Hot Head...

Hi there, it's Olaf! I am not too well at the moment. As you know its wintertime and freezing cold outside! So I love to snuggle up at the bathroom radiator which runs on full force (it is regulated centrally for the whole house). Anyway a few days ago I fell asleep with my head against the radiator and woke up with a bad sunburn on my forehead and eartips! Ouch!

Mom shrieked when she saw me in the morning and I was rubbed in with some stinky ointment... Mom has hung a towel in front of the radiator, so that I don't burn myself anymore.... Now my burns are better, but I have scratchmarks on my forehead because my skin was totally itchy... :(

Nori & Belle: Vacation Time

Hi, it's Nori with some really sad news. The last three weeks our neighbours were away on holiday and in secret I and my sister Belle managed to find a way through the attic to their apartment. As they had all their doors open, we spent three happy weeks sneaking away several times a day and playing in their big apartment... but now they've come back and caught us... Mom and Dad were very upset when the neighbours came and said that we both had been bad. Dad worked for hours to close all loopholes and now we can't go over there anymore... :(

And then we all had to go to the Vet to get our yearly shots... we are all superhealthy and Olaf has gained weight and is now finally healthy too. So some good news after all.

Meditation Techniques

Hideehoo! It's Olaf again. As you know I am a bit overenthusiastic and Mom thought it might make sense for me to do some meditation to calm down a little...
Today I want to show you how meditation techniques and yoga help me to find my inner self.


First Lesson: Concentrate on nothing, forget fishy and mousy and just focus on some point, such as the reflection in Mommy's glasses...





Second Lesson: Be aware that your whole body is in an open and comfortable position, so that you can open all your chakras and connect to the divine energy. Your whole body must be relaxed! Can you see my open chakras?







Third Lesson: Now that you are calm, in a relaxed position and your mind is blank, you will start to fall into the meditation state. Meditate and your mind will open!

Profile Olaf

Yo there, I'm Olaf! Hideehoo! How ya doing? Gosh, today is a real hot day and I have been laying in the sun all afternoon. I wanted to cuddle with Nori and Belle, but they just kicked me out of the cot, said that I am too warm. :( I then drank from the pond and licked the clam mommy, but the clam also told me to buzz off and her two babies giggled... The water in the pond tastes like fish, because there are two fish in there, but they disappear whenever I come near the pond...

Anyway, about me. (Pic1: this is me!) I used to live with a guy who drank a lot. There was not much food. I was quite thin, drank out of the loo and when social services found us, we both were just bags of bones. At the local cat shelter I got to know other cats, but that totally terrified me. I mean, I only remember having one dark sibling, this is why I like dark cats very much. But that many cats really made me totally nervous and I was totally aggressive.

So my new Mom and Dad came to see me for months, until I "cooled down" a little and was ready to be taken into a new home. I am quite a distrubed person, one could say. I tend to get very emotional, I am often afraid to be left out and I am a bit jealous. I really love my mommy and my daddy very much. I also like the girls, although Belle beats me up when I misbehave.

I have some issues with Taifun though. He is ok, but I think he is quite patronizing. I am just trying to live and he got all his rules and his blablabla about being the head of the house etc. I just can't hear it any longer. So I admit, I provoke fights. I also admit that he is firstly stronger than me, secondly he has a coat and I haven't, thirdly he is an apt fighter and hunter, I am not - due to lack of experience. In contrary to the girls, who got taught fighting techniques and hunting skills by the versed Taifun, I never received any formal cat training. But I am not an illiterate caveman either, I can defy gravity and run on the walls, which no other cat can! (Pic2: I can also sleep in poses that are a little... unconventional)

I am also totally easy about food, I mean, hey they got quality food here, not just pizza crusts! Still I admit, I have shown my mommy some strange preferences of food: strawberry flavoured yoghurt/ice cream, ketchup, Grissini, potatoes...

What I really love to do is to cuddle!!! I love to sneak into my daddys armpits, sleep on my mommy's lap, her shoulders or any other place which is available. (Pic3: Me, cuddling with Mommy) I sleep on my daddys lap every evening for an hour after dinner. I can also beg very well. I then stretch out myself and become the longest cat, so that I can cling to Mommy's hip and loudly beg for anything. I also love cat treats.

Check out my cool photo with the pullover. I freeze terribly in winter, this is when the green pullover is my remedy!

