Category Pets
How Shima Stole My Heart
I came across this piece when I was looking for something else in my files. It was written to honor my sweet cat Shima who is now 6 years old:
Back in early 2009, I was nursing a broken heart after my first American Burmese boy went missing. I had contacted a breeder and made arrangements the last week of April to drive to Northern California to pick up an Am Burm male kitten.
The Wednesday prior to my trip, I had to pick up kitten food for the new boy. It had been 7 years since I had lived with a kitten, so I needed to purchase kitten food. It would have been MUCH more convenient to go to a pet store closer to work, but for whatever reason, I decided to go to another store near my house. And I felt a compulsion to do this. I should have known something special would occur there.
I was in the store no more than 5 minutes when I heard mewing. Not meowing. Mewing, from a kitten who was clearly very young. Then a woman came down the aisle I was in, holding a pet carrier. From this carrier I heard the mewing again. I chatted briefly with the woman, who stated that she had heard mewing in her backyard, and found this abandoned kitten. She had come to the store hoping to get some advice on how to feed the kitten since she had never done such a thing.
I peeked inside the carrier and saw a 3-1/2 week old silver spotted tabby female whose ears had come up only a couple of days prior. I reached into the carrier and scooped her into my arms, whereupon she immediately stopped mewing and snuggled into my neck.
The woman was delighted and stated that it was the first time the kitten had stopped mewing. In the meantime, the store manager brought over some kitten formula and I proceeded to feed her. I promised the woman that I would care for the kitten and find a good home for her. Little did I know she would steal my heart and that the “good home” would be mine!
Suddenly my life was defined by feedings every two hours, little to no sleep, de-worming, weaning, and lots of attention to this little creature. Shima is now six years old, slightly shy, very affectionate, and a complete marvel to me. She still likes to sleep on my chest despite the fact that she is almost too big to do that easily! When she was very little I would wrap her against my chest like a little papoose. She’d nod off to sleep in that position.
Shima was probably born around March 25th, but I have set her birthday at March 18th, the same day that my first burmese boy had gone missing.
It was meant to be for us to meet that day…
My Lumpy Cat
I have three cats: an American Burmese male named Tenshi, a silver spotted tabby female named Shima, and a European Burmese female named Kazu. Tenshi is built like a miniature puma, sleek and well muscled, and he maintains a perfect weight despite being a complete pig and prone to eating ANY food that he can get his paws on. Shima is my slender girl, long limbed and with a long tail.
Then there is Kazu. Over the past year or so, Kazu has put on considerable weight, and it troubles me to know that in almost 30 years of having cats, I now have an overweight cat! She is a small cat, consistent with the size of most Burmese, but she weighs 11.2 pounds now. She should be 9 pounds.
I know you may be saying, “She doesn’t look overweight”, but trust me, this little lady has a midsection that is downright lumpy! The vet doesn’t have a good answer for why Kazu is overweight, and I can’t figure out what to do with her. One consideration is the fact that she has always been constipated, but I doubt that my cat is actually THAT full of crap!
Look at Kazu’s deep chest in the picture below. You can see that she has some mass to her and is a muscular cat, which is also consistent with the Burmese breed. Perhaps she is in her “off-season bulking phase”!
Merry Christmas!
My Cat Loves Socks And Underwear
I have a very affectionate, playful cream European Burmese cat who is an absolute joy to live with. However, don’t be fooled by her adorable face and sweet demeanor. Kazu is quite mischievous and has a tendency to steal underwear and socks. It doesn’t matter if they are clean or dirty, or even if they are brand new. Kazu just has a strange fixation on those wardrobe items. I have watched her dig through the laundry basket to find a random sock, then trot all over the house with her little treasure. Here is a photo of a recent sock heist which ended at the food bowl: 
Kazu will often make a game of her conquest by tossing the item into the air with a whip of her little head so that she can chase after it, and at times will initiate a game of fetch utilizing the pilfered piece of clothing. Because of my cat’s habit, I must put away clean laundry immediately, and I also have to keep Kazu out of my closet so that she can’t go in there and hop into the dirty laundry bin. My morning ritual consists of hiding my underwear and socks so that she won’t steal them as I am showering.
