“A catless writer is almost inconceivable. It’s a perverse taste, really, since it would be easier to write with a herd of buffalo in the room than even one cat; they make nests in the notes and bite the end of the pen and walk on the typewriter keys.” – Barbara Holland

Because I spent yesterday taking care of a sick cat (which mostly involved making sure Karma did not pounce on him), and because I have pictures, we are taking a brief break from the all-writing all-the-time blog posts so I can show you pictures.

As many of you already know, I adopted a kitten a few weeks ago, after losing my extremely elderly senior cat, Nimue, to “complications of old age.” Cazaril, who is about nine and usually fairly rambunctious, needed somebody to keep him busy while I do things like writing and laundry and such. So we now have Karma, who is Karma on account of 1) a friend saying she was the luckiest cat in the world to be coming to live at my house (I don’t know why; it’s not like I spoil my cats or anything. Much.), 2) Caz used to leap over Nimmie when she wanted to nap; now Karma is doing that to Caz (what goes around, comes around), and 3) the listing on the shelter web site had her original name as “Monica,” which was my mother’s name. So, Karma.

This is Cazaril (named for the hero of The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold), pre-Karma:

Cazaril author photoCazaril’s author photo

He is a rescue cat, supposedly a Main Coon/Abyssinian mix, and just about the friendliest and sweetest-tempered cat I’ve ever met, let alone been owned by.

This is Karma, when she first arrived. She’s about three times this big now, and getting into EVERYTHING. She has already located the Special Cat Sleeping Spot right in front of the monitor and directly over the keyboard, which is used by all cats in the house according to some arcane rotation system known only to them. Fortunately, she is still much too small for her paws to dangle over the edge of the desk and interfere with my typing. Won’t be long, though.

Karma kittenKarma kitten

And here we have Karma and Caz in Caz’s favorite chair. Which is supposed to be my reading chair, but lately, it is always full of cats.

 width=Karma and Cazaril

And finally, we have Naptime for Two. And here I was worried that they wouldn’t get along…

Cazaril makes a good bedNaptime for Two

(And because I know somebody will ask, Caz spent Friday night at the vet; we were afraid he’d eaten some yarn or a rubber band or some other non-food item, but it turned out to be just too much of the regular cat food, impacted. So he spent a very uncomfortable time and will need to be on a high-fiber diet from here on, but is recovering well so far as long as Karma the fierce ninja kitten doesn’t jump on him and attempt to wrestle. I say “attempt” because even as much as she’s grown, she’s less than 1/3 his weight and can’t roll him over if he doesn’t want to be rolled.)

11 Comments
  1. Is a wireless keyboard a possibility? You can type, and the nap site won’t be lumpy.

  2. Awwww! Caz is really lovely – all that fur makes me want to snuggle him. The photos of the two of them together are just adorable!

  3. If Cazaril is not his guard, he might get rolled anyway. I had a ten-pound cat Sai Sai who would get rolled by my younger cat Tammy when she was only about 2 1/2 pounds in weight. Sai Sai finally learned how to block.

    Karma standing on the white chair is a very nice picture.

  4. What a pair of cuties. I’m so glad that everything’s turned out okay for them and you.

  5. I find it very appropriate that Caz the cat is so friendly and sweet-tempered.

    And they’re both gorgeous.

  6. They are adorable! And Karma standing on the white chair is definitely saying, “I’ll grow into it! Just you watch….”

  7. I am glad it was relatively minor kitty-sick! (One of mine has Kidney disease… and then got a kidney infection… and the ultrasound that diagnosed that *also* detected a tumor… But they can’t do anything about that (except hope it’s a contained one, that doesn’t grow too fast and block off his stomach from his intestine) until the infection is gone, and he has potent antibiotics for a month. 2 more weeks now. And either the infection, the tumor, or the antibiotic have done a number on his weight.)

    *beth goes headdesk*

  8. What adorable kitties!

    I have one who likes to perch on my bosom, which means I can still write, at least until the cat fluff goes up my nose . . . .

  9. Awwww! Kitties! I love all kinds of animals, thanks for the pictures 🙂 I’m glad Caz is feeling better.

  10. Aaawwww! Those are such adorable cats.

  11. I am officially in love with your blog. What adorable kittens! I am also quite delighted to hear that you adopted them from the shelter; I feel very strongly about that myself. All of my babies have been adopted. I have two right now as well. The one would freak out from loneliness without a buddy.