5am - Breakfast at Tiffany's

Ahh..they don't make movies like they used to anymore these days.  People my age might remember the highly entertaining "Breakfast at Tiffany's", starring the legendary English Rose (and my favourite actress!), Audrey Hepburn, where she portrayed the delightful but slightly neurotic Holly Golightly. 

Talking about neurotic people, I hear there are lots of them these days.  My friends, Jeen and Theresa, were telling me about such cases on our trip to Raub the other day, but never mind...I don't think you'd want to hear about those!

I think it must be our highly stressed-out lifestyle that causes people to be very unhappy these days and they take it out on others, especially if they can do so under a cloak of anonymity. 

Well, never mind about them.  What they do is their problem.  Not ours. 

This morning, Cleo's internal alarm clock went awry and she started waking me up at 4am.  Gosh, it's only 4am, Cleo, but she would not take "no" for an answer, so there she went bleating till no end until I got up.  (Cleo doesn't mew, she really bleats like a little goat.)

Coindentally, my husband had an early flight and had to leave the house early anyway.  I think Cleo knew this. 

She has this uncanny knack of knowing such things.  Call it feline sixth sense or whatever, but she knows.

So, I too had to get up, and it's downstairs for....Breakfast at Tiffany's!

Bunny and Tiger eat first.

Indy

Cow has to guide Bobby to his food and be the connoisseur (or opportunist!)

By the way, for cat-owners who use the small canned Fussie Cat, they have the big can now.  But I was told it's of a different standard compared to the small can (which is very pricey!).  A few of my cats like this as a treat. 

Cleo, the ever-so-prim-and-proper-and-fussy little Calico. 

For breakfast, she has to take either raw chicken breast-meat (with the skin) or Fussie Cat.  Nothing else.  What a fussie-little fusspot!

Bobby now eats, after Cow has certified the food is safe for canine consumption.

A satisfied customer leaves the kitchen.

Finger-lickin' good? 

Another satisfied customer...

After ensuring Bobby is already eating, Cow eats his own food.

This is the Standard Operating Procedure for every meal. 

If the connoisseur does not test the food first, the dog doesn't eat!

I'm not done yet, I'm still hungry.

(That's why Tiger is so fat!)

A satisfied customer (Bunny) returns for a second round.

He doesn't mind left-overs, he's a real easy-going guy. 

(Not neurotic!)

I'm done.

Don't let those eyes deceive you, please.  Tiger's the most gentle cat I've seen all my life.  When attacked by Cow and Bunny, he'd stay in a corner and close his eyes ("if I cannot see you, maybe you won't be able to see me too?")

Indy has this habit of going out to the middle of the road in the early mornings.

Come back, Indy!

You called?

And Cleo searches for her mother, Pole.

Cleo is such a bossy little cat with everyone EXCEPT her mum, Pole.  She simply adores her...but Pole doesn't quite like Cleo.  Poor little Cleo.

Pole comes back for breakfast.

She doesn't like any other food but kibbles though she roams outside.  Maybe she's had enough of "outside food"?  So she wants kibbles at Tiffany's?

After cleaning up Bobby's pee and poo (at age 15 and being blind, he now does it everywhere in the house...poor Bobby, it's old age - will happen to use too, one day, if we get there, that is.), my work is done.

And now, I can have some breakfast...

It's just oats, walnuts and almonds to last me until lunch.  Need 'em brain food to teach calculus at work.

And...the lion shall lay down with the lamb,

And there will be peace on earth.

A tale of two squirrels

I had wanted to write about the two squirrels who come to my house for food a few times a day, but hadn't found time to do it all these months!  


Initially (and that's months ago), it was just one squirrel.  He would come in every day after the cats have eaten and eat all the left-over catfood.  


And boy, what a noise!  I never knew squirrels chewed so loudly!!  You could hear him chew "krak, krak, krak!" in the kitchen from the living room!


Then, one day, interestingly, he brought a friend.


The friend was afraid to come into the kitchen initially, so he would stay in the back area while the brave squirrel (the resident one) would come into the kitchen and take some food in its mouth to give to the one that would be waiting in the back area!  


So sweet, right?


Recently, both squirrels started coming in.  And I've noticed they've grown very fat too.  What with eating catfood so many times day, who wouldn't be fat, right?  


My cats are okay with them.  The squirrels sometimes come into the house to play too.  And once in a while, they leave tell-tale signs...ha ha.  Poo and pee, but not often.  


The other day, I had two combs of bananas in my kitchen.  One from a local place and one from Meiji's farm.  Believe it or not, the squirrels came in, sniffed at both, and went for Meiji's (organic!) bananas.  Ate up two at one go too!  The other comb of bananas was left intact!  Smart squirrels!  They know the good stuff.  


These are some photos I took during Chinese New Year.


Enjoy!

Yum, yum...bananas!

Can I reach?

Not quite...push the container nearer....

Aha...yes!  Chomp, chomp!

That's me!

And me again, eating the catfood.

Yumz!!

