Monday, July 31, 2006

Ruff 'n' Tumble


I now see Toro's heart-shaped ruff. This contributes to his attractiveness :) I told my mom that I should get the groomer to cut a little closer the next time I send him for grooming. My mother said "NO!" Now I can see why :)

Anyway here he was waiting for me patiently to finish lunch so that he could persuade me to play. I have fallen into my bad habit of allowing him to dictate when playtime is. Hmmm... I should not bend so easily although I must confess he now doesn't expect me to play with him in each and every hour and he meows less. He plays more with Bujang and of course races about around the house chasing shadows. :) Of course I bought him some catnip lightweight toys which he also plays with. So less mewing and more independence.

Tagged!

The calico has her new collar. She did not protest when I took off her old one and made her wear this one instead. This tag is smaller and better suited to her small frame. She is eating her favourite tuna and chicken but being a small eater, she usually leaves some uneaten.

FatBoy protested a little when I wanted to put his blue collar on him but when he saw the food, he decided to stop protesting and headed straight for his bowl. So as he was busy eating, I managed to fix his collar. My camera chose this point to tell me to 'change battery pack' and so I could not take his pic. :(

I didn't see the calico mom. I circled the flats for 30 minutes but she didn't turn up. I hope the cat feeder finds her as I didn't actually tell her that I would feed the calico mum and did not have time to update her at all. As she makes her rounds after 830, hope she finds the calico mom.

Monday bytes


Its Monday and I am already home from work. HURRAH! I wanted to take Bujang out but the day looks dark and dreary. I don't want to have to bundle him into his carrier hastily. It would surely upset him. Bujang dislikes being bundled and that is the sum of it. Bujang and Toro had spent the whole afternoon sleeping beside each other on new bedsheets. Grandma thinks they're great friends but I think they merely tolerate each other for now. Toro copies everything he does and then headlocks him and tries to wrestle him to the ground. This happens almost every other day. Sigh... But then again this may be a good thing as at least they interact with each other :))

The kitty in the pic is Dash. I saw him at the cat boarding facility yesterday. He is very gregarious, curious and outgoing even with his short forelegs. He is also very handome and trim.- a very likeable fellow.

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Cat Tags

The cat tags came in the post. I'm sure it came yesterday as it takes 3 days to process. So tomorrow I would collar all the 3 except the black carpark cat as he is truly very fierce and keeps growling even as he eats.

The 2 red collars belong to Akira but she wouldn't mind as she has many others. I think FatBoy will get the blue manly one :) The tags have the block address and the words 'Keep Me Safe' at the back. I think this is better as it will put the word 'safe' in people's minds if they should look at the tags. The other tag I had done for the calico says 'Don't Hurt Me.' On hindsight, that is a not a good idea as it may put the idea of 'hurting' in their minds and when you tell people "Don't" they will immediately do it. That is usually what happens. Now I 'always expect the expected' when it comes to people's actions.

Adoption Drive at Punggol





















This is what Punggol looks like, no, not Punggol 21 but the flip side of Punggol. Its full of trees and has the relaxed feel of a place where everything falls into place. I went there to see the adoption drive this afternoon. You have to take Bus 82 (the only service) at the MRT station. I didn't even know Punggol had an MRT station.

Anyway when I arrived at the destination, I saw a few people looking at the kitties in the big cages. The cats all look very relaxed. Some were sleeping legs akimbo, like Toro. The cats are all friendly and would come to give you headbutts and kisses :)) I was very tempted to bring one home but I thought better ask grandma first before I do anything else. After all she also takes care of the amigos when I am at work. Maybe later when Toro feels that we all love him as much as we love the rest of the kitties :) I think he feels a little insecure and that is why he keeps trying to prevent Bujang from hanging out with his beloved grandma :))

Sunday mess


Sunday morning was full of incident. In the morning I decided to clean their litter box in my bathroom. Toro of course decided to investigate and as a result a lot of litter got spilled onto the bathroom floor. Ohoh! Toro took one look at the pile and made a quick exit. Bujang decided to watch the whole episode in the safety of the washbasin :)

Then after I had cleaned up every grain, cleaned the box and fill in the litter, Bujang decided that he had to go. Bujang of course thinks he's an archeologist digging for the lost treasures of the pharoah in the litterbox. Litter came flying out fast and furious. He then buried his own treasures and I had to clean the box all over again and swept up all the litter that landed outside the box.

