Two's company but three's family

Bujang decided to keep me company tonight as he had done almost every night in these few weeks. I am always flatteredwhen he makes these decisions to stay with me for any length of time as he is not one of those velcro cats. :) Then Toro decided to join Bujang for a bit and I am doubly glad that Bujang was relaxed enough to sleep in his presence. I notice that Toro always makes the first move to sit or be with Bujang whenever he can. This silent companionship lasted a whole 5 minutes and now Toro is standing guard at the door or rather sprawling at the door. Bujang is still asleep. No caterwauling nor screaming and swiping and absolutely no staring down sessions tonight. Hurrah!

Peekaboo

One of the great things about bringing Bujang to the park is he gets to smell the grass, eat some flowers, kill a bug and try his claws on tree barks. I think this is the reason he makes no fuss when he wears his jacket and gets into his carrier willingly. These pictures are of Bujang scratching 3 different palm trees. At first I thought he wanted to test his claws on different ones but then maybe he just wanted to see what was behind all the trees :) His head kept his head turning right and left to see what was going on. He chose only specific trees, not all of them in along the pathway. he must know something I don't. :)
Picasa keeps surprising me with it's own peekaboo game.

 

New experiences

Today I decided to take Bujang to another part of the park, away from the footballers as I know he would hide away under the ixora and not move for ages. At the other side of the park is a pathway lined with bougainvilla. The purple blooms are just out and look very pretty in the evening. Bujang seems to think so too. He made quite a thorough invstigation of them all. I'm not able to upload pics on picasa this evening but I thought one picture is better than none.

In the tall grass

Picasa finally made it for me :)

Bujang wanted to go to the park earlier than usual so as the day was fine, we went out at about 6. There was also a Chinese funeral going on so I avoided that path to the park. Who knows what they would think if they saw us. Once we were at the park and some people who were at another funeral pointed at us. I guess they wanted us to be away from the proceedings. This time I was a little wiser and there was no such incident.There were only 2 groups of football-crazed boys and they were kicking the ball at the wall and at each other when we arrived. Uncertain, Bujang hid under the ixora save for his head. Later when it was quieter, he decided to go into the tall grass to explore and saw a purple flying insect. He tried to take a closer look but the insect was far smarter and flew away. :)

First steps

This was taken the 3rd day Bujang came to live with us. His fur was still standing. I was told that this was a sign that he was not weaned as yet or his mother had left him. Admittedly I don't think his mother left him as much as she hid him in the drain so he could be safe from rampaging teens and other humans. But it rained heavily and either I brought him home or he would have died. He was a big as my mother's hand and weighed hardly anything and now of cos he is all of 6 kgs.

Cleanliness is next to catliness

Since Picasa is not working for me tonight, I thought I would post this picture of Bujang making his way to the litter in the bathroom. He was only 6 weeks then and to make his own way from the living room to the bathroom was quite a feat. I took this pic when he was living with us for just one week. Even then Bujang knew where the important things were and still are :)

Bujang my cat

Bujang decided just now to keep me company at the computer. I realise that these days he makes a decision to sit at the computer room with me whenever I am here for one hour or more. Usually he would just hang out by himself outside. I wonder why this is so. In the second picture, Bujang's eyes are really eound. This is usually the case. Bujang has round eyes and the other two has almond eyes. :)

 

After dinner shenanigans

Toro and Akira relaxing in their various ways after dinner. Toro is in his I-don't-care stance while Akira is in a more dainty resting position. However, she keeps her eyes on Toro.

Bujang on the other hand, is on the prowl for a treat after dinner. He climbed onto the table where his treats were and began to look for Grandma Lucy's treats, with both eyes looking out for me :)

Feeling impatient, he decided to yell "I want it now pleaseeeeooowwwrrrrr."

Singapore sale for cats

Today I went to the Singapore Sale at Lim's at PParade and saw these cat bowls. They are wide- brimmed and shallow enough for the boys. I thought it would be nice to buy them something new to eat from. When I brought the bowls back, Toro thought there was an actual treat in the orange bowl. I think he saw the orange fish in the centre of the blue and kept trying to get it out. Bujang was also very curious and started to sniff at the painted fish. Hahaha!

 

Olde Time band

This afternoon I went to a malay wedding and they had a traditional band singing old malay tunes. It was a refershing change from the usual loud hindi tunes or screamimg rock. They even sang in the old manner - melodiously :)) It was nice and the grandmother of the bride actually requested for a song. The food was delicious with nasi beryani and sweet spicy rendang with rojak. Yum!

