Mace (mat-zay): My street cat

I have a mace, or cat. I've become obsessed. We snuggle and play together all the time. He's so freaking cute and loving. Have you ever watched a video with your cat? I have. Just type in "videos for your cat" on Youtube, and watch some birds, mice, and squirrels. I bought him a laser. I've made him toys from old string and he loves his aluminum foil ball.  He is always trying to get the thing that lives under the covers (hint: it's my hand). I may have become a crazy cat lady.

This is a few hours after meeting each other.
The fact that we're making the same face just
shows that we were meant to be.

His name is Miku (mee-koo), which translates to "the friend" in Albanian. I met him on my site visit and he was my first friend here in Përshefcë, so the name fits.

I can't believe I'm lucky enough to live with a family that lets me keep him inside.  They seem to like him too and are always asking me where he is. When I call him outside, he usually comes running within a few seconds.  The kids in the family love him too and he is a big source of entertainment here.  I'm teaching them how to play with cats and showing them that they aren't that scary.

Typically Muslim homes don't have cats, particularly in the home, and they especially don't have dogs inside--which is why I was surprised that they allowed Miku inside! My first family would never ever have allowed any animal to come inside the house.  He sleeps with me every night...either cradled in my arms or on my chest.  I set my alarm about 10 minutes earlier than I need so that I can snuggle with him.  He's vaccinated and had his de-wormer pills, and he got neutered on Feb. 25th.




When I got him neutered I actually had some family members say to me: "Can you even do operations on cats?! I had no idea." or "You sterilized him? That's sooo bad, though!" or "But...he's a girl cat. You know he can't get pregnant, right?" I just really wanted to do my small part to help the local cat population...plus I don't want him to start marking his territory inside or anything, and neutering them helps with this. While it was semi-expensive for here to do the operation, it ended up being the equivalent of about $36, or 1,800 denar.

My 14-year-old host sister, Vlera has also become quite attached to him. She's his aunt and helps me take care of him.


He's wonderful and I'm very much considering bringing him back to America with me in two years.

Enjoy all these wonderful photos of him.

I was serious about watching YouTube videos.

Sooo, when I first got him it looked I had stuck my hand in a rose bush
or something. He's since learned to play a little nicer.

Enjoy how adorable this is. He crawled onto my
host "dad" and they both took a nap.

He fell asleep holding my hand.
Notice how you can tell we were watching cat videos together,
then he fell asleep.

Package from my mom! Miku liked it too.

Cat. Box. Next to the wood-burning stove. Why
would he be anywhere else?

Best cat in Macedonia.