Monday, July 28, 2008

Catit Blues



The Catit is a funny thing. My cats love drinking from it, licking water from the dome, licking water straight from the central spout (I have since removed the flowered thingee stopper thing) and if you have one that has a reservoir, then licking water with ice-cubes in it. Bujang likes it when I put the ice cubes and he would rush to drink really cold water, while looking at the cubes swimming in it. Tanaka on the other hand, would just rush to put his paw in the drinking water and push the cubes around. Megat merely waits to take a turn at licking the water stright from the central spout.
The most frustrating thing for me personally is that sometimes water does not flow out equally well over the whole dome. I would sometimes just get water flowing out at sporadic places which makes for a truly sad-looking Catit, so different from the promise of flowing well-oxygenated water for the amigos.
I have since discarded 2 Catits - one with only a dome and the other with the reservoir! Since I did not want to go back to water bowls and having to change water in them 3 times a day, its back to the Catit.
So it leaves me to figure out how to make the water flow evenly over the whole dome for the satisfaction of 5 cats.
1. Make sure that the motor is clean, not cluttered nor covered with gunk or whatnots from the dust and grime that is not caught by the filter.
2. Wash the whole motor thoroughly each time you change water or refill water for the cats.
(No 1 and 2 is truly the thing to watch out for in my house)
3. Make sure that once the Catit is in operation, you tilt the water from the central spout (by hand - reminds me of Great Expectations and ironically you do have great expectations) so that the water flows out evenly. This operation can take 5 minutes to 30 minutes for me.
4. If the water is still flowing out desperately and unevenly, check that the wires, especially the part covered by plastic is not twisted in any way. I usually have to ensure that the plastic covered wire is hung from a higher level and not leave it at the same level as the Catit.
5. Celebrate if the water flows out evenly all over the dome. If it still fails, begin from No 1.
6. Say a prayer :)
7. If someone else has another way to persuade the water to flow evenly over the Catit dome, pls send word to the amigos. I am trying to train them to take care of their own drinking water :)
PS: Additional tips from friends of the amigos
from katie -
8. Not sure if you know there is a cover at one side of the moter which can be removed. A lot of debris will be trapped. Use your hand to rub the dome with the flowing water. It spread evenly with this method for me.
San - HUH!! I never knew there was any such thing as a removable cover. I think by now there would be so much gunk and stuff in it I shouldn't wonder why its so slow. Of course I didn't think I should be rubbing the dome with my hands before but as two people (+cat_aunty) have recommended this, then I think I should try it the next time I refill the Catit.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Good night sunday




We had no incidents today of kitties screaming at each other. Toro tried to be naughty and harassed Ms Akira from dinner but he stopped when I scolded him. Then Toro refused to eat Snappy Tom tuna and chicken (which is his favourite!). Thankfully he ate Natural Balance Tuna and shrimp which I usually give to Megat and Tanaka.
This morning I saw Minah at the void deck (when I got home from the vet with Toro) talking to a man and his son. I had seen this pair before and spoken to them also. I went near them and saw the son playing with FatBoy. I also saw that the pair had given Minah some kibble. I asked the father if he saw Minah last night (she was missing and the old aunty came knocking at my door in a panic) It seemed that Minah was MIA last night but she was as big as life this morning:) The aunty would be pleased.
We spoke a little about feeding the wildbunch. The man said his wife was not keen on the son adopting a cat so they had a compromise. The boy and his father feeds Minah and FatBoy at the weekends and the boy plays with them then too. I thanked the father and told him he was very kind to feed the kitties as some people might not like it. He said he cleans up after feeding them so people could not protest. As we spoke I noticed Minah wounding her way around the boy's legs so I know she is fond of him. Since all was well, I took Toro home. Minah has quite a few admirers as she is very pretty and and she grooms herself very well. Her coat is always clean. Of course she is also fat and healthy which makes people feel more friendly towards her I think.

Lazy Sunday afternoon

Nothing like sleeping it out with a friend...

Investigations

Yes I am trying to see what is in the Catit...

It smells of nuffing...

Sniff...sniff...sniff...




Private Eye Tanaka was on the prowl again as usual on Sunday. Unafraid of the watery dangers that might make other cats anxious, the PI slowly and steadily proved himself unshakeable. After all he had much experience with the watery stuff from watching the woman aka grandma at the washing machine so much so that he would be banished into the room whenever there was laundry to be done. But undaunted, the intrepid PI went on with his business. After all 'anything' can happen to our drinking water!Hmmm...

Toro's short visit to the vet on Sunday

Toro sleeping off his very short vet visit...

Toro on the weighing scale - 5.4 kg!

Toro had to go to the V_E_T this morning as I was worried he had ear mites. The groomers told me 2 weeks ago that his right ear was infected and I was supposed to clean it with Earrific! which I did. Then I thought I should get some help as there are 4 other cats in the house.

The vet did as required but she was not able to confim mites! I would like to think that it was the Earrific and diligent cleaning that did it but no confirmation is no answer! So now they will have to be Revolutioned just as a precaution. Sigh!

I lurve dinner!

Dinner thoughts...

After dinner grooming...:)

What can we do today san?

Hmmm..san is walking to the door...
Yah san. I know the day will be fine..yah..

