In Conversation

For today I thought it would be good to see where Akira and Tanaka are at being more friendly. Fern, our good friend who helps them through weekly reiki sessions said that last Sunday, Akira was not keen on talking. She wanted to sleep but she said she was ok. I told Fern that the 2 kitties had been having conversations with each other through the baby gates and I hoped they were not insulting each other. Akira, at one point, had tried to beat Tanaka up through the gates. Fern said she would ask them about their conversations.

(Fern)  "Tanaka said Akira said don't come near her and she's not scared. Then he said 'really?' You are not scared? But he told me (Fern) that he was purposely teasing her. Not that he's gonna actually attack her. Then Akira got angry. And he was teasing her that now she's so brave."

When I asked Akira, she got upset and said loudly that he should have left her alone!

On a more upbeat note...but only under my supervision

Wednesday Notes

These days I am much more confident and can sit (for short minutes) with my brother. BUT I must always keep an eye on him. If not he will try to chase me. 

Here we were last night. san was watching Masterchef and did not realise I had come into the living room from the kitchen. I sat here looking at my brother and he sat where he was looking at me. But he was relaxed and so was I.

See? When I began to get up to stretch and I was not looking at him, he would become more tense and would attempt to give chase. san had to remind him to sit quietly, which he did.

"LEAVE ME IN PEACE Tanaka!"

Good for you Akira!

Yesterday Akira was a very happy kitty as she could get out of her room in the afternoon. She walked about inspecting everything and everyone and after ensuring that everything is as it should be, she decided to sit here, in this cradle. This is where Bujang is most of the afternoon but seeing that Bujang was sleeping somewhere else, she commandeered this space for a good part of the day. She has not been here for many years because of our bridge brothers and of course because of Tanaka as well.

 When she saw the clicky box, she decided to pose prettily

 "Are you done san?"

                                                                zzz...

For the last 4 days, we had had the CNY break and I had let her out early. Tanaka sits with me in my bedroom, which he likes so he does not become anxious. Later he sits for a short time in the computer room by himself as well. But he also walks along the corridor in the afternoon or evening and later, he gets out of the computer room when Akira sits in the kitchen. Tanaka does not go to the kitchen often or indeed at all these days. At this time, he does not have the harness and so is free to roam about. However, if Akira sits on top of the cage, he has the harness and lead as well.

I think this arrangement works out fine for everyone and so I have to find an equally agreeable solution now since school has started. The spirit essences also seemed to work well and he increasingly has let her alone. Of course last Sunday, he was looking at her closely and Akira yelled and slapped him twice from inside her gate! he was so shocked that he was not able to eat his breakfast. But later, I gave him his breakfast at another place and he ate with great gusto. So I guess they are both re-learning their bounderies.

I had previously asked Craig, a Reiki Practitioner about the both of them. Of Tanaka he says:

I connected quickly and the communication flowed easily. He was a joy to speak to and has such a beautiful vitality to him. I started by asking what he thought of Akira and his response was clear that he did not like her and that the space that they share is his. He explained that it was not that he hated her, but rather that he felt that if he gave up some of his space and allowed her access to it that Akira would get more love than he does. He acknowledged that they are both loved but Akira is 'pretty' and because of this she may get more love if he lets her have more freedom. He was worried that he was not as playful/sweet as she was in her own way and that he could not compete with this and would get less love.

So eventhough he has to be separated from her at these times, I do sit with him and explain to him why as much as I can. 

Amigos Monday

                                     

With a gentle touch of her paw, Ms Akira told me NOT to mess with her blankie. So my hand stayed here for about 10 minutes before she decided I had learnt my lesson. 

                                     

                              I told you she is a naughty girl san. NOW do you believe me?

                                    

                                     san: You  are not an angel either Rocket Tanaka!

                                   

            Tanaka: OKOK.... You may be right but right now, a little more to the left please....

Thursday Meditations

Here I am looking much thinner than I usually do. I am much better at defending myself against my brother Tanaka and do not yell so much now when he comes near me. I know that he is just being a silly brother. Last night I decided to tell san that it was time to go for a walk and not wait for her to tell me. I pushed open her bedroom door with my paws and head and it opened immediately. THAT was not such a good idea as my brother Tanaka was waiting for me and he ran out and we had a short stand-off. But san then scholded my brother for chasing me and put him to bed. 

