Tanis' mum: an introduction

An upside to the pain of relocating all your earthly possessions when moving, is the joy of rediscovering an old box of treasures thought long-since lost. In the chaos of moving in, it’s easy to hurriedly jam a box upside down into a locked filing cabinet in a basement with no lights (under some plans and next to a wholly remarkable book), and tell yourself you’ll come back to it later as you hurry off to unload more boxes from the truck.

Strangely enough, just such a thing happened to me. When I was in Templestowe, I had all my favourite photos blu-tacked to my bedroom wall, and when I moved they got taken down and stuck in a small box that disappeared once it reached Richmond. Most annoying was that amongst the photos was a bunch of Tanis with his kitten brothers and sisters, and one prize shot of Tanis’ beautiful mum.

So imagine my joy when unpacking that filing cabinet in the basement with no light and uncovering the precious box. (Incidentally, it was an old Air Jordan shoebox that was valuable in and of itself, so it was double the find. And if you’re at all interested in the Air Jordan shoe, (which is why you’re reading a cat blog), follow that last link and go to the Air Jordan section. It’s incredible, if a little over the top. I still say Jordan Vs are the best.)

But back to topic. I found my old picture of Tanis’ mum, and here it is.


I don't know anything about her really, except that she's a survivor and had the most beautiful emerald eyes I've ever seen. I wish I'd kept in touch with her rescuers. Oh well, her life at least was not as short as it might have been, and if children are the pride of their parents, she couldn't have done better than Tanis.

Frequently still life

My niece Laura was over the other weekend, and she was practicing her drawing skills and taking requests. I asked for one of Comma, and this was the excellent result. I love it.

And speaking of Laura, here's my favourite photo of her with Tanis, taken quite a few years ago now. It was easy to mistake Tanis for a big, soft pillow.

Let's see ya precious Lassie top this one

JJ recently sent me the link for this wonderful story.

‘Hero’ cat apparently dials 911 to help owner
Responding to emergency call, police officer finds feline next to phone

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Police aren't sure how else to explain it. But when an officer walked into an apartment Thursday night to answer a 911 call, an orange-and-tan striped cat was lying by a telephone on the living room floor. The cat's owner, Gary Rosheisen, was on the ground near his bed having fallen out of his wheelchair.

Rosheisen said his cat, Tommy, must have hit the right buttons to call 911. "I know it sounds kind of weird," Officer Patrick Daugherty said, unsuccessfully searching for some other explanation.

Rosheisen said he couldn't get up because of pain from osteoporosis and ministrokes that disrupt his balance. He also wasn't wearing his medical-alert necklace and couldn't reach a cord above his pillow that alerts paramedics that he needs help.

Daugherty said police received a 911 call from Rosheisen's apartment, but there was no one on the phone. Police called back to make sure everything was OK, and when no one answered, they decided to check things out.

That's when Daugherty found Tommy next to the phone.

Rosheisen got the cat three years ago to help lower his blood pressure. He tried to train him to call 911, unsure if the training ever stuck. The phone in the living room is always on the floor, and there are 12 small buttons — including a speed dial for 911 right above the button for the speaker phone.

"He's my hero," Rosheisen said.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Comma’s Legacy?

After Comma came off second best in an altercation with a speeding car in our street, I thought I’d give the council a call. Our street is the sort that seems to attract dickheads hoons, and some cars just absolutely cane along it. I thought I’d get a quick brush-off, but I was quickly put in touch with a traffic research guy who spent some time talking to me about Darebin’s policies and plans.

Apparently our street had already had testing done, and had been found to have low volumes of traffic, but high average speeds. The man said that they weren’t thinking about speed humps at this stage, but possibly other options like chicanes.

Anyway, a week later, I walk outside and there’s this honking great contraption sitting on the nature strip down the road.


I didn’t think it was possible for a council to act that fast! Maybe it was already coming, but I like to think Comma’s helping to make the street a safer place for everyone, especially little kids and little cats. So this thing’s called a SAM, and unfortunately no, it’s not a Surface-to-Air Missile which, while cool, wouldn’t be much good in prosecuting speeding drivers. Unless the drove so fast they took off, which you know, sometimes sounds like it’s going to happen.

No, it was just a radar gun with a display to show you your speed, which, while good, turned out to be pretty useless. People who drive at normal speeds kept driving at normal speeds, and people who speed would only accelerate to see how high a reading they could get! The kids across the street certainly loved it though. They spent hours out there on their pushbikes trying to do the same thing. Which was pretty cute.

We’ll see what develops…

Dreaming of Tanis

I had a weird dream the other night. I was in some sort of dimly lit operating room with a doctor, in a white coat, (of course). I assume he was a vet. He had Tanis (the Great) there, lying motionless in his arms. The vet said to me that Tanis wasn’t actually dead and that he could revive him! I must have given the go ahead because he then opened Tanis’ mouth and unwound this green string that was looped around his teeth. It was like that string you pull to open a pack of gum. The vet then twisted Tanis’ head sharply and he jerked awake. Next thing I knew I was holding him in my arms. I can still remember the feel of his fur against my skin, and the (considerable) weight of his body in my arms. I could not believe it.

Then I woke up. I could not believe it.

I still miss the big guy, so it’s no surprise to be dreaming about him, but I wonder what the symbolism of the thread is? Hopefully it’s just a sign that I’ve been chewing a lot of gum lately, and not that some tricky hoodoo voodoo shenanigans lie just around the corner…

Eyes Wide Shut

Here's a sight you didn't see very often: Tanis with his eyes open!


Aah yes, this is more like it.


("At last," says Tanis from amongst the choir invisible. "A post about me! With all the Comma posts of late, I was starting to feel somewhat neglected.") Sorry old Tanis. I'll see what I can do.