Dusky’s 3rd Birthday

16/04/14: HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our beautiful boy Dusky who is 3 today! So far we have had tuna up on the roof but prawns will arrive later today. He is currently chilling out in the sun with his buddies. Dusky is still the sweetest of our furry animal family. He hates any hassle and is quite the sophisticated boy. Recently he has enjoyed more strokes and fuss from Chris and I which is lovely, but a lot of the time he is happy in his own space, knowing that he is loved and that his cat buddies are close and his best buddy Kasper is always ready to play!

14/06/13: Wow another year has gone by and already we have had the pleasure of our beautiful little man for 2 years. He is the sweetest, kindest cat and loved by all. Enjoy some recent photos of our handsome fellow. Every year I will think about what would have happened to him if Chris hadn’t persuaded me that we were going for a walk along the beach that night. Dusky was lucky and so were we. I would have loved him anyway, but when we rescued a funny little black scrap of a kitten, I don’t think we imagined he would turn into quite such a gorgeous cat. This is part of the joy of rescuing a stray cat and especially a kitten. Happy anniversary Sweetheart. We love you and your fish breakfast is on its way.

14/06/12: Today is Dusky’s first year anniversary with us! It is a special day and our cats will be having fish for breakfast to celebrate. Chris and I cannot imagine not having this very loveable little chap, and I am SO SO grateful that Chris made me go for a walk that evening one year ago. I was feeling lazy and if we hadn’t gone to the beach we would not have Dusky, and maybe he would not have had the chance to grow into the beautiful, affectionate cat he is today!

He is friends with ALL my cats, even Saidi who has been seen to give him the occasional lick or kiss! The other day he was lying right next to her on a sun bed! Oscar is his best playmate, Mori his father figure, and Fleur his second playmate, although she is a big drama queen when he chases her around. We all love our little man, and Chris and my only wish is that he would submit to cuddles more because he is SO soft and cute! He really is our easiest most laid-back cat, and apart from one strange day when something scared him and he grew to twice his fur size! pinned back his ears, and acted ‘possessed’, he is completely sweet natured, respectful and fun-loving.

He loves playing with us and our cats, but is also a very independent little man. He knows exactly what he likes, and has made one of the cat beds his own. Most nights he sleeps there, right next to my side of the bed, and if he hears me wake in the night he will start to purr immediately! We always know if he has entered a room as Dusky is a very chatty cat. He even talks to himself a lot when he plays! He also has this loveable habit of snoring quite loudly. He actually purrs the most of all our cats, when you stroke him, and also all around my legs when I am in the kitchen. Dusky is definitely a foody! He IS just gorgeous!!!

We still don’t understand why he was alone on the beach, and sometimes wonder if he was just lost, but I know his life is better with us. He is happy and healthy and has 4 cat friends and 2 human slaves. Life is sweet!!!

Dusky's First Anniversary

Dusky's First Anniversary

Dusky's First Anniversary

16/04/12: Dusky our lovely little boy is all grown up. Today is his official first birthday. He didn’t actually become a very big cat, but is a sturdy, very handsome male, and his cute rounded face and slightly longer hair does show signs of some Persian genes. He remains a very friendly cat with humans and cats alike, has his favourite places to sleep, including a cat basket by our bed, and while he loves playing with Oscar in particular, is quite independent and strong minded. He also endearingly snores and snorts so we usually know where he is without looking too hard! These new photos were taken yesterday and earlier in the week. He is completely gorgeous and we are very happy that we found him, and that our little man is safe and happy.

Our Handsome Boy

Our Handsome Boy

Our Handsome Boy

Our Handsome Boy

Sunbed Time

Sunbed Time

Sunbed Time

Sunbed Time

15.11.11: Today I decided to weigh Dusky again as he is now just 7 months old. He is already close to 5kg! This weigh-in was partly inspired by an email conversation with Petra, Lancelot’s Mum:”I am having Christian over for lunch and showed him a picture of Dusky. Christian is the doctor who is the expert in cat genetics… I do not want to shock you but he thinks that Dusky is probaly a maine coon/domestic short hair mix – he says the shape of his face (nose/mouth region) is typical for this! These mixes can reach 8 – 9 kg, especially the male ones when fully grown! They grow till the age of 2 or 2 1/2. Lancelot is today at 6.8 kg and I wonder where this will lead us to … You obviously have something big in the neighbourhood.” I think I already have something quite big in my apartment! and also completely adorable!

