Ashley is 10

[vilakins]

It's Ashley's observed birthday today (we're not sure when she was born, but it's close enough). Here are some photos of her (and occasionally her friend and adopted brother Sebastian) taken over the last year. She's 10, but still looks half-grown, being only 3kg - as light as a silvery-grey cloud.


A ball of Ashley, curled up in the downstairs sunroom. That green chair is somewhat furred up, as you can see.


Ashley is ready for her closeup.


Ashley and Sebastian in the front garden. This looks very different now it's been cleared and made into a much nicer rock garden with native plants. All the messy weeds, mostly cropped out here, are gone.


Enjoying the morning sun in our bedroom window. I love the stripes between her toes.


Ashley and Sebastian looking at something in the next door garden one morning last week, probably Noisel the big friendly tabby who lives there and visits us.

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

Aw, happy birthday to her! She's gorgeous.

[vilakins]

We called her Ashley Riverstone because she looks like a stone from the Ashley River. I tell her she's a work of art.

[thisbluespirit]

And so she is!

[gwendraith]

A very happy birthday to Ashley from me and the girls :) She's a very beautiful cat. India and Inka will be 11 at the end of this month :)

[vilakins]

I hope to see photos of your gorgeous girls on the occasion. :-)

[kerravonsen]

Prrrrrrr.

How did they cope with the move away from Auckland?

[vilakins]

They had a long flight (delayed by black ice on the runway in Dunedin) then a 1.5-hour trip back here, but they were happy to see us again. It took them a while to settle into a new place - they kept coming in to use litter trays for a couple of months because of feeling nervous outside but thoroughly settled in once they established the garden as their territory. They're very happy here.

[kalypso]

Happy Birthday, Ashley! She's a lovely girl. Here's her cousin Abby, enjoying the sunshine.



We met a nice tabby tonight when we were out canvassing ahead of Thursday's local elections. She took over escort duties when we moved on to Springdale Gardens from the tortoiseshell who had accompanied us all the way down Grenfell Road and back again (and was clearly a Labour supporter, down to her red collar!)

[vilakins]

Beautiful Abby, showing off her soft colours and fur!

Well done, that tortoiseshell and tabby! I'm sure ours are fellow Labour supporters, with some leaning towards Green, which is fine as they're a perfect coalition match for Labour.

[judo100]

Such a beautiful cat! Happy 10th birthday!

[vilakins]

Ashley thanks you! A pity none of the photos show her green eyes. Sometimes that's the only colour. :-)

[mab_browne]

Pretty kitty. :-)

[pebblerocker]

Happy birthday, beautiful girl! She's so much smaller than Sebastian, very dainty.

Geoffrey, who is a stocky ginger, was 5.3kg last time he needed a vet visit and has only grown paunchier since then... and he's still tiny compared to my sister's cat Hercules, a sleek pear-shaped butterball who must be at least 8kg of squishy cuddliness. Whereas Gloria Marilyn, daintiest cat of my household, is much smaller than she appears with her halo of black fluff - but she's been in perfect health ever since she was adopted and Does Not Like being picked up, so we have no idea what she weighs. Possibly a little more than Ashley, but it's hard to tell.

[vilakins]

We only know what they weigh because the vet weighs them when they have their checkups and vaccinations. Ashley has been 3kg all her adult life, Jasmin is just over 4kg (she looks a similar size to Ashley but has those heavy Burmese bones) and Sebastian is around 5kg, but not at all overweight. They're all about right for their sizes.

Greg's sister has a big Maine Coon who must weigh as much as two Sebbies. Regardless of that, she's called Princess and is treated like one, even going on holiday with them.

When I was a child, we had a Persian (one with a normal pretty face, not those squashed-in ones) who looked so much bigger than she was due to the sheer volume of grey floof. She was actually quite thin under it all, like your Gloria Marilyn. :-)