps of his ground-breaking predecessor, catblogger Malo (author of the very first cat blog on the net, now defunct because it’s too hard to control spam comments…), Kanoko has joined Twitter: http://twitter.com/kanokokitty

Yesterday I bought the latest Burda sewing magazine, as it had a few dress, coat, shirt and blouse patterns that caught my eye. One shirtdress pattern in particular was precisely what I’ve wanted for a while (their version of it sewn). I’ve had a beautiful light lavender check stretch fabric for years now that I couldn’t fit with a pattern, but this shirtdress will be great in it (I won’t be putting in any pockets, however). I’m also completely in love with this simple Empire dress, which I plan to make in a floral too.

I started tracing the pattern pieces yesterday afternoon. Kanoko, as can be seen in that photo, was drowsy and so merely kept an eye on my progress. Today, however, as I laid out the pattern pieces on the fabric, he decided to take things into his own paws… and mouth, as shown above! I probably won’t finish the dress today since I have other errands, but hopefully it will be ready to wear to work in another week.

For readers curious about my mentally ill neighbor, I’m still waiting to hear from “Francine” and so don’t yet know how things went with the judge. Rest assured that I’ll post as soon as I do.

Sunday cuteness: Yesterday I made some gluten-free spaghetti, and left the strainer in the sink to dry. When I returned to the kitchen, this is what I found. (I had the hardest time not laughing at the beginning; it took immense willpower to stop for the video.)

I had no idea until today, but 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy.

This afternoon Kanoko was swatting around a broken piece of ceramic. It was dark red and reminded me very much of traditional Provençal terra cotta tiles, called tomettes. My curiosity was piqued — every so often, you’ll hear a story of someone buying an apartment, pulling up the old floor and discovering tomettes beneath. It even happened to my former landlords, whose floor was gorgeous. Since the parquet in my bedroom was badly laid and I thought I needed to replace it due to the water damage from the adjacent bathroom, I pulled on a corner that was already sticking out.

This is what I found. I jumped; I squealed with joy; I bounded into the kitchen to put on eye protection and returned to the bedroom to pull out as much parquet as I could. It hadn’t been glued, merely laid onto a protective sheet covering the floor. The tomettes are in perfect condition. There’s only one exception: the previous owners broke some tomettes to run… a TV cable. Ugh. (By any chance, do any readers have a few tomettes laying around that I could use to repair this? They’re hard to find. Mine are 11.5cm from point to point; 10cm from side to side.)

Pulling up the parquet brought something else into evidence: the tile elsewhere in my apartment is on top of yet more tomettes!!! Tomorrow I’m going to pull up tile in an out-of-the way corner of my living room to see what’s been done and if it’s recoverable — I certainly hope so. I’m delighted since I had in fact dreamt of redoing my bedroom floor in tomettes, but had to set aside the idea since they’re very expensive. Then today I find that it was already done 60 years ago!

Kanoko turned 6 months old two weeks ago, and is at the veterinarian today, getting neutered and being given an ID tattoo in his ear. (Why you should spay or neuter your pet, et en français, pourquoi faire stériliser son animal.) I weighed him while at the vet’s: 4.5 kilos/10 pounds! That’s a healthy weight for a fully adult cat — normal-sized kittens weigh 3kg/6.5 pounds at 6 months old.

I took the opportunity of a mischief-free apartment to put up the curtain wire over my bedroom storage nook and hang a drape (“before” photo here). The difficulty of this nook is that it’s 2 meters wide, while none of the stores I checked had drapes/curtains wider than 1m60. So I hung a drape sideways! It’s not ideal, but with the tall bed frame bringing things together visually, it works well enough. It will probably look much better once I’ve repainted my bedroom a darkish grey. After considering several color ideas over the last few months, I realized that every time I’d seen a grey room, I’d utterly loved it. It won’t be done for a few months though, since budget priority goes to repairing my bathroom, which will be expensive. It is nice to no longer see the boxes and suitcases, in any case.