Since there was no one at home to watch the amigos, I had to lock the boys in the room and put Akira in her night cage. But I was gone for only an hour and when I came home, the boys were on the bed pretending to sleep and Akira was telling me to let her out :)

 

Enough already!

Toro is feeling pretty bored waiting for things to happen. There is just so much reading a cat can do before he gives in to his cat nature as the 2nd picture shows :))

Please can we play now?

Toro's usual look when he is trying to encourage me to get out Da Bird so he can go wild flying through the air trying to catch it :) 

Agent 007

The aunty who fed the cats made a visit to my house yesterday. I was so surprised that she actually remembered where I lived. I walked out of the lift and saw her outside. She seemed embarrassed at seeing me. But we had a nice chat outside the lift about the people who lived on the same floor, the difficulty of opening windows and of cos about the very greedy grey tabby with the long tail. Last Monday I fed him 2 cans of sardines and a whole plateful of Solid Gold. She said she just fed him 1 fat bowl of rice and boiled fish. He is still skinny though despite the food we give him.

She said she just wanted to see where I lived as she had some time after feeding the cats. I told her it is good that she remembered where I lived so it would be easy to ask for me in case something happened to the cats. We chatted some more about the sombong calico that ate only one small portion of the boiled rice and fish and also about how people leave chicken bones for the black cat who sometimes comes to the carpark.

I don't know why people think it's safe for cats to eat chicken bones!!The can choke and die on it. The aunty told me she asked the foreign workers to help her clear the chicken bones if they should find them. The foreign workers are also fond of the cats as I sometimes see them clearing spilled cat food in the morning when I go to work and I have never seen them scare any of the community cats at all.

She parted asfter asking me if I had eaten dinner and when she found out that I was just going home to eat dinner, she shooed me back to the house [as though I was one of the cats :))] and wished me good night. :)

 

The New Game in town

Bujang's favourite new activity, after hiding from Big Boss Toro is sitting by the ixora and watching the boys playing football. Of course I have to do the same since the light is usually fading by the time he decides to indulge in this new game and I would be quite unable to read my book (that I bring with me to help me through the sometimes long interludes of inactivity)
















Here Bujang is trying to practise the 'hunting the prey' skills that he has acquired from his favourite game - Da Bird.

















It's quite funny for me to see that the only game in town are a few legs walking past him. Hahaha. But Bujang seems quite unperturbed and continues the watch.

 

The Big Sleep

Big Boss Toro sleeps well after he made sure that the perimeter was secured and no conspiracy was in the wind. His favourite new roost is right on the living room table --- being low - just about 12 inches off the floor and the width wide enough to contain his ample frame and short legs.

 

My New Blogskin

I feel like a new blogskin, something nostalgic, calm and decorative. Now that the amigos have sorted themselves out, I feel much calmer about them. We have Big Boss Toro, the stubborn kin Akira who refuses to buckle to Big Boss and sometimes gives him a good swipe on the head and the one who hates confrontation - Bujang, who avoids Big Boss at every opportunity. Bujang and Toro have a friendship of a kind - they race each other and chase each other all around the house but when it comes to formal playtime, Toro goes first.

I thought this blogskin would make me happy. I didn't know there were so many about until I actually stumbled on them. But this template does not have View My Profile and since I am an idiot at html, I don't know how to design it. I don't know if I will miss seeing it on my page or whether it would disconcert people. I don't even know if the comments work even :)) Evenso, I think I will keep it for a while until I find something I truly like...

An interlude in the evening

Last evening we went for our usual walk in the park. There were many kids playing about so Bujang decided that he would only walk and sit...and walk and sit.... for a whole hour. he also watched some kids playing football.

Then at 7, the time when we had to go home before it got too dark, he decided that he would investigate what went on at the amphitheatre, where the boys had played football before. So we went to see and ...well...if alien beings were to find our remains, they would know just how we live, amongst litter. ...sigh...but Bujang did not find this fact at all disturbing and decided he would indeed like to rest among empty packages of green peas. :)

 

The Red and White Play

It has been quite some time that Bujang played in his red and white tunnel. I got him his old toy and we had some fun. He weaved in and out and even tried pawing out of the small squares to get at his toy. I think he had quite a lot of fun as the other 2 showed very little interest at a toy that doesn't fly. Toro prefers jumping and Akira likes to run after toys. So Bujang has this time all to himself. He has been quite nice about letting the other two play with Da Bird. Usually when this happens , he would sit by to watch and would only participate when Toro gets too tired to jump anymore.

