Suki....lost!!!

I'm not in the habit of creating suspense, so when I have something to say, I will start from the end. 

Suki WAS lost, but now, is found. 
(Amazing Grace, how sweet thy sound....)

PHEW!!!

Now, the story....

I had to go out to give a talk this morning, at about 9.15am, so my husband was looking after Suki.  This morning, he had let her play in the garden after which she was brought into the house and all the windows were closed. 

When I finished my talk and all the Q&A, which was after 12noon, I received a sms from my husband and it read, "Can't find Suki". 

Now, this IS serious, because I know my husband would not simply send an sms like that unless he has done everything possible to look for Suki.

I was on my way to visit ET at the clinic, so I made a quick dash there, made sure ET was alright, and sped home.

As I reached the gate, I saw my husband standing there, with a very worried look on his face.  Oh dear....not a good sign at all.

My husband is an extremely calm person who never panics, the type who is not worried even if "the sky falls down".  A worried look on his face is definitely NOT a good sign.  He was also drenched - it had been raining quite heavily in Subang Jaya. 

So, I rushed in and started calling Suki out loud.  All the cats had come home.  Every single one of them, including the roamers, Pole and Tiger. 

Indy followed me closely, letting out his distress call.  Poor Indy....

I think it was my second call when I heard a familiar Suki-sounding "ngiow".

I went towards the staircase and there....

Our little friend was RIGHT there!!  Just walking towards me like nobody's business!

Gosh...what a relief!

According to my husband, the moment I left the house this morning, he had started looking for her.  He looked all over the house, checking every nook and corner, calling her name out loud.  He even checked inside every cupboard but she was no where to be found. 

It was Indy who alerted him.  It seems Indy had been playing with her upstairs, then Indy suddenly came downstairs with his typical distress call. 

After all the futile attempts at finding her, my husband then went out to our road and the road behind to look for her, going inside drains as well, and Wii and Tiger accompanied him on his rounds.  

When it started raining heavily, he even stood inside the drains, thinking if Suki had gone into the drains, she might be washed out with the drain water.  

Then he came home, and looked all over again inside the house, calling out her name.  Even Indy went all over the house, looking for Suki.

Now, WHERE on earth was she for the entire THREE hours???

Here's our naughty girl (I mean Suki, not me!)

Here's Suki with Big Brother Indy

Indy was so relieved when Suki was found. 

PHEW!!!

We'll never know where she was hiding in those three hours, but my husband said, the next time I go out, Suki is going into the cage, under lock and key!  No more free roaming, even inside the house with the windows closed.

Suki's little adventure

Today, Suki got to go out to the garden to play!

Oh wow...!!

She was so, so incredibly happy to explore.

Bunny, Indy, Mac, Suki (in the flower pot), Bobby

Cow and Vixey also came out, but they are not in the photo.

Suki exploring the "catwalk"

We built this catwalk for the cats, and all our cats, during their childhood, had always loved walking and playing on this "catwalk". 

Always under the watchful eye of Big Bro Indy

Indy has been watching over Suki whenever she is out of the cage.  Many times when Indy lost sight of her, he would be seen dashing all over the house, even letting out a distress call, frantically looking for her. 

Indy has a very kind heart.

Look who is sharing the cage...

That's Bunny happily sleeping inside Suki's litter box.  All the cats seem to like the cage very much, and very often, Vixey is sleeping inside as well. 

Suki's had a really fun day playing in the garden.  She slept all afternoon, and here she is again now, sleeping soundly.   

Goodnight, folks.

Little Piggy-Vix

This is Vixey.  No, she is NOT up for adoption!  My daughter and I rescued Vixey and her brother from a rubbish heap about two years ago, and both of them are part of our big furry family at home. 

Vixey turned out to be "retarded", and has many complicated health problems.  She has kidney and liver problems, and lifelong constipation due to a spinal chord injury.

Vixey is on a special diet, on supplements and laxatives, and lately, her constipation has become so bad that I have to give her an enema every four days.     

Today, I brought her for a third opinion at Dr Edmund's.  A blood test was done, and it confirmed her kidney and liver problems.  We are going to try a change of food and a new supplement (from France) for Vixey now. 

So, sometimes, this is what having a pet entails, folks.  For better or for worse, once adopted, he or she is your pet for life.  And just as you would do everything possible for your child's wellbeing, you would do the same for your pet. 

Actually, your pet requires much more love and care than your child because a child grows up and can learn to be independent.  A pet...depends on you for life. 

Coup de tat in my house

This is the one and only Ikea armchair in my house...

It has served our household for many, many years now, and has been the favourite chair of many people, in particularly, the following people...

