The amigos on the last day of 2009

We wish you adventure...

We wish you health...

We wish you love...

We wish you peace...

We wish you light...

We welcome 2010 in our own fashion...

Happy New Year World :)

Our last post for 2009

The 2 bruffers being uncharacteristically friendly...

Our house has been quiet the whole day with all the kitties laying about as it has been a hot end of the year day. We are giving thanks for our family and good friends. No doubt the year has been rough with Megat and now with poor Ms Akira and her stress. Nevertheless we have our health, our home and very good friends at home and in the blogging world. It si funny to think that in 5 hours 2010 would be here. We will try to catch that :)

Annual vet check-ups

Tanaka had a little fever today and he had been sleeping most of the day away...

I did not expect Tanaka to have a fever after his vaccination yesterday , Tuesday ,as he had had no fevers during his last 2 vaccinations. Yesterday he took his vaccination like the mancat that he was and was awake the whole day, playing.

His check-up went fine and he has lost some weight from his 4.8 kg last year. He is now 4.4 kg. It pleased us no end although I was a little worried when he was not his usual greedy self at dinner time. The vet found nothing wrong with him at all and eventhough he does eat less, he does eat well and he plays all the time. So I guess he has just figured out how much he wants to eat. He is also not that into treats at all, preferring to play instead.

She has a bald belly and bald inner hind legs from over-grooming...

All is not well with Ms Akira who has over-groomed herself and now has a bald belly as well as bald inner hind legs. Thank goodness she has no red spots nor sores so the vet was not overly worried. I think its because she is bored sitting in her room all day, under blankets and she is rather fearful of Tanaka who takes every opportunity to examine her closely.

We had ruled out mites although she will be undergoing revolution monthly to make sure she is not itching from something. The vet also gave her Bach No 7 for Grief and Mourning, to make her calmer as Fear is not working for her at all.

I had also tried to encourage her to get out of her room in the mornings by putting all the boys in the bedroom so she could have the run of the house but she does not like to go out in the morning for fear one of the boys would run after her. She prefers running and jumping about at night when every boy cat is either in the room or in the night cage.

The vet said that there is essentially nothing we can do as the grooming would be because of stress since there is no other physical aspect and Tanaka _is_harassing her a lot. He said I could put Tanaka up for adoption so that main cause of her anxiety would be gone but I told him that I that is not an option at all. So I still have to figure out what else I can do to help her as she has a sweet nature and a very loving heart- for people, not cats.

PS. I had wanted to microchip Ms Akira but we found that she already had a micro-chip. Since I did not micro-chip her, then the SPCA must have done so as I got her from the SPCA when she was about 4 months old. She had 3 other siblings, all tri-colour. It is a great mystery. So now only Bujang does not have a micro-chip. I think I would need a much braver and stronger vet to microchip Bujang than Dr Loon :)

Sleepy Sunday

I lurve hanging out on san's blankie and sometimes on san's arm :)

PS: Tanaka will be getting his booster on Tuesday. I think Dr Loon will hold up his arms and say, "So fat!!". He's very dramatic that Dr Loon.

Christmas Miracle...

And when Christmas came to Singapore...

Tanaka watched the goings-on from the safety of his cat perch...

While Toro slept, dreaming of a peaceful Christmas when he wakes up this morning, without the sounds of drills and scary things...finally....

Merry Christmas at last

When is Christmas?

Tomorrow Megat. If you sleep early, it comes faster...

Merry Christmas everyone....Drive safely and be kind to everyone, kitties and doggies included...

Is there an end to this?

Toro was the kitty that had the worst time with the house painting as he has remained very frightened of new things, loud noises and strangers. This morning, all the boys knew that something was up as I had to remove their cat seats etc to the living room. Then I managed to lure them all into grandma's room, but of cos not Toro. After walking about trying to get him, I successfully caught hm after luring him with food and put him in grandma's room. Then I went out to let the Uncle in and ZOOM! he was out all over again. I finally managed to coax him ito the room where he spent much of the time hiding out. I think his nerves are all rattled today and he would need alot of quiet and private time.

House Painting Day 3

On the last day our house looks like this...and the boys looked like ...

Oh dear...

High Up Here...I can see effurything...

