Category Archives: Sachiko

Everchanging

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Sachiko and Watanuki have a peculiarly inconsistent relationship. Sometimes he’s her idol, sometimes her best friend, and sometimes beneath her notice.

Simultaneously, but not synchronously, she’s his favored companion and security consultant, sometimes his chief rival, and sometimes his best chew-toy.

The constantly changing combinations can be dizzying.

Take, for example, the other night. The Tuxedoed Terrors were sitting together at the foot of the bed. Suddenly, ‘Nuki began washing Sachiko’s ears.

By the time I was able to reach the headboard and grab my phone, he was affecting boredom while she washed his ears.

And then, by the time I adjusted the flash settings in hope of getting a better shot, Sachiko had been demoted to “Evil Villain Who Must Be Gnawed Into Submission” and ‘Nuki had been laterally transferred to “I’m Getting Away From Him Before He Eats My Throat”.

I believe Sachiko bounced off of three different walls and the ceiling in making her escape.

Watanuki turned, sprawled across my ankles, and dared me to move.

I knew better.

It’s a Question of Style

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Kaja has laid claim to Maggie’s office. She spends much of her time surveying her domain from the highest available spot.

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She brooks no trespass on her domain. Anyone attempting to join her on the shelf is soundly cuffed, and non-resident felines entering the room are resoundingly cussed.

By contrast, Watanuki rules a much smaller territory. The foot of the bed is his and he only grudgingly shares it with bipeds.

As for other felines, one can tell how much favor they’re in by how close he allows them to settle.

For example, he’s generally on good terms with Sachiko, and they frequently hang out near the kitchen window together. But when it comes to the bed…

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Enough said.

Yuki, however, is another matter. ‘Nuki isn’t much of a snuggler, at least with other cats–he’s a master drooler upon biped legs–but he’ll generally make an exception for Yuki.

They’ve been together since late kittenhood, and the Knucklehead watches out for his less agile brother.

Cuddles are common.

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Lower Education

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It’s well known that cats are liquid. The Internet is full of pictures demonstrating how they conform to the shape of whatever vessel they’re poured into.

What gets much less attention, however, is the corollary: any insufficiently restrained fluid will flow downhill.

For your edification, Sachiko demonstrates.

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Here we see her hindquarters just beginning to overflow the retaining lip of the condo.

Regrettably, I am unable to show the rest of the photo series. Yes, the educational value of Her Batshit Majesty’s sacrifice of dignity suffers. However, she informed me in no uncertain terms that if I wished to retain possession of the hand holding my phone, I would suppress the remaining images.

Freedom of the press only goes so far in an autocracy.

Let us just note that cats do, in fact, flow downhill, and if sufficiently taken aback by the process, they don’t always land on their feet.

Noble Thrones

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Don’t be fooled by her noble pose. She’s just waiting for dinner.

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(Amusingly, when I first spotted her, there was a small bird–probably something I’d call a “zippy bird” if I saw it at our feeder–perched on the light fixture. By the time I grabbed the camera, it had flown the coop. [Sorry])

And don’t be fooled by her noble expression. She’s just waiting for dinner.

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(And warming her butt on Maggie’s laptop. You might think in the recent hot weather she’d prefer to hang out in front of the air conditioner, but no.)

All Mine

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Sachiko has laid claim to the household’s entire stockpile of gooshy fud.

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Not only does she have the shared stock of Purina and the Fancy Feast we use when someone is on medication (mixing the drugs into the “Kitty Krack” ensures the patient gets their full dose), but on her far side is Watanuki’s special low-residue gooshy and Sachiko has one haunch firmly planted on that case as well.

“Share?” she says. “It’s mine now, and I don’t do shares.”

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If retaining ownership means staying put 24/7, Sachiko is up for it.

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In truth, she’s abandoned her hoard a couple of times for visits to the box and–because her hoomins are rude and refuse to put food bowls anywhere but on the floor–to eat. But she solemnly assures us that those minor lapses “don’t count”.

Dotty

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A little while ago, I decided to introduce Lefty to the Little Red Dot. It didn’t go as expected.

He was definitely interested and made some tentative moves toward chasing it.