My mum, my husband, Bobby, Cow,
Bunny, Indy and Cleo

However, lately, someone else is also interested in the chair.

Here's Bunny sleeping very comfortably on the chair.

HOW TO TAKE OVER THE CHAIR
(The Coup de Tat)

Step One: Get up on the chair and sit near the present occupant.

Step Two:  Observe what the present occupant is doing.

Step Three: Intimidate the present occupant by following exactly what he is doing.

 

Step Four: Watcha looking at?

Step Five: When present occupant is intimidated enough, he will vacate the seat.  When this happens, you move to the centre and claim the spot.

Step Six: Take-over is complete when former occupant moves a distance away.  To indicate a successful take-over, you pull the flap down and sit on it.

It even works with canine people.  Same modus operandi. 

The End

And it's mine, mine, mine!!!!

ALL MINE!!

*************************

The Next Step: Sofa Take-Over 

Psst...it's even easier with humans.

The breakfast story continues...

After the first round of breakfast, Tiger comes back for his...

Tiger is also afraid of Cow and Bunny, but he is a Gandhi-reborn, so he practises Ahimsa (non-violence).  Tiger never fights back.  When threatened, he just crouches and closes his eyes ("if I cannot see, it won't harm me").  And he would avoid potential problems at all costs.  This, of course, includes having breakfast at a different time from the "elders".

There's Bunny gobbling up Bobby's food.  Bunny loves senior dog food while Bobby loves kitten food!

And Suki drinking water from everybody's water bowl.  She can lick water, but refuses to lick milk.  I'm weaning her off milk now.  So, no more bottle.

"Hmm...now that I've had my breakfast, what should I do next?"

"Yes!  Disturb Vixey!!!" 

The breakfast story

So, since last night's squabble in the kitchen, Wii didn't dare come back for breakfast this morning.  But Wii has a private entrance into my room, so here's Wii, Vixey and Suki having their breakfast in the "private room".  Suki has to be in the cage because she bee-lines for Vixey's food first. 

By the way, Wii and Vixey are brother and sister.  And Wii was initially named "Little Chief" because when my daughter and I first found them at the rubbish heap, Wii was fiercely protecting Vixey by spitting at us.  When Vixey came back from the hospital after a brain trauma, Wii slept by her side all day to look after her.  (Read the full story in Pawprints.)

Flashback...

Wii and Vixey when first rescued

Wii looking after Vixey after Vixey came back from the hospital

Look at the difference in size!  Vixey has a growth problem.  She is "retarded".
Hence, there is an uneven distribution of weight. 

Back to the present now....

So while the threesome were having their breakfast in the privacy (safety?) of my room, Cow, Bunny and Indy had theirs in the kitchen.

And Bobby, having gobbled up his breakfast in seconds, asks for more...

Yumm, yumm....anymore?  I don't mind left-overs...

In the still of the night

Suddenly, there was a loud shriek...I rushed into the kitchen, and....

No, this is not the starting of a new book, but what happened tonight.

I was feeding the cats their supper when I turned my back to do something and there was a loud shriek and the bowls went flying all over the kitchen. 

As usual, Cow had decided he wanted to chase Little Chief (I should have called him BIG CHIEF instead, but my son renamed him "Wii" after a few weeks, so it's Wii now) out of the house...again.

This has been happening for some weeks now, and we are doing our best to protect Wii....and discipline Cow, but it's a bit hard getting through to Cow. 

And why on earth did I name him "Cow" in the first place? 

I looked out into the alley, and there was Cow.  I scolded him "Naughty Cow!" and he walked away.  Typical feline snobbery. 

Normally, Wii would also be somewhere in the alley but as I craned my neck to look for him, he was no where to be seen.

I called him.

"Where are you, Wii?"

Instantly, I heard a soft "meow"....

Hah...there he is, smart boy.  He had climbed up the air-cont unit where Cow would not be able to get him. 

Many-a-times, we've had to bring the ladder out to do a rescue job, but I figured Wii looked quite comfortable up there, so I waited for him. 

He did not seem to want to come down at all.

Bunny (Cow's brother) came to look, and tried to coax Wii to come down.  Bunny is our biggest cat (in size), and he looks like a body-builder, but he is really such a sweet cat. 

That's Mac's house.  Mac is hiding behind the house while the entire commotion was going on, so you can't see him. 

"I had better stay out of this cat fight,"Mac thought. 

Ahh...here's Mac. 

"Safe to come out now..."

And the two best friends, Indy and Suki, of course, just had to come out to see what was going on.  How can they be left out, yah?

