LAVALIER CATTERY

Hello Nikolay and Svetlana,

... Here is a summary of events ... :

- When we took Julie to the vet a couple of days after we brought her home, the vet was positively impressed with the professionalism exhibited by the records you had provided, and Julie's friendly temperament. "What a fabulous breeder!" was her remark.

- Julie is proving to be an exceptional cat, bar none, in terms of intelligence and affection displayed towards us. Read on...

- She will greet us at the door at practically all times when we return home from being out.

- She absolutely loves to be petted, and will lie down beside us and purr when we pet her.

- She will play 'fetch' frequently when we throw a toy mouse away from her. It is easy to see that she likes variety during play: She will run halfway down the basement stairs and look up to get us to throw the toy mouse down the stairs, then run down with it, catch it, bring it up to us, deposit it at our feet (or close by), then run in the opposite direction onto the couch, crouch and wait for us to throw the mouse in the opposite direction. (She is, of course, a Siberian aristo-cat; she will play fetch only when she wants to.)

- Once, I was looking for the toy mouse I had thrown for her and thought was under our bed. I could not see it anywhere in the bedroom. So I asked her: "Julie, where is the mouse? Where is the mouse?" She kept looking at me. I thought, of course, "How can she understand what I want", and went into the living room thinking that the toy mouse was there. While I was looking in the living room for the elusive toy mouse, I spotted Julie at the door of the bedroom, toy mouse in her mouth, looking at me as if to ask: "Is this the mouse you are looking for?"

- Once Akila was sitting on the couch, watching TV. Julie came up to him, looked up, then grabbed his foot and bit him. (Not too hard, but enough to get his attention.) Akila, in true teen fashion of course, started exploding. I said: "She is saying, get me the mouse from under the couch; I can't reach it." I added, "What? Don't you speak 'cat' yet?" Akila looked at me, got on all fours, looked under the couch, and sure enough: There was the elusive toy mouse.

- She comes to our bed in the morning to say "good morning". Sometimes at around 2:30 a.m., sometimes at around 3:30 a.m., then followed by at around 5:30 a.m. when we get up. Lies on my chest and purrs, with her paws (claws sheathed, of course) against my neck. Sometimes, the 'good morning' is expressed as a solid, wet lick on my face. I seem to be the primary target of affection (much to Harsha's chagrin)... Akila says this is because I spent a week with her at home when we brought her.

- She caught a real, live mouse recently inside our house, but did not know how to kill it. She came to us with a proud look on her face, with the mouse, as if to say "See what I did!". The mouse came running to Harsha, pretty much saying "Save me!". Harsha ran away, screaming. When we tried to get the mouse from her, she flopped down on it as if to say "My mouse!". We managed to distract Julie, catch the mouse in a trash can and throw it out. (We get one or two mice in the house every Fall. In Julie's defense, I did "warn" the mice around the house saying "If you come in, well: Surprise...!" The Spring-mouse was a first this year. This Fall should prove to be interesting.)

- She used to come and sleep between us in bed, at our feet, but not anymore. Prefers the basement now. (Got to watch for them mice, I guess...)

- She absolutely loves to go out in our yard. We have her on a harness and leash, with the well-being of the local chipmunks and squirrels at heart. (She stalks them anyway... One of these days, she will figure out that trees can be climbed, to chase after the squirrels. That would provide some entertainment and rescue-exercise opportunities to the local Fire Department.)

I think that should do for now...  We will keep you posted.

Please don't hesitate to drop by if you happen to be driving by Deep River. You are welcome to drop by even if not really passing through...!

Best regards,

Uditha

7/10/2014

Hello Nikolay and Svetlana,

I trust all is well with you. We are doing well. Thought of sharing a couple of Julie's pictures with you, taken in June.

She is doing fine.

- Thirty-three-ish inches long from tip of nose to tip of tail.

- She caught a mouse recently inside our house, but did not know how to kill it. She came to us with a proud look on her face, with the mouse. The mouse came running to Harsha, saying "save me". Harsha ran away screaming. We managed to distract Julie, catch the mouse in a trash can and throw it out. (We get one or two mice in the house every Fall. In Julie's defense, I did warn the mice around the house saying "If you come in, well: Surprise...!" Spring-mouse was a first. This Fall should prove to be interesting.)

- She greets us at the door when we come back from work.

- She comes to bed in the morning to say "good morning". Sometimes at 2:30 a.m., sometimes at 3:30 a.m., then followed by at 5:30 a.m. Lies on my chest and purrs, with her paws (claws sheathed of course) against my neck. I seem to be the primary target of affection (much to Harsha's chagrin)...

- Used to come and sleep between us in bed, but not anymore. Now prefers the basement. (Got to watch for them mice, I guess...)

- Plays fetch with toy mice, sometimes.

- Absolutely loves to go out in the yard. We have her on a harness and leash, with the wellbeing of chipmunks and squirrels at heart. (She stalks them anyway...)

...

We would love to drop by sometime...

Best regards,

Uditha

7/9/2014

Hi!  Here is a recent picture of gryphon.

He is such a good boy!  My children love him and are looking forward to his first birthday!  My husband and I also get much pleasure from him.  Visitors are always amazed at how friendly and chirpy he is! 

He is already 11 lbs.  very well behaved, he is quiet when we are asleep, he comes to wake us every morning at 530 am, and brings us a toy mouse as a gift. 

As you can see, he is very tolerant of the children and they love carrying him around the house and he seems to enjoy the attention.   He sleeps with my 4 year old and gently wakes him up when nap time is over.  Gryphon sits very well when I brush him and and when I trim his nails. 

His newest trick is that he catches flies and eats them!  And he's quite accurate and fast.  

He's learned not to run outside but you can tell he really wants to explore the yard.   I wouldn't mind if he played on the grass but he wants to explore the flower beds.  Then his underside gets so dirty, it takes a long time to brush him out. 

Surprisingly he will be curious and join my six year old in the shower.  I don't encourage it, but find it amusing. 

We recently babysat my neighbours 12 yr cat- easily 15 lbs.  Gryphon quickly asserted his dominance, would wrestle the other cat, hog the food, and would position himself at a higher spot to watch him ie from a chair, or stair.  The interesting thing was gryphon stopped playing with us when he was defending our house from the other cat! 

Anyhow, I cannot express how pleased I am with gryphon. 

Take care!! Viola