My brother Bujang then came over to me and told me to behave myself. Hmmm..maybe I should be more careful next time. 

Shenanigans!

It's time for SHE-NA-NI-GANS again! Mine and err...san says Ms Akira's also.I fink she is learning from me, her bruffer about shenanigans. san put this purty box out. I know she meant it fur me as I am the resident cat-in-the-box. So my brain said -Its TIME. I fink if I sit in here, the little gurl will not see me.

 Hmmm...lets see if she comes close to the door!

I wonder where she is?

 (Ms Akira is sitting at the far left just watching him)

Tanaka would sometimes sit on the green boxes and wait for her. I think he thinks if he does this, she may come close to the gate and he can ambush her right there. Before, she had come quite close but she realised in time that he was hiding behind the wall close to the gate or on top of  the green boxes! So now she has taken to doing this;

Taking a nap away from the gate. She spends quite some time in this cubby hole as it  is hidden from view. Maybe the experiment is not working out so well as the purpose of me putting the gates was for them to look at each other and m_a_y_b_e be a little more friendly. 

Napping...zzzz

For 2 days in a row, she has taken to hiding in here when its time for her warm salt bath so she has not had any. She is a clever kitty I must say. But as she is in here and not under her blanket, I think she may be a little cooler which is a good thing as well.

Easy Peasy Sunday

Ms Akira asked to be let out of her room this morning. Once the boys were in my bedroom, she got out and proceeded to inspect the house. She is much more relaxed and confident. She now screams at Tanaka less and would sometimes stand infront of the baby gate. Of course she is still a little afraid that Tanaka would jump out from some hidden corner and she is very vigilant about these things :) Here she was sitting with grandma- easy peasy. She is looking much better. The sea salt and dusting powder worked rather well and her hind legs are no longer blue -black but has a little fuzz.

 Luscious veg and 

 fruits..

 in  a local provision shop at Serangoon Road.

I also went to Serangoon to shop for spices and went into this shop with a friend. The greens were so beautiful and looked very juicy and luscious. We bought some egg plant, okra, gram flour and onions to cook some vegetarian food. Then we went to lunch and had naan and paneer with spinach and some delicious mutton curry. It was a good lunch!

 Ms Akira needs the collar after her sea salt and warm water bath. After the bath, I would dust her hind legs generously and put the collar on for her for about 10 minutes. If not she would actually try to lick the powder off!

As usual, her devoted guard watches intently...everyday. He still hisses and growls at her whenever she is near him. He now tries to secretly wait for her at corners but he has yet to pounce at her. I do not know eyet what goes on with him :) It is still a waiting game for the both of them.

The Calm After...

zzz...finally

Ms Akira grooming herself to calmness after the big Cat Skirmish just 5 minutes before...

The Storm...

The villian...

The heroine...

Ms Akira was very agitated and fought with her rug after being chased by Tanaka in the living room...

She rolled on it...

And stomped on it...

And bit it...

and then decided to...

take a break...

She groomed herself to calmness...

I heard a great battle being fought in the living room. Hissed flew and screams broke the still morning air. Then a blur of white entered the computer room followed by a dizzying flash of orange. I yelled a battle-cry and they both stopped. So I immediately told the orange flash to get out of the room and incarcerated him in my room. The white blur sat on her chair and told me the story of the big fight. I advised her to write it all down and we would discuss the damges later. The white blur agreed and settled down to sleep.

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 :)

Games

The hunted...

The hunter...

The hunter being chastised by me for trying to harass Ms Akira ...

The sleepy head who doesn't care two bits for the saga...


Not all is dire in the amigos house :)

I stare; You stare

Ms Akira was all on the alert as ...

Tanaka was looking at her as usual. He sat for quite abit just looking at her. "Doesn't you neck hurt?" grandma asked him but he was not in the mood to answer anyone :)

Shadow Play

No san. I am not thinking of chasing her..really...

I am just admiring how high she is. She is a very clever kitty to climb so high...yup...

I know what you want, you little squirt! I am standing guard!