First of all, I would like to offer my apologies for not having updated the blog since it launched on election day. As some of you may know Ekanath, Marie and I recently suffered a family bereavement with the passing of my Grandfather which has been both weighing on y mind and has kept me much busier than expected. Thank you all for understanding, even Ekanath has given me a few days of minimal duties in order to deal with the situation.
(HEY! I resent the implication I would be so lacking in Empathy, I'm not an animal you know... Yes well, okay I am an animal, but you know what I mean! - Ekanath)
Anyway, it's about time we got back to the serious business of this blog. (I think you'll find it's spelt “Srs Bznz”, I know, I'm down wiv da yoofs!- Ekanath). Yeah? You wanna watch that Eckster, you'll wind up on a register! Operation Mewly-tree. Haha (I don't get it?- Ekanath). Never mind.
I thought we might begin at the beginning, with the story of how Ekanath came to be our cat. (Well, technically that isn't the beginning, I was 10 months old when I came to you, you know. Typical Monkey-Person though, making it aaaalll about you!- Ekanath)
It began with a simple Facebook Message from a friend of ours, Julie, who knew we were considering getting a cat. I've been a cat owner since childhood and my wife has opined in the past that I'm just not the same without a cat in the house, that I'm grumpier (What even more than usual? Is that possible?- Ekanath) and more prone to bouts of melancholy. We lost our previous cats, Golgotha and Gethsemane, to cancer in the winter and were about at the stage where we wanted to adopt another. Well, Julie had learned that a friend of a friend was looking for someone to home an adolescent Bengal (Adolescent? I'll have you know I'm mature for my age!- Ekanath) as a matter of some urgency. He had only had the cat a short while but his other cat, a Savannah, which had been with him far longer was terrified of the Bengal. (I don't see why! I'm the picture of sweetness!- Ekanath). He wanted to be sure he could find somewhere safe that would give the Bengal a loving and stable home life. ( I do have a name you know! All this 'The Bengal' it's like that book you were reading a while back where the character is referred to as 'The Brunette' about 400 times, the one where you turned the phrase “The Brunette” into a drinking game and almost needed to have your stomach pumped!). Well yes, that's true Ekanath and it brings me onto the point I was going to make. Back then you were called Eddie, but we decided to re-name you 'Ekanath'. (Oh yes, so I was, I'd forgotten about that!- Ekanath)
Anyway, after a quick conversation with my wife, we agreed we would adopt the cat and we began trying to decide upon a name. We settled on 'Ekanath' which means 'King'. We like giving our cat's unusual names, as you may have gathered. Anyway, a few phone calls later and everything was arranged. Another friend of ours, Tia, would take me out to collect Ekanath nee Eddie from his previous owner (Who was in fact already Ekanath's second owner in 10 short months). We arrived and were greeted by Dave, the nice man who had wanted to be Ekanath's adopted dad but who realised that he couldn't be, not as long as his other cat was so terrified of him. Dave was sad to see Eddie go but was pleased we would be able to commit to giving him a loving home for the rest of his life. After a short conversation, he went to find the cat that was to be renamed Ekanath and retrieved him from where he was hiding under the table. (I was not hiding! I was inspecting!- Ekanath). You were quaking in fear little buddy, when Dave handed you over to me you hung there like a rag doll, trembling. It almost broke my heart to see how frightened you were, but I fell in love with you at first sight. (Not frightened, just tired from all the inspecting!)
Fortunately for all the trip back was relativity short and within half an hour I was able to introduce Ekanath to his new home, adopted Mam – Marie (You mean the Monkey-Maid!- Ekanath) and housemate Craig – Marie's brother (You mean the funny one you keep locked in the spare room?- Ekanath). We don't keep him locked in there, (You should do! For his own safety if nothing else!- Ekanath).
We opened the cat carrier, set up his cat toys, put out some cat food and let him come out in his own time. A nervous (how dare you!- E) but brave (that's better!- E) little (hmmm, not that little- E) thing, (thing? I'm not an ornament or a dog you know!- Ekanath) he came out after just a few minutes and bravely – slunk away to hide under the sofa where, due to his excellent camouflage and his stealth he vanished into the shadows for the next two days, venturing out only occasionally to salve his curiosity but retreating back to his new hiding place whenever he felt it was a bit too much.
We knew he'd be alright under there though, I had slid some water and cat food underneath and every hour or so we would hear lapping or crunching coming from under the couch. Each time we left the room we would return to find a fresh... let's say 'parcel'... in the cat litter for us to dispose of and gradually he grew confident enough to venture out and settle in, but that is a story for next time. Cat Tree Builder Pro! Plans for building your own Cat-Tree (or at least for building a cat-Tree for your cat!).
