When we brought her to our home, our Kira was two, and she immediately began is running the place. Azanabengals Bechira, one of the females that mated with Cheveyo, and picks on him constantly, is the most precious darling cute, dainty, fierce, and certainly dominant member of the household. We thought it would make Chevey really happy, it did, but he let’s her run everything. The origin of Bechira, pronounced, be-HEE-ra (with a hard H or CH), derives from the Hebrew free will, and the short form is Kira. According to some, it also comes from ancient Egyptian, Ki-Ra, meaning scratched Ra’s eyes out, but we have our doubts about that one. We can now safely say that the name is well chosen. She’s a bit less wild than Chevey, at 13%, but is a very strong dominant feline. Actually, she’s a party girl, who’s into everything. Constantly. Especially glasses of water and long warm showers.

Here’s a picture of Bechira after she’d been with us two days. She’s a retired queen from Brilliant Bengals. Isn’t she just a darling? More information about Kira’s ancestry can be found here.

December 18th, 2008

Guess what I found! It’s the coolest neatest thing ever. I don’t think Randy’s going to let me keep it.

December 17th, 2008

Look at what I found! Randy spent a whole lot of time making a huge mess, but it was worth it. He made me another place to go up and get water. He got rid of that weird splashy thing… pedist-something. I dunno. I couldn’t jump up on it. Now it’s easy. I can even look into the mirror and admire myself. I look good! Really good! I’m PERFECT! Where was I? Oh yeah, Randy asked me to show you what he was doing: The Powder Room

November 13th, 2008

Hi fans. Randy and Rhys were at the wine store a few days ago and they found an interesting product. According to Rhys, it smelled exactly like something I do a few times a day – pee in the litter box. Ewwww. That is just so gross. Chevey won’t even use my litter boxes after I do that. He’ll whine and whine until the boxes are clean and only then go. If they don’t clean the boxes, he’ll poop on the floor… where was I? Oh yeah, so my pet people are thinking of bottling up my pee and selling it as wine, since Chevey whines about it, and it smells like German Sauvignon Blank. What’s Sauvignon Blank? I dunno. Anyway, so my pee smells like fine wine. I should hope so. After all, I’m Kira! So shaddap!

Halloween 2008

Randy wrote lyrics about me and I think it’s pretty funny. So, think about the music of Thriller, and sing the song, or I’ll scratch your eyes out!

It’s close to midnight and something dainty’s lurking in the dark.
Under the moonlight, you hear a sound of running on the floor.
You hear a scream, but the glass falls off the counter before you catch it.
You stop to breathe, the Bengal looks right past and through you.
You don’t really matter.

You hear the door slam, and realize she’s into it again.
You feel the cold splash, and wonder just what you’ll have to clean.
You close your eyes, and hope that it wasn’t the fine crystal.
But all the while, you hear the creatures zooming round the house.
You just won’t sleep.

They’re out to get you. There’re kitties trying to get outside.
They have possessed you. At least they cannot use the phone.
Now is the time for you and me to clean their litter, dear.
All thru the night, we’ll be worried, of the damage she can do.
And Chevey will poop.

Darkness falls throughout the house, the crazy hour is close to now.
Felines lurk in search of food, to terrorize those who sleep.
And whoever should be caught, in midst of their nightly chase
Must face the chore of giving water, while holding back laughter.

The foulest stench is in the air. The funk of Chevey’s latest dump.
And litter strewn over the floor, gets between your toes.
And though you fight to fall back asleep, your body just won’t do it.
For no mere human can resist the cuteness of Bechira.

‘Cause she is Bechira, sweetest girl.
And no-one’s gonna save you from her claws about to scratch.
You Know she’s Kira, fiercest girl.
She’s on the counter again, she is a Bengal.

Kira, cutest girl
‘Cause she can suck you in more than a cat would ever do. (Kira, sweetest girl)
So she’ll scratch your eyes out and then feel bad.
But you more than her.

‘Cause she is Bechira, the best girl.
‘Cause she can suck you in more than a cat should ever do.
Not that Chevey would ever try (Kira fiercest girl).
So you shut up and scritch Bechira.

(Lyrics adapt from Micheal Jackson’s Thriller)

August 4th, 2008

Oh, is Chevey a bad boy. Now I, Kira, would never ever do anything bad. Never. Well, hardly ever anyway. Where was I? Oh yeah, Chevey. He was a bad boy today. Randy didn’t feed him on time, so Chev turned over his food and water dish. What a mess it was. He’s a bad boy. I don’t know about you, but we, the superior felines, are not supposed to have the emotions of vin… something… or revenge. Ok, I know that if someone bugs me, I’ll scratch their eyes out, but that’s not revenge, that’s just ‘cuz they deserve it. We gotta watch this boy. He’s behaving strangely and getting me into trouble.

