an unexpected risk

Yesterday (Saturday), after I had just fed them wet-food, and sat outside (doing work that I'm suppose to be doing now too! =P), I heard a loud meow.  I knew it was BELLA.  I recognize her meowing.  Then wondered, on no! she's on heat?? I better find time to put in their appts for spaying or neutering.

Then she meowed again.  So I went in their room to see.  I saw BELLA hanging to the curtain tugging on it.  At the time she wasn't meowing.  Then BINTANG was also tugging on the curtain from above.  It looked like they were playing tug on the curtain (which was a usual in my opinion), but ALL the other cats were surrounding this scene as if they were audiences to a show (except for BULAN, he watched from above and afar).  So while these 2 were tugging,  I walked closer and BELLA meowed loudly looking at me, struggling and tugging the curtain.  As I got nearer, then only I could see, she was actually in pain, one of her claw was pulled out so long as she hung onto the curtain.  I immediately got hold of her, though at first she struggled, she then became calm and quiet and BINTANG too stopped tugging on the curtain.  turned out, BELLA was actually stuck, one of her claws was so sharp and curved in that she couldn't just pull it off. and because only 1 claw was stuck she couldn't actually just pull her whole body up and hang properly onto the curtain (which she usually would do without any difficulty).  I held onto her, checked any injury, luckily she was ok.  Walking and showed no signs of pain at all.  So relieved that I attended to them immediately and that I was around to help.  so safety measure?? and so I spent the next half hour, clipping their claws.

I've no pictures of the incident. but my first thought was..aiyyo, these naughty cats, and BINTANG, why do u have to fight with BELLA for the curtain, and later, she's a sweety, she was just trying to help BELLA.  amazing, aren't they.

a point to ponder: unexpected risk, what else could there be?.

This is the curtain mentioned with YUMIEKO the royal pincess as a model.

And this is how the curtain should look like (as compared to curtain in my living room), can u spot the difference?

Home alone..

Not exactly home alone, it's the 9 of them with no adult supervision... erm..erm.. erm.... well, the story is I had to take a trip home, it was about 4 days... Yes, I had to think really, really hard. To send them for boarding? the cost for 9 is one thing, and I've never sent them for boarding before (except for SUNSHINE, that is, she went once, oh along with her 1 day kittens at the time).  To what extent would I be guaranteed that all of them will return safely in my hands? I dunno it's just when love has grown big, you become more sceptical of their welfare.  My other half used to be around, hence he would take over them, when I'm away.  but now we're no longer in the same town..huhuhu... options..

Boarding

-stressful-cat fight-hurt-predispose to illness due to stress

-what if they got loose..and never found again

-what if they catch somekind of illness (viral) from the dish bowl, cage, that wasn't 101% disinfected

= NO

Cat Sitter coming over

-my house is a mess, with small2 valuable things here and there don't want to create any issues or conflicts la..

A random friend nearby

-none are cat lovers that I know of at least

-they can help, but since they're not used to it, they don't have that natural instict (or haven't developed the skills) to be careful with doors and windows. and they don't have the skills to think for cats...

so all that was a no, no, no.  I thought I was overthinking it all, but yeah whatever.  I though of it and I didn't want to take risk.  So I left them home, and told them to take care of themselves.  Which of course came with it's own risks.  But I think I trust them more.  hoping that all would be ok.

But as I left, on my way to the airport, only that I realized that I hadn't taken their collars! off! only BULAN and MICHIKO use the safety snatch collar, as for the rest.. gosh I hoped nothing happen, nothing had happened before, but when u think so much, this is what happens.  I left a set of keys with a friend, just in case I get disturbed with negative hunches. but she didn't need to use it.

So here are some pre-home alone pictures:

with stocks of food and water

their toilet.

this is them getting their paws into clumping litter, which they usually don't use.

them getting their spots.

(the toilet is usually closed, hence here they are enjoying getting cool on the tiles)

MICHIKO managed to get some privacy =P

and here are post-home alone pictures

the mess they made for me, yes they took 'em outta my closet

plenty of leftover food & water =)

YUMIEKO the royal pincess got some privacy, that is til I return =P

*I don't want to embarrass them by posting up post-home alone pictures of their toilet.. hehe....

Overall, phew! it was a relief. and I hope I don't have to do that again, which for the time being, I don't think I will.. Our next big event is, moving and travelling on air. *deep breath* getting anxious about it.  It's gonna be soon...

*do not try this at home* I did this with extra precautions* and still it was risky* I do not hope to do this again*

SUNSHINE's Tail

So happy to have noticed SUNSHINE's tail is now becoming a bit more fluffy.  It has been 5 months, 3 weeks and 5 days since she kittened her 4 kittens (which have all now become her playmates =P).  Hoping for more improvement on her furrr...

*whoops no pics available, I'll try to capture her tail this weekend...

Cats Bathing Fiesta...

It wasn't exactly a fiesta I guess.. But yeah you get the idea.. I don't believe that I actually pulled it off.. 9 cats in one go! but the drying was only partial for each one of them... Before bathing, I'd ruminate whether I should be completely covered with long pants and long sleeves to protect myself from being scratched, but then I'd go with minimal because I'll be soaking wet anyhow and I don't want to be dripping when I walk around. I also make sure that their nails.. errr.. their claws... are clipped, because even when they're clipped, I'd still be left with a few scratches here and there... Oh, I also did their ears, no kidding a total of 18 ears to clean...