Then Sachiko showed up, and, well…

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Lefty was baffled by her performance and has studiously avoided the LRD since then.

Uncertainties

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Sachiko has a new favorite perch.

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The condo is on the landing, halfway up the stairs. This is a recent change, and she finds it irresistible.

Note the casually world-weary expression on her face. “Nuffin’ in dis house can surprise me. I knows it all.”

And, to be fair, the perch is well-positioned to allow her to keep tabs on the majority of the house.

Changes are coming, though. Alterations in the basic fabric of her existence that will shake her certainty and test her resilience.

Okay, that’s overstating things quite a bit. But it sure sounded dramatic, didn’t it?

And there really are changes in the offing. More news soon, I hope.

Kitteh Parteh

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Whenever we walk into the kitchen, felines gather in hope of a kitteh parteh. The big rush is in the morning, since that’s when we’re most likely to distribute random treats, but even in the evening, the odds are good that somebody will come in with us.

A typical morning looks like this:
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(Sachiko was a bit late to this particular party, though she did make it before all the goodies were gone.)

The regulars have learned the fine art of prairie-catting.
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Yuki’s hind legs aren’t up to the challenge, but he does stretch his neck upward in a giraffe pose.

‘Nuki is a good prairie-catter, and Sachiko is no slouch either (sorry).
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Lefty is deeply suspicious of the concept. He still insists on receiving his treats with all four feet on the ground as the Ur-Cat intended.
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(That shot makes the kitteh parteh look quite placid and polite. Don’t be fooled: there’s quite a lot of pushing and shoving and demanding of attention. All of which, by the way, Lefty is showing great talent for. He’s got a unique head-bump that involves his full body, and which has been known to send smaller cats flying across the room.)

The true champion of the prairie-catters, however, is Rhubarb, paws up.
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I’m fairly sure that by this time next year, he’ll be levitating to gain extra inches on his competition.

Year End Reminders

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In this, the final blog post of 2019, I want to remind you of a couple of things.

First, change is inevitable.
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I believe the subject Lefty is discussing with Rhubarb is “If this is the dining room, why aren’t the hoomins giving us food?”

Second, technology advances.
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This shot of Lefty was taken with my work iPhone 11 Pro. Over my shoulder. Without being able to see the subject. (I’ll note that the photo is heavily cropped. Lefty was nowhere near the center of the frame. But it still came out rather nicely.)

And third, some truths are eternal.
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Just as the mound is sixty feet, six inches from the plate, the dining room heat vent is exclusively owned by Sachiko from November to May.

A very happy New Year to one and all. May 2020 be better for you and yours than 2019. See you when the arbitrary astronomical odometer kicks over the tens place.

Did You Expect Anything Else?

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Even though the iPhone is supplied by and intended for work, there’s nothing that says I can’t use it for my own fell purposes.

It’s been functional for about thirty-six hours at this point. Can you believe I’ve only taken thirty photos of the cats in that time?

I’m still experimenting with the functionality, so I’ll spare you the worst of the blurry*, overly dark, poorly framed, and redundant shots.

* I can already tell I’m going to have a hate/hate relationship with Live Photos. Once I get some basic familiarity with that feature, I’m probably going to turn it off.

Here, forthwith, my first halfway worthwhile iPhone 11 Pro cat photos.

Sachiko, enjoying an evening snooze behind the heat vent in the dining room.
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Modern technology is impressive. We’ve upgraded the staircase to support up to four feline channels, and the amount of fur it collects is just amazing!
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Lefty won’t get on the bed unless there’s already at least one cat present. Yuki seems to be his favorite bed partner at the moment; it’ll be interesting to see what happens if Yuki tries to use Lefty as a pillow, the way he does with Rhubarb.
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Rufus and Lefty hanging out in my entirely-too-cluttered office. The vertical black blob in the middle of the screen is a stuffed octopus; Lefty is the vertical black blob behind the eight-legged critter.
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And, finally, my favorite shot of the batch. Kokoro was sitting on my lap when I took this one. I’m amazed at how well it came out, given the short range. I’m even more amazed that she didn’t stick her muzzle into the camera lens as is her usual mode of operation.
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