And while I was still waiting for Wii to come down, Suki decided to do some jungle gym, under the watchful eye of big brother Indy.

And all through the entire commotion, Vixey remained in her Summer Palace in the kitchen, totally unperturbed by the cacophony.  "I am above all these silly squabbles and I shall remain non-alligned", she says. 

So, folks, cats have politics too.  And when you have an alpha cat like Cow in the family, gosh, life is never boring....

Can be a headache too, at times!

Down memory lane with Bobby and his feline friends

This post is intended for new readers who have not listened to any of my public talks and have not read any of my books.  (Also, I'm thrilled I can FINALLY post photos anywhere I like in a posting, and not just at the top!  But I still cannot put the spacebars where I'd like them to be.  Sigh...)

I'd just like to share with you that you don't have to be an experienced pet-owner to look after rescued animals.  All it takes is the heart.  And if I may twist the cliche a little, "When the heart is there, you will find a way". 

I had never handled a cat or kitten all my life until three-and-a-half years ago when I found Cow, Bunny and Pole abandoned by the roadside on a Sunday morning.  They were so tiny, their bodies were almost transparent.  They were only about two days old (they opened their eyes after two weeks with me).

That's Bobby looking at Cow when I first brought them home.  It was also Bobby's first time handling kittens, and I must say, he did a marvellous job!

That's the first time the kittens were let out to roam on the driveway, with Bobby watching over them.

 

Here's Bobby and Cow now.  Cow and Bunny are the alpha cats in the house and they issue all the house rules...but only to the cats.  On all other matters, Bobby is still in charge!

Now, who's this?  This is little Tiger when he first came.  Tiger was rescued by a Japanese lady in PJ.  He was found huddled against his dead mother somewhere by the roadside.  When Tiger first came, Cow, Bunny and Pole put up a protest and refused to accept him.  So, Bobby decided he had to protect Tiger and the two became the best of friends.  Even up till today, Tiger is the only one who can nuzzle up to Bobby (without having to ask for permission).  "Friends forever" describes them very accurately.

 

When Tiger had an injury behind his ear, Bobby helped lick it every day.

Here's good ol' Bobby with Suki, his latest little feline friend.

 

Like me, Bobby too had never handled a cat or kitten all his life until our first litter came.

 

Even a dog can learn, so what more we humans, yah?

Bobby will be 13 years old this October, and he has cataracts on both eyes.  The vet thinks he is already partially blind, but he gets around the house very well because dogs don't depend much on their eyesight.  It is their nose that gets them around.  An operation is not necessary (and can be very risky at his age).  This is all a part of the aging process that we go through in life.

 

Bobby has looked after Cow, Bunny, Pole, Tiger, Wolf, Pans, Cleo, Indy, Kimba, Suki, Creamie & Crackers, and a few more kittens who had come on transit.  He also looks after me!

   

That's quite an achievement, for one dog!

The things Suki does

I've just discovered (forgive this ignoramus) that there's a new editor for this template, so I'm trying it out now.  It seems I can drag photos anywhere I want now.  And hopefully, add spacebars in between the paragraphs!  I couldn't do it with the old template earlier.   


Here's some updates and photos of the naughty-one, Suki. 


Suki is an extremely adventurous kitten, and quite unlady-like too, if compared to Cleo, Pole and Vixey. 


At barely two months, she has started exploring the porch as well, climbing out from the window.  We now have to resort to monitoring her every movement very closely, or to close all the windows when she is "on the loose". 


She has quite a bit of "time-out" whenever I am at home (which is very often), but when nobody's in, she goes back into the cage amidst violent protests!!  The other day, she was so angry at being caged, she tore up the newspapers in her cage and tried to dig an escape tunnel through the metal grilles of her cage!   We'll let her out in time, but she's just too young to go out of the window for now. 


Even poor little Indy gets tired just watching over her!  He has finally met his match!!

That's the naughty-one climbing up the table fan one day. 

And that's her after exploring the bookshelf.

But nothing beats cuddling up with good ol' Vixey!

Goodnight, Sleep tight

Goodnight, time to call it a day

Sleep tight, dream your troubles away

Goodnight, in spite of any sorrow

There's a brand new day on its way tomorrow

Someday, all your dreams will come true

Someway, for me and you

So close your eyes and dream of it my darling

Till then goodnight,

Goodnight, sleep tight.

P.S. This is an old song from The Five Pennies, way back in the sixties. I grew up surrounded by lots and lots of wonderful music. And when things go not-so-right as they sometimes do, music certainly hath charm to soothe one's heart.

Goodnight, sleep tight! We'll tackle Abby's problem tomorrow.

Goodnight, Abby. I hope you're ok.