I dun like this..I really dun...

Are we safe already? Do I need to go back into grandma's cupboard?

The boys were not amused when they all had to be sequestered in grandma's room. They were pretty nervous as the room was much smaller and I was not in the room with them. So they decided to get hiding places to feel safer.


However, right after lunch the Uncle had to finish painting the door to grandma's room and so he painted the outside and then when it came to painting the other side of the door, he opened the door slowly so as not to frighten the boys. Only Tanaka came up to inspect the door as well as the Uncle. :) THEN..he walked out and decided to investigate.

Since he is the most curious, I had to put him in Akira's cage so he could watch all the goings on and not get underfoot. Then Megat came out to greet grandma and me and then he asked for some attention before resting in the cat basket :)


Bujang of course did not make an appearance but as the door was open, he could watch and still be safe in Tanaka's house. Toro was nowhere to be seen. Fortunately all my fears of cats getting underfoot did not materialise. The boys behaved themselves very well.


All the painting would be done today and we can put the whole house in order, not just parts of the house. Tomorrow, our front door will be here and then everything will indeed be over. Then the boys will have to get used to the house again but since we will have no more strangers, everything will be fine.

There was just one accident in 3 days, which is good. The other painter moved my antique (aka old cupboard) and broke part of the glass. We would just have to paste the broken part with cardboard and masking tape first. The glass is very thin and I was afraid of just this happening. But it was no one's fault. I am just grateful that the accident was a small one.


Now I need to find someone who can replace just one pane of very thin glass :-(

Ms Akira's Ballet

Our first daytime glimpse of the Little Ms

A little turn to the left...

A long stretch...

A turn to the right to watch the Tanaka-on-the-lurk...

A good rest ...finally...

Ms Akira came out for a bit when the painters went to lunch and Tanaka was lurking far away from her. Then when she saw Tanaka , she sniffed at him and ignored him :) But the sounds of the painters coming back from lunch was too much for her and she went into hiding again. Poor thing...

Our supervisors for today

Our usual supervisor on the alert...

Our supervisee...quite relaxed and napping on the job...

Grandma ...our new supervisor...
a role she was forced to undertake as there was no place for her to sit.

Our supervisees ...Mr Ng and Painter No 2 hard at work...

Poor grandma gave up sitting with us as she had nothing to do in the bedroom. I had work to complete, Tanaka much preferred supervising Ms Akira than chatting with grandma and the rest of the boys just napped or looked out the window at the birds on the parapets of the flat in front of ours.

Then grandma tried sitting in the kitchen but she had already cooked lunch and the kitchen itself was already tidy. She could not watch TV even as the rooms were being painted so she did the next best thing - sit in the living room to watch the 2 painters :) I'm sure grandma would be relieved by the end of today as she could be herself tomorrow when the only room left to be painted will be mine.

Ms Akira meets Tanaka ... almost

Ms Akira all wrapped up as usual in her cage...

Tanaka was very excited and was the first one to welcome her..although she would have none of that!

He waited in vain for her to unveil herself...

Finally!

She peeked out from under her pink blanket for a while, looked around, sniffed the air...and decided life looked better under a pink blanket...

Tanaka decided that good things will come...if he only waits for it...

It went without incident. I put Ms Akira in her night cage and wheeled her inside the bedroom. Then I gave her the pink blanket that just came from the wash so she would feel nice and comfy. I put it over her gently and allowed her to burrow inside the blanket and she became quite calm and settled down. Of course she did all her grooming inside her blanket and the movements attracted Tanaka like a magnet and he kept watch on her carefully.

I gave all of them treats immediately when I had settled Ms Akira so they would consider this move a good thing and they all did and left her alone, except Tanaka the supervisor who even now is keeping an eye on her.

After 30 minutes, Ms Akira was sufficently relaxed to lie down and take a nap. WHEW! I think we should be able to put her back in her room after lunch.

I had wanted to put her in the kitchen as we can close the kitchen sliding door and she could rest and relax on top of the fridge but grandma said that she may take fright as she was not used to the 2 painters and might decide to explore the kitchen cabinets and get into trouble so thi seemed like the best solution for now.

House Painting Day 2

Huh! Its him again...the manbean from yesterday.
I know that step anywhere...

