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Saturday, December 26, 2009

Our current arrangement.

With 9 cats in an apartment of 3 rooms in which you're not suppose to have pets to begin with (shhhhh....) So how does it work?

There's the master bedroom, the medium r
oom, the small room and the living room.

The seniors had always been in the master bedroom because they have their own toilet (for bathing and cleaning litter materials which are flushable) and because the window is away from neighbors... on that side of the house is the staircase (we're on the 10th floor and the elevator is much preferred by most if not all), so we only have a neighbor on
the other side.

SUNSHINE joined them when she first came in, they got in occasional cat fight but not so bad until she was in her later stage of pregnancy, she was just stressed out and tend to pick on the others more often. So while she was pregnant and until the kittens came, she was placed in the small room (which has a window next to the neighbor). The problem with her being in that room was that she meowed soooo loud that it worried me of complaints that I might get.. she got used to it, but meowed
the moment I reach home from work, hence by night time I let her out to roam in the living room.. She had been smart enough to meow at the door if she needed to go in the room. She also had another huge behavioral problem, in which she somehow dislike the litter box, she is trained but somehow she didn't go IN the box but NEXT to box. That was eventually resolved by using clumping litter (more on that in another post).... So because she is the only one using clumping litter, she gets to stay in the living room.

The medium bedroom is off limits, because the window faces the corridor and they just like to peek through the window looking at people passing by.... Now I do not want them to be kicked out, so I better keep them away from that window.

So for a while, it was 4 seniors in the master bedroom, 4 kittens in the small room and SUNSHINE in the living room (luckily she's not a big trouble maker), but that means 3 areas to clean every single day of my life then.

Eventually, the kittens learned about the world outside of their room and also learned to use their ability to meow loudly (they actually formed a choir), and insist on some freedom. I couldn't just let them roam in the living room, for kittens their size they might get lost in
between my stuff, and I can't just let them meow like that because I don't want to get any complaints... So, I introduced them to the seniors, (hence BULAN lost his voice, and later BINTANG followed after), but by now they're all getting along well =). So now, I have a total of 8 cats in the master bedroom, with SUNSHINE in the living room. She gets into her cycle of heat now and then, and hence is a bit moody at times and it has been more difficulty for her to get along with the others, I hope all that will improve after she's spayed.

With the current arrangement, another issue arise. I have a kitten who refuse to eat kittens' kibbles and go for adult's kibbles and I have adults who refuse adult's kibbles and eat kittens' kibbles. Now I don't want to have a malnourished kitten with obese adults... so some adjustments will take place... I shall update on that when it happens, soon, I hope.


Their morning routine, looking at birds.

The newcomers happily picked their choice of toys and spots.

SUNNY with the cables.

BELLA with the tunnel.

MJ with the cat spa.

Donna with the rack.

While the seniors took time to adjust..

The princesses looked from above.
BINTANG kept her distance
.... and stared from afar..
YUMIEKO too, kept her distance..
..stared from above...
and later, her expression turned a bit more friendly.
BULAN often joined BINTANG, as she's good with finding good spots..
He could still play, as long as the kittens didn't interupt him..
MICHIKO initially stared a bit...
He wanted to join in their play...
and made little effort to keep his distance.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Kittens off to the vet!

The kittens have turned exactly 3 months on the 18th Dec 2009, and they looked healthy and ready for their vaccination, so off we went!

SUNNY @ 1.8 kg
BELLA @ 1.38 kg

MJ @ 1.74 kg
DONNA @ 1.6 kg

vaccination & deworm-done! and here they are sleeping and resting.

Monday, December 14, 2009

cont. BULAN's voice

So we went to the vet..

my complaints as of Monday 14/December 2009 were:

I noticed a change of voice on Friday, in which his meowing didn't sound like him at all.
Then on Saturday, it seemed like he was loosing his voice. But Sunday, his voice was coming back, but still it sounded different from his actual meows. He was noted to be kind of quiet (in terms of meowing) in the past week. Other than that, everything else had been very normal.

So the vet checked for any blockage down his throat, (in case he swallowed anything inedible and it got stuck there) and also looked out for inflammation or infection. He is not down with fever. So with the vet's examination and my reporting, it is most likely nothing serious. Possibly some kind of inflammation, which may have been getting better, because no obvious inflammation was noted and that I reported his voice was kinda coming back. So from what the vet said, seems like it's just something like our sore throat, and hence can go away on its own, or with meds, and in his case, it seems to be going away on its own.

If the change of meows remains the way it is, then possibly its just behavioral/psychological... could be attention seeking or reaction to the presence of the kittens, etc....

Well, I hope this is really the case. BULAN oh BULAN....

Sunday, December 13, 2009

cont. BULAN'S voice...

