MIKA

I think it's time for a little update on Mika.
He's doing great!
After his virus infection a couple of months ago he just seemed to get stronger and stronger.
He's been going outside every single night and after a few very loud cat fights (more loud then fight) it seems the cats in the neighborhood respect him and Missy.
She is keeping him company and they catch mice and who knows what else together.
The daylight hours are spent upstairs, sleeping.
Of course!
That's exactly how it should be, right!


:))

Update on "the problem"

Mika has only been scratching on the bedroom door 4 times last night.

We are determined to ignore this behavior and hope this will be the solution. We hope that he will eventually give up and accept.

It would be so easy if this house would have more doors. What I mean is, that the owners (we are only renting) took out the doors between the hall and outer office, and also the one between the outer office and dining/living room. So there's just no way to "remove" the cats from the sleeping/living area.

We will not crate him over night, that would be very cruel I think and it breaks my heart when I think of him spending all night locked up in a tiny space. He's a cat and he needs his freedom.

Besides, he would probably make even more noise trying getting out of the crate!

Another option we are considering (if the ignoring doesn't work out) is that we will put him in one of the upstairs bedrooms over night. He would be miserable up there, but he could move around at least.

We will see how things progress.

Thank you for all your tips! :))

We've got some more snow yesterday. Not much, maybe just one inch or two.

The birds are coming to the bird feeders every day now. I noticed that the blackbirds are "back". I don't know really where they have been and what they were up to these past months, but they are back.

Mika and Missy like to watch the activities from inside, their little noses glued onto the windows.

Life around us changes every single day.

So much is going on in this world and the shocking news about the people suffering at Haiti makes you pause and think for a while.

It reminds you how fortunate you are that you have a nice, warm home, a car, a warm meal on the table every day.

It reminds you of having the privilege of good health care and you just need to turn the knob and you have warm and clean water coming out of the faucet.

It reminds you of how quick things can change, even in your own country, your own home...

Even though the disaster happens thousands of miles away...

you might think you are safe, but are you really?

***

Tree in the yard...

Once there was a swing on a big, strong tree.

I hear the children's laughter, it's still there even though

those years have passed.

The tree is dead and the swing is gone.

The rusty chain is the only reminder.

If it wouldn't be for the chain, we could not hear the children's laughter anymore.

:)

Houston, we have a problem!

Now you might think I mean the hole in the gutter is the problem, right?

No, it's not.

It's not Missy either, she is one adorable, always well behaving cat!

She's not going out now, it's way too cold for her - she thinks.

I took this shot of her and her beautiful green eyes from outside through the window.

Back to the problem.

Yes, it has to do with our sweet juvenile tomcat Mika.

The problem is that he thinks he's a dog!

The fact that he's following us around everywhere we go is cute, we enjoy his company because he's funny and very playful.

BUT

whenever we try to sleep a little longer in the mornings (that would be mainly in the weekends), he gets bored and comes every 5 minutes to kiss and cuddle.

OR he plays with those imaginary mice under the bed!

He's used to us getting up around 6:30 every morning and when we do so, he's all happy and races around the house.

But if we don't he's not that happy...

BUT when WE are in the need of some extra hours of sleep, WE don't care so much about his happiness.

Why should we, I mean he's lucky 5 days out of 7 right? That's not too bad, isn't it!

So...

We close the bedroom door.

YES, we look him out!

There!

BUT as I said, he sometimes thinks and behaves like a dog, he really does.

Every other cat would sit on the other side of the door, MEOW a couple of times and give up eventually.

But Mika doesn't think about MEOWing, he thinks scratching on the door is more effective.

He must have been a dog in his former life, OR Cleo gave him a hint... who knows.

So he scratches the door, and he's very consistent on doing this.

It's very annoying cause as soon as you fall asleep again he's doing it again!

We really try to ignore him and not reward this bad behavior with attention.

I might have made that mistake once or twice - and he's a fast learner! :(

What a bummer!

Any suggestions?

:))