More recently, Kazu has fallen into the habit of running off with my Incrediwear therapeutic sleeves. If I have to wash dishes, I will take my arm sleeve off and leave it on the coffee table or kitchen counter, only to discover that she has stolen it. Apparently she enjoys the anionic technology of Incrediwear products! In all the years that I have lived with cats (a few decades!), I have never encountered a cat who steals small articles of clothing. It’s an amusing character trait which makes Kazu even more endearing.
Cat Naps
Ever since my dear friend and meditation teacher Rob died, I have been more aware of little moments I can capture during the course of a typical day which can also serve as brief meditation sessions. One thing I have gotten into the habit of lately is pausing before I stretch and get out of bed, allowing myself to enjoy a moment of stillness. I spend a couple of minutes observing my breathing, how energy flows through me, and how the room feels, looks and sounds. It’s a welcome change from the rushed manner in which I used to hit the ground running as soon as I woke up.
Kazu and Tenshi, my dogs trapped in cats’ bodies
My rescue kitty and nap buddy Shima
The most fulfilling and endearing moments I have allowed myself to indulge in are the ones I spend with my cats. Two of my cats are very doglike and love everyone, while the third cat is extremely attached to me. All three are sweet and tend to demand a lot of my attention when I am home, but I often keep my interaction with them to a minimum because I am in the midst of a pile of work and usually typing or running around the house doing chores. Like faithful dogs, my cats will often follow me from room to room, looking up at me expectantly, purring away and doling out unconditional love.
I have made a concerted effort lately to greet my cats with pets and kisses in the morning while they are sprawled out on my bed. When I come home, I will often lie on the floor, bed, or sofa with them, taking a few moments to just be with them. My shy rescue cat, Shima, will frequently lie on my chest while I pet her, and if we are both very relaxed, we will take a nap together in this position. Every once in a while, a feeling of guilt will wash over me, even though I know I will most likely finish all the items on my to-do list for the day. But this feeling passes quickly, and I remember how important the bonding process with pets is. Even as I write this I have all three cats in the living room with me, with my boy lying alongside my left leg.
My blue male Burmese, Tenshi, is very much a dude and exhibits alpha type behavior with the other two (female) cats. But he also loves to be hugged and squeezed, will push his face into my hands and actually likes having his muzzle grabbed and scratched and his belly softly rubbed while he is on his back. He is also a lap kitty and will often snuggle with me while I write away. My female European Burmese, Kazu, will sometimes take up residence on my lap, and at other times, will rest her head on her favorite pillow just like a human would, and will watch me work. Kazu is also the cat who plays fetch, greets me at the door most faithfully, and purrs if I merely look at her. Basically, my cats make it very easy for me to steal moments of presence and joy with them. I just wasn’t paying enough attention to their signals before Rob died.
If you have pets and you find yourself ignoring them because of your workload, do yourself and them a favor by pausing each day to bond with them. I am not talking about a couple of quick pets, I am referring to a true connection in which your animal senses that you are fully interacting and remaining in the moment. There have been particularly hectic times in which I became so incredibly busy that my cats got nothing more than a perfunctory tickle under the chin or an ear scratch, but considering how highly socialized two of them are and how needy my rescue cat is, I definitely neglected them somewhat during those times. It doesn’t seem fair to them, especially considering the fact that they greet me at the door, hang out with me in whatever room I am in, and sleep by my side at night. Who knows? Maybe if I had a daily nap with Shima atop my chest, all my stress would easily melt away.