We had returned from the catshow, and I've just checked the feedback I got (from a site that I'm a member of)... No one can seem to suggest much, thus the question mark is still big. But no one said that it's definitely nothing. So I'm so so so worried now, that I'm thinking of taking him to the vet tomorrow (but I need to think of how to get away from work.... I'm a student, so I can't just take leave without risk of getting marks cut off).

Indications, included change of voice, low volume, losing voice perhaps?

few findings from googling suggested of ruling out a list of possible problems/suggestions on what probably needs to be done:
-laryngitis or pharyngitis due to bacterial or viral causes.
-trauma, foreign bodies, bruising, polyps, or even cancer
-upper respiratory virus
-x-ray to check for asthma and masses in the chest area
-feline heartworm test: which may cause coughing, gagging, choppy breathing/purring and a change in voice
-thyroid tests

so basically there are a lot of possibilities... and as I keep on reading and reading and reading... I think I'll just end up in tears... oh my BULAN, whatever it is please hang in there.. and let it be nothing at all... I'm so tempted to walk in for emergency treatment now, but at this moment in time it seems not in place to go at this hour since he looks perfectly fine...

Oh yeah, we attended the cat show, which was vetted and I asked about this to the vet yesterday and today (today, the vet even had a look at him), they suggested nothing to worry much on.. which kinda made me feel better for a moment there...

I'm hoping for everything to be ok, thus trying to look at all the positive component of this condition, despite of that my worry keeps on adding in, as I know I'm only trying to make myself feel better.

Gonna have a good look at him, then do some of my work so that I can present myself well for work tomorrow (so that I can go off much earlier to go to the vet). *deep breaths*

http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=41362

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Cats-1606/2009/11/cat-voice-changed-1.htm

http://www.catchannel.com/experts/arnold_plotnick/cat-lost-voice.aspx

http://www.catster.com/answers/question/why_does_my_cats_meow_sound_like_hes_lost_his_voice-3967


13 Dec 2009 SACC mall

And on the 2nd day, it was attended by BULAN and MICHIKO.


BULAN ranked 2nd in his category. I think he heard me promised to BINTANG that yesterday was gonna be her last show, and hence BULAN wanted this to be his last show too... He was so so so moody.. but he managed to rank 2nd... (hihihihi... that's because there were only 2 cats competing in his category)

He was just so arrogant

Even worst (than BINTANG) I had to take him to the judge and back to his cage

As if he would cared about the prize



MICHIKO ranked 2nd in his category.. He still looked frightened, but he did better than yesterday, Although towards the end of the day, he did got tired of the crowd that he didn't want to face them anymore.


I didn't realize he could stand that tall, because he has actually grown!


Such an innocent looking lil thing



No more shows for Bulan and Bintang.... as a matter of fact, I wonder ii we would make it to anymore shows before we move next year.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

catshow 12 Dec 2009 @ SACC mall

Catshow @ SACC on Saturday was attended by BINTANG and MICHIKO.


BINTANG ranked 3rd in her category. But this shall be her last show, as she had taken this opportunity to tell everyone that she didn't want to go for another show. She was apparently not in her best behavior, especially when she was taken out to be evaluated.

Couldn't get a nice pic of here there...and I was called in to return her to her cage...

She would only peek
out once in a while


MICHIKO didn't get any ranking, but I'm very sure that he was cute ;-). Credit to the owner?? hehe.. or maybe the genes he inherited...huhuhu..

I think he wondered why he was confined
Trying to get a grasp of what was going on

He quietly, nervously posed as he was displayed

Friday, December 11, 2009

BULAN's voice..

As BULAN was taken into the bathroom for his bath... I noticed that his voice sounded different. As usual, he would meow of refusal as he sensed that he was up for a bath, but today it sounded so different.. I'm so worried of this....

His usual meow/sound/voice is brief, sharp, clear, but today it was soft, slow and dragging... in demonstration it's suppose to sound like this.. 'meow! meow!' but today it sounded like this 'meeeeeoooorrrwwwwww'. Heh, just to give the idea.

I'm hoping that it's nothing, especially that he has been eating well, playing well, no watery eyes, no runny nose, nothing at a
ll, he appears perfectly healthy. He has been kinda quiet in the past week though, but I didn't think much of it. Because BULAN is in general usually quiet except for my morning wake up meow. He would meow at me (the brief, sharp, clear meow), in addition to his biting, so that I get up and get him his food. But MICHIKO has been doing that in the past week, so I thought BULAN probably figured that he didn't need to do that work anymore since MICHIKO is now representing them. It was only today that I realized BULAN' s meowing sounded different, then it occurred to me, could that be the reason why he hasn't been making my wake up meow and hence, MICHIKO covered the work for him.... errmm..

I'
m still waiting for feedback, doing some reading, and googling to find out any explanation to this...

Oh I hope it's nothing. Haih... BULAN oh BULAN.


a random pic of BULAN