Do you remember Whiskey, Anna's cat Atria? Today he celebrated his 8th Birthday and crazy Anna organised a little 'pawrty' for him! He had a card, cake, flowers and a gift. He also received a lot of Birthday wishes from his furry friends on Instagram @whiskey_ginger_cat I would say that's a better treatment than I get on my Birthdays :-)

Well... it's actually very ordinary picture of sleeping Whiskey. Perhaps I should be posting pictures of him when he is awake as this is more rare occasion. The creature sleeps a lot... and I mean a lot. He is exceptionally good at it :-)  It's nothing unusual for cats however (although I dare to claim that Whiskey is a lazy cat and he probably is less active than his other furry friends). Apparently sleeping takes up about two-third of cat's life. That sleeping habit is a result of the cat’s evolution, nutritional habits, and physiology. In the wild, cats have to hunt in order to eat, and the stalking, chasing, and killing of prey burns a lot of energy. Sleeping helps cats conserve energy between meals. House cats, like Whiskey, don't need to chase down their dinner. They are, on the contrary, served their meals (well... Whiskey is getting often gourmet meals! I wish I was fed like that!), in a timely fashion. But the instincts haven’t changed; house cats have the same genetic programming as feral cats. Not bad to be a cat, don't you think so? :-)

Who says cats don`t like water? Anna's cat Whiskey loves it. When he was a little kitten he used to take frequent baths. He would jump in a bowl of water himself, then sit in the water and purr loudly when washed. He would meow when we were trying to take him out of the water :) Here is a small video from one of Whiskey's baths.

Today Whiskey celebrated his 4th Birthday, well if you can say so and if a cat actually can celebrate. I personally don't think he understands anything, but Anna certainly celebrated by spoiling the cat with his favourite treats. He is a big cat now. Do you remember how tiny he was? You can click here to refresh your memory. Looking at the photographs below you can certainly say he grew up a lot.

Dear Atria,
I think I 'told you' before about Whiskey, Anna's cat having a friend - Fluffy. In the beginning, couple of years ago when both cats were small and were seen together all the time, Anna thought Fluffy is a girl and that she is Whiskey's girlfriend-catfriend. It was probably because Fluffy is quite small, has a lovely long ginger hair and looks like a girl. To Anna's disappointment Fluffy's owners told her that he is a boy, so cat romance theory has been abandoned. But Whiskey and Fluffy are good friends. To my amusement I have seen Whiskey actually 'inviting' Fluffy for a meal :) Well, not literally, but in a cat way. I'll tell you all about it. So one day Anna had BBQ in her garden and we all were sitting outside by the table. Then I saw Whiskey and Fluffy approaching the back door. The door was closed but there is a cat flap in the door for Whiskey to come and go as his food and bed are inside, just by the back door. Whiskey was looking around and Fluffy just quickly went through the cat flap and I suppose helped himself to the food from Whiskey's bowl. Whiskey was standing all the time outside the cat flap, looking around, looking at all the people and I thought somehow guarding the door, so Fluffy can have his meal inside. After few minutes Fluffy came out and both cats innocently walked away. What do you think about it dear Atria? I think it was an invitation for a meal :-)
On the other occasion, both cats were seen by Tommy, Anna's lovely neighbour, chasing birds together. Whiskey went up the tree and Fluffy was standing by the tree waiting to catch a possible prey falling down. Tommy said that they didn't catch anything, but he was enjoying himself watching the joint efforts.
I am curious how they communicate with each other and come up with their strategies, but I am convinced they actually are working together and that there is some sort of cat-friendship between them. What do you think dear Atria?

Dear Atria,
Do you remember the first pictures of Whiskey I posted for you over 2 and half years ago when Anna bought her cat Whiskey? He was very cute then, I have to admit, and now his ‘baby’ photographs advertise cat exhibition on the website Anna designed for the company she works for. You can see his picture here :-)

I personally don't like cats in the house as they shed a lot of hair and they scratch furniture and wallpaper. Whiskey is certainly doing it. Unfortunately Anna doesn't mind and in her house she lets the cat to do whatever he wants. I disagree with this and Whiskey knows it well and every time when I come to visit Anna he quickly runs out of the room and jumps in to his sleeping basket pretending he has been there all the time. He looks very innocent then and he behaves like a perfect cat in front of me. He is very clever and he can recognize my footsteps, so when I am approaching the door I can only hear his cat flap opening and the cat is out in his basket at the back of the kitchen. I think my dislike of having animals in the house developed through upbringing and also has its roots in our culture - in Iran we just did not have animals in the house and my parents considered them as unhygienic. I don't think I will ever like to have a pet in the house. I like them and don't have anything against them, but I prefer to see them outdoors. What are your views dear Atria? Do you have a pet? Would you like to have one? If you would what pet would that be? I would probably be ok with a fish :-)