29/10/11: Our baby cat is now 6.5 months old and he does seem to get bigger every week! It was definitely time for some new photos, so yesterday evening and this morning I took some on our balcony. The last one shows how much he has grown, as he is lying in the same cat tree bed as in one of his first photos! He remains very playful, and sometimes he makes Fleur angry because he fights too hard with her, but he doesn’t actually mean to upset anyone. He is the sweetest little boy, full of fun and love, and no aggression. He is still very respectful to Saidi too, and doesn’t try to play with her. I hope he stays this way, because she needs a big gentle cat to be on her side sometimes, when ‘team Mori’ get a little too much for her!!!

Our only very small complaint about Dusky is that he is SO gorgeous and kissable and has the softest fur, but he DOES NOT like to be cuddled. Dusky is a proper boy and likes to play and fight and run around, AND to eat!!! AND he snores like a real man!!!

BIG Handsome Dusky

BIG Handsome Dusky

BIG Handsome Dusky

BIG Handsome Dusky

BIG Handsome Dusky

BIG Handsome Dusky

BIG Handsome Dusky

BIG Handsome Dusky

Pretty Little Fleur

Pretty Little Fleur

06/10/11: Dusky has had an interesting morning. He has been castrated! Before his operation he weighed in at a very strapping 4kg! 4 other kittens went with him and when we collected them 3 hours later our little boy was already very awake. Miguel gave me 2 tins of delicious Maestro chicken food, and on arriving home, Dusky ate both in quick succession. He was very hungry and apart from a lot of licking seems none the worse for his experience.

22/09/11: Dusky IS now officially registered to me, and very happy about this as life is very good for him. He has 2 servants, a lovely home with lots of things to play with and 4 cat friends. My big boys Mori and Oscar regularly play fight with him, and little Fleur has slowly come around to playing with him, although she still screeches when he tries to be rough. We secretly think this is her banshee call though, as she fights hard herself and frequently beats Oscar! Dusky as you can see is heading towards being a BIG boy, and at 5 months is already the same size as Fleur, and over 3.5kg. For her sake his little snip will be scheduled soon. Dusky remains very respectful of my older female Saidi so she rather likes him which is an added bonus, AND after all he is just gorgeous!

Our Beautiful BIG Kitten

Our Beautiful BIG Kitten

Our Beautiful BIG Kitten

Our Beautiful BIG Kitten

Our Beautiful BIG Kitten

Our Beautiful BIG Kitten

Big Gentle Mate Oscar

Big Gentle Mate Oscar

Big Gentle Mate Oscar

Big Gentle Mate Oscar

AND, like Oscar, Dusky loves food!

With Oscar

Little Strumpet Fleur

27/07/11: Chris and I have spent the last 2 days in Barcelona and understandably our cats were very pleased to have us back, despite Jenny being a great cat-sitter! Dusky did a lot of rushing about and playing and then stretched out for a cool snooze! Just in case anyone was wondering, this little man will not be on the next transport to Germany. He is ours for keeps. We all (even Fleur) love him! For Dusky himself, there was never any doubt, that he had found his home!!!

20/07/11: So far Dusky hasn’t managed to get stuck anywhere, but Fleur has yet to lure him up onto the roof turrets to watch the birds. His main buddy remains Oscar with Mori playing the role more of surrogate father, but also up for fights. Last night Dusky was at vet Miguel’s for his blood test (negative) and more vaccinations. He weighed in at a pretty muscular (for a 3 month old kitten) 2kg! and is looking just fantastic!!!

11/07/11: Yesterday was a very exciting day for Dusky. Not only did he join in with the big guys for his first proper prawn breakfast but he also managed to scale the wall of our roof terrace, and head off across the rest of the roof with our little torty Fleur. This probably means that over the next few days we may have to rescue him if he gets stuck somewhere and can’t jump up or down but this is all part of growing up for him.

10/07/11: Dusky is definitely now part of the gang. When I open the door to the roof terrace, he is often the first to rush out. He loves running after, string, balls and insects in the big open space, and I think will soon be able to jump up onto the wall giving him access to the rest of the roof. For now he can’t quite make it, so when the big cats head off to explore, leaving him alone, Dusky comes back to base asking for attention or his favourite fishy mousse. In 3 short weeks he has learnt to be quite a demanding little fellow.