I decided that I would then change the water spray in my bathroom as it has been leaking gallons of water- the small drips can add up to a formidable amount by the end of the day. I had bought new spray paraphenalia and fixed it. Of course I forgot the washers - the black rubber thingees. And no prizes for guessing what happened after that. Bujang and Toro were very curious about the metal sprays and got sprayed themselves..hahaha. Too bad Toro had just been groomed yesterday. He got wet all over again. Thank goodness only some parts of their bodies got wet and I dried them quite quickly.

Wahhhh...what a start to sunday!

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Last Notes


I just felt that I needed a new look for the blog. I stumbled to finalsense and I discovered that I really like the stuff in there and of course I don't have to find some other place to host the images. I thought a nice traditional image would do it this time :)

Evening News


I tried to feed the amigos some premium can - solid gold seafood but of course they didn't like it much. They just ate a a few small mouthfuls and they're gone. I didn't want to waste the whole can so brought the food down for the calico but she didn't like it. I tried to find the black cat but he/she was nowhere to be found. I guess it was early yet. I then saw FatBoy and he ate all of the food and was still hungry. I didn't have anything else as it was not my cat feeding day. As I knew the cat feeder would feed him I didn't bring anything else. FatBoy was sneezing a little which worried me a bit but maybe because it was Hungry Ghost month and there may be ash flying about. But he stopped sneezing once he began to eat the food. I was glad for that.

I noticed a man in long-sleeved shirt and black pants walking about around the flats. Maybe this was the man the cat feeder was talking about - the one she was afraid of. She suspected that he may be from the hdb and was spying on her. I had seen him once before when I was feeding FatBoy. He just walks about and carries nothing. Would a person from the Town Council be snooping about at 715 pm? Surely that is after office hours. It is not against the law to feed community cats and I guess if he talks to me I guess I would ask for identification etc. Maybe I could bring him to other places where there is litter so he could patrol thereabouts to catch litter-bugs instead of frightening kind old ladies :)) None of the residents whom I have met and who saw me feeding the cats had ever asked me to stop feeding them. Of course they also didn't ask me why I was feeding the cats. They just looked at me as though I was weird but none has been outwardly hostile so I don't think there would be complaints.

Toro has yet to lie on his back with legs akimbo the whole time we're home. Maybe it's true that he only does that because he was too hot. He walks quite easily too. It is one of the best things that I could have done for him.

Lap Cat


Toro trying to get into grandma's good books by sitting on her lap. At this moment he has fallen asleep on her lap. Of course he knows THIS is the one true way into grandma's heart. :))

Adoption Drive


I saw this poster at the vet. Its an adoption drive for tomorrow. The cats in the pic looks very loving and beautiful too.

After the Groomers



































Toro went to the groomers and it took them 3 hours to groom him. I guess its because of all the other dogs that have to be groomed as well. I told the groomers to trim him all around and shave his underside. I saw them bathing him and he was very quiet then and then they put him in a special carrier to dry his fur. They cut his underside fur and shaved his tummy. I hope he feels a little cooler. Then they put him back into his own carrier and attended to the various other dogs. The dogs were all pretty obedient. Thank goodness Toro was on his bestest behaviour and sat on the table quietly to observe the happenings. When the groomer shaved his underside, he just allowed her to turn him about in a thoroughly bored way. The only protest he made was when she lifted his tail so she could trim his back legs. "MIOUWW!" he snapped a little.

From then it was just a matter of minutes for her to do the job. I was quite pleased that many of the observers thought Toro was pretty handsome :)) I took the pics when he was home and was quite relaxed. I think he doesn't look any different from before but grandma says he is not so handsome now that they have cut off some of the hair around his face. Hmmm...but the major trim was on his underbelly and that can't be seen in the pictures.

I was thinking that once he is trimmed, I can see if he is truly fat or its just all that fur. I guess the answer is pretty clear now :))

I made an appointment with the vet for his micro-chipping. It seems it is going quite a simple affaire if the cat is docile. It is done with a BIG needle and they are going to implant the chip under the skin on his neck. So Toro is going this Thursday and Bujang will go next Sunday. Bujang's one is going to take longer as he is 'aiyoh very fierce.' I made an appointment with the groomers to clip his nails on Saturday so he can''t lacerate anyone the next day for his injections. The groomer said "yah saturday is good. I have 3 people to help me with him!" Only one person worked with Toro so you can imagine what a fuss Bujang can make on his grooming day.