1st up was BINTANG, as usual, she doesn't meow she's fine with water but she'd walk around wandering... However, she hates the dryer! and yes, she did leave me a mark to remind me how much she hates the dryer.. I partially got her dried and then left the rest for herself to do...

Next was BULAN.... he has a 6th sense when it comes to bathing, somehow when I prepare them for bathing, he would know and prepare himself to hide. I guess, it's the kettle of hot water, ear cleaning, claws clipping, collar off, a bunch of towel, and an additional hint if another cat goes first. When it came to his turn, he would start running away, hiding and avoiding, he would meow in protest as he is carried into the bathroom and would hold on tightly to whatever that he can reach to, that means the door, the towel and myself. But then during the bath he'd be fine, he'd stay quietly until he's done, sometimes he does wander around. Then I pick him up to drain, he'd start meowing and struggle to reach the towel. He's also fine with the dryer, he's able to tolerate the noise and would stay still as he is being dried, but then he gets to decide when he's done. I guess when he's no longer cold, he'd say he's done, but still he was nearly fully dried when he decided to make the leap.

3rd one up, was YUMIEKO... Owh.. she holds on to you tightly around your neck as you take her in the bathroom. During the bath, she would be quiet as long as she gets to stand on her 2 hind legs while holding onto something with her 2 front legs (err.. hands), and most likely, she'd hold onto me, and hence explaining why I'd be soaked. Then she'd let out a small meow, as she's held up for the towel. and she's another hater of the dryer, but better than BINTANG, she'd let me dry her back and off she go, and she would give me a hint that she was about to go by reaching out to scratch my face (she doesn't simply scratch, she aims for the face).


Next, was SUNSHINE. She was an easy one. Before she was spayed, it was horrible! She struggled to run, she moved about and she meowed that I thought people from the other building could hear her! But now she's fine, she'd stay quietly and sometimes stand on her two hind legs. But, I DARE NOT force her to face the dryer. Luckily, she's got thin coat that's easily dried.


While the 1st four cats went in for their turns, MICHIKO would meow and meow and meow.. he doesn't seem to get the slightest idea that they were not up for fun in there. But he's a baby that just likes to be cuddled, he often meows just because he wants to be picked up and cuddled and played with. So I picked him up, and he stopped the meowing but the moment he realized that he was going for a bath he started meowing for help. I always leave him last, because of the difficulty. He doesn't like the water, and he meows, and he moves about, his tail wags to avoid the water and he'd definitly splash me with water to my face. On top of that, he's got a thick wool-like coat. It would also take forever to get him dried, but the good thing is, he can tolerate the dryer well. At least for as long as he still feels cold and haven't reached boredom. It is so irritating when he suddenlty leap off, just because he wanted to join another cat play or eat! but he'd be so fidgety when he sees another cat doing something deemed to be interesting by him. haih. anyhow, off he went after he was partially dried. I'd usually chase after him (in fact each of the others too) and dry 'em till they are like 90% dried. But I was so so so tired, and I had another 4 to go.

I thought the 4 kittens would be easy to deal with, but I underestimated them because of their size and paired with my tiredness, boy was I wrong!! All of them was freaked out by the water!

SUNNY kept running away from the water, but I got him settled. He was fairly ok with the dryer, but he wanted to run and play with the others and I was too tired to keep chasing after him. So in goes the next cat, which was MJ.


MJ was too, freaked out by the water, he didn't really like the dryer but was still manageable, probably because of his small size, I could actually hold onto him longer. But he too leaped off to play, and ended up preoccupied with his tail.... It's like he just realized he has a tail, he was going round and round chasing after his own tail.


Next, I had BELLA and DONNA, the 2 small females... I was so so so tired, and figured these 2 would be easy so I took them both in at once. BUT that was a horrible assumption. They were both terrified by the water and was leaping everywhere. With water, BELLA was the worst of the 2, catching her was like catching a grasshopper! After I got that over with, next come the dryer, and it was not possible, this time DONNA was so so so agressive that I think she took this after SUNSHINE. These 2, whom I thought were timid and easy to handle left me with an arm full of scrathes... BELLA during the bathing, DONNA during the drying, what a perfect package!


Goodness, I spent over 4 hours on them and that wasn't even with complete drying. I have got to get one of those dryer for pets. Mean while, I'll get one of those small cage so that I can put the cat in while I aim the dryer at them.

One fine weekend..

I had them all placed in a cage to mop their room.... It made me realize 9 cats, is actually a big number... They behaved and I quickly did my work, then eventually them roam freely in my living room... They took their spot and stayed put.. weellll.... except for BULAN. He didn't like it, and he growled whenever a cat that was in touch with him, budged even a bit. Se how he's the only one standing up.

MJ is on the right at the back and BULAN was actually sitting on him, but he didn't mind.

BINTANG wanted to sit up, but because BULAN would growl, she stayed quietly at her spot. Her spot was behind DONNA, while MJ was behind BINTANG.

See BINTANG, laying on DONNA's back. DONNA and SUNNY was fine with their space, although SUNNY was actually following my camera.

SUNSHINE made do with her space, and BELLA sat nicely next to her. Look at YUMIEKO at the back!

YUMIEKO couldn't care less about the others as she got her comfortable spot at the corner.

Poor MICHIKO, he had to stay still as BULAN kept on growling at him.. it didn't even bother him that SUNNY's tail was on him.

he didn't mind when SUNNY was on top of him!

and he comfortably placed his head wherever space was available...
but the whole time, BULAN maintained his sitting up position...