The manbean - Uncle Ng at work early this morning...

Megat had gotten a comfortable and safe retreat...

The boys were no longer bothered by the painters. They had other fish to fry- some workers were cutting grass on the common patch downstairs.

As I was clearing out some junk for recycling this morning, Mr Ng (Uncle in the blog) came to the house, dressed very neatly in a green shirt and trousers. He came at 8.30 am!! That is one hour earlier than his stipulated time. He dresses betters than some other contarctors I had seen. He then put on his work t-shirt and shorts while the other painter just painted in his shirt and trousers. They were both very neat and tidy. More importantly, they also worked quietly which meant the amigos were not rattled at all. They were more rattled by the grasscutters!

The other painter worked very quickly and in no time at all, he had painted the 2 ceilings of the 2 bedrooms and is now painting walls! WOW! I had to put Ms Akira in her cage and then put her in my bedroom with the 4 boys! AIYOH!

Link Within Widget

I finally read about the link within widget and got myself one. I had seen this widget on many of the cat blogs and wondered how the clever beans got them. Its very useful and reminded me of my past posts :) Its also looks rather spiffy. The widget also recycles the 3 posts regularly :)

3 lessons for you san...from Megat

Not content with sharing the limelight...

Megat decided to get into the thick of things...

I told the boys that the wall colours were not what I had first thought they would be. They seemed nonchalant and could not be bothered that the walls were white instead of rose. Megat reminded me that all planning is futile and the only tangibles in life are family, friends, the amigos and of cos him :)

All Calm on the Eastern Front

The boys are all together in one room while the Uncle is still painting our living room. He still has 3 bedrooms, one kitchen and 2 bathrooms to go (oh dear). Megat asked to be in the same room as the rest of the boys by meowing loudly and so I had rescued him.

The Uncle has painted my living room rose (oh dear again). I had a shock and looked again at my receipt and indeed it had stated the number that I saw on the can. So the Uncle was not at fault. He said that oftentimes, the colour in the books is different from the actual colour in the can. Its rather pretty though, probably better than the cool grey colour I wanted (or assumed grey from the paint book). I guess it would go with our dark walnut chocolate furniture at least. However the walls just look white in the light! Aiyoh! These charts should come with a warning label! All that time choosing for nothing. The consolation is grandma would have the last laugh as she did tell me numerous time that white is best. It makes the house look big (!) and clean. Considering the way grandma cleans the house, it would look clean even if the walls are black. She is a cleanaholic!

But he is very slow and I wonder who will break first. Not the boys though. I think grandma is showing visible signs of cracking though as she has a headache from the paint. I am surprised that the smell of the paint was not as strong as before. I had asked Cousin R to bring us some lemons and limes so we could reduce the smell even more once the Uncle has finished.

More disturbances

What is happening outside?

Paraphernalia...

Its our err..old house painter...

Still going strong...

The boys have somewhat relaxed after their experiences with furniture...

Tanaka most of all...

The house painter came at about 9 am, just as the contractor had promised. I didn't expect to see such an old man but he worked carefully and quietly. I think that was why the amigos were not rattled. He was also very systematic and careful with our furniture. As he looked like the contractor, I guess it must be a family business. I was promised 2 painters and a 3-day job to paint my whole house as well as the doors and door frames. We will have a new front door as grandma was nervous about our old yellow one as the locks didn't work well, even after 2 repairs. I wonder if the other painter would even appear or maybe the other painter would appear tomorrow to paint the rooms. Nevertheless, this old man is going strong still :)


Grandma was the one who was rather rattled as she is a perfectionist (aka busy body) and wants to know exactly what is happening at every single minute. I told her to relax and let the old man get on with the job although he is really slow.


The boys were nervous to begin with and knew something was up so the 3 boys ran into my bedroom while Megat ran into grandma's one as it was the last room that was still open. Then Tanaka and Bujang peeked from under the door to see what was happening but as they could see nothing, they got fed up and is now resting :)


They or maybe this old man will be painting the rooms tomorrow and then there would be more nervous times of trying to see where I can put all 5 kitties...but THAT is tomorrow's headache. I am grateful that today has been quiet and I hope later, after lunch, it will be the same.