Lost Baby Near King and Jameson!

Hi Friends, 

I received this email from cat owner Greg last night: 

"Recently (Friday April 6) one of my two beloved cats somehow squeezed through a gap between my window and air conditioning unit in my apartment and I suspect jumped down and is now missing. I live on the fourth floor of a four floor low-rise right on the corner of Jameson and King. First I'm worried that he's injured and not alright. I checked all around my apartment, but it was late at night and couldn't find any trace of him (which I take as a good sign)."

If you see this sweet baby, please give Greg a call at 647-717-1877!  

Hope he gets home soon.  

Great email from a Parkdale Cat Lover.

Hi Ellie,

I JUST FOUND OUT ABOUT YOUR WONDERFUL CAT WEBSITE AND I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!

I'm from Parkdale, lived on Spencer St for about ten years when I was a kid and I loved it. My cat is from there too! His name is Miki. His mother was the neighbour's cat and I'm not sure but I think that they starved it because my family began to feed it, we called her Mizi. She was a gorgeous callico cat and kind of a slut because she had about two litters of kittens a year. This one year when I was six, she brought two kittens over. One was an orange tabby, that we named Tigger and the other a black and white one that we named Rosie. Well Tigger didn't like being  around us so much but Rosie loved it and basically moved in without us having much of a choice. We later found out that Rosie was in fact a boy and renamed him Miki. Full name: Miki Zorro Spencer Delic. Spencer so that he always knows his roots. We moved just to the border of Parkdale and Miki became very comfortable as a condo cat. He's the loveliest, sweetest cat in the world but has become a diva. He's always been a Parkdale cat and will continue to be. I hope you enjoyed the story and I'll attach some photos of my little king. Love your website, you've gained a fan.

All the best!
Iva. 

Ed's Note: 1. I love anyone who refers to their cat as "my little king".  2. More proof that Spencer Ave is the biggity-best! 3. With no further ado, here is Miki Zorro Spencer Delic, AKA "The King"

You're a King now, Miki, but you'll never forget your roots!  Are you wearing a gold chain?

 

Great white fluffiness and black goatee look. <3 <3 <3

Found Cat Art

Some incredibly cute and industrious cat lover made this sign about a pretty kitty.

black beauty in a secret garden

WHO GOES THERE?

I DO.

Aristocratic bone structure and perfect brown welwet paw pads on a Melbourne Ave porch. 

hold on to your hats - things are about to get cute.

Due to the tremendous support and generosity of my friends I now have a camera!!!  THANK YOU!  

I've been getting so many amazing Parkdale cat pix, so don't forget to remember to visit Cats of Parkdale every day!

Parkdalian / Part Alien cat mural at Queen and Lansdowne.

Cat-Teenage Rebellion

Yeah, I'm a bad a$$ teenage cat who chooses to chill beside a cinder block! WHY? Because I'm a mutha' fuckin badass catty, that's why!

My Portugese mom says I shouldn't smoke nip and sit on planks of wood on top of old air conditioners - but do I listen to my old lady?!  HELL NO! I smoke so much nip even my claws are blunt!  And I represent this cinder block because I am the streets.  

 

I show no mercy.  I give mad cattitude to the perps that pass my palace.

Everyday I need an ounce and a half! The only cat you know with a bounce and a half! 

Ay yo, I smoke like a chiminey!

(Aww, we all know he's a little home-baby mama's boy with that face.  He'd never take drugs or fight, he just wants to impress the teenage girl cats in his area code. I also think he might be a she, in which case this is the long-awaited cat-action sequel to Set it Off starring Queen Latifah)

I love gangster kitties, especially on the mean streets of Parkdale.  So good to be back home in Parkdale after a long stretch in Kitchener-Waterloo.  Thanks to Steph for holding down the cat blogging fort while I was away.

Black against White; or, The Snow-Shoer; or, The Winter Cat.

The snow floats down upon us, mingled with rain . . .
It eddies around pale lilac lamps, and falls
Down golden-windowed walls.

We were all born of flesh, in a flare of pain,

We do not remember the red roots whence we rose,
But we know that we rose and walked, that after a while
We shall lie down again.

 

(The House of Dust, Conrad Aiken)

Walter!

Parkdale + Cats + Books = Heaven.

The River Trading Company opened up in Parkdale this summer.  This was amazing in itself because I had previously been hauling ass to the Annex to buy my crumbling old paperback Agatha Christie's.  Books!

1418 Queen St. West

 I was dumbfounded with delight when I drunkenly stumbled past the new store one night and saw a pretty silver tabby baby sleeping on his princely pillow in the window.

I did a little research and found out that the owner of this store, David McGowan, took this stray sweetie in to live in the store, and named him Walter!

Some people say cats and dogs don't belong in retail stores due to potential customer allergies, but to those people I say : don't be dumb!  These angels are way more important than your sniffles!  If you can't take a Claritin, go to Chapters!

Steph and I went to visit Walter and found him cuddled up in all his Christmas glory!

 He just loves sleeping in his sleigh on his red quilt with his angry bonnetted baby and sweatered teddy!   

i've got squinty little eyes and a big furry head from my rough life on the streets until i got this sweet bookstore position. 

I love my baby.

Sickest xmas window display i've ever seen.