Saturday Walk

We went for a morning walk today, about 915 am. The morning was cool and breezy and more importantly, quiet. I think Bujang was looking forward to being out as he made no fuss about his walking jacket and he went into the carrier willingly.
He tried to stalk some birds at the aprk but thery were too far away and other other birds on the parapet made alot of noise, which kind of spoiled the surprise. So he decided to sit and watch them instead, his ears poised and his teeth chattering. he made on last attempt to stalk them. Alas, the birds were wise to his intentions and flew off :))

After sveral other attempts, he decided eating grass would be better than chasing birds and proceeded to his favourite bushes, sniffing at their roots and smelling the sweet ixora.



Bujang spent some time under the ixora. I let him be as we had not been able to go for our walks for about one week. He has been telling me quite loudly these last few days that I had not been up to the job:) This morning he made one more attempt and meowed the house down. So I thought best to take him out in the morning when the day is still fine and not wait for later as it might rain again. He spent quite some time under the ixora as it makes him feel safe and secure surrorunded by all those leaves and some sharp branches.



In the last pic, Bujang was playing hide and seek with me. :)) After that we went for one more round and we had to go to the provison shop to buy bread. I parked the carrier inside the shop for safety. The shopkeeper meowed at Bujang and when Bujang meowed back, he was very pleased and told me my cat was chatting with him. :) Several kids also had a look at Bujang in his carrier but did not try to do anything else. So before a whole group of children decided to talk to him, I made a quick getaway as I don't want him to be stressed out after we had had such a lovely morning walk. We made our way home slowly about 1030.
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Friday, July 28, 2006

TGIF

Its Friday - YAY! and I am home early. I thought of bringing Bujang out but the ground is wet from the afternoon rain. This means Bujang would not get out of his carrier no matter what I say and do and no amount of treats is going to do the trick either. So later I would just let him out along the corridor for a breather.

At this moment, Bujang is sitting on the computer table watching the Indonesian melodrama on TV with Grandma. Grandma said that this afternoon, he tried to scratch her. I think he is feeling neglected and wanted attention. It's a pity it rained as being outside on the grass would cheer him up. I have been late home from work and had to go feed the cats too. So tomorrow I am keeping my fingers crossed - that it would be fine so we can go for a walk together.

I also read that David H pleaded guilty and was disgnosed with anti-social personality disorder. He told the judge he would 'not kill any more cats.' He must truly be demented to think that anyone would believe that lie, much less a judge. Maybe he should go to a psychiatric facility where people can help him from hurting others and himself too.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Supercat

This is the first pic of Akira's that I have taken in this position. I have always thought she has some special markings but now I know - she is Supercat. I can see the 'S' shape of her markings quite clearly. :) of course she also behaves as though she is Supercat. She has just driven Bujang off a new mattress that we have put out for my niece who is staying the night. Bujang tried to share the space but she snapped at him and he had to move out or else... very chilli padi this one. I am actually in the process of documenting the amigos' special markings just in case something happens to them. Then I can describe their markings clearly and even have pics of these markings. Worse case scenario lah.

An entry at last

I finally get some time to write an entry. I have been on a course (again) for two days and am always tired when I come home. The amigos have been very patient with me and did not make noise when I fed the kitties downstairs and come home late. The black carpark cat, who is the most vocal fo all the 4 kitties takes the longest time to finish eating - 30 minutes almost. He eats, then relaxes, grooms himself and continues again. There were several false signals. I thought he had finished eating and wanted to remove the bowl. He meowed loudly and looked at me straight in the face. Aiyoh!

I went to PL and made 3 tags for the 3 cats. They will be posted to me in 3 days - so probably Monday. Since I am on cat feeding duty on Monday, I would make sure the 3 cats get their collars and tags, except for the black cat. He still doesn't trust me and he is very skittish. I don't want to be scratched by him or maybe her as I don't actually know it's history or herstory as the case may be. He trusts no one, not even the other feeder. This may be a good thing as it would not be easy to capture him.

I am not on cat feeding duty today. But last night was very quiet and I had quite a time trying not to step on joss sticks :) No one was out burning candles or hell money. I guess this happens only on the 1st day and then everyone does prayers at home. I must ask cat-aunty.

