Little Sun

She is born at the beginning of May 2009 in an old barn in a small Hungarian village. As her mother stashes her away for a long time I meet her the first time when she is ten weeks old.



She is terribly shy and hardly dares to come out of the outbuilding where her mother has accommodated her and her four sisters. Still a huge personal curiosity arouses a strong interest in strange creatures like us.





Little Sun is out of the ordinary. Not only her coat looks quite different from the others, but also she is the first one getting in touch with her new housemates. Whenever we are working in the garden she soon comes hurrying along, sitting and watching us curiously. It takes a few weeks, and she approaches to be petted.



She turns out to be a passionate and successful huntress as well as a real tomboy.



Apart from that Little Sun is such a decent young lady. When waiting for breakfast or dinner she´s lying on the stair looking towards the door.



She likes to be with her sisters, and goes her own way nonetheless.



It often occurs that Little Sun is still roaming the neighborhood when her sisters have a rest already.

After her mother separates from her daughters Little Sun turns out to be a real companion. She is the first to welcome us when we arrive from Vienna. Her compelling bright and sensitive nature becomes more and more apparent. As a sign of agreement she is looking straight into your eyes and starts with slowly blinking.

To make their hard life easier all kittens are being spayed at the beginning of November. It´s quite an exhausting experience, and Little Sun defends herself like a real tiger. After the vet has removed the stiches two weeks later we recognize a significant change in the way Little Sun behaves. She doesn´t play with her sisters, she rejects food, she coughs, and her eyes start to water. I consult the vet at once, and we take her to Vienna to care for her.



She is incredible courageous on her first long trip by car, she takes her antibiotics twice every day, and hardly leaves her place to stay. Sometimes she approaches to lie on my desk behind the computer or sit under the desk light in my studio.

The antibiotics don´t help. Whatever we do she´s getting weaker from day to day. After one week it turns out to be a battle of life and death. Little Sun has lost the battle. She died on Sunday, five minutes after I called another vet, at the tender age of seven months.

Last family picture Oct 19th

There is just sadness, and a lot of questions remain.

P.S. Little Sun gets her last home in the garden where she used to be a bright young lady full of beans.

Getting Prepared

I ask him what we have decided last evening. Are we going to lock her up or not? There is no answer. He is in bad mood. When plucking dried herbs I hear the crunching of a door that makes me feel like living in the middle ages. I realize that he is busy with preparing the dungeon. One hour ago I have furnished the box to put her in for transport.


Have you got scary? To be honest, I am! We finally decided to get our semi-feral cats being neutered. The mother cat at first, afterwards the kittens. It´s an awkward situation for both of us. Whereas my husband tends to go through with this as quick as possible without batting an eye, it is my turn to tackle things in a well thought-through manner. Unexperienced in how to deal with pets I am doubtful which kind of handling would be the best, and I change my mind several times. That drives him nuts. He is the one who has to remount the door of an outbuilding, and he is just about to finish the new jail for the poor mother cat.

We already have fixed the surgery, and the vet told us to take away food and water twelve hours before. Not an easy undertaking with a strawing animal! Not being used to stay indoor, we will have to lock her up the whole day. My thoughts are revolving around how she would behave in that situation. Maybe it´s better to find another way to manage it? ...


The next morning the cats are waiting for breakfast in front of the house as usual. My husband puts on his work gloves and approaches the unsuspecting mother. As I am watching the scenery with excitement, he crabs her neck carrying her to the newly-created prison. What a surprise, the cat doesn´t move at all! As soon as she gets locked up I feel guilty, and I have such a pity on her since I was the one who came up with the "neuter project". I am listening, she doesn´t even meow.

Two hours later I call the vet to tell him that we sucessfully caught the cat and locked her up, only to get informed that he will have to cancel the surgery today and doing it on another day next week!

I am really pissed off but also somewhat relieved. I run into the kitchen to prepare a big breakfast which she enjoys. But cats are not silly. The following days she visits us rarely, and whenever she sees my husband with his gloves on she is running away. This time I am not aware of the fact that this is just the beginning of an even bigger challenge.