Happy Holidays Walter!  I hope Santa Claws brings you a big fat cat nip blunt and a can of wet food.

calico cat-let cowering

Don't be scared, little loafy!

I ain't scared, I'm sassy!

Canada's Next Top Kitty.  Did Mr Jay teach you that pose bb?

Oooh, double pawing it since 2008.

Tang? or Mikey? You decide.

Went into my favorite cat convenience store, Tang's Market, this weekend.  It's a family run store, and there was a nice little lass there playing around.  Their cat, whose name I by default consider to be Tang, was full of love and following me around the store as I collected my Diet Coke, weaving between my legs and mushing me any chance she got.

Then the little girl dropped an info-bomb on me - 1) Tang is a boy! 2) Tang's name is Mikey!!!!

Wearing a pink collar?  Flippin that gender script one kit at a time - I love it!!! Why did this Asian fam give kitty the whitest name ever?  But I kind of like it.  This cat is so brooding, so serious, so dignified.  Mikey is truly an un-dignified name.  But he doesn't pay no mind.

A day in the life of Mikey.

"It's no walk in the park running a business... such is life..."

"This top shelf is getting pretty sparse, but as you can see I always keep the most important shelves (below) fully stocked. But is my work appreciated by my family and the community at large?  Of course not!" 

"God, look at the price on that raisin bran... Marx must be rolling in his grave... Capitalism meow...."

pink nose

after Steph and I Ate Fresh (tm), we walked along Melbourne by this baby's house and even though it was blustering snowballs he ran up to see what we were saying.  WHAT A LOVER.

so happy.

I've wanted to get a pic of this sweety since I moved to Parkdale in aught-eight.  One of the first kitties to welcome me to the neighbourhood.  An extremely friendly and loving gent with a pretty pink nose!

Awwww!!!  You can tell from my face that's what I'm saying to him. If I had a pink nose and a white tipped tail I wouldn't care what Naomi Wolfe said about no Beauty Myth - I'd be making my mills in Vogue Italia as a cat model!!!

Goodbye Movember.

Who won the international moustache-growing competition that was once known as my month of birth?

This guy did!!!

Nice handlebars!  Almost eveery day when I walk home from work I pass this beauty on Cowan Ave.  He's very cute and curious and I finally got this great pic thanks to an anonymous friend, who sojourned with me to King West for Whopper Wednesday today.  Thanks for trespassing for the sake of my blog, bb!

I am a ball now.

Tang, I hope you're happy living on that freezer with only the ya man brand jamaican beef patty poster for decoration.

Birthday

I turned 28.  I have high hopes for this year.  Thank you Kalim.

perfect Parkdale window cat

Whoever you are taking my photograph: I give you fair warning, before you attempt me further. I may look like a beautiful little cherub, but I've got jaws and claws to protect my window sill.  Stay back!

making the best of what we are given

I work with my family in a variety store in Parkdale called Tang's.  I sit on top of this freezer filled with frozen sausage patties and pizzas all day.  My family loves watching Asian Soap Operas on the TV they installed in the store.  They are so engrossed in these sensational dramas that they can barely acknowledge their customers as they serve them.  Is it any wonder that they don't have time to give me affection? 

They do give me good food though, and whenever the Cat Lady of Parkdale comes in to withdraw money from my ATM we have a heavy-petting session on top of this freezer.  I am a black beauty.  I look pretty depressed in these pictures, but it was just a bad day. Usually I'm pretty happy, I think.

3 lovely kittens available in Parkdale!  Wish I could take one.

it's not just fashion - it's art.

Can you even imagine how fastidiously neat a human would have to be to reach this level of cleanliness? Imagine wearing the same black and white graphic print every day and night while roaming the streets and tromping high grasses, sleeping/rolling in gardens and feasting on mouse blood! Then to have only YOUR TONGUE to clean your perfect outfit with!  

And yet still it remains perfectly pristine, sparkling and spotless? 

People in Parkdale ask me every day, "Ellie, how DO they do it?!?!" 

Well Parkdale, my answer is that kittersons are blessed with spiky tongues that work like combs and a substance that is secreted in their saliva that acts as a natural detergent! They also a natural proclivity for cleanliness (next to Godliness! Don't forget that when you're trying to decide which animal-God to Worship!)

I have to step out on my front porch to fetch the newspaper, but first let me just slip on my floor-length black velvet cape, white silk ascot, white suede thigh-high stockings, velvet bonnet and eye masque.

you can't buy that level of style.

Class structure in the cats of parkdale

These shocking images of Parkdalian cats are blowing the lid off the shameful class divide in the local cat world.

The Debutante.  Keeping up with the 1950’s sockhop ethos that’s all the rage right now in Parkdale cat culture, I caught this Deb released from her father’s estate for one night only to attend her cotillion (in an evergreen brush).

Blue Collar Kitty.  I want to buy him an actual blue collar.  That face has seen many a hard day’s work.  This tom cat works his paws to the bone on the rough streets of Parkdale lying on the side walk and romping through the cat jungle behind his apartment.

Help Find Nasca!!!

It truly breaks my heart to see these signs, and I'm sorry to break the hearts of all "my readers", but I am sharing this in hopes that Nasca will be found and returned to rightful place on that Persian rug!  Please keep your eyes open in the Parkdale area and help find Nasca!