This Saturday I am going to bring Toro to the groomers to clip his fur off. Then he would not feel so hot. Grandma said "NO. He would not look nice." I told grandma to choose between Toro looking nice, and Toro being so hot under all that fur. She then said. 'Ok. Do not cut off all his fur, only trim it a little." :))

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Day 1 of the 7th Month

It was fortunate that this afternoon I met the aunty who feeds the cats. She was at the void deck chatting. When she saw me coming towards her, she got up and I asked her if she had found work. It seemed that she did find some work but had to stop as the work at the airport was too much for her and so she was there to give the cats fresh water.

I told her that we should have a schedule for the cat feeding so she would not be so tired and I would not be worried about the cats. So I told her that I would feed them 3 times a week and she would have to feed them the remaining time. This would also allow her to feed her other cats. It seemed she is feeding 'many, many'. She also wanted me to feed another female cat, who is the mother of the calico in my block. :O}

So after feeding the 3 cats, I went to look for the calico mom but found a tortoiseshell cat instead. She refused to have anything to do with me and would not even touch the food I had tried to give her. She must be waiting for her regular feeder or she had fed already. I did a turn around 3 blocks and finally found the calico mom near the carpark where the the black cat was. It's true. she does have the same markings as the calico except hers is not so widespread. She has the same soft voice and she ate the chicken and gravy I offered her daintily, like her daughter. Then she gave along stretch. asked for a scritch, then off she went. Like mother, like daughter I thought. :)

It was very bright even at 8 as many people were burning red candles. It looked rather festive and alot of families were out chatting and doing the rites at the same time. So I had quite a pleasant time out this tuesday.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Its Cat Feeding Time

This morning as I was going to work I saw the community calico resting. She raised her head lazily to look at me pass. As I was crossing the street I turned back and to my horror I saw a smaller tuxedo with a long tail. He was meowing loudly. I saw the calico stand and confront the little kitty but I was too far away to intervene. I think the small tuxedo must belong to someone in the building as I have never seen him in the evenings. This evening I went downstairs to feed the kitties and I thought I might find the little tuxedo. I didn't. I hope whoever it is who belongs to the tuxedo had kept it home safe and sound and not let him go downstairs to roam the streets!

The calico was pretty hungry and ate the whole can of tuna and chicken. The can is a small one. The amigos share that one can between the 3 of them. Of course the amigos also have the biscuits to eat in the afternoon and I don't think the calico has any. I have seen some kibble sometimes in the morning so I know someone feeds her then too. I fed the black carpark cat and had to look for FatBoy for about 10 minutes. I nearly gave up but I was thinking that he would be the most hungry one as he is very fat. He ate 2 medium sized cans and I pouch of tuna. He refused to let me go and sat infront of me for a whole 5 minutes. He reminds me of Toro who would stand guard in the bathroom. :)

I went back to my building and saw the calico. She made a lot of noise and so I thought she was hungry and opened another pouch of tuna for her to eat. But she sniffed at it disdainfully and continued to meow and headbutt me. I finally figured that she wanted some scritch time. So I spent some time rubbing her head and scritching her cheeks. She stretched herself lazily and sat down to enjoy the attention. FatBoy also enjoyed some private time and he headbutted me quiet strongly.

I didn't see the auntie at all. Maybe cat-aunty was right in saying that the feeder may want me to feed her cats in these two blocks. The feeder also told me she was afraid to go to my block as there was an accident 2 weeks ago. Someone got really badly injured. Tomorrow is the Ghost festival so I guess I will be feeding the cats for 2 months. I was told that this year there would be 2 months for the Ghost Festival. :) I wonder if anyone feels strongly about that...

Yup! a Thinner me :)

Bujang is looking thinner and indeed he is thinner after the diet of just dry biscuits and one teaspoon of wet food at night. I have decided to give the boys 5 grammes more of kibble at night. So each will get about 25 grammes. Even though they sometimes eat from each other bowls, they would get about the same amount. In the day, they get about 20 grammes per cat. They are all indoor cats and should be eating less. They also get a little more exercise.

I have not weighed him yet but by just looking at his figure, you can tell. Grandma says he is too thin. She prefers a fat cat but I told her probably in the long run, it would not be good for Bujang's health. He will be like those very chubby kids you see because their mothers or grandmas think the fatter the cuter. I will weigh him during the weekend and then can decide on his diet. i do not think he would be less than 6 kg. Maybe just one or two kilos lighter.