My Cats Are Dogs Trapped In Cat Bodies
Shima the part feral shy girl
My Labrador trapped in a cat’s body
Check out Kazu’s fetching talents here:
My American Burmese, Tenshi, is the alpha male of the group and loves meeting new people. He is such an in-your-face cat that he rubbed against the legs of the plumber during a recent visit to our house and investigated every single thing the plumber was working on, prompting the plumber to laugh and remark on the doglike nature of my cat. Tenshi walks with a swagger that I have only seen in a few tomcats over the years (pretty impressive for a eunuch!), and he picks on Shima and Kazu regularly. He gets very jealous if people give the other cats attention and will literally shove them away or hit them in the face to scare them off. If I go on a trip for a few days, Tenshi glues himself to me and doesn’t allow me out of his sight. Whenever I go into our trophy room, Tenshi will yell at me until I come back into the main house.
Though I love dogs, I lament the fact that I can’t have them. At least my two Burmese cats make up for it by acting exactly like dogs!
Just Because I Like Cats, Doesn’t Mean I Am A Cat Person
Yes, I like cats. As a matter of fact, I adore them, and have always gotten along well with them and understood their movements and instincts. As a child I was able to befriend strays who would never dare come near any other humans, so this earned me a label very early on of “cat person”. Why do I have to wear such a label because I like and own cats? The labels “dog person” and “cat person” are often attached to an applied exclusion in which the two are not expected to comingle, and in which both labels could not possibly be worn by one person. So what if I have cats? It doesn’t mean that I am anti-dog! I would LOVE to have dogs, but since I have always been a fan of large dog breeds, and because I don’t have a yard, it would be unfair of me to have dogs at this point in my life. I am also so incredibly busy that I wouldn’t have time to walk a dog or devote the extra time which dogs demand from their owners. Most importantly, two of my cats are very doglike and follow me EVERYWHERE I go when I am at home.
My babies…
It always surprises me when people who don’t know me well reveal with hesitation that they have dogs, as if I am anti-dog. Instead, I respond with excitement, asking them what kinds of dogs they have. Honestly, I adore dogs so much that I get dog lust if I hang around great dogs. I have also been tempted on more than one occasion in my life to adopt a dog even though my schedule has never been accommodating enough for me to be a good doggy mom.
Whether you have cats or dogs, chances are I will be fine with them all.
How I Select Pro Contests To Compete In
You might be wondering what process I go through to determine which IFBB Pro Bikini events I will prep for, especially since there are a whopping THIRTY-SIX Pro Bikini events slated for 2014. Eight of these contests are outside of the United States (Australia, New Zealand, Toronto, Finland, Slovakia, Korea, Mexico, Russia), and I would very much like to do two of them, provided that sponsors would be willing to send me to the locations I have chosen.
Aside from the international events, I have zero desire to travel via plane to get to the U.S. based contests. That is partially due to the fact that air travel is less enjoyable than ever before due to all the TSA regulations. I would much rather throw my stuff into my car and take a road trip to get to a destination that is a reasonable distance away. I did this two weeks in a row recently, driving to Phoenix, AZ the week before last (400 miles each way), and then to Sacramento, CA last week (also around 400 miles). Through this process of elimination I have omitted the majority of events on the list, including all East Coast events. This means that several contests on my to-do list will either be in California or Arizona.
No matter where you are on your competition journey, it is important to map out a schedule so that you can establish clear goal markers. You may consider criteria such as geographic distance, getting in front of certain judges, hitting masters’ divisions, or pursuing that Pro Card. In all but the rarest of cases, try to avoid jumping into an event at the last minute, because chances are, you won’t come in at your best. Sometimes you’ll hear about a particular contest being so well-run or so much fun that you want to do it almost solely for that reason. This is what happened for me in 2010 as an amateur at the NPC Emerald Cup in Washington. I ended up having a fantastic time and won a tiara along with my second place finish and trophy. You can do this, but make sure that it somehow keeps you moving forward towards your competitive goals.
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