Prince Eugen

These are also photos by Andy. This is Prince Eugen (pronounced Oi-Gun) who really belongs to one of Andy's neighbors. Prince Eugen likes it better at Andy's house though so he is pretty much Andy's cat. One weekend Andy called me asking for the name of my cats vet. Prince Eugen's extra toes were all messed up. Turns out he wasn't able to dull down the nails on his own and they had curled around and was growing back into the paw. Ouch! The vet of course fixed him right up and now I believe Andy has to trim the nails every so often and remember the cat isn't even really his (yeah right!)

Okay time for a nap



If you must

I love a good cat tale so I couldn't resist the photos.

Until Next Time. . . . .

Kathleen

Oscar Snuggling with Damian's Foot

This is my "little" 19-1/2 lb baby Oscar snuggling with Damian's foot. I can't believe the little guy has gotten so big. When the shelter found him they told me he was just a little kitty that barely weighed 1 lb. He must eat all day while we are at work because he doesn't seem to eat as much as Lucy does. Lucy is always concerned about how much food is in the food dish. She does seem to be a little pickier than Oscar is though about food. She will rarely eat any table scraps and she isn't crazy about canned cat food. Who ever heard of a cat that doesn't like canned cat food. Oscar doesn't eat much but he does get a little bit each night with some medication he has to take.

Until Next Time. . . .
Kathleen

Lucy and Oscar

I wanted to share some updated pictures of my cats. Lucy and Oscar.

This is Lucy laying of the futon in my office. She is my little shadow and follows me around the house all day. She also likes to sit in my lap while I'm on the computer. She will also bite the back of my arm (just lightly) if she thinks I'm not giving her enough attention.

Look at those eyes. She is so beautiful.

I think she was getting a little annoyed with me by the look on her face.

Here is Oscar. Not sure what he has on his face. Oscar is more Damian's cat. Rather because Damian lets Oscar do things he is not suppose to - and Oscar thinks all of the bad stuff is fun so he tends to hang out with Damian more. Every night Damian will put him up on our linen closet in the master bath - just like here. He also lets Oscar on the high bookshelf in the hall way, and the most annoying to me he lets him outside. My cats are inside cats. We won't mention how Damian lost my old cat Vincent for more than 24 hours by letting him outside - no we won't mention that incident. Damian has even put Oscar on a leash and has taken him for a walk. That would be okay but now Oscar no longer fits into his harness. My little baby now weighs 18-1/2 pounds. I always tell him he has big bones.

Oscar has this habit of putting his paws in front of his eyes when he sleeps.

Here he is sleeping on his cat tree.

And another one of him sleeping on the ottoman in the living room. Oscar loves the bath water and every time I take a bath he is right there along the side of the tub. He will either drink from it like a large water dish but mostly he will lean over and lick as much water as he can off of my skin. I will keep dipping my hand into the water and lay it along side of the tub for him to lick.

Until Next Time. . . . .

Kathleen

Bandon Wild Game Park

The Bandon Wild Game Park http://www.gameparksafari.com/ is certainly a highlight to any visit to Bandon. I've been there a couple of times. I feel like a little kid when I walk through the gift shop into the park outside. You are greeted with varying sizes of goats, deer and a donkey that my friend Kris calls Shrek. You can purchase food for the animals inside the gift shop but you should be careful with giving little kids or anyone scared of animals one of the cones filled with food. When you walk in the park the little wandering animals smell the food and sometimes they are a little pushy trying to get their share. Don't let that deter you from coming though. It is an experience you will cherish for the rest of your life. I'm always trying to fit in a visit. You can check out the website to see what small animals they will have for petting such as Salton below.



The first time Kris and I saw Salton he was so little. About the size of a spaniel dog. They allowed us into a pen with him and one of us kept his mouth busy with a toy while the other one got to pet him. We traded off in order to experience what touching a small white Bengal tiger was like. In this photo Salton was too big to touch anymore but they would bring him into the pen and allow you get close to take pictures.

