The King of Fluff

Tags

animal, cat, DEFRA, kitten, moving, pet

When normal people move houses, they get a few boxes, a couple of suitcases, pack their stuff and GO!

Me, on the other hand… a whole new story. My move will involve 50 boxes (that zero is not a typo!), 3 rounds (my junk stuff by van, my cat by car, myself by plane) and 2 people (Mr. Van Driver & my dad – thanks Dad!).

In order to make sure the Queen of England has no objections for the King of Fluff to come to her kingdom, some preparations were in order.

(Picture credit: my lovely boyfriend)

Besides English-izing Alfie’s appearance, some additional things had to be taken care of. The official checklist for taking cats to the UK (from the EU) mentions these things:

* Step 1 – Have your cat microchipped.

* Step 2 – Have your cat vaccinated against rabies. The length of the waiting period before entry to the UK is 21 days after the vaccination date.

* Step 3 – Get your cat an EU passport.

For more details and the requirements for non-EU countries, check out the info on the DEFRA website link>>.

Alfie’s already got a chip and a passport (how could a purrfect cat NOT have those already?!) and we took him for the rabies vaccination back in January.

So we’re all set! Queen of England, get ready for the King of Fluff!

The Good, the Bad and the Weird cat stories of January

Tags

cat, cat news, kitten, pet

Can’t believe how fast January went by. I don’t mind though, since I can’t wait for it to be spring.

These are the cat-related stories that caught my attention in January. Enjoy!

THE WEIRD – The Woman That Eats Cat Hair

Meet The Real Crazy Cat Lady: Lisa is a 43-year-old woman from Detroit who eats cat hair. She even became addicted to it and cannot go for longer than 2 hours without it. You may find this strange, but to her, it’s a true bonding and relaxing experience. Next time someone calls me a crazy cat lady I’ll just show them this video:

THE CRAZY – Bike Riding Cat

Forget about a cat carrier, forget even about a basket… just pop your cat on the back of your bike and go!

THE UNBELIEVABLE – Cat Travels 200 Miles to Return to Owners and Baffle Scientists

This is a true example of cat-determination. Holly the house cat disappeared from her owners’ vacation house, but returned home after a 2-month, 200-miles trip. Although no one can really explain how she managed such an incredible achievement, her owners are for sure happy to have her back.

THE FANCY – Blue Star Jets ‘FURst Class Service’

Blue Star launched a hyper-luxury FURst class pet travel service. The flight attendants love pets, have canine and cat culinary skills and are well trained in all safety measures. Alfie, this is how you’re going to London. Deal?

THE I-wish-Alfie-would-do-this – Is this the smartest cat alive?

How impressive is this?

Have a great week everyone!

The Perfect Flat vs The Purrfect Cat

Tags

apartment, cat, flat, home, house, kitten, rent

After weeks of online searching and endless viewings, we have finally found the Perfect Flat. It was large enough to keep all my unnecessary “stuffs” (as my Italian friend likes to call them). It had a soul. And a park view. And everything in it was brand new. So we made an offer. We even agreed on the moving in date. And we were sooo happy. I was already browsing the IKEA catalog when Andy called to tell me the Bad News: the landlord “does not want any animals in his new flat”.

Well let me tell you something Mister. Alfie IS NOT AN ANIMAL! He is a fluffy, affectionate and funny little guy. The fluffy little guy that makes our house feel like home. HOW EVEN DARE YOU SUGGEST WE LEAVE HIM BEHIND??? You soulless person?

What may have seemed like the perfect flat initially, was in fact anything but. A flat isn’t perfect without our purrfect cat. So here we are, continuing our quest to find the Perfect Flat for our Purrfect Cat. Wish us Good Luck

What Cat Heaven probably looks like

Tags

cat, cat toys, heaven, kitten, pet

I think I have a cat-toy buying addiction… and I love it! There’s hardly any visit to the cat shop that does not end up in at least one new toy for Alfie.

I was tidying up the other day and realized just how many mice he’s got. Go on, have a guess…

7? 10? 17? Nope. 20! Alfie’s got more mice than I have shoes. Yup.

And talking about mice, what do you think Cat Heaven looks like? I imagine endless supplies of tuna and cheese treats and cat trees and tunnels and scratching posts and never ending bags to investigate and keyboards to sit on and enticing catnip fragrance in the air…

Have a heavenly weekend everyone

xoxo

P.S. Thank you all for the lovely comments on my last post!

Follow your heart

Tags

cat, follow your heart, heart, kitten, london, love, moving, pet, uk

Happy New Year everyone!

Hope you all had a lovely New Year’s Eve and wish you all a fabulous 2013! So sorry for the lack of activity in the last month, but please let me explain… It’s been 3 months since Andy (the boyfriend) moved to the UK. And while it’s been extremely nice to have Alfie’s love all to myself, it hasn’t been that fun without Andy around. So I have taken one of the Biggest Decisions Ever, and decided to follow my heart and move to London! Because if love is not a good enough reason to make such a change, then nothing is. So as of March I’ll be ditching my bike and clogs for an oyster card and lots of Earl Grey. I’ll keep my umbrella though, since the weather’s not gonna get any better, is it.

I can’t even explain how excited & happy I am. I’ve started to organize the move very enthusiastically. Although my enthusiasm will probably fade away by next week because, as you can imagine, I’ve got loads of (too many) bits and bobs I’ve accumulated over the years that need to cross the channel somehow. So it’s not exactly like I can fit everything in a table-cloth and put it on a stick over my shoulder. Things will probably get crazy at times, but I’m sure it will all be worth it in the end.

