Our Special Little Furbaby

We’d like to share something personal with you. This is our eldest “furbaby” kitty boy, Bucky.  

Bucky has developed a little medical problem. Nothing that can be fixed. Like so many older people/animals, he is losing control of his little bladder. Just like we would look after any of our family, the same goes for him.  We just deal with the problem because other than that there’s nothing wrong with him.  He is also in remission from diabetes which he developed about 18 months ago and suffered from for about one year. He’s bright eyed, loving and eats like a little horse.  

He’s the most laid back and tolerant of our kitty kids, thank goodness. Due to his “little problem” he does have to have a bath several times a week. With minimum fuss, he puts up with this. He knows that after bath comes brushing and treats and Bucky loves treats. It’s amazing to us that this kitty boy who was born a wild cat is so comparatively calm, loving and trusting through all of this. After all, you know a cat’s natural hatred of water.  

As Bucky is pitch black with just one splash of white on his tummy, it’s been impossible to get any good “digital” images of him. We decided to try with film. Now imagine this, bright studio lights and an unfamiliar studio setting and a kitty boy who really didn’t want to be there. The first attempt with the 35 mm camera was not great. He was moving around a lot. Not really wanting to be there and the film was way too slow.

Marks decided to try with a faster film. Using Ilford Delta which has an iso of 3200 which he shot at 1600 he managed to get some that we feel really do him justice.

Bucky and Mama

In an attempt to keep him as black as we could we decided on using a selenium toning on this one.

You might notice that Bucky has a “reverse” coat. In other words he’s black but the hair closest to his skin is white. Very strange.  In this image you can see his little white flash of fur on his tummy.

Marks took this with his Mamiya C330 in our studio.  All the technical information and timings can be found on his Flickr site:-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/majo-09/8690284870

We welcome your comments always. Thanks for viewing.