Suzanne Else Baumann

Suzanne Else Baumann

Sweetie—landmarks of her life.

Born 17 April 2003 in New Delhi, India—Cookie, a stray I used to feed came inside and had four kitties on a suitcase under my bed.
I kept a window open, and Cookie took care of them.
When they could walk and run I put them on the terrace, but they still came in at times.
In March 2004, Sweetie was missing for some days. I found her on the road trying to crawl back home. Her back legs were paralysed. On the same day her brother Snowy disappeared. They were good friends
I brought her upstairs and she became an indoor cat. I closed the window, and made her a small makeshift terrace enclosure. She was happy inside and slowly recovered.Before that she lost two premature kittens. She had hanging skin below her stomach, and a slight limp, otherwise could walk and soon could jump as before.
Minty joined us as an indoor cat on 10 September 2011—a kitten I just had to rescue. Despite my best efforts Sweetie never liked her, so I made sure Minty did not trouble her. Sweetie remained my constant companion, Minty in another room.
During these years we made frequent trips to Dehradun to visit my mother. We went by taxi, and though not a long distance, it took 7 or more hours because of the traffic. Sweetie was a very good girl on all these trips, uncomplainingly staying in one room with me on our visits there. With Minty as a second cat it was a problem, Minty had to stay in the bathroom. Of course, both did have a run around the house at times. In 2012 we made nine trips there. After my mother passed away, we moved to Dehradun.
Sweetie was depressed so I got a beautiful terrace enclosure made for her 10th birthday. It was attached to my bedroom, she could go in and out as she liked, and she loved it.[There are pictures of it in the post below]
Even in her final days, she sat there all day in the sun, with me sitting near her. She had stopped eating, but started again, then once again declined, though she ate a little bit even on the last day. She was weak but could still walk and jump on the chair or bed by herself
She usually slept in my bed, with her head on my shoulder and her paw on my arm, but for a few days she hadn’t been doing that. On 2nd night she went to sleep at the foot of the bed. Around 2 am she came up and put her head on my shoulder and paw on my arm. I held her close. At 4.30 am she gave two or three small coughs and then she was gone to the other world.
A small grave was dug for her in the back garden. My neighbour came and said some prayers, and read from the Guru Granth Sahib for twenty minutes. A deeply spiritual man, he said that a cat’s soul is no different from that of a human.
It was 3 March 2016.

Sweetie's very own enclosure

When we moved to Dehradun, almost three years ago, Sweetie was depressed. So for her 10th birthday, she got her very own terrace enclosure. She doesn't like other cats and no other cat is allowed there. The enclosure is attached to my bedroom, also her exclusive space, and she can go out and come in as she likes.She loves sitting outside, surveying the world beyond, and basking in the sun. But she is not too keen on the monkeys, who sometimes look in!
Some pics below:

Wave 105 - Silent Night

Wave 105 - Silent Night
 I know these aren't in India--but really liked it, and so did the cats!

Cat enclosure

The five outside cats, have a room to sleep in when it rains or is too cold or hot, and an outdoor enclosure where they spend the day.
An enclosure like this keeps them safe, at the same time they get to enjoy the outdoors.
Some pictures below:

Ashi--a little black girl

Ashi was being very affectionate this morning. Her way of being affectionate was to lie on her back, grab my hand with her paws, and give it a few licks. Could she possibly know that it is exactly one year since she came here? I was to keep her for a week or ten days, but here she is still!
She and Nandu are good friends, they are meant to live with the other outside kitties, but come in at times.
Ashi was found as a tiny kitten with her eyes still shut. She was rescued by two young men, engineering college students, who kept her in their hostel and reared her on milk fed through a dropper, and boiled eggs. She survived, but by the time she was two months old, they were not sure how to continue to take care of her. The hostel administration had got to know and wanted her out. They posted her picture on a local website, and got an offer of adoption—-but the person concerned would take her after about ten days. Meanwhile they were leaving for their Divali vacations. I offered her a temporary home. Ashi arrived on the evening of 21 October 2014, on a motorbike! She was held tightly by the young man seated behind, while the other drove the bike. She was shivering, scared and cold, but survived the journey safely, a distance of 15-20 km. Once here, she perked up and settled down for her temporary stay.
But no one adopted her, neither the person who had promised to, nor anyone else. So here she is still.
Ashi is a very friendly cat. She is not shy, and greets everyone, and does not fight with other cats. She doesn’t meow much, and has a very sweet soft voice.
She has some oddities though. Wires and woollens are not safe with her! She neatly chops wires in two, and can’t resist woollens. It takes her just a few unobserved minutes to chew her way through them.

Ashi and Nandu