No More Thanks


The amigos lolling about after a tuna and chicken dinner. 1 can serves 3. Bujang had one more teaspoonful as he was still hungry after his normal meal. Immediately after dinner toilette, they all went into the living room and decided to sit all in a row, infront of the open door - to feel the breeze :)

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Treat your guests well

Today we had guests and Bujang was the perfect host. He welcomed them and sat with them. he even tolerated them caressing his back and petting him. Akira did a surprising thing. She actually came to greet the guests. If not she would be the first one to do the disappearing act. Toro surprisingly took over Akira's role as the Great Vanishing Act of the moment. He refused to come out even after the guests leave and I had to entice him with a few a bream flakes before he would even step out of the bedroom. Now of course he is at the computer table, looking at me typing and taking a few naps in between. :)

I decided to go down to feed the cats at 715 pm. To my surprise I saw Gemok (FatBoy) at my void deck and not the calico. I decided to feed him and then the calico appeared. She was truly disgusted at his presence and walked to the other end of the staircase to eat her tuna and chicken. Then after she finished, she walked to FatBoy and decided to tell him off. He was very nervous already but he decided to confront her. AIEEE!!! My mind was racing....

I decided to clean up the place quickly and told the calico to relax abit and took FatBoy's food bowl with me. He was surprised but walked with me to his own void deck. Phew! Then when he was in his own territory, he relaxed and ate slowly - 2 bowls of chicken and gravy and salmon. Then he stretched himself out and I walked away quickly. The last time I saw him, he was under someone's car. I wanted to go back to shoo him away but was afraid that he would take it in his head to follow me and then there would be trouble for sure with the calico.

I tried to find the black cat with the loud voice but he was nowhere to be seen. I didn't dare leave anything in case it attracts mice or cockroaches.

I have decided to feed the cats anyway and not worry about the feeder. If she visits them to feed them, then good for them to have more food. But if she doesn't, at least they would have had some food in the evening to last them till the next morning. I do not know if indeed she has got a job, only that she tells me she is going for job interviews. So I guess from that, she was telling me that she might not be able to do her own rounds regularly but she has yet to tell me anything. Whatever it is, the cats should not suffer as they are used to being fed by someone for a long time already. So that is what I have decided to do. This means I have to go buy more cat food. I gave the cat food to the cat shelter the last time. :)

More of me to love


Toro decided to hang out with me last night when I was writing on the blog. It was quite funny as he decided to sit at the same time that I was looking at the entry with his pic on it. He gave me the benefit of looking at and capturing his profile to juxtapose with his full face in the entry. He is fast becoming another diva in the amigo house.

He is also the cat who never stops patrolling the grounds- he goes round and round the house chatting to anyone who would listen. I also discovered he is greatly fascinated by my bifold doors and would spend time trying to figure out how they work, just like he is still fascinated by the cat fountain. He keeps trying to upturn it so he could see where the water comes from. I think if Toro was human, he would be a first rate mechanic.

Our Favourite Things

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Saturday Feed


Toro has learnt how to get onto the table. he jumps onto akira cage and then just leaps onto the table. this is great progress. They guys sometimes sleep on the table in the afternoon, the glass makes it cool for them. Bujang doesn't protest at all as long as Toro doesn't get too near him. Toro usually needs steps to get up any high surface. My mom thinks its because he has short legs. I took this pic when i came back from feeding the cats downstairs.

When I came home from work, at about 730 pm, the calico came calling for me when she saw me. I assumed that she has not eaten. I gave her some biscuits and she ate hungrily but she didn't finish the biscuits, being a wet food kind of gal. So I went upstairs and got my cat bag and fed her one small can of tuna and chicken. I also put the collar on her and at first she found it difficult to walk with it but she got the hang of it after a few minutes. The collar used to belong to Akira but Akira has too many collars already. I then fed the noisy black cat and then went to find gemok. Gemok saw me from far away and ran to get food. He was quite ravenous and ate 1 can of chicken and gravy, 1 can of tuna and chicken and one packet of salmon. He is the fattest kitty in the three blocks.

