Onineko! Or, Home Is Where the Cat Is.

I live with two catsisters. They were adopted from a local shelter, where they had arrived as motherless ferals. They came to live with me on December 19, 2002, when they were about about twelve weeks old. After hiding under the bed and behind the couch for three days, they noticed that they were cats, and proceeded to take over the apartment as their private dominion.

Their names are Tsuki and Hoshi, which mean "moon" and "star", as you can see in this dictionary. You can see how to write their names to the right. [Japanese characters for Tsuki and Hoshi]

Tsuki was originally solid gray (like a Russian Blue or a Korat), though she has gradually developed hints of tabby markings -- lines on her forehead and rings on her tail. Hoshi is black with a white patch on her chest (just under her chin) and a couple other random white hairs here and there.

I've always suspected that one of their parents may've been a pure or near-pure Blue who got out and joined the feral colony they came from (in the East Palo Alto bayshore wetlands). Tsuki has the coloring, and Hoshi has the build. And Tsuki likes to play fetch sometimes. I didn't even have to teach her how, she just hopped up on the bed one morning with a toy, and brought it back when I threw it. This habit is actually mentioned in the official breed description.

2002 Dec 24 This is what the kittens looked like less than a week after they arrived from the shelter.
2002 Dec 25 How do you get that spinny mouse out of the plastic thing?

2002 Dec 25 Taking a well-deserved rest from mouse-hunting, under the bed-desk.
2002 Dec 25 Here we see one of the kittens reveal her true nature, while devouring the offerings left in her ~~altar~~ food-bowl.
2002 Dec 26 Tsuki mugs for the camera.
2002 Dec 26 Who me? Nibble on wires? Nah . . .
2002 Dec 28 Behold the mighty power of Obscene Cuteness. All together now: Awwwww . . . (Note also the stylish new collars. If you look closely, you may be able to discern the little moons and stars.)
2002 Dec 28 Pet us! Love us!
2002 Dec 29 Tsuki expresses her opinion of my incessant shutterbugging.
2003 Jan 24 "What do you mean, it's for cooking? It looks like a good hiding place to me..." Guess I'll have to scrub out that bowl before using it, next time . . .

2003 Jan 25 Kittens are snuggly . . .
2003 Feb 1 . . . and huggable . . .
2003 Feb 3 . . . and make good lap-warmers.
2003 Feb 9 Cats absorb the energy of the sun with an efficiency far greater than the most effective solar cell. Sadly, they use this energy for the sole purpose of converting cat-food into Litterbox Art.
2003 Feb 10 Tsuki defends her territory from invading coat-hangers.
2003 Feb 11 These cats are obsessed with being under things. The bed. The covers on the bed. The rug-runner next to the counter. Feet . . .
2003 Feb 19 Remember, good hygiene is almost as important . . .
2003 Feb 23 . . . as getting your full fourteen hours of sleep every day.
2003 Feb 24 The mighty cat-tower has been delivered.
2003 Feb 24 Hoshi checks out the view over the patio railing. "It's better than television!"
2003 Feb 24 Tsuki follows her sister up the tower.
2003 Feb 24 The sisters engage in mortal combat, competing to capture the rainbow-colored ball. Hoshi appears to have lost track of where the ball went . . .
2003 Feb 24 Later, Hoshi relaxes in the tower's triangle swing. It's like a hammock, for cats.

That's all for now. I just want you to know that it's a royal pain in the butt removing "green-eye" from these photos. The camera compensates for the human version automatically. Silly human-centric engineers.

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