Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Camping out with Baggy last night

I decided not to move Baggy upstairs, but to camp out with her last night.


 So I laid out my yoga mat, which would serve as my bed for the night.



 Baggy preferred her carrier so I left her inside with the door open.



 It must have been almost 2am by the time I slept.



 Half hour check - Baggy was missing from the carrier. Caused a bit of a panic, but found her on the dining chair.



 Another half-hour check, on another dining chair.



 Next check - still there.


Then, Bobby started making a racket in Bunny's Place. I had left him there as I was just sleeping outside the grille, but he started howling because he wanted to be near me. So rather than let him wake all the neighbours up, I had to let him out.


That's when Baggy's peace was disrupted.


Bobby has this habit of doing this "clockwork" routine (it's like winding up a clockwork toy) - he loves to walk and he would walk, and walk and walk in one direction, going nowhere in particular, but just walk.


So, Bobby's clockwork mechanism got wound up last night, and he started walking all around the perimeter of the house. This disturbed Baggy's peace and she could not sleep.



 I tried to make Bobby stay by me, but he just wanted to walk.



 I finally had to put Baggy into the cage. This was about 4am. It would be safer for her because she was very disturbed by Bobby going round and round the house. That's the thing when you have so many animals under your care. You have to take care of all their needs, as best you can. Bobby loves to walk, and you'll just have to let him walk.



 Baggy watched the clockwork dog doing his rounds from her safe perch in the cage.


After a night of almost no-sleep, I got up only at 7.30am this morning.


I thought I'd give Baggy the new batch of food I had cooked last night. So I sliced out a few pieces of chicken before I blended the food.



 I mixed this with Cindy's recipe, some of her kibbles, but she wasn't interested at all. She just wanted to explore the house (after I let her out).




We had closed all the downstairs windows last night and as for upstairs, the family hall windows were closed and all the room doors were closed. I know it is only natural for Baggy to try to escape, so all these precautions had been taken.

Suddenly, as I was blending the food in the kitchen, my husband came down and said Baggy was no where to be found. He looked everywhere downstairs and there was no sign of Baggy at all.

He then went upstairs and found my son's door open and one window was open. I rushed up, looked out of the window, no cat in sight. We were going to climb out to the roof to look for her.

I rushed downstairs to check another round and to my relief, Baggy was hiding inside the TV rack!

She peeped out when I called her name.

Phew!!!

Yes, that would be the nearest I ever got to a heart-attack.

That's when I decided I would have to wheel her cage into Bunny's Place where it's proven to be Pole-proofed and Indy-proofed. No escape even if anyone forgot to close her cage door.

The vet did say it's alright to quarantine her in Bunny's Place provided I put her in a cage.

So I put her back into her carrier, and wheeled the cage to Bunny's Place (at the pantry).


 Baggy wasn't very happy going into Bunny's place. She hissed at everyone and tried to kick off from my arms.



 All the cats were alright except Bunny.


Bunny let out his war-cries and I pacified him. Bunny's okay, he's just stamping his mark as "Boss".
He's not the insecure type.




 


 I covered the front portion of the cage as well, to let Baggy settle in.


Sooner or later, this has to be done, it might as well be now. I have to go to work, and my mind won't be at ease leaving Baggy outside of Bunny's Place where escape is still possible. At least this place is secure.



 The Big Boss and Indy.



 Gently does it...
(The acid test is always....INDY)


Baggy still hasn't eaten for this morning. She didn't seem hungry. She also has not pee-ed or poo-ed as the litter-tray is dry, but I'm not sure if she pee-ed last night when she was roaming the house. There were a few sticky spots on the floor - not sure if it's hers or Bobby's.


I have a home interview with a Chinese magazine this morning so I'll attend to Baggy after that. Wonder why before any major interview, I always have "something" big to deal with. The day before the Star interview, the Sunnies came, and I barely slept all night, camping out with Honeybear because he was having seizures. That is why I looked ten years older in the photo in that Star article!  And today, again?


Baggy seems to be settling down now. Bunny has stopped his war-cries. The old guy is just telling the world he is boss.


Mr G (or should we call him Mr J, by his proper name) is here as usual, trying to get in. By the way, Ginrella aka Ten was found the next day, on my roof. Not a scratch on him. He just wanted to camp out at my gutters. The owner got two Indon workers to climb onto my roof to get him back. All is well.


Indy is making a bit of a fuss, though. He is hissing at Tabs and checking out all of Baggy's things (her Cindy's Recipe box, her kibble box, etc.).


Why is he hissing at poor little Tabs?


Ah...each time a new cat enters a colony, it causes a big change to the hierarchy. That's cat's politics. It's quite beyond us. They have to settle it.


I think I also need to correct a misconception regarding Andy's email where he said he thought it better to rehome Baggy. I believe it was a "reaction" (for want of a better word) from the shock of Baloo's sudden death. Until now, we do not know the cause of her death and the possibilities are endless. This morning, Andy said he may consider building a glass house in his residence (not his office) for Baggy and his dog. They may also adopt another kitten to keep Baggy company.


So, it looks like I'm just fostering Baggy and not adopting her. The one month period will be a good time for things to settle down and as I've told Andy, as long as we put Baggy's wellbeing, safety and happiness as the only consideration, the right decision will be made.


One day at a time now.


2 comments:

Remee Low said...

I think end of the story, Baggy will be settle down with you and your cats.

Karmen said...

All the best to Baggy. She's lucky to have someone as understanding as you to look after her for now. Beautiful cat. Tabs n Tiger are so friendly!