A couple of weeks went by. Then, one fine winter's day, we were walking through Moscow's "VDNKh" shopping center and stopped by a cat exhibition where kittens were offered for sale.
Cattery "Mint & Miu"
"The first hieroglyphs that corresponded to the terms 'cat' and 'tomcat' have been dated 2300 B.C. and are read as 'mint' and 'miu'."
Journal "Drug" ["Friend"] for cat lovers.
We'd like to say a few words about how our nursery got started. Perhaps it would be interesting to know how people who have never previously owned cats start raising them.
It all started when an acquaintance left her cat with us when she went away on a trip. The cat's name was Musia; she was distinguished by a calm disposition and a refined manner.
| So we greeted the New
Year as a trio: Michael (my co-author), the cat, and me.
Most of all Musia loved the Christmas tree and its
decorations, which are so much fun to play with.
Throughout the holidays, the cat entertained us with her
exploits. But her owner returned, and we were left
without our furry, whiskered companion. A couple of weeks went by. Then, one fine winter's day, we were walking through Moscow's "VDNKh" shopping center and stopped by a cat exhibition where kittens were offered for sale. |
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Suddenly, we saw some
astonishingly beautiful kittens. They were a solid blue,
with silvery highlights that were particularly noticeable
on the muzzle and paws. These highlights, together with
the aristocratic, elegant face, held us spellbound; we
couldn't bear to walk away from the cage. The owner came up; she smiled, and offered to show us a kitten up close. That’s how we saw our first Russian Blue. The first impression is the most striking; it stays with you a long time. |
| The kitten (a
four-month-old tom cat) was quick and curious. Without
hesitating, he leaped onto Michael’s shoulder. He’d
made his choice. But we needed to make ours.For two weeks
we thought about it: we bombarded the owner with
questions, interrogated all our cat-owning friends, read
tons of literature about cat breeds and cat care. We
learned that the Russian Blue is a very calm, quiet breed
that doesn’t require much attention, doesn’t shed,
doesn’t cause allergies (especially important for me,
since long-haired cats make me sneeze). We also learned
that it’s best to have a female cat, as tom cats
"mark" their territory, must seek female
companionship, etc. But that quick little tom cat with silvery whiskers gave me no peace. I said that’s the only kitten I want. |
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That’s how Paris
Bellatrix came to our home. Time went by. The kitten grew
and became even more beautiful. But we spent all day at
work; the poor thing was bored spending the whole day in
solitude. Parsik (as we call him) started to wake us up
at 4:30 a.m. so that we would play with him. There would
have been no point in waking us up at 8:00; there would
be no time to play. So we thought that perhaps we should get a female cat to keep our tom cat company. We started to look for a suitable lady cat, one that was nice, whose pedigree ancestry was different from Parsik’s, and whom he would like. I won’t describe the search; I’ll say only that by mid-June we acquired Laura Gerda Edelblau, a flirtatious, green-eyed, two-month-old kitten. We made up our minds in less than two weeks; the little flirt won us over right away. |
| It’s wonderful to
have a cat at home. And when a female cat and a tom cat
are there together and tenderly groom each other, this
gives a totally indescribable feeling--a feeling of
happiness. Now is it clear why our nursery is called Mint and Miu? Of course: it’s just Girl Cat and Boy Cat. |
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