July 30th, 2008

The U.S. Army called me today. They said they need people. I said … why are you calling me? What’s “Copyright Infridge…something”? So I scratched their eyes out. Apparently knocking over water glasses and ruining computer equipment is important for some military reason. What’s military? Does it involve sticks? So I said they could use what I told Chevey when we first got together: “Kira. I’m not just a job, I’m an adventure!” People are weird, but funny.

April 22nd, 2008

And Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt and left me there to teach them a lesson. You see, there were a lot more plagues than what you heard about. After the Hebrews went off into the giant litter box, I had to look really cute and distract anyone left. But I got bored. That’s never a good thing. There were no feather toys left, and no one had invented a laser pointer… what’s a laser? So here are my plagues:

1. Screaming: I had no one to talk to in my language, so I just went around screaming a lot until they understood.
2. Tripping: When they refused to understand, I ran between their legs and made them fall over. This was bad because big rocks starting falling down too.
3. Hitting with a Stick: Someone had to make them work for me, so I got a stick… you get the picture
4. Stealing Strings: When the Hebrews ran off, guess where the strings went. I dunno (innocent cute smile)
5. Tying People Up: Now who would tie up the pharaoh’s family? And where would they get the strings? Meeerrrrrrrrow
6. Mooching: Come to think of it, it’s hard to mooch when everyone is tied up. But then, I got to jump up on the tables and eat all the sour cream.
7. Jumping into Showers: After they got themselves untied, they had to get clean. So I jumped in, screamed at them, and guess what happened next…
8. Clawing: … that’s right, clawing. That hurt them a lot more than me.
9. Nothing: After my shower, and the clawing, I was up to no good. When they asked me what I was doing pushing all the idols down off the tables, all I said was… “nuuuuuuthing” (Ed note: this is not the same as darkness, of course)
10. Scratching Eyes Out: And once I had pushed over the idols, I … scratched their eyes out. That’s why no one found idols in the sand with jewels in the eyes, because I scratched ’em out.

Now just to show them that I’m a good kitty, not a bad one, I showed them how to write things down on paper. It wasn’t nice that they didn’t write down what I did to them, but I guess they were too embarrassed. Here’s how you made paper in ancient times:

• First you get a stick.
• Then you eat some papyrus. It’s like ancient cat grass.
• Then you barf up the papyrus on a hot rock (or carpet, but you can’t write on it, if it’s on carpet).
• Don’t forget to make a high-pitched eeeek sound so that they know to come looking for the barf.
• Let the barf dry in the hot sun.
• Peel the barf off the rock.
• Use the stick to write on the barf, which should look like paper.
• Before you do that, make sure I’m not hiding under the paper, or I’ll scratch your eyes out.

January 19th, 2008

Hello to all my fans!Today was a very busy day. My pet-parent Kris is really sick with a cold, but she spent all day working with my friend Christine making sure that the house is very clean for me and Chevey. And oh yeah, those other little people, too.

I was thinking today about my busy life. They say I’m a “diva”, whatever that means. But look, I work really hard. I have really busy days, every single day! Just look at all the things I have to do every day!

My Day By Kira Sleep Play Eat Poop Play Beat up Chevey Play Sleep Scream Beat up Chevey Play Eat Pee Play Eat a spider Sleep Play

Whew. Who but me can keep up with that schedule over 24 hours?? It’s hard to be me. But for you, dear fans . . . it’s worth it!

January 10th, 2008

It was painting day today. What’s paint? I can’t see it anyway, so it doesn’t matter. There was a really funny smell all over the place. Peeewwww. I can make that sound. It’s like meeooowww, but with a little throwing up at the front. Randy was mean and put us upstairs so we couldn’t take a dunk in the paint. It was really stinky. When he let us out, I had to sniff all the baseboards. I even licked one. Yuck! Chevey came over to one, took a sniff, and pronked. That was funny. Randy and I laughed pretty hard. I got into the laundry room – I can open doors you know – and dipped my tail in some white paint. I couldn’t have noticed except it was on the black part of my tail. I spent all night cleaning… and chasing Chevey around, because it was his fault – everything is his fault. Chevey doesn’t like the paint. He keeps trying to scratch it off the walls.

January 1st, 2008

Welcome to all my fans. My people set up this cool thing called an RSS feed, but it doesn’t have anything to do with food. I don’t know what it is, but I can put stuff in your mailbox. Like mice, and poop. I don’t know what a mailbox is either. It’s a people thing, I’m sure. Chevey can too, but he doesn’t say much, unless he’s hungry. If I knew what New Years was, I’d wish you a happy one, but since I don’t, I may just have to scratch your eyes out. The little people were watching this movie called “Ratatouille”. I don’t get it. No rats got eaten. Don’t you make that food with rats? Chef Randy’s been making good holiday food, I think. But I dunno. If it’s smaller than me, I’ll eat it. Chevey eats almost anything. He’s fat. I’m not. I’m cute. And dainty. And fierce.

