Ragi-Mama comes out to say hello (and eat)

Some photos of Babe in my office before he moved to his new family in the US

Maya Girl, a campus vet, is now a happy housecat.

She even lives with a very nice dog, Shiro-kun. Maya Girl now seems very happy to be a housecat. I'm guessing the reason she ran away last spring was to verify whether or not Tiger Boy, her brother, was anywhere near the house. She and Tiger Boy grew up together on campus, but Tiger Boy was struck and killed by a car 2 years ago. Maya Girl--and Pushkin--never stopped looking for Tiger Boy, hoping to find him alive. Now that Maya Girl has satisfied herself that Tiger Boy is really gone, she is happy to be a housecat.

Collage of Babe

A collage of life with Babe. Thanks, Babe, for letting me use the office too.

Two nice portraits of Babe

Another collage of Babe

Babe is the cat that is staying in the office until I can find him a better home. He had spent 4 months with Pongo in the office. But Pongo moved to his new family in March this year.

As it turns out, Babe is the one cat you don't want to leave alone for long. He is a domestic 'mixed' cat, most likely born feral and lived the first 3 months of his life like that. This has made him very shy around new people--he will actually panic if someone he doesn't know visits the office. On the other hand, he recognizes people he knows by the way they knock on the door, and he doesn't panic at all when he recognizes the knock.

Babe's personality most closely matches the 'Oriental breed'. He loves to play and really enjoys the company of both cats and humans as his playmates. This also means he very quickly gets bored and depressed if left alone for very long. I felt Pongo was the best choice to go to a family with children, and I still feel this was a good decision. However, Babe loves to play even more than Pongo does, so I wonder if Babe might not have worked out even better, even though it would probably take him longer to get used to a new environment and the new people in his life.

I love having Babe as my office mate, but I know that being left by himself when I go home at night is causing him stress. So I hope I can find him an attentive owner very soon. Perhaps if someone has a young female cat also given to boredom if left alone and wants a playful friend. That would probably be the best situation for Babe.

Gracie knew immediately she wanted the window seat

Unfortunately, in the basement, Gracie seemed to like all the places Biddie had liked. So rather than contest use rights, Biddie moved upstairs. Thanks Biddie.

The progress of Gracie

I had my doubts that Gracie would survive her first winter as a feral because, like Gwen, she was born late in the year (summer of 2008). Then she got a really bad cold, and then her right eye got sick and/or injured. I finally rescued her and got her in out of the cold. When I moved office for the second time in a year, I put her outside where Pushkin had been, living in upside-down stacked canoes. But then I brought her inside for good, and I'm so glad I did. For being born feral, Gracie proved as tame as it gets. I took this photo near the end of my trip to the US last year, when I took Gracie and her pal Elvis to Erie, PA. Now they live with my brother and his wife (and their son Evan, and the cat Biddie).

You can see from this photo how much better her eye had got by that time, after living inside, out of the cold and getting an eye operation to reduce the damage. She actually has some sight restored now. That is the sort of progress in the right direction that we all need sometimes.

Like Elvis Gracie has the distinction of successfully living in both the Dining Hall Troop and the Swimming Pool Gang (only in the reverse order of Elvis).

Gracie looks after the aquarium

Gracie thinks the fish tank is a neat combination--it's warm, has 'running' water, and it contains fish!

She and Elvis continue to enjoy their new life in Erie, PA. Thanks to Joe, Angie and Evan for hosting them--oh, and Biddy too (one of the cats who has been in the same home for a lot longer than Elvis and Gracie).