Another one of Salton. He has such a sweet disposition. He will always hold a special place in my heart since I touched him when he was little. You can go to the park website (see link above) and see photos of Salton when he was little. They always have little ones to touch. You can find out from the website what animals will be available for petting. I've also touched a small black bear once. The fur on the bear was real coarse - nothing like I thought it would be.

Another one of Salton.

And another one. This one he is playing with a log. He was about the size of a Lab in this photo.

This is a mountain lion cub that we were able to pet. These animals are amazing to see up close. I actually had a mountain lion growl at me when I lived in the country here in Oregon several years back. That was the last straw of country life for me and I begged Damian to move into the city area. We compromised and we are on the edge of the city where the country begins here in Ashland.

Another one of the mountain lion cub.

You can hear this big guy sometimes making this loud sort of huffing/baying noise all the way from the parking lot. The thought of hearing that in the wild is enough to stand your hair on ends. He mostly just lays around though.

The female. She kept looking at the little goat who was scratching his head on the chain link fencing. I'm sure she was thinking, "Come on deary just a little closer and you will be lunch." You can see the electric wiring which is in two layers around the inside of each chain link fence cage.

The female tiger was a little restless when we were there and she kept pacing up and down her cage. They walk so close to you. It is something to be that close. Of course, as you can tell from other postings - I am a cat person.

This black panther shot shows more of the chain link fencing which they call home. Sad I know but no matter how much I like cats I wouldn't want to be there without the fence.

And I saved this shot for last because Kris is going to kill me when she finds out I posted this. My friend Kris is holding a little baby wallaby. It was so cute. They have various animals that they will let you hold. On this particular visit one of them was a wallaby. They had the little fellow in a baby pen with a little pouch for him to sleep in. His mother either died or abandoned him I can't remember which. So when you are in Bandon, Oregon you must consider the Wild Game Park as a must see!

Until Next Time

Kathleen

Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty

Oscar lending a hand at the Bandon cottage. He received his name for two reasons. Because before my father passed away I would sometimes answer the phone to him singing the Oscar Meyer Weiner song just to make me laugh. The second reason is because I would love to win an Oscar for "Best Screenplay of the Year" - Someday....

Oscar at the top of one of beam in the living room ceiling at the Bandon Cottage. He loves to climb ladders and get to the beams and jump from beam-to-beam. It makes me very nervous but Damian enjoys the show. I'll show more of the ceiling later. The ceiling was just flat and we removed all the way to the rafters and added the insulation and the knotty pine.

Lucinda "Lucy". She is truly a Bandon cat. OnceI had Oscar - I had to name her Lucinda because of the movie "Oscar & Lucinda." This photo was taken not long after I brought her home. She has put on a bit of weight since then so she is very healthy.

Okay - I'm going to get this out in the open. I know some people aren't big cat fans but that wouldn't be me. I love cats. At the moment I have two cats. Oscar and Lucinda. I had vowed to get a dog when my last cat passed away. Actually almost two years ago my lab/chow mix dog Maggie passed away. Two weeks after that my mother passed away and two months after my mother passed away my cat of 18 years (Vincent) passed away. It was a horrible year and I was heart broken. Three months after Vincent passed away there was a posting in the newspaper of Oscar. It was the little picture I have at the top of the blog where my picture should go. Damian (my husband) convinced me to get the kitten. He thought it would help heal my heart. Oscar was so tiny but not anymore. He weighs almost 17 lbs.

Lucy is really a Bandon cat. When I arrived in Bandon one weekend there was this very pregnant cat that looked like she was starving. I fed her and inquired with my neighbors about where she belonged. Some of the neighbors believed she had been dumped at my house by someone who worked close by. I told Damian that we couldn't just leave her there. We made an agreement that if she was there on the next trip that I could keep her. On the next trip she was indeed at the house and she had given birth to three little kittens in my garage. They looked to be about three days old. I brought her and the kittens back to Ashland. It was very hard to part with them but I found good homes for the kittens when they were about 10 weeks old. It has been about ten months since then and Lucy is now my shadow. I can tell she is very happy to be living here. Oscar and Lucy get along great. It is so cute to watch them wash each others faces.

Until Next Time

Kathleen