To Our Great Surprise

I am passing the doorway carefully to make sure not to frighten the two kittens. As mentioned in an earlier post one week ago the cat got her eight week old babies from their hiding place to our house. Nobody is seen. I get out of the car and squat at some distance from the outbuilding where they newly reside. While I am waiting and getting afraid that they may have been disappeared, I suddenly get a glimpse of a small curious looking face appearing behind the hole of the door. I wonder why this one looks tabby while we got introduced to a white and a black young guy last week. Is this caused by the daylight? No, that´s impossible. I don´t know any light that turns deep black fur into tabby greybrown. I feel quite confused!

As we unload the car, the cat comes out of the hole of the "house of cats", accompanied by three! kittens. A black, a white and a greybrown tabby one. I am right so: I don´t know any kind of light that ...



A quarter of an hour later I look out of the window, getting even more confused. The kittens are playing in the backyard. Only there a two! white kittens now.



It makes me speechless, and I am hurrying away for my husband, who unsuspecting is examining the vegetable patch, to tell him that we have got four! kittens now. Once more I turn in disbelief. Now you may think that I am crazy, but I can assure you: in the meantime also the black kitten has duplicated!



Instead of telling my husband that we have got four kittens now, I say: "And now, brace yourself ..." He just stares at me.

In the evening we are discussing farther reaching consequences of having six cats, eventually two or three of them ladies, each giving birth to five babies twice a year ... hope you are well trained in mathematics!? Right now actually we are trying to block it out and enjoy the enchanting theatrical performances.

Their shy father pays a short visit about three times a day.

The Babies

After a busy week in Vienna we arrive in Hungary on friday evening. The cat is just crawling under the doorway, being scared as my husband gets off the car. Only now when he opens the door she recognizes him and runs after him like lightning. It´s the same play as ever. Instead of watching the changes in the garden, I am hurrying to prepare the meal for the cat first, though she doesn´t look famished. Meowing undeviatingly she has me in her grip.



Heavy rain alternating with hot and sunny days in the last couple of weeks transformed the backyard into boondocks. After nightfall we sit in the backyard repelling moscito attacks. The cat approaches slowly. This time she is not alone. When she comes nearer we remain in unbelieving amazement. She´s accompanied by her two 8 week old babies. Being scared when seeing us the kittens run away several times. It´s hard work for their mother to bring them back again and again, running back and forth along with a variety of vocalizations. They run across human beings for the first time in their life. Finally they rest, convinced by the existence of a feeding bowl.



The following day we take notice that the cat definitely brought her babies to the new home. The three of them have spent their first night resting on the doormat right on our doorstep. But they soon find the right place to stay in a storeroom. The whole day we have a lot of fun watching the shy guys exploring their new home. We are just wondering: who is the girl and who the boy?

Wild Lady

She approaches slowly and tentatively, looking into my puzzled eyes. Faint-hearted meow is raising. Day and night a lot of cats are banging around in our backyard. All of them extremely shy. This white and grey colored lady, apparently pregnant, doesn´t give a damn. Where does she come from? After pigging out she will stalk us forever. Her babies were born at the beginning of May and live hidden in an empty neighboring house. Last week she apparently invited us in, being frustrated as we were not able to follow her through the tiny hole.



We call her "the cat", and since her shy hubby is showing up of late (we call him "the black"), we have a lot of fun with that crazy couple, at least three days a week. Back in Vienna, I am thinking of her hoping she is doing well.

Mind The Gap

A Dream Come True

Only 2 weeks later, still residents of Vienna, we are now proud owners of an old farmhouse and a huge backyard in a lovely Hungarian village next to the Fertö-Hanság National Park. A fabulous place still a tough piece of work.





In the next couple of years I will learn that:

tree frogs indulge in sunbathing and throw wild parties

ants milk aphids, and aphids eat a whole peach tree for breakfast



I am totally addicted to fashion like that

and much more!