. . . and a few cat photos from Dobrzyn

Andrzej took two photos of me with kitties in Dobrzyn, and I took one of Paulina. There’s no other place to put them but in a short post.

First, Paulina, one of the two lodgers upstairs, is the daughter of the man who tends the cherry orchard, Jacek.  Paulina is married to Mariusz, and she is a BIG TIME cat lover.  Three people were involved in The Taming of Szaron, who as you know is The World’s Sweetest Cat.

Szaron was feral, and Andrzej spotted him in the garage. Andrzej and Paulina decide to feed him, but he was so timid that he wouldn’t even eat if humans were around. He gradually got tamer, and the Malgorzata had the bright idea of luring him inside the house by making a line of cat treats going from the outside to the inside—much like Hansel and Gretel.  Sure enough, Szaron took the bait and, I’m told, once he discovered how nice it was indoors, he was instantly domesticated. Now he’s a purring furball who won’t stay off your lap, and demands head and neck rubs. Since Szraron was rescued by all the residents, he’s shared among them: twice a week or so Paulina comes downstairs in the evening to take Szaron upstairs for her fix of Szaron sleeping on the bed.

Paula rescued Kulka (which, again, means “ball” in Polish), because she heard mewings in the woods near her workplace in Wlockawek. She found the source: a very tiny, wet, and sick kitten, near death. She brought her home, took her to the vet, and fed her up, and now Kulka is more or less a permanent resident upstairs. But she does come downstairs when Paulina and Mariusz are at work. Many times there were three cats in the downstairs, all of them willing to be picked up and petted: a feline paradise. Sadly, now I’m catless.

I asked to photograph Paulina with her rescue cat Kulka—no longer a baby. You will remember Paulina from the great photos she takes of the cats when they’re outdoors—especially Kulka playing in the snow.

Hili on my lap. She still loves me, but Szaron preempted that space most of the time!

But Szaron whose name means “gray” in Polish and “rose” in Hebrew, was always eager for a cuddle and a nap.  I think he must have been deprived of affection as a kitten. It was hard to work with him in my lap, as he would simply sit on the book or keyboard and repeatedly thrust his head in my hand, as he’s doing in this photo.