On Top of the Dining Room Doors

If there is one thing Starbuck loves to do it's jump, especially on top of doors. Sebastian won't even consider it (he actually only started to do more jumping after the kittens arrived) and Torrey seems bored by it. But Starbuck can be found on top of almost any door, cabinet, cupboard etc. you can imagine. He even balances on top of my wardrobe door and it's got to be around 2cm wide.

Anyway, I finally decided to get a few pics of him on top of the dining room doors. I say "doors" plural because there are two sets of doors that lead into the dining room, and when they're both open they back onto each other as you can see in the pics.






These pics were taken in January 2007 when the kittens were 10 months old. Starbuck at this time simply jumped onto the top of the doors and then just sat there watching life. Now, at 1 year and 4 months old he has taken to using the tops of doors as scratching posts - I can't believe how he manages to balance and rigourously scratch! And why he does this I have no idea considering my home is littered with scratching posts and surfaces of all kinds!!!

Starbuck Jumping

The boys are getting very good at jumping! Starbuck especially can jump fast and high - so far the highest he's jumped without any support is about 6 feet, but with the support of a wall (or person, or door knob) he can jump on top of doors and kitchen cabinets with ease!

Anyway, here are two jumping pics taken in November 2006 when he was still only jumping about 5 feet. They pics aren't great, but they do show you him jumping.

Some more November pics

Here are some more pics taken in November when the boys were 8 months old. They are already so big they don't look like kittens anymore!

This is one of the boys' favourite places - behind the hall door! My living room, dining room, kitchen etc. is closed off from the bedrooms, toilets, scrapbook room etc. by a hall door, which conveniently helps me keep the boys in one area while I have company and at night. They don't like it much and make their disatisfaction known vocally!


I think pic is fun, even if not in focus and not centered!
The boys look like they're hunting in a pack - in unison! Ha ha...


Playing with a box, as usual! Their favourite toy!


My beautiful Starbuck!


Just walking out of the cat room to find something more fun to do!


Look at that tongue! Starbuck in one of my cat tunnels!


Hmm... the camera string! Looks fun... let's play!

More TV pics

Here are a few more pics of the boys playing with the TV. I even bought a Catnip DVD which they love! I should get some pics of them watching it - very funny!

It's amazing how Starbuck is so much more an explorer, but gets bored easily while Torrey takes longer to get interested in something, but then stays interested for longer! They are so totally different in personality and temperament it's amazing!

Torrey in November

I found some November 2006 pics of Torrey that I like. It's really hard to get a good pic of Torrey as he is so shy and hates the camera (or any kind of attention!). He is getting much better now (Aug 2007), but is still very, very, very shy and jumps at the least little sound.

Strutting through the living room!

Trying to figure out how to get into my scrapbook room! They love it in there with all the shelves and carts. Only problem, if they get in there, it takes me hours to clean up their mess (and by mess I mean all the paper, eyelets, albums etc. that they knock off the shelves while playing!).

While he was smaller than Starbuck in these pics, he is now considerably bigger - all muscle. I guess he just has a larger frame as he isn't as active as Starbuck.

Sebastian Simba

Ok, I figured I should do one for Sebastian, too!

Sweet and super soft

Ignores me when he feels like it!

My first cat

Beautiful, a blessing, a big, big boy!

Always a gentleman!

Tagged!

I got tagged for the middle name meme by Sadie! My first tag! I didn't even know what it was all about until today! This is fun!

Ok, so I'm supposed to post the rules first so here they are...

Rules
1. Post the rules before you give the facts.
2. List one fact that is somehow relevant to you and your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
3. When you are tagged you need to write your post using your middle name and facts about it.
4. At the end of your post, choose one cat to tag for each letter of your middle name. Be sure to let each cat know she/he has been tagged. (It's okay if you don't do this... tag who you want to tag!)

I'm going to go with the middle name of Sebastian, my main coon who was given his middle name by one beautiful, talented and adored 8 year old called Chloe who lives in Swansea, Wales. His middle name is Simba. So, here goes... (I didn't use my own middle name because it was too long... Victoria! =)

Summer is great, except really, really hot! This year I went to Thailand for a quick get-away with my mum for four days. We stayed at the Four Seasons and had a blast!

I live in an apartment on Kowloon side in Hong Kong.

Most people in Hong Kong live in apartments as land is scarce and houses are rare and expensive! But, I am doing my best to save up to one day buy a real house with either a garden or a roof!

Before getting Sebastian, my first cat, I was scared of most animals larger than a rabbit - especially dogs! After fostering Sebastian, it all changed and I am now able to pet huge black dogs (with permission!) without blinking! Animals really do change us humans! Oh, and I adopted Sebastian and when I moved back to Hong Kong from the UK, brought him with me!

A senior academic teacher - that's my job! I'm at work too much because of my position and miss my three boys!

Gotta add a pic! This is my mum in Siam Paragon Mall in Bangkok, Thailand having a coffee just before heading to the airport to come back to Hong Kong. They have funky starbucks cards there! I'll have to scan some in! This is a new mall, and if you're ever in Bangkok, check it out! Take the MRT to Siam station and you're there. In the basement is asia's largest aquarium - although I gotta say, I really like the one in Hong Kong's Ocean park more!


P.S. What does meme mean? I'm sure that's a stupid question, but oh well... better asked than wondered about!

Banned from the kitchen!!!

