Four Cats, One Busy Household

Meet our feline family: Perlyna, Anfisa, Meowy and Marek. Four cats in one flat sounds like chaos, and some evenings it absolutely is — a knocked-over glass, a sudden thunder of paws down the hallway, a small face appearing over the edge of the table to check what we're eating.

Anfisa is the quiet princess of the house — soft cream and tabby, enormous eyes, and a habit of melting into the sofa in a way that makes her very hard to move. She watches everything with a calm, slightly judgmental gaze, and only asks for attention when she is absolutely sure no one else is looking.

Marek is our dark tabby boy and the reason we no longer leave anything breakable near an edge. He is curious about every bag, box and open door, and he supervises all packing whether or not he was invited. His favourite post is the kitchen counter, sat between the kettle and the coffee press, watching every step of dinner like an inspector who has seen it all before.

Meowy is the sleepy cream-and-silver one who has perfected the art of the loaf. He picks the warmest square of floor in the flat and stays there until the sun moves, then complains about it.

Perlyna is the white-and-tabby lady of the house. She inspects every bouquet that comes through the door, decides whether it's acceptable, and then sits behind it like she grew there. Most of our nicest photos are accidental portraits of her.

Feeding four is its own small ritual: four bowls, four opinions, and a strict but unwritten seating order. The vet visits come in rounds. The vacuum runs more than we'd like to admit.

But they have quietly become the rhythm of the house — the reason someone is always in the room with you, the reason mornings start ten minutes earlier than planned. You don't really own four cats; you just live in the house they let you share.