Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Heidi's morning at the playground

Heidi seems to be adjusting well to her new life of being a playground cat.

When she first came (on her own, marched into our house), it was quite clear that she had been newly abandoned and was seeking her old comforts of being a home-pet. She demanded to stay in the kitchen, sleep on the sofa and she wanted to be queen.

We gave in to some of her demands (the reasonable ones) but not all, as we had to think of the Patio Family's wellbeing as well as Indy's "terms and conditions". After all, Indy is the new Big Boss.

You cannot simply march in and take over control.

Heidi is learning this face and I must say, adjusting quite well.

She joins the Patio Family for breakfast now, but she wants to eat "higher" than everyone else. That's fine, she gets to eat on the roof of the cage. Yes, her "porridge" meal. As long as the rest also gets to eat, Heidi can stay (unlike Mr Zurik who creates havoc everywhere he goes - he has to eat in the cage).

After breakfast, Heidi goes over to the playground for taiqi...

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....while the rest chills out in the garden.


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Heidi does taiqi with "the boss".


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Willy observes the taiqi from the fringe of the basketball court.


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I'll have to monitor Willy. He seems to be straining to defecate again.


Heidi is VERY happy at the playground. She dashes everywhere, playing her own game.


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If she sees me, she gets a thrill running (yes, like a dog) towards me. It's all a game for her.


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Ginger also comes over to join the fun.


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But Willy chases him back to the house!!


Whoa...Willy is territorial too?


Yes, enough of bullying by the Russian...Willy learns some street-fighting techniques!


This is MY territory!!


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Rosie plays it safe by watching from behind the gate.


She too "owns" one of the trees at the playground. It's her tree. But she comes over in the afternoons, not now. Smart girl.


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Here comes Heidi!


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Grandma climbs a tree, folks!


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I missed this shot of Heidi climbing this tree, she's so fast!


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After a few rounds of dashing around, she slows down.


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She gets a well-deserved massage.


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I can't help feeling how Bunny & Friends have been deprived of all their freedom after we moved here. They used to rule the street way back in the old neighbourhood. If only it were safe enough to let them out in this neighbourhood...wow, the whole playground would be theirs to enjoy!

Yes, and conquer...and no other cat would be allowed to step onto the playground then.

We were discussing if we could get the gardener to plant a tree in Bunny's Place. Maybe one that is only 5 ft tall, just for them to climb. But will Pole use it as an escape device? Indy, for his Spider-Cat drills?

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I prefer the safety of the house.


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We've lived outside long enough. We like the house.


The sad truth is, according to Mukda (who has been feeding Daffodil for more than 10 years), many of Daffodil's kittens have died on the street. So I suppose the house has its benefits. You win some, you lose some, that's life.


Rosie and Ginger are her only children left now. Daffodil had been giving birth four times a year for almost 10 years before I moved in and managed to get her spayed. Mukda said they wanted to get her spayed, but she would either be clutching her new litter or already pregnant. So they never got a chance to get her spayed. Anyway, that's in the past now.


Daffodil is happy and spayed now.


Here's my inside brood...


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I can only hope they are reasonably happy and well...appreciate the safety of being confined.


As a friend always remarks whenever she visits, your cats are better off than some Hong Kong folks who live in an apartment much smaller than Bunny's Place! Well, yes, and Bunny folks have sunshine and green grass too, plus a room fitted with air-cont (for hot days).


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I want out!!


mini-CIMG8371Meanwhile, Heidi comes back to the kitchen for another round of food. She cannot eat too much at one go. She must be all tired out after the dashing around at the playground. She finished all her porridge!

17 comments:

Fui Chin Khoo said...

Dr. Chan, I like the picture of you holding Heidi, very sweet :)

chankahyein said...

Thank you! Heidi is the cute one!!

Chen said...

This is a great way to spend a morning. My fav pic is the one you tickling her chin and of course the running Heidi. Her tail in the pics are in the classic "I love you and happy to see you" position - really cute.

Dayana said...

heidi is an instant charmer! she knows how to 'work it'!

jasmine ong said...

Love her happy and really cute photos here ... she's so affectionate with you and your husband :)

chankahyein said...

She must have been someone's pet for many, many years. That's why she is so alpha and "manja". I do wonder how she landed up at the playground, but never mind, she has a life now. A new one. And she seems quite happy too. All things happen for a reason, I suppose.

jasmine ong said...

Yes, everything happens for a reason! I think Heidi is absolutely adorable and I'm glad she found your home with loving people. I will adopt her if I live near you but I don't think my mother will actually approve cos we already have 2 cats at home.

Just two nights ago, a very friendly and beautiful all-white kitten came into our compound. She came close to us all the time and was very playful. I gave her some food and wanted to keep her but mother says no :( She let one of the neighbours have the kitten.

chankahyein said...

Good of the neighbour to take in the kitten! We all have our constraints and that's understandable. I cannot bring in another cat to Bunny's Place too. Indy won't allow it.

Chen said...

Sometimes I wonder when pets get abandoned whether it's some accident or health reasons or the demise of the owner had happened, and none of the relatives and friends want to take responsibility of the pet. And so the pet just somehow got "forgotten." I worry about this constantly because I know for sure that nobody in my family is going to take care of my 2 furkids if anything is to happen to me. This is one of the few reasons why I don't want to take any more fur babies and try hard to look for good adopters when any new animal come my way.

chankahyein said...

Just as we make a will to take care of our assets, more important than that is to ensure our pets are cared for upon our demise. Have to, Chen. Life is uncertain, as we are always reminded.

Chen said...

That's the thing, I can't think of anybody in my family whom can be trusted to take care of my pets. Even if I have it written down that my pets should be taken cared of, etc. , I doubt it would be taken seriously. For them they are just "animals." And I hear this very often in my family - "Animals belong in the jungle." "Animals are dirty" etc ... you get the picture.

chankahyein said...

Get a friend?

Joy E. Saga said...

Agreed. I plan to write a will to also cover for the care of my furkids. I am procrastinating but i know I should do it like yesterday.

A friend of mine who is unmarried was planning to put me as her benefactor to care for her furries, if anything were to happen to her. I guess we must think of who we can will our earthly possessions to someone who will really use it to what we willed it to be.

Chen said...

That is one option I have. But getting a friend who can take care of my pets have been difficult too. This is why whenever I have to go anywhere that does not allow cats (my first option is to bring them along with me) I board them. But when an emergency happens, it's the family members that are contacted and are the first in line to make decisions. I think this is a worry of many single persons living alone with pets. Which is why I often wonder how many of the abandoned ones came to this predicament because of this situation.

Chen said...

Yeah Joy! I have been sitting and staring at the will template (and how to make a will tips) in front of me for ages and I don't know how to include my (lack of) property and cats in it. And I've even made appointments with a professional will service provider. But because I got so few valuable possessions, someone actually told me that getting a professional will service provider (there are lots in the market now) is a waste of money because by law any assets or liabilities will be passed on to the next of kin automatically. So I want to write one myself, but those will templates I got are not very helpful :(

chankahyein said...

A lawyer friend told me it can be written very simply. No need for any jargon. Just a few statements in simple English, so I've got mine written that way. He said it will stand up in court.

Chen said...

So I've been told too. Just keep it simple. I've been telling myself this and whenever I come to the part of what to do with my cats if they survive me, I'm stumped! Because they are the most important reason why I want to write a will in the first place, but I don't know what my options are for them! The rest is not important much.