Our new Hobby: cat companions

Ok, we admit it. We have a full time hobby now. Cat watching, cat caring, plus cat rubbing, feeding, brushing, and cleaning up after....we love it...them...

 Cleo hunts flowers. She will bring them home, one after another, all afternoon long. She favours camellias...

Funny girl, that Ziva

Ziva, up close

Ziva, even closer

Computer cat...Cleo. See the white whiskers?

Scenes from the student's life

Scott/Dad/Poppy in office 17/9/10

Wildlife on campus

Kangaroos on campus

There is a healthy population of kangaroos on our campus. I believe there are 16 of them living as a group. They wander the entire property, but like to spend afternoons on the mown grass, amid the students. They will not really tolerate being touched, but they do come close, and often can be found lying in the shade, resting on an elbow, munching away.

Ziva and Cleo, our new family members

We were delighted to be able to "rescue" these two cats from a life in a pet store. Abandoned with the rest of their litter, they were all sick and tiny, about 8 weeks old when they arrived at the doorstep of the store. These two took longer to become healthy and by the time they did the others had been adopted. These two could not compete for the affections of potential new families, against the charms of younger kittens, so they gradually became the '"Store cats', living their days in a cage.
We feel in love with them and their gentle natures and offered to take them on. The store was happy to see them leave as a pair, but were sad to lose the friends they had had, for almost a year.

They have adapted well, and are now quite happy to wander our property, sleep beside us in the evenings, and generally have the life of pampered cats. We are enjoying them very much.

Can't tell them apart? Sometimes we can't either. Cleo has white whiskers, and Ziva is thinner, with a gold patch on half of her chin....

Cleo

Ziva

Their favorite place in the evening

Cats are delightful companions, independent, adaptable, not into endless appeasement, as dogs are. We love dogs too, but cats offer something special as companions. Since more cats live with human companions now than dogs, around the world, it seems the majority of companion animal relationships are in agreement with this.