Dear Atria
On 12th January Whisky had his first Birthday. I know, he is just a cat and really cats don't celebrate Birthdays, but we had a little celebration as I would say 'courtesy of Whisky'. Anna thought that it is a good excuse to invite friends and spend some time together, so we organised a little Birthday party for Whisky. You can see him in the picture on the right - he was sitting on the chair in the middle of the kitchen. As you can see he is a really big cat now but he still has a little cheeky face, same as he was a kitten.

Whisky received some wishes from his guests and he even was given some very 'attractive' presents: a rat, a fish and a mouse. Well, they may be attractive for the cat, but I would imagine it is not what you or me would wish for our Birthdays :-) The good point is that they were toys only, not a real rat, mouse or fish - I think it might have been nice for Whisky, but certainly not for the guests.
He also had two Birthday cards. He obviously couldn't read them and he didn't know what's going on, but we had a lot of laugh and fun writing his cards and giving him all the attention.

I was just thinking that you may be wondering how is Whisky doing... You saw his pictures when he was a tiny kitten, only few weeks old and he has grown up since. He is now almost 10 months old and he is a big boy. When Anna took him to the vet for the first time his weight was only 800g and now he weights over 5kg. He is a very joyful and playful creature. He runs a lot around the house, plays with his toys and catches all the flies. He also goes out to the garden on his own. Anna's neighbors have two cats, so Whisky plays with them a lot. It is a joy to watch them running around together. I would like you to see them playing. Hope you will like it too. As you can see Whisky is now an independent and outgoing cat, but still he cuddles his blanket the same way as when he was a baby and he runs back come like crazy every time when Anna calls him. He doesn't come to me, but only responds to Anna's voice. I think you would like Whisky very much.

Dear Atria, 
All Beings get attached to the surrounding and environment they live in and feel more comfort in familiar environments. 
This video shows Whisky in his bed in the sitting-room, cuddling his blanket and getting ready for his daily nap in the peak of comfort and security. We too get attached to the enviroment we live in and to the people close to us. We all can recall moments in our lives when we have felt discomfort or even fear when in unfarmiliar surroundings or when with strangers. 
One should always remember that all those now close to us were once strangers and all those places which give us feeling of comfort and security were once unfamiliar to us. Nor the places neither the people have changed, it is our feeling towards them which have changed.

Anna has chosen a name for her kitten and since last Wednesday the kitten is called Whisky. How do you like the name dear Atria? Anna's friends from work came up with many different ideas for a name for her kitten, like Sparkle, Marmalade, Ginger, Mumburak, Carot, Nefretete, Diver, Alf and many other names I cannot even remember. I wasn't particularly happy with any of them and if it was up to me I would possibly call her Cat, but when Anna decided to call her Whisky I quite liked the idea. Her colour actually is like a colour of Whisky.  
On Saturday we took Whisky to the vet for a health check and to vaccinate her against all the cats diseases. The vet listen to her tiny heart, checked her eyes, ears, paws, coat and said that it is perfectly healthy kitten, but it is not a girl but a BOY. We were absolutely speechless as the kitten was sold to Anna as a rare ginger female, Anna wanted to have a girl and she was searching for the perfect kitten for some time. Well, Anna already fell in love with this little creature and although he is not what she wanted, he is her kitten and she refused to take him back to the dishonest seller. So here he is - Mr Cat - Whisky - a boy!

Yesterday Anna got a kitten. She always wanted to have one, so here is the new member of our family dear Atria :-) It is a girl. She looks very sweet and cute when she is asleep but it is a little monster. She runs around a lot, plays with her mouse and other toys or with our hair. She likes pulling them while sitting on my shoulder. She is a nice to play with and to cuddle, but also having a cat, or any pet brings responsibility. You need to take good care of your kitten - feed her regularly, make sure she always has a bowl of clean water, prepare comfortable place for her to sleep making sure she is worm and happy, take her to vet for health check up and for all the necessary vaccination cats need to protect them from diseases. You need to spend time with her, play with her, cuddle and pet her, so she feels loved and safe. It is responsibility to take care of your cat, so if you ever decide to have one remember that it is not only a cute little creature to cuddle, but it is a living being which needs your care and attention.