July 15th, 2007

I nearly made my escape today before I was found out. It all started when I stole Kris’ keys. I heard Randy and Kris talk about this place near where we live that has Buffalo. Well, I don’t know about you, but any self-respecting Bengal needs to experience taking down a buffalo – at least once! So I sat down and put together a plan:

• First, you get a stick. No – wait – that’s a different scheme. Sorry.
• First, I steal Kris’ keys. I stash them where nobody can find them. Then, I get Chevey to distract them while I jump out the window in the bathroom they’re renovating, while nobody’s looking. Ewww! Stinky in there! White stuff all over the walls that smells bad. But I digress.
• Once I’m outside (can you hear the Mission Impossible music in the background?), I climb down the ivy, jump to the cedar hedge, and leap to the ground beside the garage. Now . . . how to get in there?
• I circle the garage, thinking. Could I slip in between the gaps in the garage doors? That seems like the best plan. Thank goodness they haven’t replaced those doors yet.
• Once in the car, Chevey would work the pedals while I turned that big round thing that makes the car go in the direction you want. I would tell him when to push the GO pedal and when to push the STOP pedal. All simple! The best part? Kris’ car has a map thing that takes you wherever you want to go. All I have to do is spell B-U-F-A-L-O [sic] on it, and the car will go to the buffalos!

RATS! My plan was ruined when Kris needed her car this morning. Of course, she couldn’t find her keys because I had them. What to do, what to do?? She looked all over the house and kept asking me to help her find them! I ran away as if I was looking. I watched her take everything out of her purse. Then I watched Randy look through her purse. Then I watched Kris look again. I was sweating bullets.

When nobody was looking, I jumped up on the island (where I’m not allowed) and put the keys back in Kris’ purse. Then I ran like Heck. And hid for like three hours. Meanwhile, Randy and Kris cooked steak. And I just know that Chevey got some meat!!! He’s so smug, too.Here’s a picture of the car I was going to steal. It’s so perfectly appropriate, isn’t it?

July 14^th, 2007

And now for a little feline artwork. They got me the coolest cat toy EVER! It’s FOAM. I think I’ll express myself.

They caught me! The foam was just sitting there, so I had to play with it. I mean, it’s so simply  irresistible. Now that I’m done, would you just get a stick and put this somewhere so that my fans can admire it? This is going to be on the cover of my book, you know. It has to be purrrfect.
	Randy’s Comment: Here is an absolutely un-retouched photograph of the artwork Kira made by playing with the foam bottle. We’re not entirely sure how she did it or got her paws on it, but the top was already cured when she found it, so there was no danger to her. She scares us sometimes.

July 12^th, 2007

Would someone please pet me? I haven’t been petted in hours and I’m not going near Chevey. He smells really bad right now. Ewww. Maybe someone needs to get me some cheese. Do we have cheese? I know we have cheese. I can smell it through the refrigerator door. Maybe if I rope Randy to the fridge I could get some cheese.

You know, I think I like the idea of elk more than elk itself. Does that make me a philosophical cat? I’m writing a book, you know. Also Schprache Bechira, which translates, to you non-felines, as First, You Get a Stick!

June 24^th, 2007

News Flash: Kris was found tied to a chair today, barely conscious and covered in cat hair, by Bob the grocery delivery person. Bob and his crew were delivering 6 metric tonnes of salmon, one elk, and 30 gallons of cream when the discovery was made. Inside the home, a laptop was connected to the Internet and credit cards were scattered all over the floor. Cheveyo was taken into custody, and continues to declare his alarmed innocence, claiming he was framed.
A second feline of interest, Bechira, fingered Cheveyo as the perpetrator of the crime and refused comment because she was too busy eating. The victim was securely tied up with a cat toy in a unprecedented display of feline rope work, shown in the photograph. The victim described feeling a tickle around her ankle while eating lunch, “The next thing I knew, the police were here and my bowl of chicken soup was empty.”
	The public should remain alert to the warning signs of feline delinquency: an unfamiliar tickle around the lower limbs; innocent looks on cat faces; excessive interest in the Internet, particularly grocery sites; demonstrated ability to tie knots in cat toys (pictured left); theft of credit cards and watches.
Please report any cats demonstrating any of these behaviours immediately to the local authorities.

June 10^th, 2007

Ok, so you know how I’ve been really upset? It’s because of the food, of course. I found out that SOMEBODY made Elk and didn’t tell me. All I get is this dry stuff that is not very good. No wonder I’ve been screaming all night. Kris came home and got me some better food, and I’m much happier. She also got me some new toys. I figured out how to make cat toys too. First you get a stick… then you get a bird… you get the picture, right? Hee hee.

