World Cup Cat!

Today is exactly a month since Shadow came to live with us. It seems like much longer. I don't think this little cat remembers his former life at the dukani (spaza shop) across the road. He has completely taken over our home and our lives.

A few weeks ago I posted about the trip I made into Bahri, then back to Omdurman market and back across the bridge to Khartoum to find all Shadow's innoculations. You can read about this here. That week while Grant held Shadow, I administered his three-in-one injection into the neck. I had to wait two weeks before I administered the rabies vaccine. Because I'd found the kitten's skin surprisingly tough and struggled to pierce him that time, for a few days this week, using a spare syringe, I injected water into several oranges until I got "the feel of it". Then while Miriam was here,  I showed her how to  hold Shadow and explained that I would be injecting him. (And that he might bite her) She duly held him and as I pushed the needle into his leg muscle, he let out such a loud yell that Grant, who was watching the soccer, came running through to the dining room where we were. I just managed to inject the liquid into Shadow before he squirmed, tried to bite Miraim and ran off. He hid behind the sofa for ages not trusting Miriam or me one iota. We were definitely off his Christmas card list.

World Cup Soccer? What World Cup Soccer?

Whoo-hoo mum, nothing under the chair...

Oh that! Do you mean there are other things in the world except me?

Woopsie! Almost had my favourite toy there...

It feels as though we have a baby in the house. The lounge mat is always strewn with toys which we've collected mostly from household containers and other odds and ends. For instance the baking powder tin above is filled with rice grains and sealed with sellotape. Every night I place all the toys in a plastic bag and every morning Shadow pulls everything out of the bag!

Still looking mum!

The only two genuine toys are the balls and pink handles above. We bought two baby rattles at Afra Merkez (supermarket) and screwed the handles off. The balls are great fun for a little kitten to roll about the floor. The rest of the toys consist of Pepsi Cola bottle tops, ice-cream spoons, ear plugs, a shoelace, a piece of string, a tube of lip-ice, a rumpled post-it and other exciting objects.

Shadow recharging his batteries on his favourite chair in the dining room. This is directly in line with the airconditioning from the room beyond. Who said cats aren't clever?

Another favourite spot of his is on my  desk in front of my computer (between my wrists). This is how I type up my blog posts!  Can you believe this confindent little kitten spent the first ten weeks of his life in the street fending for himself?  

The Arabic word for inject (verb) is yataan. An injection is el googna.