Winter is coming – Talvi on tulossa

Talvi tulossa – Winter is coming. A poster asking who owns this stray cat in Lauttasaari in Helsinki.

I saw a poster taped on the glass to a shelter on a bus stop at Isokaari on Lauttasaari in Helsinki, Finland, saying “Talvi on tulossa” – “Winter is coming”, asking if someone knew who was the owner of a stray cat on Lauttasaari. Abandoned cats don´t survive winter in Finland´s climate.

One of Talvi´s favourite places is the bed in the window.

Close on the same road a black rescued cat named Talvi is living with his friend Inti and their mum and dad. I told Inti´s story last year in This cat has a story.

Inti lies high on the towel cupboard in the bathroom.

Inti´s mum and dad wanted a friend for Inti and looked for a rescue cat online. They found Talvi and went to Tampere to visit him. He was said to be a shy cat but they made contact with him and decided to take him home. They got him two weeks before Christmas Eve and the trial period ended on Christmas Eve so this was a Christmas present for both Inti and their mum and dad. Two weeks of worrying and hopes that the cats would be friends.

Talvi and his sister Taika was rescued by a cat rescue organisation in Tampere last autumn. Talvi and his sister probably was born in August 2016. Talvi means winter and Taika means magic. Taika was renamed and adopted by family with three more cats and a dog and is enjoying her life.

Talvi and his sister Taika are both black cats. They are probably inbred, maybe the parents were siblings acquired as summer cats by people with summer cottages in the area and abandoned when they left in the autumn. Talvi and Taika is said to have eaten garbage and of course this have consequences for their health. Talvi has also suffered an ear infection and is hard of hearing. He holds his head at an angle but seems ok otherwise and is enjoying his life as an indoor cat in Helsinki. Both he and his sister have tails that is bowed to the side. The vet says this is a sign of inbreeding. They are rather clumsy and can´t miau. They communicate by a “puurrkk” sound.

Talvi´s vet always tells her boy friend when Talvi is coming to the vet clinic that “Winter is coming” – “Talvi on tulossa”. As almost everyone today is familiar with “Game of Thrones” this probably doesn´t need an explanation.

Talvi in his bed.

Talvi is a very sweet and cosy cat that loves to cuddle and spends a lot of time in his dads lap. He is shy of strangers while his friend Inti is very friendly with everybody, including those that really wouldn´t like to be friendly with the cat. Talvi and Inti live together in harmony, sometimes cuddling in the bed in the window, sometimes play fighting. Especially when they get bored in the early morning while the humans really want to sleep.

Talvi cuddles with his dad.

And of course you have to mind where you put things. Talvi started to play with the keys I borrowed from my son and put on a table. Lucky I saw it otherwise the keys might have disappeared into the flat. Inti is more agile than Talvi and can be found high up on the top of cabinets or on the top of the curtain cornice.

Talvi plays with the keys.
The keys fell down and Talvi is hunting for them.

Talvi likes to be in the middle of the room and often lies on the middle of the carpet so he can survey what happens. Another of Talvi´s favourite places is in the cat bed in the window, while Inti often sleeps on a cat tree or on the top of cabinets.

These two cats have been very lucky to be rescued from a life on the streets and none of them would have been alive today if they hadn´t been rescued. Please, if you consider getting a cat, please adopt, don´t shop. And don´t fear black cats, if the myth that people don´t like black animals is true. Talvi is a very sweet cat, with a lovely personality and very cuddly as well. A great friend to humans and fellow cat alike.

Talvi and Inti have an Instagram account at

And please spay your cats when you get them if you don´t know how to place them with responsible persons. There are lots of cats out there needing homes already, there is no need to get more homeless cats into the world.

Everyone needs a friend, both humans and cats. I share this post with The Daily Post´s weekly Photography Challenge: Friend. I also share this with Camera Critters and Saturday’s Critters

Is Inti teasing Talvi with his tail?
Talvi likes to chase Intis tail.

Friends!

Category : animals, Photo, Weekly Photo Challenge, weeklyphotochallenge
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