cats and art

Cats – why aren’t cats the subject of art more often? Dogs seem to have far more fans, for some reason. The latest rental house that we’re inhabiting (currently for sale if you want an investment property – oh the joy of open houses) came with existing residents – a group (quite possibly related) of several male cats, two of which were just kittens when we moved in 6 months ago. Both kittens are black, but with totally different personalities. One quite outgoing and happy to co-habit with humans, has a tiny white spot on his chest, and I started calling Monty; and the other is quite assertive about asking for food but shies away from contact, now named Billy-bob by my daughter. The process of gaining these stray cats trust has been a slow one, with moral dilemmas along the way. The local council doesn’t have a stray cat policy, except for hiring cages to trap them ready for euthanasia. Initially, this was what I planned to do, as we adopted a neutered male cat a year ago, and he was too intimidated to venture outside. But I couldn’t bring myself to punish these poor creatures just for existing, so decided to feed them, and discourage any anti-social behaviour by spraying them with vinegar and water. I now plan to take them to be desexed, as funds allow, and return them to share our backyard. Monty has started staying in at night, and Fluffy (an older fluffy boy) is very affectionate, but unsure of Claude (our official cat). Now the question is – what happens when we have to move again? Its hard enough to find a rental property whose owner allows one cat, let alone four. But if I leave them behind, am I just as bad as the original owner who deserted their cat intact to breed? On the plus side, the older gentleman that lives next door also seems to feed them, so they shouldn’t starve….

Well that moved a long way from art about cats, but the reason I started this rambling burble is that I shot some video footage of the kittens chasing bugs – ‘cause it makes me laugh, and maybe will make others laugh too. I’ll have to find out how to upload video to a blog… maybe youtube is the way to go.