I was wondering where the feeder was. She had told me that she was called for an interview at the airport last 2 saturdays and so I thought she might have gotten some work as the cats were all so hungry. Last Wednesday Gemok actually came to my block of flats to find something to eat. He hardly ever comes here unless he is too hungry. so I fed them all. Then to my surprise, I saw the cat feeder walking quickly across the carpark towards the other flats. She didn't even come to say hello eventhough her favourite cat is Gemok. Its getting curiouser and curiouser :O/

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Community cats

At lunch I went to A Shopping Centre to see the sale. But there was none to be had. I chanced upon a store that sells dog paraphenalia and decuded to get 2 tags for the calico and the grey tabby. The guy at the store took 15 minutes to engrave the flat addy for the cats.

What was nice about the guy that after I came to pick the tags up, he offered me about 10 free samples of Solid Gold. So I thanked him and brought them all home. It was none too soon as at about 7.05, I saw the grey tabby at my void deck. He must have been really hungry to walk all the way here. Since I had all the soild gold stuff I decided to feed him with kibble. He sniffed and coughed and refused to have doing anything to do with it.

I went upstairs and by the time I came down, there was no sign of the grey tabby. at about 745 pm I saw him.He didn't like kibble so I went upstairs to get some canned food. Immediate results.

I fed the calico and then the black cat in the carpark.

I must be really sleepy as I keep typing wrong things. :/

Brown paper packages


When I got home from the course this evening, I saw a brown package. Ahah! Its my air-flown package of cat toys for the amigos. The amigos were waiting for me on the table, sitting next to the brown package. they have learnt that most brown packages are for them :)

It was my Cat Dancer - a coiled wire with a few short sticks glued togther at the end. It jumps pretty fast in front of the amigos. They went berserk over it. I have a feeling it is going to be the most favourite toy. The amigos jumped about jerkily, their eyes dancing and paws jerking to catch the wooden end. The colied wire acts like a spring and the cat toy dancers about. Even Akira was persuaded to jump for the Dancer. It's also less tiring for me as I can actually just sit and use my hands to manipulate the toy. They took turns with it and sometimes even robbed each other for a chance to catch the dancer :))

The other wand toy is called Cat Charmer. It moves like a ribbon in the Olympics. Drives them all wild!

I am glad I decided to get the toys. I can only get them online. So charges are pretty expensive but my cats enjoy both of them immensely. That is the one thing that matters to me.


Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Sad news


I received word that my sister's cat is very sick. He has lesions on his body and sometimes where it rubs against the cage, there is blood. He is also very thin. I read that when the FIV is at an advanced stage, the weight loss can be very steep and it might seem like the cat lost weight suddenly. Also a cat can suffer the 2nd stage of FIV without showing symptoms for years and then the advanced stage come thick and fast. She has to make some decisions for her cat and will consult the vet first for advice on what is the best course of action to take.

This must be one of the hardest decisons anyone has to make and I pray that I do not have to make one like it. We cried over the phone when she told me about her cat and all the amigos decided to stay near me quietly, even Totoro.

After I put down the phone, I decided to play with all of them and in no time at all, they were jumping and turning and racing for Da Bird. I am glad for that.

Its time to sleep now and I am glad ro have every one of them with me. Tomorrow I have to go to training for Tranformational learning - whatever that it. I guess it would transform me in some way. I have 3 days of it and I should hope that it would teach me something to make me do my job better.

The cats save the day

I had a very long day today- a 12 hour day, full of 'go' and not even anything to eat for the whole day except dinner at 5.30 pm. I raced from B to Tiong Bahru to deliver documents and thought I would just go to see what Tiong Bahru Plaza is like. It's nice but there were soooo many people - on a Tuesday?? I had mushroom swiss at Burger King. Since I was on the go for the whole day, I thought 'why not food on the go' too :)

Finally I could not take it any longer and decided to take a cab home. Woah! so much money gone there! By the time I reached home I was so tired and could not even play with the amigos. I finally decided to rest. So I switched off the lights, swicthed on the air-con and went to bed. It was very quiet and peaceful and I think the time I took to be just by myself worked wonders for my psyche.

Of course what is more soul-enriching was the fact that the amigos decided to rest in the room with me eventhough I had left the door open a little and they could go out and run about if they wanted. Bujang decided to accompany me and sat near me on the bed - all the time that I was on it. He was very quiet and just rested with me. Maybe he thought I was not well :)

I think it was this one gesture from my cats and Bujang that got me through such a horrible day. Toro finally decided he could not stand the peace and quiet and said some things, quietly but insistently. Bujang ignored him and I tried to ignore him too but the poor kitty sounded lonely so we all got up and went out. :) I gave him some bream to make him happy.

