Meet My Cats

Mouse is the baby of the family. She was found near the Tempaku river in the rain on Tanabata (July 7) in 2020. Someone called the fire department, and they came to rescue her. Long story short, we ended up taking her in. Haven't regretted it one day since.

As a kitten, she had a very small face and large ears. We thought about calling her Mi-ke, (pronounced "mee-kay", it means 3 colors = calico), but I never liked that name. She was so small with those big ears, I thought, "How about Mi-ke Mouse?" (Get the joke?) I just call her Mouse.

She is a very intelligent cat. From a young age, she would fetch things and beg me to throw them so she could bring them back. She makes up her own games. For example, she'll bring back a toy, but along the way, she has to touch the mouse that is hanging from a string from the 2nd floor. Then she'll jump on a box, and THEN she'll bring me the toy. Time and again she'll repeat the pattern. There's no reason to, other than it must be fun for her.

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Houdini is the middle child, I guess. Around 2017, she showed up as a kitten on the back deck with her father or grandfather who we called Bully (because he was a bully to other cats). She was very thin. We managed to catch her and take her to the vet. We kept her in the genkan (entryway) because, at the time, we had another older cat, Chu (and Ten), and we didn't want her to catch anything from this stray kitten.

One day, we went into the genkan (entryway), but she wasn't there. We couldn't figure out where she had gone because there was nowhere for her to go. We though she might had slipped out the front door when we weren't looking.

The next day, I happened to look under the cabinet where you put your shoes as you come in. There she was, hiding up under a VERY small space between the cabinet and the floor. I thought she was like the famous escape artist, Houdini, so that's how she got her name.

Ten is the obaachan (elderly lady) of the family. She's now around 16 years old. At the moment, she has a thyroid condition, and she doesn't want to eat her special diet. She's super genki, though, and chases the other two around the house.

Ten (it means "spot" in Japanese) has spots, a small one on her back toe and one big one on her nose. That's how she got her name.

Carrot is the stray that lives outside on the deck. If you look at her nose (especially in the security camera we have on the deck), it looks like an upside-down carrot. Hence, the name.

We have to be careful, though. She will scratch us if we get too close. I don't mind, but I do respect her wishes.

We're happy as long as she's safe.

An update...

On September 10, 2024, our Carrot passed away.

You can read about her in my book, "Finding Carrot." (Download the epub below. 118 MB. It is photo-heavy, so it might take a while to download. If you'd like to make a donation to help with producing this book: buymeacoffee )