Cat matata,the pampered "cat child' of my house. (Wednesday- 2-3-2011)

Cat matata is now 23 months old and a prototype of the "traditional Persian cat".Sadly he has proved to be a total flop as a "Stud cat" as he has been totally humanised by his human owners, myself and my house care-taker sabina.Dias.Hence i haven't been able to mate him with his dam "matahari" as i wanted to breed an indigenious persian cat breed called the "Mumbai traditional Persian".My idea was to breed a localised version of the "traditional Persian cat" accustomed to the humid climate of Mumbai which both my cats have been very successfull, growing into beautiful persian cats, despite the unfavourable Mumbai weather.
Another strange peculiarity of "matata" is that he is absolutely "Dog-Like" in behaviour as mentioned in previous blogs, akin to a playfull puppy, a total freak cat. Bizarrely , he is also a split image of his famous comic icon "Garfield" the cat ,as seen in the movie, " A tale of two cats".Both cats having similar coat colour(brown) and light "tiger stripes" , most prominent when matata was a young kitten.Same can be verified from his photos as a kitten.
A strange mannerism of matata is to jump onto my bed and roll over to be petted, especially at nights when i sometimes get up to visit the toilet and return to my bed.He remains on my bed for a few minutes and then bounds off to his favourite sleeping place in the house.Honestly, cat "matata" and "matahari' are the non-human children of my lonely single home.I never feel bored nor depressed in the presence of their company, irrespective of my personal worry's or troubles.

Tomcat matata's "Yowelling nightmare" solved/ (Friday- 4-2-2011)

Tomcat matata is very choosy about his food unlike his dam matahari, a total glutton who eats anything she can lay her teeth upon as long as its "Non-vegetarian".Matata's favourite dish is fis which he relishes and if the same is not mixed with his normal food of rice/mince meat then he avoids eating and also has a tendency , to "Yowel" loudly at night, akin to a dog, his method of protest against his normal food diet.On wednesday(2-2-2011) matata had refused eating his meals properly and disturbed the house-hold the entire night by "Yowelling' intermittently throughout the night, disturbing our sleep.He is lucky to be owned by a human who treats his pets as his non-human kids, being a bachelor .In a normal pet household he would definitely have been evicted and sent either to a "Cat shelter" for "euthanisation or adoption", a normal trend with most "pet owners" who later realise that their pets have certain bad uncurable habits which disturb the human house-hold.Still worse are professional pet breeders who instantly give away or euthanise their cats kittens which have defects or are not true to the "breed Type".On thursday i fed matata his favourite meal of fish and strangely and bizarely he was perfectly quiet the entire night waking us only at approx 0500 hrs, his usual normal "wake-Up time" , as also for me on my regular morning cycling exercise.I only hope that my observation is perfect and that the cure for "matata's yowelling nightmares" is a diet of rice/meat/fish.

Cat matata,a great "Stress Buster".(Wednesday 2-2-2011).

"Tokyo cat cafes not just for crazy cat ladies":-Just read this article in "C.N.N" on "Cat Cafe's" in Japan, a very popular and successful business in a country that loves cats.Have personally visited Japaneese ports numerous times during my sea-faring career and hence understand a bit of their method and way of life.Tokyo is one of the World's costliest city's and maintenance of pets beyond the means of average japaneese wage-earners and hence the proliferation of "cat Cafe's', especially in Tokyo.Proud of my cats matahari and matata who are the epitome of the pure stress relievers in my house-hold ,especially at a time when the economic factor in "Indian stock Markets" is at its lowest.I make a living out of passive investments in "Stocks,mutual funds etc", hence the current nose-dive of the Indian stock market would cause a person to get a "cardiac report"!Daily, matata has to come onto my bed when i sleep, to be petted, something he loves.Even at night, whenever i get up he immediately jumps onto the bed to be petted, absolutely watchfull of my movements akin to a dog a very rare and strange behaviour for a cat.His only annoying behaviour is his loub "Yowling" akin to a dog, totally unexplainable but tolerable for the utmost affection and love that he devotes to his human owners. I sincerely advice people with heavy "Stress Jobs" or "Careers' to keep pets as it would definitely benifit their overall mental health.