Of course like ksn and zeus said, he may have accepted Toro as Top Cat and therefore he allows Toro to play first. My only hope is one way or the other, the amigos have decided who the Top Cat is so life would go on without fights. :) Toro also eats the biscuits first and alot of it. I have to find some way to make sure that he only eats his share as a fat cat may look cute but not for his health.

If indeed Toro is Top cat, he has come a long way from being bullied before. Maybe that is why he is now the Top as he knows how to get his way much better :) Congratulations then Toro for finding your way home :)

Quiet Saturday musings

Bujang taking time off on saturday after playing with his red and white tunnel. The cool breeze is making him sleepy and he enjoys the quiet.


He is trying had to fight it but... what can a cat do? When its time to nap, there is nothing else to be done...zzzz 

The Saga continues

I think something must have happened to Toro before he came to live here. He shows such a great desire for attention. He must always be the centre of any activity that happens in the house. He must be the first to get to the kitchen, the first to get the toy, the first one I have to greet at the door. This afternoon when I got home, I greeted him as usual and scratched his head and called his name. Then Bujang ambled towards the door and tried to walk pass him. In a split second, he took one big bite out of Bujang's flank! WOAH! I am quite proud of Bujang - that he did not retaliate but instead gave Toro a quiet stare and walked off. He is always calling for something. There must be something I can do about this I'm sure but I'm not sure what.

Rumour has it that Bujang had once groomed Toro - some time in the last two weeks. I only knew this yesterday. It's a pity I was not there to take a picture. But he has yet to repeat this performance. Maybe it was just wishful thinking although the two of them have started to do the friendly sniffs. Akira is still not on friendly terms with Toro but she is quite tolerant of his presence. He is as usual trying to get on her case :))

Or maybe I am just thinking too much about it. Maybe some cats are more needy than other cats.

Congratulations boys...

I spent 1 hour yesterday cleaning up all the litter boxes and sifting litter into the new box. I thought I should at least try to save some of the litter in the old box and add it into the new box. This would not only save me money and litter, it would also allow the boys to recognise the old smell so the transition would not be so painful. So I did all this and then I waited...and waited ...and waited. They came and sat in the sink, on the toilet seat, lolled about on the mat but they paid absolutely no attention to the new litter box. ARGHHHH!

To be fair they had also largely ignored the box when it was in the living room after making certain it would not hurt them in any way :)

After 4 hours, the boys had still not figured out that they had a new litter box and none had actually gone to the toilet. I had to think quickly and decided that they needed some obvious pushing. So I took the trusty Da Bird and played with everyone. I lured them all into trying to catch the lure in the litter box. First Toro, then Akira and finally Bujang. I thought I had to convince Bujang first and once he was convinced, the rest would be easy - they would just follow Bujang's lead, which they did. Whew!

Once Bujang felt the litter under his feet, he realised that the white box was just full of litter and he went to pee, with his head stuck out of the U, watching out for an ambush. Admittedly when he was sitting in it, he could not see what was going on outside, which made him a trifle nervous. Then after 10 minutes or so, Toro used it. Akira has yet to make any move to use it but she prefers the one in the kitchen anyway, where the boy's old litter box now is. There is less chance of being ambushed there. I have kept her litter box (also the biggest in the pet stores) away in storage.

The good thing is, there is less litter outside the box, the boys can dig however much they want and not much litter would fly out from the sides, they could turn around and bury their business comfortably. The old litter box (the biggest from many pet stores) did not allow them to do any of this.

The two litter boxes are of different brands - the biggest of their brand (or so the pet store people tell me)

The bad thing is, I have to stretch out more when cleaning the rather bulky box.

But I think this is a small price to pay for comfort (for the boys) and less flying litter (for me) to clean. :))

The Big Sunday Sleep

Bujang spent close to 4 hours in this basket. He woke up, yawned, looked around and went back to sleep and the cycle repeats itself. I finally managed to entice him down with a sliver of bream. Sigh..there goes the diet. You can see how much he loves this basket by the wear and tear as evidenced by the joints, close to the yellow feather. One of these days, it will fall apart.