Yesterday evening, Annikki came running down to the cellar wanting me to rush up to the kitchen with the camera.
There I found two 87 year old great grandmothers dozing together with quiet peaceful music coming from the radio.
Hilja was 87 in March of this year. Iitu, our cat, was brought home by Joanna as a present for Annikki in March 1991. Converting cat years to human years, Iitu is also around 85 - 87 years old.
Iitu is remarkably fit and well, going out hunting every day and making sure her territory is free of intruders.
Iitu is a superbly intelligent cat. Even as a little kitten she knew how to jump on door handles, put her weight on them and push doors open.
She was taught hunting by me. Every night, as I brushed my teeth before going to bed, she would jump into bed to wait for me. There, she insisted I play a cat and mouse game, with me moving my hand under the blanket while she would pounce on it the minute I exposed even a tip of a finger even for a second. For Iitu it was not a game, as she used to keep her sharp kitten claws fully extended at each pounce! As soon as I fell asleep, she would push off.
Even these days, she trots up to bed at my side, and though she does not want to play the cat and mouse game very often, when she gets a chance, she goes for my fist! After she executes the kill she will lovingly lick the injured finger!
In the old days, the roof at Kampitie was a felt roof. Iitu could go in and out from the upstairs window using the fire escape ladder and the roof above the entrance porch to the house which was just below the window. The first rung of the ladder is almost 2 metres off the ground. This little kitten could jump up, and in one smooth movement climb up the ladder going in and out between the rungs.
In 2003 we changed the roof to a metal one. Iitu learnt fast that she could not use it the same way as the felt roof as she slid down it just once. She lets us open the front door or the cellar door to go out, calling us from whatever we may be doing. To come in, she climbs 4 metres up a tree in the neighbour's garden which is just next to the roof ridge. Then, keeping her paws on both sides of the ridge, she is able to walk on the metal roof without sliding. Iitu then uses the window to come in!
When Iitu was a kitten, Annikki's father was so amazed by the agility of this kitten and her intelligence, he built a small ledge outside the upstairs window so that Iitu could use it as her perch to see the world and also to make it easier for her to come in or go out.
Iitu had only one litter - when she was 2 years old. She was a good mother, but when the kittens were a few weeks old, she made it clear that they had to fend for themselves, just as she had done! She was glad to get the home for herself after we found good homes for her kittens.
We let the great grandmothers enjoy their restful evening together!