Tomcat"Matata" 75% dog and 25% Cat??? A "Ripley's"- Unbelievably "Doggish cat"(Friday 21-1-2011)

As mentioned previously, the behaviour of cat matata was more doggish than catlike, bizzarely a "Ripley's Believe it or Not" fact.Today matata is almost 22 months of age and since he was born in my house, myself performing the post-delivery treatment, i have been able to authenticate his behaviour, the same seconded by my house-keeper Sabina.Dias.When called, akin to a dog he responds to his name, unlike his dam matahari who is totally feline, a cat queen with us humans her servant.Matata likes to sleep on the bad for a few minutes to be petted every day by either me or sabina his care-taker. Every morning , exactly at approx 0500 hrs he comes to my bed and lies next to me for his daily petting as well as a "wake-Up Call" for me.This is his regular habit daily, akin to a dog.His worst habit is his loud "Yowling" at odd times,akin to dogs, including night whenever he is angry with us or wants to convey some message to us, his human owners.He is also a glutton that eats anything and everything barring vegetarian food although he has his taste for certain food delicacies.He resembles the famous cartoon cat "Garfield" to a great extent, least of all his colour, brown.

Tomcat Matata, the lizard hunter.(Tuesday- 28-12-2010).Lizards with 9 lives?!

On Monday(27-12-2010) matata caught its third lizard since his existence from birth in my household.At approx 1830 hrs my house-keeper Sabina.Dias noticed matata clutching onto something and informed me of the same.Matata had just been fed its dinner and hence i thought that he must have been munching onto some deliscious morsel of food. Suddenly he dropped the object from his mouth and to my surprise it was a tiny lizard lying still, playing "dead". I quickly chased him away, picked up the lizard and kept it in my gallery garden for recovering. The lizard had not suffered any injuries and its tail was intact hence i hoped it recovered like the previous 2 that matata had caught and i released successfully into the wild.After a few hour the lizard had disappeared from its location and i presumed that it had survived from the jaws of death.Bizarrely, while writing this blog on Thursday(28-12-2010) at approx 1515 hrs Sabina suddenly again discovered the lizard in the gallery, this time attacked by Queen cat matahari, The lizard has lost its tail and in shock. I took it and again kept it in the gallery garden potted plant.Hope it survives as this particular lizard has been consequetively bitten twice by the cats, the previous day by Matata and today by matahari.What i admire about these lizards that Matata caught was their physical toughness as surviving from the jaws of a cat is something unbelievable.The common proverb a cat has 9 lives should also be applicable to reptiles like the common house gecko, absolutely tough reptiles.

Cat Matata howls incessantly, a totally pampered pet of the- house.(Monday 13-12-2010)

Tomcat Matata has developed this terrible habit of suddenly howling in the middle of the night waking up the household.Once he begins howling, a strange sound akin to a dogs "yowling", he goes on continouously unless i get up and scold him, disturbing my sleep.He began this strange habit just about 2 months ago, a sign of his maturity and also yearning for a mate.Even during the day he sometimes howls but that is tolerable, unlike his unearthly howls during the night.He is perfectly normal otherwise, a healthy and handsome cat, tough and mischievious.As mentioned previously, he refuses to mate with his dam matahari, either because she dominates him or either the fact that he is unsuccessfull as a "Stud Cat".He is also very feroscious and hence i hesitate to introduce him to another female cat from other breeders since he is unaccustomed to cats besides his dam matahari.

"Tomcat Matata":- Irritating habits of the male non-neutered cat.(Wednesday- 1-12-2010)

Tom cat matata is now 1 year 8 months old and has developed all the traditional herideterary characteristics of the typical alpha male tom cat. He has this bad habit of suddenly "Howling" in the middle of the night, akin to a tiger or lion baying, except thst the volume is much lower.He wakes up the entire household, disturbing our sleep pattern and keeps quiet when scolded .As mentioned previously, he is a total flop as a "Stud cat", afraid to mate with his dam "Matahari", yet having those herideterary urgings of mating and hence the unearthly "Yowelling", a mating call of wild cats, a herideterary behaviour.His saving grace is that unlike most "tomcats" he doesn't "Spray" his urine all round the house, although he sometimes does occasionally urinate in the gallery. Now i know the reasons of most pet cat owners having their male cats neutered unless they intend breeding them. As for me i don't intend neutering matata, letting him live the normal cat life in my household along with his dam matahari.