A MAJOR part of the move is Alfie of course. So expect loads of posts on this topic.

If you have any recommendations for London or experience with moving cats to the UK (or even to a new home) please share them in the comments below.

Thanks for sticking with me and looking forward to an exciting 2013!

xoxo

Alfie’s Christmas presents

Tags

cat, cat food, christmas, haul, kitten, pet, shopping

Can’t believe it’s already Christmas! When did the last 23 days happen?

Flying back home for Xmas (home = Romania/Transylvania) I was thinking how peaceful airplane rides make me feel, probably thanks to the lack of Internet (no pressure to keep up with all the tweets, links, blogs, vlogs and Facebook updates), coupled with the fact that it’s always sunny! I mean seriously, don’t you just love that about flying?

Anyways, back to the point of this post. I wanted to share with you what I got Alfie for Christmas…

… wet and dry cat food (chicken and lamb – he’s never had lamb before, but hopefully he will like it), loads of cat treats, cat toys: balls, mice, and a Xmas themed dangling thingy with jingle bells (yes, I’m probably more excited about this than Alfie is – sad, I know!). Oh, the Xmas tree and the Xmas bell are for my friends’ very adorable dogs, Luna and Bella. Luna already seems to love her present:

Of course Alfie couldn’t wait and HAD to check out everything the moment I got home.

And boy, he checked it thoroughly, because in the 3 minutes between setting the stuff for the picture and getting my camera this happened…

The joys of having a Birman… are all Birmans little fluff eating machines? Alfie would seriously spend whole day eating if he could.

Wish you a wonderful Christmas and a purrfect New Year! xoxo

Human food treats for cats

Tags

animal, cat, food, huma food, kitten, nutrition, pet

I tried to come up with a funny/inventive title for this post but creativity is clearly escaping me today, so nevermind…

Here are the human foods Alfie absolutely adores. And since I can never resist those big blue eyes, I always end up sharing a little bit (a pea sized amount) of my food with him. Because sharing is caring.

Do you treat your cat with any human food?

A day in Alfie’s life

Tags

Alfie, animal, cat, day in the life, kitten, pet

5.31 Get bored and start scratching the carpet

5.32 Get kicked out of the bedroom

7.30 Oana’s alarm goes off

7.30 Start scratching the door and meowing. Continue scratching the door and meowing until Oana gives up any hope of snoozing and goes up to give food

7.36 Purr-eat breakfast (Alfie doesn’t just eat, he PURR-EATS. That is, purring while eating!)

7.40 Go back to the bedroom, go on the window sill behind the curtains and watch outside the window

8.45 Ignore Oana’s calls and bye byes, pretend not to hear her and continue to watch outside the window

8.57 Fight with the pigeons outside

9.12 Sleep on the chair

11.56 Sleep on the floor

14.43 Sunbathe

17.33 Sleep on the stairs

18.30 Hear the keys in the front door downstairs, go to the door and scratch and meow

18.31 Oh no, false alarm. It’s only the neighbor

18.45 Hear the keys in the front door again, go to the door and scratch and meow

18.46 Oana’s back. Wait for her on top of the stairs and say hello!

18.56 Be all sweet and cuddly (a small price to pay to get some yummy treats)

18.57 Get the yummy treats

19.05 Repeat previous activity

19.06 Get more yummy treats

19.10 Go by the food bowl and make the puppy kitten eyes face

19.11 Get dinner (the kitten eyes worked!)

19.12 Purr-ear dinner

19.30 Play

20.30 Just as Oana’s about to start having dinner, start scratching the carpet

20.31 Scratch carpet, get shot with the water-gun, run away growling

21.00 Play, growl, meow, run, throw stuff up, run, growl, purr, jump, …

22.12 Go up the throne and sleep in a ridiculous position

22.57 Wake up, meow

22.58 Go sit near Oana on the couch, pretend to be a polar bear

23.12 Cuddle, air box, be all sweet, purr, meow

23.15 Run away, meow

23.17 Scratch carpet, get shot with the water-gun, run away growling

23.56 Follow Oana downstairs

23.59 Cuddle, air box, be all sweet, purr, meow

0.30 Go to sleep on my legs. Good night!

Early Xmas wishlist

Tags

animal, cat, christmas, kitten, pet, shopping, wishlist, xmas

You all know well by now that if something’s got a cat on it I will probably want it. So here are some of the things I’ve been obsessing over lately:

* Bloom Room Pet Bed link>>

* Alessi Cat Bowl link>> (Totally loving anything Alessi - if only they were not 10 times more expensive than all the others)

* Cat iPhone cover link>>

* Lounger Cat Scratcher Link>> (Why should you buy a boring looking scratching post when you can buy THIS?!)

Can’t wait till Xmas… still a month and a half to go and I’m already burning cinnamon candles and making Xmas wishlists…

Belated Happy Halloween!

Tags

animal, cat, halloween, kitten, pet, pumpkin, roses

Last time I went to the cat shop I spotted a new arrival to the Schesir family: the Tuna-Pumpkin dinner. What better way for Alfie to celebrate Halloween? (I refuse to dress him up in silly costumes, so this is pretty much the closest he gets to the Halloween spirit).

But there’s always a problem with trying to take pictures of Alfie. Usually, he will just not participate in the session (pretty difficult to pull off when he’s the main character). This time however, he decided to eat the props. Pfff… this cat!

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!