Of catfights and back lane neighbours

This afternoon, I heard my back neighbour shouting at the top of his voice again.  He and his family hates cats (and dogs, and I guess, all animals).  And he was the reason I had to get Wii adopted last year. 

From the sounds of it, a cat must have gone into his kitchen again and he was very ferociously shooing the cat out.  I quickly checked - it wasn't any of my cats.  Phew!

I was worried that it might have been little Pixie.  Pixie is this little black cat who comes often to sit in the back lane under a shady tree, to accompany two poor branded cats who are caged for life in their owner's house.  The poor cats used to cry a lot every day until they more or less settled on their "life imprisonment". 

So, little Pixie (bless his kind heart) would come almost every afternoon and sit on the stone slab to keep these cats company.  Whenever I see him, I would give him some catfood as a snack. 

Anyway, later in the evening, I saw Pixie and gave him some food.  I think Pixie has a home somewhere down the lane.  He looks well-fed. 

Just now, I heard the sound of an impending catfight right behind my house in the back lane.  Oh no, is it little Pixie? 

I quickly went to check and saw two LARGE smoky-coloured cats, engaging in a stand-off.  They were huge!  New cats on the block? 

Grabbed the camera and opened the back door.  They saw me and ran away.  Guess that broke up the fight. 

You see the shiny eyes?  That's them.  

Bunny at the frontlines, in case his help is needed.

Cow...second line.  It's safer inside the kitchen.

After all, he's still healing from his previous injuries, from his encounter with the ginger cat. 

And Tiger, radiating kind thoughts to the two cats...

Hatred will not cease by hatred, only by love.

Love thy neighbour as thyself...

Of alphas, marking and comfort zones

I was going to share with all of you what I had learnt from the vet a few days ago, but these few days had been extremely hectic for me. 


Anyway, here goes....


So, there I was at the clinic with Cow for his battle wounds and that was my first time meeting the new owner (he's a vet) who had bought over one of our panel clinics. 


(I'd swear now that he's one of the most brilliant vets I've ever met all my life....)


So, I told the vet that Cow still sprays in the house despite having been neutered and he is also of a very "cranky" (almost insecure) temperament.


Here's what I learnt:


1.  Spraying is caused 70% by hormones and 30% by psychological reasons.  It doesn't mean that once neutered, the cat would not spray/mark anymore.


2.  Cow is an alpha cat, and he needs to keep establishing this fact (ie. reminding the rest of his exalted position in the house).  Hence, the spraying.


3.  He needs to reach a comfort zone before he stops.  Is there any way I can help him reach this "comfort zone"?  Unfortunately, no.  This is amongst the cats, it's got nothing to do with me.  Cat politics...stay out!  Not like you can do anything about it, anyway. 


4.  Is it true that once neutered, the male cat would become less aggressive and may not be able to fight as well anymore?  Not necessarily.  Being neutered only means the cat has reduced sexual desire and hence, will not go after the females.  He will also not fight with other tomcats over a female, but it doesn't mean he cannot fight anymore.  As far as territorial fighting (how dare you trespass into my territory!!) is concerned, he can and will still fight (to the death?).


Okay, Cow can still fight....I'm not sure whether this was a good thing or not...but I had a feeling this might not be the last time Cow would have battle-scars...


5.  If your Cow...oh, I mean, CAT, is still territorial, don't cut or even trim his nails.  He needs it for his own protection and survival.  Got it, sir.  I've never trimmed his nails before. 


6.  Then I showed the vet the two bite-marks on my legs - the Cow bite-marks.  It must have been three months ago that he bit me one night as I was trying to stop a fight between Bunny and him in my son's room.  They were merely at the stand-off stage (about to begin) that I came between them by standing in front of Cow.  Wrong move...he clutched my leg with his two front legs and his two canines sank deep into it.  It was a matter of 2 seconds, I think....but the pain was...worse than childbirth!


Exactly, the vet said.  NEVER try to stop a catfight this way.  Splash water.  Don't try to be a hero (okay...point taken). 


8.  Remember that a cat is not like a dog.  A dog only has his teeth.  A cat has its front legs, the back legs and its teeth.  All these function as "weapons".  Lethal weapons? 


Yes, I know....and hey, wouldn't it be good if our cats could protect us from robbers and would-be assailants?  Imagine an assailant threatening me and my 6 cats pounce on him/her from different directions, with a sum total of 6 sets of teeth, 6 pairs of front legs (with claws intact and un-trimmed) and another 6 pairs of hind legs (claws intact).  Hey, who needs security, yah?


Yes, I'm imagining a scene from Disney's Aristocats and 101 Dalmatians....


If only that were possible, we'll have guard-cats working alongside guard-dogs!  I think cats would be more lethal....


Imagine Cow coming from the left, Bunny from the right, Pole and Cleo joining forces from the back, Indy from the front...and Tiger?  Oh, he's a Gandhi-Reincarnate (An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind), so he'd probably be in the background with his eyes closed, sending thoughts of "May you realise the error of your ways, you foolish human...May you never try to harm your fellow being again...."


Hmm....

Captain Cow

Leftenant Bunny

Advisor Tiger.

"May all of you humans one day gain the wisdom of us cats..."

