A Vietnamese Cat in Japanese Winter

Se-chan, born in HCMC, is used to winter temperatures between 30º - 35º C (86º - 95º F).

There's not a lot of winter clothing for cats to be found where we live, so we've invested in electric blankets and fuzzy handkerchiefs to help So and Se stay warm.

Se-chan likes the "old peasant grandma" look, especially if there's a design motif involving black cats. We're most happy to oblige him.

Don't Let Those Angel Eyes Fool You

He looks so innocent standing beside that bottle of Aizu Musume...

So-chan relishes his role in our home as the protector of sake. Here he is making sure no one pours from our bottle of Aizu Musume without his consent.

However, he is less a protector than a co-miscreant with Se-chan when it comes to food of any type. In that case, he relishes his role as a thief.

Below we see him in the moment between launching himself onto the dining table and nabbing my scallop sashimi. I would have photographed the latter moment had I not dropped my camera and started chasing him.

Look, Se-chan, scallop sashimi! Meet me under the sofa and I'll split my haul with you!

Se-Chan: The Paper Eater in the Family

The tissue box was all safely tucked away inside the TV rack when we went to bed last night. I wonder what happened between then and this morning?

Hmm, Se-chan?

I wouldn't know. I'm just a little orange angel sitting in my cat cave...

As if Shot from a Cannon

It's not like we starve our cats or anything. We feed them dry food three times a day and wet food once at night, and we also cave in to the two pairs of sad eyes and cat cries that are unavoidable whenever we eat yoghurt and sashimi, especially. But when their automatic feeders dispense their dry food, you better not be in their paths to the kitchen.

This video is not speeded up. So and Se are like giant bullets with fur and legs than can make a turn on a dime if there's food to be found around the corner.

Fire-breathing So-chan

That guy never stood a chance.

So-chan in the mood for window-washer crisps, despite having eaten three last week.

Cats. Food. The devil.

We feed So and Se from automatic dry food dispensers at 6:30 am, 12:30 pm, and 6:00 pm. They also get wet food every night at 9:00 pm. (Earlier if their vocalizing drives us totally insane.) About an hour before any of these feeding times they go absolutely crazy - fighting, chewing the walls, running everywhere, leaving swathes of charred, half-burning carpet in their wakes.

These are the faces of hungry, devil-possessed felines. And we love them despite their madness.

Testing our cats with a new hair gel product

What to do with leftover tuna sashimi?

I discussed this with our cats at great length this afternoon.

At So-chan's urging I created a tuna-flavored hair gel for cats. And then, again at So-chan's urging, I tested the product on Se-chan!

So-chan gave it a big thumb's-up. "It's the most delicious hair gel I've ever tried," he mewled.

Se-chan, however, was vocal in his dislike of the product.

Clearly, I need to spend more time refining my tuna-flavored cat hair gel idea. Next time, So gets a dollop.