Profile Nori-Chan (Niyaba Noor)

Hi there! I am Nori, also called Nori-Chan, although my breeding name is Niyaba-Noor. Mom and Dad found that to be a little too long, so they changed it to Nori, as I have the same blue smoke color as the Sushi wrapping which is called Nori in Japanese. I am 2 years old and I basically grew up in this household. I am a Javanese cat, that is basically a one colored Siamese cat with a long coat and with green eyes instead of blue ones. I came in when I was very small but I received a very warm welcome not only by the humans, but also from my great-uncle Taifun and my half-sister Belle. They are family and I am happy to be here. (Pic1: me as a baby!)

Growing up wasn't easy and being a teenager is difficult for everybody. It was hard for my uncle and my sister to understand that I am an adult girl now, who can make her own choices. I know they don't approve of my affection for Olaf, but he's just crazy, different, wild. I love that! I am quite sporty and like to climb, run around, try out new ways to reach distant places and am quite courageous.

I love to watch animal shows on the telly. Mom and Dad have even bought Aquarium, Birdy and Cat DVDs for me, which I enjoy, when they project them with the beamer! Otherwise I am a totally sporty cat. We have a vast attic with vertical wooden posts and I can climb them vertically! I have also found a way to the neighbours through the attic. Sometimes there are critters in the attic, so Taifun and I keep an eye on the area. Once I caught a bat - with the help of Taifun. That was my graduation. I still sometimes dream of that, it was really exciting: a mouse that can fly!!! Its like hitting the jackpot, a birdie and a mouse in ONE! (Pic2: I have an opinion on EVERYTHING!)

I love to spend time with my sister and my uncle. When I was small he taught me all about hunting and fighting, while my sister trained me on cat etiquette and how to behave towards humans. I love to cuddle with my sister and we often sleep arm in arm. I sometimes also cuddle with Olaf, but he likes to have his peace when sleeping. He still is not quite used to other felines! (Pic3/4: My uncle and my sister always took good care of me!)

Olaf is quite an adventure for everybody. He is totally ferocious, but very affectionate at the same time. Difficult to deal with, as a cat, but full of stupid ideas. He is so playful, I am really happy to have a sparring partner for my runs and plays. I met him at the cat holiday home of the local cat shelter. Its a beautiful art nouveau villa where I have spent some weekends when no cat sitter was available and Mom and Dad were away. He had been found in the flat of a messie, malnourished, just a bag of skin and bones. It was unclear when he had last eaten. After a few months of medical treatment at the shelter he was fit enough to find a home, but who was willing to take him, a sicklish naked Devon boy? Mom and Dad liked him and were not suprised to see that I liked him too. We nose kissed through the kennel, when I left for home and a few weeks later Olaf moved in to my delight.

I love to climb and jump from the gallery down to the living room. In the evenings Mommy plays with me and brushes me. If she forgets, I run after her so long, until she remembers and does her mandatory task. I am a free spirited adventure cat, not that much of a cuddly cat like the others. Mommy and Daddy also say that I am the bravest and the smartest of the bunch, which makes me very proud.

I am mostly where Olaf is. I am helping him to adjust to family life and to become more social towards other cats. He only knows humans and has a liking for dark cats only, which probably means that he had a black or smoke mate/brother/sister once upon a time. Unfortunately we don't know his real name, nor his age. But he's a real good companion and I think he's the best!

Profile Jamala Belle

Hello my darlings! I am Jamala Belle! Isn't it just a wonderful day? The birds are chirping outside and the pond is quiet. Everyone is asleep, even Olaf, so I can finally write now. I am a 3 year old Balinese Seychelloise blue-pointed girl. Seychelloise means that on top of my blue points I have dark and light dots on my paws and face. I am a little cross-eyed and a little distracted sometimes. I am a Daddy's girl and my daddy also loves me dearly. I love to be on his lap. I love everything nice and beautiful, but I also have a dark side: I love to hunt flies! (Pic1: This is me at the fair age of 1.5)

When I came to Mommy and Daddy I was already 1.5 years old. I had lived at our breeders for longer than I had anticipated, as they first wanted to use me as a breeding cat. But as I said, I got a little cross-eyed... I hate changes, even if we have visitors I have a hard time adjusting to that. I love watching the hamster Umbra do his training routine in the wheel or bathing in the dust or working on his pumpkin sculptures, to drink off the pond (the water tastes like mussels due to the mussels living in it).

I am a total Daddy's girl. I looooove to be cuddled by my daddy. I sit on his lap in the morning during breakfast and wait for him in behind the house door until he comes home. When he is away on a business trip I am heartbroken and wait behind the door until he returns.

