Estelle Spirig & Lola
ph. Emma Riviera
text by Clara Bouteille
The sphinx cat Lola, is a strange beauty according to Estelle, her owner. Lola has spent years of road-tripping in the USA with Estelle, a photographer and artist. They both love each other, even though Estelle tends to ask for more space from Lola's affectionate clingy paws after the birth of her children.
A desired encounter
I am a freelance artist and photographer who has been living and working between Geneva and Paris since 2020, I was previously residing in New York. I am the mother of a boy and a girl and a hairless cat @lolasaure!
I discovered the hairless cat breed "sphynx" in my teens, so weird, I found them very beautiful. I adopted Lola in 2014, at that time I was living in the USA. It was while moving to Los Angeles on the way from Boise, Idaho to California that I stopped at a lady who had a purebred cat cattery. I had previously seen an ad on craigslist of my Lola's little head. And I fell completely in love with her when I saw her in person.
Road-trips and lizards...
We went on a lot of road-trips with my ex, so she'd go with us in the car. We liked to go on little hiking/camping trips, she drove and flew a lot. Lola went to many national parks in the US, and traveled to a number of countries between North and Central America and Europe. I actually carried her around. It was a bit like having a little baby.
I quickly got into a routine with Lola. In the summer, she needs a bit of sun cream (especially since she has the habits of a lizard, which means staying out in the sun for hours). I give her baths every two weeks. And finally, I make her her own food because she has a bit of a weak stomach, and a cat is essentially a carnivore so I cook her a little chicken recipe once a month and then I freeze her raw food.
Dethroned by the children…
Our relationship could be described as "I love you but I don’t". She is the one who is extremely needy, and I am the one who needs space. To tell the truth, I think I'm like a heating pad to Lola...
She's been dethroned by my two children and has become even more needy of affection. We still play a lot, she's a bit of a dog, bringing her little mouse toys for me to throw. In any case, she never misses a chance to cuddle or steal the warmth of the guests. Lola is very sociable with any human being, I think she secretly believes she is one of us.