I think it is true that a home without a cat or a pet even, is not enough of a home.

Monday, July 17, 2006

I'll wait for you, never fear...

In this pic, hazy though it might be, Bujang is accompanying me in the computer room. He closed his eyes because he knows there would be a flash when I click the camera. Rather than turning away, he has decided to bear with me. :))

He would stay here until I finish doing work or finish blogging. Usually he would just sleep on this blue cushion and later the other kitties would follow suit :)

I guess I spend alot of time at the computer these days and since he can't sit with me outside, he has decided to do the next best thing :))

Let's get going then





















I have yet to figure out the bst way to upload multiple pictures without picasa.

Here Bujang has given up sulking and decided not to lose any more time playing tug of war with me. I had posted about this in an earlier post. He sniffed at fallen palm leaves and scruched them up for taste . They're dry so I guess there is not much to taste even. Then he decided to leave a message for the community cats in the area. I hope it was a good polite message or else....

Tug of War

Came home early so off we went to the park only to meet a whole horde of teenagers playing football. They kicked hard and fast and dangerously. The ball kept coming at us and so I told Bujang that we had to move away so we would not get hurt. Bujang agreed and we left to walk towards the bougainvilla but he decided that he missed his ixora bushes and wanted to go back.

I held on to the leash (it's retractible) and gave him a very short one. He got angry and refused to budge. So here we have Bujang sitting firmly on the ground like a stone statue looking at me. I pertended that I didn't notice and continued with my business of reading in the failing light :) Finally after some tugging on his part and ignoring him on my part, he decided to move some place else, away from the ixora and we both went on our way. :)

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Stop Already!

Miss Akira is telling me that it is time to stop blogging and think about sleep. She sat for a bit to read some blogs but has since gone up to the top of the cupboard to rest until its time for actual bedtime. The boys are also in the computer room taking a nap although I can see their ears twitching and once I get out of this room, they would be sure to follow :))

Meditation on a grain of sand

On his second journey to the Outside, Toro decided that he would take a different route (after some persuasion) and he walked quickly towards the steps that would bring him to a nice big patch of grass with trees that he can scratch on. But he decided to stop short at the bottom step and sat looking at the scene as well as the sand. I thought of removing him from there as I was afraid he would get sand all over himself but on second thoughts, left him to sit amd meditate. I thought this was a rare thing for Toro and I could always clean him up with one of the pet wipes later. :)

The Outside


This afternoon Toro and I went for our walk. It's a nice day, not too hot or too noisy. There were only 2 boys playing ball and a few people would walk by. Generally speaking it was a good time to be out. Toro needed some persuading as he heard strange noises of people walking and was not used to them. But finally he got out and of course proceeded to run immediately to the void deck after checking it out first as in the first pic :)

However, I managed to get him to explore other places like grass and the steps where there was some sand and gravel. I htought it would be nice for a cat to get used to the different textures once we were outside. We spent one whole hour and I thought it was time to bring him home as he was a little tired. I think it was a mixture of heat as well as running about. I put him in the carrier although he protested, and put him on the grass for a bit. I thought he might like to smell it and see it in the safety of his carrier. Then I brought him up where he decided to inspect the neighbours plants instead of going straight home. :)

The General Inspection


This morning after I had gone to the hairdressers at TM, I made my way to the pet shop. It was about 12 pm and already the mall was swarming with people. I thought I had better get some lunch before going to the shop as I usually spend some time in there just looking at cat stuff :) I had some really nice mango salad and pho bo with stick noodles. I like the taste and smell of lime in the soup as well as the taste of crunchy beansprouts.

Anyway I went to the shop and saw this darling bed for pets. I like the dome shape as I know the amigos would enjoy curling in it. The shell is made from plastic which is a bonus as it is light and no sharp tooth or claw would destroy it so soon. Later on maybe but not tomorrow. :) I actually have one which is like a bird cage but it is too small for anyone but Little Miss Akira and as she is always in it in the afternoon, no one else gets to use it.