I also love my boyfriend Taifun, he is a noble and very good hearted cat. (Pic2: Taifun is the love of my life!) First when I met him I couldn't quite cope with his depressed nature, but now I know how to cheer him up. I can spend hours grooming him or cuddling with him. We also share treats and play a lot together. He is a really good and reliable companion.

Soon after I moved in we took in my half sister Nori. She was a baby then and as I was neutered I really enjoyed raising my little baby sister. Taifun was a very good teacher to her. Every day at 14h00 they'd meet in the attic and hunt critters together. She graduated with a bat which she brought down to all our pride. The bat was alive and Mommy took her to the bat clinic where she was released again a few months after. Bats taste terrible anyway. I love my little sister Nori (Pic3: Nori and me cuddling, as you can see I am very protective of her!), but I had quite a few arguments with her after she started dating this terrible Devon Rex Olaf. In the meantime I have adjusted to Olaf. Honestly he is even quite fun to play with and a complete fool.

He doesn't know anything about cat etiquette and is a total savage. But in the half year since he has moved in he has changed for the better. He has learned to greet, is learning to share and to show affection. The only one whom he seems to adore besides Mommy and Daddy is Nori. He's also the only one who can cope with her abundant energy! (Pic4: We are a happy family)

Profile Taifun

Hello, my name is Taifun and I am a lilac-point Siamese cat with lavender eyes. I have been neutered, but I still love a good catfight once in a while and I also still love the ladies! ;) I am eight years old and have grown quieter over the years, I love good food, being brushed, being cuddled by my girlfriend Jamala Belle, Mommy or Daddy. In summer I love to nap outside in the sun, in winter I stay indoors and warm up with my family on the radiator. I am totally addicted to chicken, I absolutely adore Chicken nuggets and simply lose all control if I smell tasty meat. My secret fetish are thin polythene bags to drool upon and my red fur mouse. It's probably the 1200th red mouse, because when I am finished playing with it, only bits and pieces are left. (Pic1: me as a baby!)

Some people may say I look odd because I am a modern siamese type with a pointy face. I look more like a canine or a fox, I also have the temper of a dog, I am very faithful, I adore my mommy and I can do basic tricks like fetching a ball. I am quite a serious type, but I can also be quite silly and playful once in a while. It is funny to see then that everybody freaks out because I show my "cute" side... (Pic2: This is me and Belle playing "spider in the corner"!)

I am a widower. I had a beautiful girlfriend, White Surprise whom we called Meisje, who died of cancer at the young age of 3. She was a real beauty, perfect white with deep blue eyes and the softest nature a cat can have. She loved everyone and everything, even critters. Instead of killing a mouse, she would protect them and even carry insects back outside instead of hurting them. She was not even a real adult then and I missed her so much that I got sick too and almost died of depression. I did not eat and went around crying for Meisje every night. I had witnessed her die. The good die young. Mommy and Daddy saw my pain and decided that I needed distraction.
(Pic3: me and Meisje cuddling)

I had been good around kittens, raising my sisters babies with her, as my breeder had told my mommy, so they brought in a young 1 year old cat called Jamala Belle, who happened to be a niece of mine. First she hated me. I was still totally focused on Meisje and just could not let go.
But gradually Jamala Belle and I grew together and now we are really very fond of eachother.
(Pic5: Belle is giving me a thorough cleanup!) Jamala Belle is a very kind person, she does not like change and is very strict with rules and regulations. She is a little cross-eyed but has the most beautiful dark blue eyes. She is a very good natured and good hearted cat, she looks out for everyone in our family.

When her baby half sister Nori moved in, we were a complete family. But like in every family the children grow up. Nori now is a gigantic Javanese girl, she is longer than me, knows no fear, can jump like an antelope. I am very proud of her. She graduated with a hunted bat! But then she made friends with that naked, half-starved guy who had been brought in through social services at the cat holiday home, where we were when Mommy and Daddy were out for a weekend... And as he did not have a home they decided to take him in. I was friendly with him at first, but he is a total savage! He drinks from the loo, runs around screaming all the time, has no manners and dares to insult me, but Nori loves him. We all try to keep him unter control, but he is my biggest challenge at the moment. At least I haven't complained of being bored for months now!

Swiss Party Cats

Dear all, this is finally our blog! We are four cats who live in the north of Basel with our Mommy and Daddy and a hamster called Imago. We live in a big duplex apartment, with two balconies (one with a mini pond). I, Taifun, am the boss of the group, although Olaf - our most recent family member challenges everything I do or say... Usually its the girls, Jamala Belle, my beloved wife or Nori, her half-sister, who also happens to be my niece.