It's a good thing "blog neglect" isn't an actual crime...

Let's ignore the lacuna and talk about CATS.

Tomorrow is my torrid tortie Madimi's first Adoptionversary. A year ago today, Martha Bayne went with me to Anti-Cruelty Society and swallowed her justified reservations as I went for the yowly little shredder with an attitude problem. She (the cat, not Martha) thrashed so hard when placed in the cardboard box carrier they usually give out that she ripped right through it; I saw a little mottled black-and-orange paw poking out the bottom. They gave me an actual classy plastic one instead.

I have lots of pictures of my bratty darling, but wow, that's trite. The little guys in the picture are baby Manuls, AKA Pallas' cat, a rare type of long-haired wild cat native to the Eurasian steppes from the Caucasus to China to the Himalayas.

Like it seems all beautiful things are these days, manuls are endangered, but not desperately so, as much of their range is extremely remote and not terribly human-encroached yet. Here's their page at Wildcat Conservation.