If I sit quietly, san will bring me outside...yess....

Saturday morning outside

I would like to make a complaint against that red cat we have in the house. When is he going away? He hogs all the play time, food and now he is trying to make me angwy..I am furry...err...very upset.

I was minding my OWN business and looking at plants. You know I like gardens very much...

I notice (from the corner of my eye) that the red cat is following me!


He never leaves me alone...always sitting on my leash and then following me about...
I have pikshurs!



See..he is everywhere I am. I am FED UP!


I am going into the house! I hope he frightened by himself outside (only a little). Then he knows he should not try to harass my life. I am BOSS you know. I think he needs a real lesson!



And of course Bujang went into the house and left poor Tanaka outside. I sat outside with Tanaka for a bit until he too got enough of the outside and went into look for his bruffers :)


Hey! Where is effuryone?

Huh? Where is Bujang san?

Nothing brings a good kitty down!

A moment of anxiety...

Bujang decided to go back into the house to escape from Tanaka's constant running after his leash. The suddeness of the situation took Tanaka by surprise as he was busy looking things over and did not realise he was alone outside. But of course it was only for a moment as his attention was soon caught by other interesting noises outside. After some minutes, he too decided that he had had enough of the outside and came into the house quietly. :)

The 'REAL' truf

What! I dun fink Bujang is telling you the truf san! I was minding my own bizness. If you dun believe me..I have pikshurs to prove it...

Here I was looking fur ants...

I got one but he got away! He was furry clever...


Then I saw some grass and ate it all up...there was a lot of sand...


This little kitty will tell you anything...I am BOSS and I should know! Hrumph!




Bujang got a little tired of Tanaka always trying to run after his leash and stopping him from moving about the corridor. Tanaka kept sitting on the leash too. Poor Bujang had to stop several times just to wait for Tanaka to get over his curiosity. Finally he got so fed up he decided to just go into the house to rest from the aggravation.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Toro's outside adventure

Hmm...something is not right...

Its not grandma's plants...

I think its still me being afraid of the outside...


Toro could not be persuaded that the outside is safe when he is with me and the family. He was so anxious the whole time and made it only once outside. the rest of the time was spent peeking out of the gates, sitting and chatting with me inside the door and looking at Bujang. I think it will take a long time still for him to get over the 'outside' anxieties.

OK what else do you have?

Tanaka is always on the lookout for ...

Gotcha!

Ok..just watch where it lands...

Take THAT! Nothing gets away from me...

After outside

we sleep...

of course...except if you're Megat...

you pretend you're very busy guarding grandma's stuff...
it helps wif the treats...

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Mulder and Scully

FBI agents Mulder and Scully
"X-Files: I Want To Believe"



It will be in the theatres tomorrow. I will be there :)

Wet Wednesday

...the cool wind blew...

Toro had a nice nap in the early evening after the cool rain. I opened the window and he had a gentle breeze lulling him to sleep. This was also a good thing as there was a great bustle in the house, what with tree-planting and vacuuming. he was quite tired out from anxiety.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Goodnight sleepy Sunday

zzzz...
ZZZZ...

After dinner thoughts

Ok I admit defeat. I will never be able to get on top of the bookcase...

Lets see once again...maybe....maybe...

Oh well. Life is more than sitting on bookcases!

Ho hum! At least I had a good sunday dinner.


Toro has yet to be able to jump onto the bookcase in the computer room. I can't help him with this as there is really nothing else that he can climb onto to get there. He sat for a bit, stood on his hind legs to peek at the top of the case and then decided that grooming himself would be a better use of his time. :)

Sunday laze abouts

Ok.This place is good but maybe I should try the other one again...

Yes san. I think this modem is mine. My paw is on it. I do not see your name on it at all.

Sunday is full of cat shenanigans. I am better off here.


After dinner snooze.

I decided to give all the kitties some Snappy Tom this Sunday as a treat. Megat and tanaka had the usual Natural Balance with some Snappy Tom.They have not had Snappy Tom for a long time. I buy it for the community cats as they sometimes get fed up with Fussiecat and would even refuse to eat it!

I can't imagine community cats refusing food but it happens here with FatBoy especially! FatBoy who used to eat a whole 400g tin all by himself! We sometimes give him a small 85g Fussiecat chicken and tune which I sometimes give him when he is crabby. We also have a new addition. Cousin R named him The Visitor but he has since become part of our WildBunch gang. He is ear-tipped and so I guess he has another caregiver but I guess our food routine is much more regular than his old one. He has since become as fat as the rest.

Food choices



Good morning san. I am glad to see you thus morning fur sure...
Thanks Ms Akira.
Ms Akira has been doing really well with the Richards Organics PET CALM. I tried to look for it today at PL but can't find any. I can't even put an order for Nutro Complete Choice LIGHT 3 kg. If I can get all the kitties to eat one single brand then life would be so much simpler. The only 2 who have yet to succumb to anything else that I give them is VIP Ms Akira and the most recent VVIP Totoro. I was given 2 sample packets for WELLNESS and so I would try it for the 2 VVIPs in the house. I bought one trial packet of IAMS Tuna but it didn't go well with the VVIPS.

All ready for Sunday

scratch...scratch...beware all boys and other horrid things...scratch..scratch...