Like you never had a bad hair day…

[Vazra]

Vazra has this habit of leaning his head to the left (his left).  He doesn’t do it all the time, but he does it most of the time.  It’s amusing and a bit odd all at once.  I’m not sure why he does it.  I do know he does it when he walks and when he looks intently at things and at other times.  It’s funny in the large volume I’m exposed to and probably wouldn’t seem so questionable to cursory visitors who might see it in passing.

Anyway, izquierda is the Spanish word for left (hence the title).  I’ve also taken to referring to him as Lefty from time to time, although I’m still trying desperately to refer to him as Vazra as much as possible to help him learn his real name.

This photo shows only a slight tilt to the left.  I assure you he takes it much further than that on most occasions.

[Vazra]

Vazra, like the rest of The Kids, loves to look out the window.  Again like the rest of them, he thinks it’s much better when their open.  The sounds, the smells, the wonder of it all…  Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that Daddy feeds the birds and squirrels and other kitties, so that keeps a plethora of entertainment wandering by that can help occupy a whole day of nature watching.

After the weather cooled off a bit around here in the last few weeks, I was finally able to air the place out on several occasions.  That was just fine with the feline rulers of the universe.  I was able to capture some new (and, dare I say, relatively good) photos of Vazra a few days ago as he lounged in the windows and soaked up some fresh air from the cool morning outside.  Here’s one to get you started.  I’ll post more in the near future.

I’m also happy to report he’s finally started to shed.  That’s important news (although not necessarily good news for me now that I have five shedding felines).  One of the signs we were looking for as an indication of his return to good health was for his coat to normalize.  That meant filling out a bit.  It also meant shedding.  Well, now that’s begun.  It took a while since he was rescued, but I think he’s finally stabilizing and starting to reap the benefits of the good life.

Of course, he’s not entirely fond of brushing.  Given the terrible knots he had when I first began the process of befriending him for possible rescue, it’s important that he be brushed regularly to ensure his fur doesn’t turn into the terrible and painful mess it once was.  It also inhibits hair balls and the ugly mess they can make when dropped about the house.

He’ll tolerate the brush for perhaps six or seven strokes.  After that, it’s all violence all the time.  I’m patient though, and I’m also much better at this than he thinks.  He may not like being held down for brushing and he may not like the brushing itself, but he certainly changes his tune when the after-brushing treats make an appearance.  Maybe he’ll come around eventually; maybe he won’t.  In either case, he’s going to be brushed every day like the rest of them.  He’ll just have to get used to it.  Likewise, I may have to get used to the swinging and biting and general unpleasantness.  I can handle that.