The three amigos are seen here giving the basket the once over but Bujang will be the one who would christian it so to speak. :) It has always been this way in the Amigo house. Later on, Akira may decide she wants to use it herself but I think it's too roomy for her. Akira has security issues and does not like too much room where she can be ambushed by Toro :)

This is MY basket


As usual Bujang is the first one to investigate the new basket thorougly. He sniffed at it and bit it and sat in it for good measure. The others merely looked at it from afar and none of them have used it at all even at this hour. When I took Toro downstairs for his walk, grandma reported that Bujang decided to sleep in it while waiting for us to get home. I am glad he likes it. My only fear is that I might accumulate all sorts of stuff for the amigos and would have to give the stuff away again in future :)

My tortie tail :)


This is a close-up of Akira's tail :) The tortie markings are quite clear here :)

Toro visiting the neighbours on Sunday




This afternoon I brought Toro for the weekend walk as suggested by Ayla, a very wise cat. He ran about a little and after one hour, we went upstairs to go home. But Toro was not interested in going home. Instead he went for a short walk around the neighbours plants. :))

Saturday, July 15, 2006

A cat watching another

...or maybe Akira was just asleep. She has taken to reading blogs too these days and would watch the pictures and videos that I watch when she sits on my lap. When she's bored, then she would sit on the table and block my view. When it gets to be too much, she would just sleep the blogs away...zzzzzz

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Merlion II


Bujang decided to guard the neighbour's house from intruders. He sat here mimicking the Merlion for about 5 minutes. Thank goodness it was evening and cool. I was also glad the neighbours were not at home then. I wouldn't know what to say to them if they had come home to see my cat lovin their grey mat. It has holes in it and sometimes there would be trapped insects and ants. So Bujang simply loves it.

I met one of the residents who lives on the lower floors. He asked me about Bujang :) and how he was. I reported that Bujang was healthy and of course getting bigger. He asked me why he hasn't seen the both of us at the park lately. Sigh...I guess I have to bring him out to the park more and not settle for the corridor. I know this is the better routine- to go to the park but work keeps me late and I don't like being in the park after 7 pm. There would be no one else and it gets quite lonely.

You mean Outside?






















I hope these pics will not disappear once I log out. Picasa is not behaving very well for me these days.

I took this pic of Toro yesterday but didn't manage to blog at all as I was so tired from work. I fell asleep and was awakened by Bujang's chirping and Toro's siren voice. Anyway I came home at about 5 and decided to allow Bujang out into the corridor. Toro was seated at our very doorstep and he gave me his dagger-look. "Touch the grills and watch it!" But he has pretty blue eyes and I didn't take the warning seriously and neither did Bujang :))

I think Toro knew that once I put Bujang on his lead, he would be the next one out the door. He came out quite willingly, following the drainage as he feels safe there. He is getting used to the red harness and walks quite comfortably. I think he still needs to get used to the 'Outside'. Once he is used to it, he would take to the leash like Bujang. I hope.

I put Toro's old blue leash on Akira and tied her to the grills. But the Little Miss decided she would have none of it and with one swipe of her dainty forelegs, removed the buckled leash off herself. Aiyah! then she sat by the door and watched the goings on. :)

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Totoro

Toro has been behaving himself quite well with the humans in the house. He knows that whining incessantly will not get him Da Bird to play with and every time I open the cupboard door is not a signal that he gets to play. It is only when I look at him, call his name and walk to the door with him that he gets to play. So since he is mad for the wand toy, he behaves himself. :)) I notice he doesn't call continuosly anymore as it gets him scant attention. So I suppose it is possible to train your cat to behave - sometimes.

Just now, as he was laying with his head on grandma's lap I had placed my head on him just for fun. WOAH! He sounded like an engine. :). He tolerated me for a bit and then decided that enough was enough and walked away to irritate Bujang.

Of course he has not stopped irritating Bujang at all times eventhough Bujang has learnt to stop and slap him around a bit. But Toro is like a coiled wire that springs up the next second. The only one he does not antagonise is Her Higness Akira. maybe Bujang should take some lessons from her. Of course Bujang himself defers to the Little Miss in all matters. :) She is after all the Boss Lady.

Monday, July 10, 2006

One Question

My sister called me from A and told me her cat is sick at the vet. She said when she called the vet from A, the vet said her cat had "blood viral infection." HUH? What is that exactly? She told me that she was unable to make any sense of what the vet said and that her cat had all his vaccinations yearly. Btw the cat is an outdoor cat.

Would anyone know what this might be? I tried to do a search but there are so many illnesses out there. :(