What happened, Cow?

Two nights ago, I found sitting under the car and he looked quite badly beaten up.  I quickly took him in and found nasty-looking bruises around his head area.  There was quite a bit of blood too.  We suspect it's the ginger cat, the new intruder in the neighbourhood. 

Cow, being Cow, is not easy to manage, especially when his ego has been affected, so it took me quite a while before I could clean him up and quickly apply some iodine on the bruises.  It did not look that bad, actually, but I was worried it would become infected and develop into a soft lump later (formation of pus).  With Bunny last time, it happened the very next day and he had a fever (Cow attacked Bunny!).  Bunny had to undergo sedation to have the pus drained out.  And after that, it was a nightmare for me, having to give him the full course of antibiotics. 

The night of the attack.  Cow went up to the landing of the staircase and sat all by himself. 

He was still eating, so that was good.  But he really smelt!  What a pong!  Maybe the fight occurred inside the drains.  Notice that bit of swelling on the cheeks? 

The next day...Off to the vet's, Cow!  Can't take any chances.

The vet shaved off his hair to check where all the bite marks were.  Thank goodness, they were not too serious.  Just needed cleaning and application of iodine.  But there is one bruise I need to monitor.  The swelling, according to the vet, was due at the lymph node. 

Cow came home and the first to welcome him was....Bobby!!  They even touched noses (ah...I missed that shot!)

Bobby stayed with Cow to ensure he was alright. 

Don't worry, I'll be okay.

Cow, as alpha as he is, can be a real pussy whenever he is injured.  We think he is also slightly hypochondriac. 

He stayed by me all day.

This morning's photo - the two best friends.

Cow has this funny way of sitting.  He stretches out his hind legs.  He's been like that since young.  My children call it the "fish pose". 

I think Cow should be okay. 

By the way, this was a "new" vet who had attended to Cow.  "New" as in "I've never met him before", as the clinic had recently been taken over by a new management.  But whoosh...I learnt SO much about cats from him.  Hang on...will share it with all of you later. 

He's one of the best vets I've ever met!

Got to go to work now! 

Have a nice day. 

On guard...!!

Remember the ginger cat who trespassed into my house the other day?  Well, the next day, all my cats were on full alert....

Indy at the frontlines...

Tiger...secondliner?

Thirdliner?  No, no...Bunny's curious about something else...

Cow thought he should look after Bobby instead.

Cleo...watching from the porch.

I'm not afraid, I will keep watch too...

Indy decided he would have a better view up on the pillar.   It's safer too.

Bunny still keeping watch.

Cow took over the watch-post later, so Bunny took over Cow's task of leading Bobby to his foodbowl (Bobby is blind).

Eat up, Bobby!

Yes, yum yum...

BUNNY!!!  That's stealing!

Okay, okay...I'll be good.  I'll just sit.

However, last night, Cow had a big fight with the ginger cat and came home all battered.  Story later....(it's late now), but he's okay.  Don't worry. 

Halt....WHO goes there??

Early this morning as I was doing my work in my room, I heard the sound of a big feline stand-off in the living room.

I went out to check and found a big ginger-cat at the foot of the stairs and Indy was defending the house, in a big stand-off with the cat.  Indy's tail was all fluffed up. 

It didn't look like there was any danger as there was just noise, so....

Grab the camera, quick!!

There's the intruder...making his escape!

Once outside, Cow took over...with Indy right behind. 

Look at Cow's tail...also fluffed up.

Yay for the black-and-whites, the heroes of the day.

Indy went back inside to assure Bunny and Cleo that all is well.  Don't worry, we've got it all covered.  Bunny investigates the scene of the crime. 

Cleo checks for tell-tale scent along the trail of the intruder.

Er...what are you two doing? 

Both of them probably didn't know what was going on. 

Well, Bobby is blind and a bit deaf...but Tiger?

Maybe he thought it'll be safer to stay with Bobby.

Through it all, I thought Bunny had become so docile. 

He seemed so afraid of the ginger-cat. 

This evening, my neighbour Siti called me and asked me if Bunny was alright.

Why, I asked?

Well, apparently, according to Siti, Bunny was in a big stand-off with "an orange cat" (the same culprit, obviously) for HOURS outside our gate.  Siti said she tried to shoo the orange cat away but he wouldn't budge.  And through it all, Cow was sitting across the road watching the entire episode. 

Who's the orange cat, Siti asked.  Never seen him in the neighbourhood before. 

I don't know.  First time spotting him too. 

No wonder Bunny's so tired this evening.

Poor little Bunny Bun Buns.

Ok, sleep well.

The hero of the day?

Who's watching me?

As I'm writing these posting right now, I suddenly sensed a presence nearby... I looked out of my window and lookie there....who is that?

Hello there...

I know this cat!  This is the small little black kitten that Wii brought back as a friend shortly after Vixey (his sister, who was also black in colour) passed away.  The black kitten was extremely brave and used to come into my kitchen to eat. 

Now that Wii has been adopted, I guess this little black beauty has taken over Wii's space in the back alley. 

He/She looks exactly like Vixey, too....