Every week, we look for interesting stories from cats and their owners. This time, we spoke to Jolien. She lives in the Netherlands with her family. During her childhood, she was always surrounded by cats, until she went to live on her own. ‘My partner and I always had a dog,’ Jolien explains. ‘Eventually we did get a cat together, but we should have done so much earlier.’
The very best cat names
Jolien's son finally chose the name for her cat, Deejay. He loves DJ music, so he didn't have to think long to find a name. They named their second cat Django because they thought it sounded nice with Deejay. Their other two cats are brothers and Jolien always liked the name Dex. ‘One had to be Dex, I love that name. Once we got to the breeder, one kitten loved to cuddle and the other was so adventurous, always in the mood to hunt. So the children were like ‘we should name the cuddly one Dex and the other Hunter’, the rest is history,’ says Jolien.
Deejay and Django did not get along at first
Introducing the cats
Hunter and Dex are two years younger than Deejay and Django, so they took their time to introduce them to each other. ‘When we introduced Deejay and Django to each other, they didn't really get along at first, so we wanted to make sure they would accept Hunter and Dex. We put them in separate rooms and installed a see-through door with holes in it so the cats could hear, see and smell each other,’ Jolien explains. ‘After a week, we removed the door and they got along well. They still sleep in separate rooms because Hunter is quite active and Deejay and Django don't appreciate it when someone disturbs their naps.’
Hammock as ab-so-lu-te favourite
Her four cats can indulge themselves on their three scratching posts. ‘There is the Corner Coon in cream, the Corner Coon in dark grey and the Maine Coon Fantasy. We have two in the living room and one in the cat room because Hunter and Dex sleep there. We bought them because they have to be sturdy. When Maine Coons go to scratch something, they use a lot of force, so it has to be sturdy. Since they are also quite big, we had to have one with large sleeping areas. They all seem to like the hammocks the most, because that's where they usually sleep,’ Jolien says. ‘Django also likes to lie with his paw over the edge of the hammock, then it looks like he is a truck driver with his arm outside his window.’
Indoor cats
Jolien decided to keep the cats inside; they are not allowed out on the street. To give them some space anyway, they decided to build an outdoor run for them. ‘Through the cat room, they can enter their run and they do use it quite often. They love lying there in the sunshine,’ Jolien says. ‘When we see a bird, we tell them there are birds in the garden and they all come running so they can watch them. It's super cute.’
Deejay - Django - Dex - Hunter
Chill out in these hammocks:
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Andreas and his cat family
19.08.2022
Every week we look for interesting stories from cats and their owners. This week, we spoke to Andreas from Germany. He has no fewer than 10 cats living with him. We are more than sure he has something interesting to tell us.... Let's have a chat with him.
