For information about the day I welcomed Sora, please refer to the next article.

It has been six months since I started keeping Sora, and I cannot imagine life without Sora anymore; I have gotten used to it. Sora is the center of my life, and during weekends, I have to give Sora food, so I have to come home early! This is the kind of life I’m leading.

Initially, Sora weighed about 1.5 kg, but now weighs 3.5 kg, and I think he has visibly grown more than twice his size.

Incredible Athleticism

The Russian Blue is a short-haired breed with good athletic ability.
Sora can easily jump over fences, so I've set up a 190 cm one at the entrance of the kitchen.

Sora loves high places and often climbs on top of the refrigerator or the cupboard to sleep.
There was even a time when he walked on the curtain rail and got into the gap between the air conditioner and the ceiling (which is about 10 cm wide?).

Sora also likes to sit on human shoulders and is often seen on a family member's shoulder.

Neutering Surgery

I had Sora neutered at the age of six months, and it was quite tough for him. He really hated the Elizabethan collar (a guard-type thing you put around the neck), and it was pitiful to see him unable to walk properly after the surgery. The Elizabethan collar I received from the hospital was made of hard plastic, so I quickly replaced it with a soft, cushioned one. The wound seemed to heal in about five days, so I started removing it for about half the day, and by a week after the surgery, I had completely taken it off.

Sora has modes where he is purring gently and wanting affection, and modes where he wants to play, and when he wants to play, he bites, which can be quite painful. I have gotten a better idea of how to deal with it now. At first, I used to play with a long string, but sometimes he would chew and swallow the string, so lately, I’ve been using a long stuffed toy. It's cute to see him hiding behind things (even though it's obvious) and targeting the stuffed toy.

First Trip

The other day, I took Sora on a trip to Nikko and Nasu.
To easily carry him around, I bought a backpack-style carrier and a harness. Sora refused to wear the harness, but he seems to love going out in the backpack, and he would jump in on his own when I opened it. Even now, I carry him in the backpack nearly every day, and he has become quite popular among the local elementary school kids.

During the trip, we spent about 4-5 hours in the car.
I wondered how to keep him comfortable in the car, so I set up part of the cage on the back seat by folding it down. However, it wasn't completely flat, and it rattled a bit, plus the cage parts were stacked and made noise whenever the car vibrated. But, after about an hour, he got used to it and sat like a sphinx.

Thinking he might get tired of being shaken around for too long, I kept alternating between putting him in the backpack and having my wife hold him, managing to reach our destination somehow.
I had set up a litter box in the cage, but he didn't use it even once. I left him in the car when we stopped at highway service areas, but he still didn’t go. Apparently, he can’t go in a different environment. After we arrived at the cottage, I set up the three-layer cage, creating an environment similar to what he’s used to, and he successfully used the litter box.
Overall, it was quite challenging, but at least I realized that I could take him along on trips. I want to figure out how to make car rides more comfortable for him.

The Gateau Chocolate Incident

Speaking of which, the other day, I left a slice of store-bought gateau chocolate in the kitchen, and Sora broke in and ate the whole thing.
Since chocolate is toxic to cats, I panicked, but fortunately, nothing happened. I was relieved.
When I searched online, I found several posts on forums saying, “My cat ate gateau chocolate, what should I do?” which made me wonder if this is a common occurrence?! (It turned out fine in all those cases).

Sora has quite an appetite and eats anything, which can be troublesome. He really eats all kinds of human food.
Also, while Russian Blues are often referred to as silent cats that hardly meow, Sora is constantly meowing.
He meows loudly when he wants food.
He may be quite unique.

Conclusion

I tend to get canker sores and have gas buildup in my intestines due to stress, which has always been quite painful for me, but I feel like since I started keeping Sora, I’ve drastically reduced those issues.
Thanks to Sora, I feel healed every day and that my stress levels have decreased.

I’ve had many troubles such as surgery, travel issues, and food incidents, but there have been more moments of happiness than that.
I’m truly glad I welcomed Sora into my life.