Saving Mushi

I caved and bought an air conditioner on Saturday and I'm embarrassed for my reasoning.  My cat. 

The past few weeks, Mushi has really been struggling with the heat.  We've been doing all we can to keep him cool and hydrated (extra water in his food, rubbing him down with cool water around the neck and laying him in front of the fan).  Unfortunately his health weakened and he developed quick shallow breathing, panting, fever and unintentionally playing dead.  I felt bad for the little guy, it's his first summer and he has a much denser coat than Nami.  Nami has also been laying around feeling the heat, but her energy levels are much better.  She also has a few summers under her belt and her coat is finer.

With the weather reaching 49C with the humidity last week, it was a little too much for even Robert and I.  I've never owned an air conditioner and felt that not having one made me stronger.  After purchasing a behemoth portable a/c, it makes this particularly hot summer so much more tolerable. 

After 12 hours of running the a/c, Mushi was back to normal.  His breathing is steady and he's running around causing trouble like a cat should. 

little poser

Mushi was hanging out in the bathtub tonight so I decided it was a great opportunity to grab the camera.  He's almost a big man now at 9 months, the same size as Nami who is 3 years old.  He's going to be a beast!

 

hunting season

It's that time of year when the pigeon's flock to our balcony.  Sex, violence and tender moments, we've seen them all.  Nami has been enjoying this spectator sport for a few years while this is Mushi's first.  It's going to be a good hunting season.

Reflections of Nami

Dreams

Dreams are weird.  My dreams are weird.



the internet is also weird

I woke up at 6 am this morning.  Mushi was purring away beside me, his head on my pillow facing me with his little kitten breath on my nose.  It was really sweet cause he's been a bit of a jerk cat lately, but that's for another post. 
As I woke from my deep slumber, I was momentarily convinced in my dreamy state that Mushi was an Organic Salmon and I was petting it.  You know your salmon is really fresh when it purrs and what with it's shiny coat and all.  I think I may have visited St. Lawrence Market one too many times this week.  Dreams are weird.

When I was a kid, my stepfather got me into the habit writing down my dreams when I woke up.  As most kids do, I had nightmares frequently.  I had my notebook handy by the bed and when I had a bad dream I would write down what I could remember.  Also, I would draw a cool picture of my accounts, which made it fun!

One dream that I can still vividly recall now makes me laugh.  I was about 7 or 8 years old.  I was the last human on earth and it had been taken over by cows.  After failing to hide from them, I was captured and enslaved to put up posters for milk.  As I brushed the paste on a fence and put up a poster, I peered over the fence to find a huge vat of milk being stirred by the cows. Then I woke up screaming.  That has to be a terrifying way for parents to wake up.

Writing my dreams down when I was a kid was fun, but I don't think I'd enjoy the task now.  I'd sooner forget many of the dreams I've had in my adult life.

Play time

Lots of chasing and wrestling this evening.  I'm so happy they get along so well :)

Stalker Posing

Nami and Mushi show me what they're made of . . .

He's 4 months old today!

He's going to be a BIG kitty.  I think the testosterone is kicking in; his neck is getting thicker and he has a much stalkier "I'm going to kick your ass" kinda stance.  Like a Bob Hoskins.

He's also developed Cat Acne on his upper lip.  At first we thought the white was changing colour and for a couple of days we made a joke that he was developing a Hitler stache.  But after closer observation, there were tiny black bumps on the skin.  My cats had this growing up, but it usually developed under their chin.  After some research, I found the cause could be plastic food and water bowls, which is what they had.  I changed their dishes to stainless steel and the acne cleared up completely. 


Mushi sporting his acne

We're a little stumped as to the cause of Mushi's.  He drinks out of a stainless steel bowl and his food plate is ceramic.  The vet said it's most likely a reaction to something in the environment.  She suggested removing the dish soap from the counter and any plastics he may be chewing on, to keep out of reach. 

Robert removed all of his plastic based toys and our kitchen counter is spotless all the time with chemicals put away; like child proofing.

It's been a week since it first appeared and it seems to be slowly clearing up.  Hopefully we've tucked away the cause and he heals to his adorable self again.



Mushi and the 7D test

A short video of Mushi using the Canon 7D. 

Lens: Canon 50mm f/1.4

The leg swats are the biggest clue...

Project 365 commences

Project 365 commences today. I eagerly grabbed the camera this morning when I got up and started shooting around the apartment, testing out the flash and umbrella and my new Tamron 90mm lens I got for Christmas.

As new and exciting as this is right now, I can see myself struggling from time to time with this challenge. Some days I probably won't want to even look at my camera and those will be the days where my photos are less than great. The point of Project 365 is to take 1 photo every day for a year, but that doesn't mean that every photo has to be a work of art with perfect lighting and balance. I expect to have quite a few lack lustre candids.

I'm going to try my best to post one per day; no guarantees. All 365 photos will appear but I may have to lump some of them together on days as I won't be able to pay as much daily attention here as I'd like to.

Photo 1/365:  Our kitty Nami.  She behaved fairly decently for her photoshoot today.