May 21^st, 2007

Lamb? We had lamb? WHEN? Oh, you’re in SUCH trouble.

May 19^th, 2007

Where’s Kris? Where’s Kris? She hasn’t been here in… well, forever. I can’t tell time, you know. Randy ran out of the icky food – the stuff that’s probably better for me – so we had to go back to the really yummy food that makes Chevey’s poop really nasty. Yeah, but do I care? Hee hee? It’s Randy’s problem. HE has to clean up the litter box.Chev is just so funny. I can so beat him, but he still tries to win. He was chasing me around the house today. He hunted me, pounced on me, and then, get this, groomed me. Is he a weird needy male or what? Randy’s funny in the kitchen. He had to run back to the store because some food was bad. Even I won’t eat bad mussels, yanno. He left me alone with the smell, and that just drove me up the walls. Literally. When he came back, I was hanging onto the top of the back door by my claws. Pretty cool, huh? He rescued me.

May 6^th, 2007

It’s Mother’s Day! [Ed note: Cats can’t tell the time or date] I didn’t hear from any of my kittens, because they’re all in new pet homes or with new breeders, now. That’s OK, because I feel so at home here that I think of Kris asmy mommy. Well . . . pet parent, anyways. Chevy said it was a sappy idea, but I got Randy to take a picture of Chevy and me, and make Kris a card. I have to say, we are GORGEOUS. Kris was very surprised, but I was too busy playing to really pay much attention at the time. Chevy told me later that he helped Randy pick out a pretty little silver kitty-cat ring for Kris, too. It looks just like me, of course, and I’m GORGEOUS. Did I say that before? Well, it’s true.So, like, I don’t know what Randy has been doing lately, but I think he’s been making fun of me. He’s talking in Human to Kris, using tones of my screechy speaking voice. I can’t tell what he’s saying, but he’s cracking Kris up. Sometimes she defends me, and says things like “she’s not a witch!” I think that’s what she’s saying, anyway. Sometimes I get my letters wrong. Because I’m a cat. And I’m GORGEOUS. What were we talking about?

May 4^th, 2007

Oh my Oh my oh MY! MARGARINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, so, like, if you’ve never had it, GET SOME QUICK. While my people were cleaning up the kitchen, I verrrry quietly snuck up onto the table, which is mine you know, and started tasting. I COULDN’T STOP! It was so good GOOD GoOoD! I think they heard the licking and slurping and stopped me, but I had enough on my whiskers and fur to keep me going forever!

I don’t feel so good now. I think it must be something I ate.

April 25^th, 2007

It’s been a while, I know, but, whatever. They’re SO mean. I can’t walk on anything interesting, like counters and tables, without getting squirted. I’ll just have to yell and yell. Now feed me! Oh yeah, that Randy dude is a really good cook. I just have to have whatever he makes. Pea soup. Bread. Meat. Raw meat. Roast meat. Anything. Yummmm… but he won’t give me any. I hate him too. Chev is being a good boy. I have him totally wrapped around my claws — hee hee. He follows me around and gets in trouble for me, just ‘cuz I tell him to. I’m not bad, I just act that way.

April 7^th, 2007

Fun fun fun Fun FUN fun FUN FUN FUN!I’m just having such a good time, playing, and teasing Chevy! This is a cool place. It’s SO MUCH FUN! Especially walking on the outside of the stairs where no one thinks I should walk because I’d fall, but I won’t because I’m so cute and tiny and darling, but it’s fun watching Randy get all stressed about it! Hee hee. I guess I like it here. They gave me something called meat to try. OMG! Is this what we eat in the wild? Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

April 6^th, 2007

OMG, I’ve been taken away from my babies. These people who came to visit last week put me in a carrier and left me there for like hours while they talked with my mommy and daddy about kitchen design. Whatever.I got to wander around for a few minutes in this new place and then guess who I ran into! My baby-daddy! Cheveyo!

He can’t keep his eyes off of me, nor can he keep his paws off me. He’s being pretty aggressive and I’m being pretty flirtatious because it’s so much fun to make the boys foam at the mouth. I’m the prettiest, sexiest kitty on the planet and Chevey and I have two sets of kittens together already.

I already feel comfortable here. This place is mine now, right? Whatever.

March 30^th, 2007

So, like, these two people came by today, and like, they smelled like a cat I used to know, but I was like, whatever, ‘cuz I’m feeling icky. So, ok, so I think I remember a really cool guy cat, but we’ll see, and if I don’t like him, it’ll be like, whatever. But here’s a picture of me and my boyfriend.

March 29^th, 2007

Bechira is currently recovering from surgery, and is unavailable for comment. Apparently she’s not too happy about the particulars of the surgery. She should be making her first comments here late next week.