All three cats have now been banned from the kitchen - thankfully I have a kitchen door, which ensures they don't go in, even when I'm not at home!

Anyway, I found Starbuck, on top of the kitchen cabinets (which are high!!!) considering how to get down. Usually he would walk over to the door and jump down, but not today! Today he decided to take the scenic route to the window and down over my lovely washed dishes!

As you can imagine, everything was re-washed, thoroughly (especially as my mum is
allergic to cats) and all three cats have not been allowed in the kitchen since
(it's now August 2007).

New Header

I had 10 minutes and so decided to do my blog a funky header. Hmmm.... not exactly brilliant, but I'll improve it when I have a minute.

Any suggestions?

We're into May 2007!!!

Ok, so I kinda left out a few months! But with all the pics I had, I would have never gotten through them. So, we began in November 2006 (which were really Nov/Dec) and then jumped to Jan 2007 and are now jumping again to May 2007. Not many pics were taken from Jan to May, probably because of me being super busy and misplacing my camera!

So, here are some general May 2007 pics (which probably contain some from Feb, March and April!).

Starbuck in the Dining Room (although it's used as a store room type room - lots of boxes of resources for school, an extra fridge, deep freeze etc.). Seems like he's contemplating life!


But not for long as he's off on the prowl again!


Ooo! Nothing like a good scratch and stretch!


This is my irritate face! Leave me alone!

Sebastian Pics

Ok, that last pic of Sebastian wasn't his best! I don't know if I've posted these pics of him yet, but they are some of the best I have!

He is now 2 years and 3 months old and still growing! Thankfully he's not fat (I'm really careful!) but is already tipping 20 pounds! I can't think how big he would be if I let him get fat! But, I want him around as long as possible, so, he gets fed the correct amount, twice a day, and no snacks. Cruel? I hope not... just healthy (oh, he gets treats when we do clicker training, but he doesn't really seem to like them. Oh, and he gets hairball prevention treats once a week that he does like - do they count as a treat? *grin*)

The third pic was taken in an IKEA Billy bookcase, which should give you an idea of how big he was an one year and 4 months old. He's now a year older and much bigger! He keeps surprising me with how much he gets bigger and with how his features are maturing! I thought he was almost full grown when I got him!!! Little did I know.... =)

Starbuck and Me

I like this pic. It's of me holding Starbuck! Bad pic of me, but I think it's great of Starbuck in one of his moods.... the "mouth open which means I'm not happy" moods!

Sebastian

Sebastian doesn't like to have his photo taken (and nor does Torrey - hence so many of Starbuck!). Anyway, here is one random one I took of Sebastian in one of the cat tents in the cat room. I have since moved this tent into my bedroom to give him somewhere to get away from the kittens when they're being too playfull *grin*!

Should I Change His Name???

Here is a weird post. Should I change Torrey's name?

Basically, I chose Sebastian and Starbuck's names - weird and as uncatlike as they may be. But Torrey was the name on his pedigree papers given to him by my wonderful breeder. I guess I never changed it because I wasn't expecting to get two bengals and so never gave it enough thought - when he arrived we all called him Torrey and never got around to changing it.

He is now over a year old and I figure if I'm going to do it, I should do it now. Any thoughts anyone?

(Starbuck on the left and Torrey on the right)

While you're thinking, here are the reasons I called the other two what I did!

Sebastian: I had thought and thought about what to name him and simply couldn't decide. I don't even remember what the choices were! Anyway, I went to pic him up and didn't even think about naming him - I just couldn't get over how this "kitten" was so BIG! Maine Coons are big! You never really get a kitten stage with them - they come out big!

Anyway, I walked into my home (I was living in Swansea, Wales at the time on a one year sabbatical from my job in Hong Kong) and put the carrier down and said something to him about being home and instinctively called him "Sebastian". I couldn't believe the words had come out of my mouth! It wasn't even a name I had considered (read online and you'll find out you are 'advised' to use something one syllable, not beginning in an 'S' sound!!!). Anyway, that was it. He was Sebastian - and he learnt his name very quickly, although I do tend to call him Sib for short.

Starbuck's name was given lots and lots of thought (as you can see, I get again ignored solid Internet advice and named him a 2 syllable name with an 'S' sound!). In the end it was Starbuck off Battleship Gallactica and my love for Starbuck's, combined with my love for Moby Dick that did it - although the coffee had a lot to do with it sad to say!

They all know their names, although "Sib Sib" is now almost a generic term for "Food's Coming"!!!

Anyway, any thoughts? Should I change Torrey's name? If I did, any suggestions?

T.V. Fun

I like to keep the TV tucked away and so I bought a TV unit from IKEA. The kittens immediately loved it and scared me the way they squeezed around the TV - several times I thought they were stuck. So cute! It's August 2007 now and they have almost permanently lost interest in the TV, although now and then they still check it out.

The following photos were taken in November 2006.

First playing under the TV in the small spaces!





But soon they figure out it's more fun to play up with the TV!!

As usual, Starbuck explores further!
On top of the TV where the space is so small I thought he'd get stuck!!

STEALTH CAT!!! IN HIDING!!!! I'm not sure what he's stalking!

Do I look cool or what????

And then they discovered the back of the TV! At this point I got really worried
(although ignored my worry to keep taking pictures!).

I couldn't help laughing when Torrey managed to get behind the TV unit by going backwards,
upside-down! He found the small hole at the back and ended up behind the TV!