I think it is true to say that even Fleur and Saidi are fond of him now whilst Mori continues to be the father figure, and Oscar is his best mate, running and chasing with him often. Dusky is growing fast and looking fantastic. He still has grey stripes and red highlights in his black fur, but his coat is now looking thicker and healthier after 3 weeks of love and good food.

03/07/11: Dusky still hasn’t started to learn German! Every night I wake up several times to find our little chap sleeping either snuggled between or on one of our pillows, OR against one of our legs. He is always happy to be stroked and purrs away loudly. Whenever he gets the chance he loves to play with the big cats, but the rest of the time he comes to find either Chris or I when he wants company. When very tired, he loves the pouffy under the bed, behind the sofa, OR the cat tree for some peace and quiet, but he does seem to know that at night, we all sleep on the bed!

28/06/11: Dusky is definitely becoming part of our family. Even Fleur is slowly accepting him and becoming more curious each day. Although he loves to play with Oscar in Particular, because he can’t yet climb across the roof with the big cats, Dusky is still very attached to Chris and I and sleeps every night on the bed with us. The other night I woke up with a weight on my head and he was sleeping in my hair! Last night he was snuggled up to Chris’s arm for half the night! He is SO sweet.

24/06/11: Progress! This afternoon I tried Dusky with some Hills kitten biscuits instead of Royal Canin, and he seems to be eating them. He has also had another 3 bowls of cooked chicken, skilfully avoiding eating the Kitten 34 dry food I had sneakily mixed in! I’m hoping he will take to the new dry food, as he does seem constantly hungry. The good news is that in one week his weight has increased from 1.1 to 1.3 kg and he has LOTS of energy. He is basically very well and also very cheeky and happy. Every night he is sleeping in between Chris and my pillows. We still haven’t started teaching him German!!!

23/06/11: Dusky is certainly a demanding little fellow. He has a slight problem with his stomach so I now don’t want him to have wet food, and he as he does not like kitten biscuits much he is not too impressed. Today he has had 2 bowls of white fish and just now 2 big bowls of cooked chicken. He was VERY insistent that he wanted more! Other news is that Mapu in Germany has fallen in love with him, so he is maybe expressing the fact that he has choices and expects great food and plenty of play!

22/06/11: Dusky has now been with us for a whole week and is a very bright, confident little chap as well as being SO cute. He has worked out where everything is in our apartment, even shooting out onto the roof terrace first thing this morning to play string and ball and chase, AND he has worked out EXACTLY what Chris and I are for! We are often disturbed by a very loud squeek, only to look down and see this tiny little fluffy kitten at our feet, usually asking for more food, since he has yet to fully accept the permanently available dry food on offer.

Oscar and Mori our boys fully accept him, Oscar runs around and plays with him, and even Mama cat Saidie has decided he is ok. Fleur is almost there. She has got to within 3 feet without hissing, and is watching him all the time. She just needs a little more confidence to join in and then she will discover I think that he is great fun to play with. This morning on the roof she was trying to lure Oscar and I into alternative games, but then stalked over to see what Dusky was up to!

Little man has taken to sleeping on the bed with Chris and I every night, as he was definitely NOT going to be shut in anther room any more. He has a loud voice for one so small! He is very happy and settled for now, although still officially a ‘foster’ cat!!

Enjoy the new photos!!!

19/06/11: Hard to imagine isn’t it how anyone could dump something SO adorable? Maybe he just got lost? On Tuesday evening Chris and I were walking along the beach path here in Almerimar when Chris spotted this little scrap of a kitten all alone under one of the benches. After one little hiss he came towards me and I was easily able to pick him up. Wrapped in a T-shirt I carried him home, and during the whole 20 mins walk he purred!!

Within 24 hours, and with a full tummy, he had his mojo back and has been exploring our apartment since. Mori our big male cats LOVES kittens so is happy to play with him and be a surrogate Dad. Oscar after the first day has also accepted him, and Saidie is just being her usual slightly solitary self.

It is Fleur who seems to most put out, maybe because she is supposed to be the baby! Actually Fleur hates anything new coming into her world, but I’m hoping with get over it in the next couple of days, and realise that Dusky might be quite good fun. He is definitely playful and seems to be a strong little character.

For now we are just loving him and enjoying having him around. No long term plans have been decided on! He is officially our ‘foster’ kitten!!!

Enjoy the photos. Dusky is an unusual colour. He has ginger highlights through his long black fur, so next to our black cat Mori, he looks almost chocolate brown.