BLOGGERS + CATS...

I hope you've got your fur tuxedos* at the ready, because Lola is now ready to present the next in our series of Blogger + Cat interviews. And who better to feature than Pony and Oreo, the sweet furry companions to Anabela of the very brilliant Fieldguided. Anabela has more than proved her allegiance to cat freakery by being the co-curator of the sublime Dreamcats tumblr, where soft focus kitties reside. Thank you Anabela, Geoff, Pony and Oreo - and special thanks to Pony for the strange mixture of extreme sympathy, amusement, wonder and admiration I felt at seeing her in her post-op Pierrot cape. I'm so happy to be able to post this picture here on the blog:

Dignity prevails

The basics: What breed are they, how old, how did you come to live with them, why are they called Pony and Oreo?

Oreo and Pony are both domestics -- Oreo is a tuxedo or bi-colour, and Pony is calico. Oreo is about eight years old, and she came to live with us through a former roommate who adopted her from the local humane society when Oreo was two years old. Geoff & I were meant to look after Oreo for about a year while Annie got settled in New York City for graduate school, but we've had her since. Pony is eight months old and we found her in our yard along with her kitten siblings and feral cat mother. I looked out my kitchen window one day and saw a tiny calico leaping about, and I couldn't believe it! She had been living in the weeds with her three kitten siblings and feral mother (there is a big feral cat problem in Toronto). Pony was the only one who would approach us and let us pick her up, so we kept her, and eventually found a home for her siblings, who are apparently still quite wild! Oreo came with the name Oreo; Annie was going to change it but nothing else stuck. It's a funny name because it is a trademarked brand name, and in some cases a racial slur. Everyone thinks Oreo is a male cat because of it. Oh well. Pony is called Pony because that is one of my favourite words to say. It popped into my head while I was riding my bike and I've learned never to question that sort of thing. It suits her quite well, and most people smile when they hear it.

Oreo

How would you describe their personalities? Are they friends?


Oreo is a little bit grumpy, but sweet. She mostly keeps to herself but has moments where she is quite needy and puts on adorable little shows (rolling around on her back and cooing at us, for example). Pony is a firecracker who is never still, but she is also quite sweet. They are not friends. We didn't want another cat because we knew Oreo wouldn't like it, and we were really worried once we had decided to keep Pony. Oreo didn't act up when we brought Pony home, but she tends to keep her distance from her. Pony, on the other hand, is constantly jumping on Oreo and generally harassing her. Pony does defer to Oreo, though. It is my dream to see them spooning, but I don’t think it will happen.

What are their respective favourite foods?

Oreo eats only cat food and doesn’t care for treats, but Pony is a far more adventurous eater. She is particularly crazy for prosciutto, of all things. It's impossible to eat dinner near her because she is constantly sticking her little face in my plate.

Do Pony and Oreo have preferred lounging locations? Any signature poses?

Oreo is nearly always found on a chair in the bedroom by the radiator, or on top of a blanket on top of the radiator. Pony is never in the same place for more than two minutes. She is always near one of us, though. Oreo has one pose that we call "danglefoot" which is exactly what it sounds like. She also has "the manatee," and the "I'll tumble for you." Pony has "the little loaf," "the curly foot," and "the bather" (basically the same as "the manatee" but since Pony is small she is less manatee-like). They both have a pose we call “seashell.”

What is a day in the lives of Pony and Oreo like?

Oreo's day is made up of sleeping, snacking, and hissing at Pony, with the occasional cry for attention from us. Pony's day begins by sleeping on top of me through the snooze button, then running around like a wild beast, chasing Oreo, and trying to get into as much trouble as possible (lately she's been trying to climb up bookcases and trying to get up on the mantle, despite the fact that she is recovering from her spaying surgery).

Pony

Do you have any amusing/weird/cute Pony/Oreo moments or stories you'd like to share?

When we moved into our current apartment, Oreo was pretty freaked out and spent the first night jumping on and off the bed. We had moved everything ourselves and had had an incredibly exhausting day (we were moving boxes for about 15 hours, in pouring rain). I had to go to work the day after at a rare book showroom. An hour or two after I had arrived Geoff called me in a panic saying that Oreo was missing. He had looked everywhere and had talked to the neighbours and couldn’t find her. I started imagining all sorts of horrifying scenarios: I remembered that the bedroom window had a broken screen (we’re on the second floor of a house), and because there were still renovations going on, workmen were going in and out. I rushed home (despite the lack of sympathy from my boss) and started looking around the neighbourhood, in tears. Geoff was back at the apartment making a “lost cat” flyer. When I got back home I went to throw myself on the bed very dramatically. I pulled back the covers... and there was Oreo. She had burrowed under the sheets and made herself quite small, which she had never done before. We felt kind of dumb.

Sweet Oreo

Pony doesn't meow at all. She makes funny little squeaks with her mouth closed, and she occasionally cries, but she never meows. She rarely hisses, although she did hiss at me quite a bit last week when I brought her home from the vet with a plastic cone around her neck (which she subsequently managed to crack in half). We call Pony “little Swiffer” because she’ll get into an area that we’ve neglected to dust (behind the television, or under the bed) and emerge covered in dust. Poor kitty.

Quickfire round:

Birds or mice? They don’t go outdoors, so I’ll have to say flies.

Sunlight or radiator? Both at once.

Tap or bowl? Bowl.

Lap or laptop? Laptop.

Snuggling or stretching? Stretching (sad face!).

Cats or humans? Humans.

{All photos by Anabela.}

{*Nancy mentioned the fur tuxedo and it really made me laugh, imagining Lola as the MC and everyone's cats featured here at an Academy Awards style ceremony wearing tuxedos and evening gowns.}