February already ?!

Wait what ? How did that happen ? Last I looked I was getting ready for Christmas... What a terrible blogger I've been ! And besides the occasional Instagram posting, I haven't really been up to anything in 2014 so far. No thrifting, no decorating, no rearranging... The blog is neglected, the kitties feel neglected, the plants certainly are and so is the whole apartment.

Ok then. Speaking of kitties, I thought I'd kick off the new blogging season with some furry animal cuteness. Ready for some cat pictures overload ? 

I don't know if you know, but I share my place with cat herd of six. Yep, that's right. Six little awesome rescue kitties ! Here they are in no particular order.

Sammy. The newest addition to the herd. I found her last summer. Here's the before photo.

She and Woody have quickly become best buddies.

My little fluffy rascals !

Speaking of Woody. Do you remember the cat mummy and her newborn kittens my friend Laura and I found in the street in August 2012 ? Well one of those kittens, that's Woody.

Both Woody and Sammy love to snuggle with Flo on my desk, under the warm desk light.

Flo, my one-toothed vampire. And to think she was this tiny skinny kitten back in January 2011 when I found her.

Highstrung Watson. In his mind he's the topcat. Of course the other don't agree.

He loves to snuggle.

And this is Wally. Found in October 2011, but apparently I didn't blog about it at the time. The earliest post I can find is only in March 2012... She's still very, very shy. Ever since Sammy joined, she's been a little less timid though. She now occasionally allows me to cuddle her. 

And finally, my oldest cat. June. Now almost nine. She's been with me ever since I bought this apartment - nine years ago. I bet if you asked her she could still remember when everything was painted yellow and orange... 

Now living with this many cats in a small apartment isn't always easy. It's doable though and here are some of my favourite "helpers" to keep odors, fur bunnies and costs at a minimum.

Modkat litter boxes. What's not to love ? They keep most of the litter inside, are incredibly easy to clean and are super stylish. 
Only downside is of course their rather hefty price tag. But over the years I've managed to score four of them during various sales on the modko and zooplus websites.

And while we're on the subject of cat loos, I can't sing high enough praises to the Tigerino silica cat litter. That stuff is magic ! Just scoop the poo once a day, the rest is absorbed and stays fresh and odorless for weeks (even with this many cats). And again on websites like zooplus, they do regular sales on this litter. Like right now - less than 10 eur for 3 bags...

I also include a picture of my trusted Miele Cat & Dog hoover. Definitely not the sexiest thing to blog about, but what a life saver ! As you can imagine six cats can quickly amount to fur bunnies the size of grapefruits... I don't know how I managed before my Dad got me this one a few years back. Again this thing isn't cheap, but it makes such a difference.

And for those who have read this far and still aren't fed up, here are some pictures of various stray cats I feed outside...

Mostly this lovely cat...

... and her offspring.

Oh and I would also like to point out that in this household we don't discriminate. I also like to feed wild birdies... much to the enjoyment of Watson...

And if you still haven't had enough, check out these awesome internet kitties :

• Princess Monster Truck
• Hamilton the hipster cat
• and Colonel Meow, who I'm very sad to learn has passed away last week. RIP Colonel !

PS. I would also like to point out that this post has in no way been sponsored by modko, Miele, zooplus or Tigerino. But if any of these companies (or Royal Canin btw) would like to send some free samples, testers or donations my way... The kitties and I would be more than happy to oblige ;-)