Rescued gecko alive .(Sunday 14-11-2010).

photo of the gecko that i rescued from " cat matata's jaws on saturday(13-11-2010). I happened to shoot this photo at approx 0745 hrs today(14-11-2010) in my gallery. As usual the cats first tracked him peeping through the gallery shutter opening. Its tail is missing and observe the "teeth marks". Now we know why cats are called miniature "Big cats"! This is the second gecko that matata has tracked and caught within the last 8 months. Managed to rescue both, the first rescued gecko having grown into a magnificient specimen, teasing the cats from unaccessible heights in the house.Another fact that i observed is that gecko lizards are very hardy and strong, i definitely didn't believe that this severely wounded lizard would survive to see the next day. Bizzare and scientifically true.

Tomcat Matata, a miniature tiger at home. Hunting the house- gecko's and catches one.(Saturday 13-11-2010)

Our household has always had a few gecko's living wild amidst the ceiling photo's and curio's, a natural pest control to the few cockroaches that also co-exist. Matata had caught a baby gecko almost 8 months ago and luckily i rescued it from his jaws, later releasing it minus its tail, a very lucky survivor. This same gecko has been sighted manny times since then in our household, having grown into a wonderful specimen, the only identifiable charectistic being his regrown tail which has a dark scar on the tip from where it regrew. Recently , another small gecko was spotted in our household, could be an off-spring of the previous lizard and as usual , both, matata and matahari always tried to pursue these lizards, although beyond their reach on the house ceilings or walls.
Today,(saturday(13-11-2010), early morning around 0730hrs i suddenly noticed matata running frantically around the house with something sticking from his mouth. I was under the impression that some food particle must have got stuck in his mouth, hence pursued him but just unable to catch him. I then noticed the gecko's tail jutting out from his mouth, the lizard tghtly clenched in his jaws.I tried to catch him but he kept dodging me, happy with his successful hunting and not wanting to surrender his prey. I finally caught him by the scruff of his neck and tried to pry open his mouth to release the lizard whom i presumed was dead. i didn't want him eating the lizard and finally after much prodding he opened his mouth dropping the gecko to the floor. Miraculously, the gecko was still alive, slightly bruised near the belly due to matata's teeth, its tail droppin off as usual. I took the injured gecko and kept it in one of the gallery plant pots to recover, if slightly bruised akin to its predecessor.
on returning to the pot noticed that the gecko had dissappeared, presumably recovering from its brush with death somewhere within the house.
Bizzarely, this was matata's second successfull capture of a gecko and also a successful rescue of the lizard by me.
Matata is a miniature tiger in looks as well as temperament, totally fearlees of nature barring unfamiliar human beings.
Strangely, matata is absolutely paranoid of visitors to our household , rushing to hide as soon as he hears the door bell ring.

"Tomcat Matata", the non-human child of bachelor owner - Rudolph !?

"Tomcat Matata" at 19 months of age is absolutely childish and dog-like in behaviour, a splendid companion to his bachelor owner Rudolph and house care-taker Sabina.
He loves being petted and has to be personally fed, akin to a child by sabina.
In behaviour , matata is "50% Dog 50% Cat" absolutely bizarre and humanlike, a perfect pet companion to his human owners. Previous to cats, i owned dogs, hence accustomed to dog behaviour who are considered humans best friends for their obedient and faithfull behaviour , unlike cats, totally independent and controller of their human care-takers emotions. Matata follows us around the small house like a puppy dog and loves being petted.
He also has some charecteristic individual behaviour patterns, his favourite being always jumping on the bed to be petted whenever i rest for reading or sleeping, his favouriite habit.
He also has his favourite "Food chair" in the kitchen, sitting on the chair awaiting his dinner as soon as Sabina arrives home in the evening.
Now i appreciate the reasons for some Individuals bequeathing their wealth to their pets, a trend yet to catch up in my native country India.
To me, a not so lonely bachelor, my pets are a real solace in times of personal trouble or worries, totally non-judgemental in their affections.
Medical science has proved that pet ownership is conducieve to a healthy living for humans and i personally agree having owned pets since childhood.