We STILL like Monge!!

Well, it's been a whole week now and it looks like my brood is still going all gaga over the new food, Monge.

I don't give it to them every day (to keep the novelty), though.

This morning, I decided it will be Monge for breakfast and what do you know, the moment Tiger saw me holding the cans, he started mewing, which is a rare thing....

Everyone got really excited when they saw the cans.

We can't wait! It's Monge today...yay!!

Yes, everyone was SO excited, I had to quickly scoop out one spoonful into every bowl so that everyone could start eating first.

 



 



 

 But I wasn't fast enough because before I even finished serving all 7 of them, Tiger was already licking the empty can!

 Before you know it, it's down to 4 cans.

We need MORE!! 

 Bunny was licking every empty can and all the covers.

 More, please? 

 Me too, Ma!

 For Pole, it was non-stop. One tablespoon after another, and each time, when I came to her, the bowl was licked totally clean.

 Five cans and still counting? Can we stop at 5 cans, please?

Apparently not.

Now, this is Cleo's pattern. She will eat a bit, then go off to the garden nonchalantly. Normally, that's all she will eat for the session (that's how she maintains her figure), but this time, because it's Monge, she came back asking for more!

Six cans....enough?

 

 No, not enough for me!!

 Me neither!

 Me, me, me too!!

 Non-stop flow of food here.

This flavour seems to win hands-down for today.

 I'm stopping at 7 cans, folks. Don't over indulge, please. Over-eating is not healthy.

 For those who prefer to feed their cats chicken, there is this all-chicken flavour. My brood likes it too, but the fish flavours are definitely more aromatic.

 A happy bunch.

 Cleo comes back for her third round!

Monge is the No.1 catfood in Italy. What's even better is that it is NOT tested on animals, so it is a cruelty-free product (in the sense that there is no animal-testing involved, but the food is still meat!). There are two versions, Natural and with Jelly. In Malaysia, the Jelly food is not available.

About Monge: http://www.monge.it/?ln=en

Its cruelty-free policy: http://www.monge.it/news/newsistituzionali/crueltyfree.html

How things work at Bunny's Place

 Bunny is minding his own business, enjoying the evening.

 Indy and Cow are on sentry duty and Cow raises the alert.

Who goes there??

 Ah..it's Mr G.

 Tiger plays the gracious host and welcomes our guest.

But the welcome is short-lived. Bunny appears and lets out a war-cry.

Bunny is angry.

As Bunny turns around, Tabs is there and the poor girl got chased all the way back to the room.

 No harm done as I was around to mediate.

Sigh..that's how things work at Bunny's Place. When Bunny is angry and cannot get his target, someone else gets it from him and little Tabs has been the victim many times.

As things cool down at Bunny's Place...

Bosco was in the house again this evening. We had to chase him out as we couldn't risk Cow and Bunny going bonkers again. Cow would go into a frenzy with heavy palpitation while Bunny would either take it out on the youngsters (Indy, Tabs and even Tiger) or work himself up until he gets a fever. Yesterday, he was so angry, he felt hot to the touch, I had to give him Vetri DMG just to play it safe.

As the sun sets now, things begin to cool down a bit and...

Aww...isn't that cute!
That's Pole lying on Pabuka the Clown (been the children's toy for more than 20 years now!).

 A RARE sight!

Cats of the same "feather" flock together?

 A not-so-rare sight....ha ha!

More on Bosco and the outside gang

So, as expected, the aggression from Mr G did not deter Bosco from trying to wrestle the territory (of our front lawn and our house) from Mr G.

When Mr G wasn't looking...

Bosco came INTO the house and made himself most comfortable!

 I kinda like it in here.

Well yes, it seems like you certainly do, but you are creating a massive imbalance in Bunny's Place...

Cow and Bunny have been getting really upset with Bosco coming into the house, so they keep a sharp lookout for him. Bosco was not intimidated in the least and started coming to the sidegate at the Clubhouse only to find Cow giving him a good telling-off. Yes, it was the whole works - war-cries at high decibels which left Cow panting heavily and almost frothing at the mouth. We have one angry Cow here. And Bunny? Well, he takes it out on Tabs, Tiger and today, Indy got the brunt of his anger. Poor Indy. His fur went flying all over the place.

 Well, who wouldn't be angry, right? Bunny and gang are "confined" in their own house while Bosco gets a free run of the garden AND the rest of the house!

 There he is again...

 To prevent further aggression in Bunny's Place, I had to shoo Bosco out to the porch.

He treads carefully.

 Rosie is not a problem. She is well-behaved.

Bosco hides here, hoping that Mr G won't find him. But late last night, another huge fight broke out and this morning, I did not see Bosco.

 Mr G was guarding at the pillar this morning.

 And here is Ginger. Mr G lets her share the pillar. It looks like they are good friends.

Cats! You just cannot figure them out, can you?

Happy World Animal Day, and in loving memory of Vixey

 



Vixey was rescued from a rubbish heap together with her brother, Wii. After 10 days, Vixey had a brain trauma. She survived the critical 3 day period and subsequently suffered from physical retardation and growth hormone deficiency leading to her eventual passing after 2 years.  But, despite all her shortcomings, in the span of just 2 years, Vixey helped nurse little rescued kittens, shared her space with another adult female cat, and brought tremendous joy to my life.

The true harvest of my life is intangible - a little star dust caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched. – Henry David Thoreau

Vixey passed away on World Animal Day, 4th October 2009, but she will always be my little star, shining from up above, smiling from a place of happy rainbows.  

Indy's world

Ever since Indy fell terribly ill last year, where no vet could diagnose what was wrong with him, where I rushed him for acupuncture, camped with him in the clinic when he was on drips and his life hung by a thread, took him every day for his antibiotic injections because he could not take it orally, Indy had become very attached to me.

When Indy was first rescued from the drain four years ago, his life also hung by a thread and the vet thought he wouldn't have made it.

Anyway, all these experiences have probably made Indy very possessive of me.

Nowadays, whenever I go out of the room, Indy would stand at the grille and called out "Ma!".

Yes, he has learnt to say "Ma". I guess cats can say "Ma" if they just twist their tongues a little where the classic feline "Meow" turns into a "Ma". Strangely, Indy never meow-ed. When he was young, whenever he wanted anything, he would go "oowak". No meows. Just oowaks. And now, it's "Ma!".

So, Indy would stand at the grille and "Ma" until I come in again.

Last weekend was the Cutie Pet Fair so I was away for the whole day on Saturday and Sunday. My daughter reported that Indy went on a hunger strike and refused to eat. When she fed him, he turned his body to face the wall. Then, he went away to the garden, stood in the drizzle and chewed on grass, as though saying, "I'm so neglected and nobody looks after me. I only have grass to eat...". My daughter said it was rather comical.

And when I came back, Indy made sure I knew he wasn't happy that I had been away....

 I'll run away from home if you go off for long hours again.

He sat leaning on my chair...

 Or lay all day on my table, staring straight at me to make sure I wouldn't go away again!

It must be the hot weather....?

Fights have been breaking out in cat territory lately...

Ever since Bobby passed away, Bunny has been occasionally terrorising Tabs and Tiger. Poor Tabs has got it the worst because she is so scared of the big bully. Tiger, well, he is Gandhi and after living together for 6 years, he has more or less figured out a way to deal with Bunny's aggression - just close your eyes real tight and it will all go away sooner or later, never fight back, because "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". Tabs has yet to learn this wisdom, so the poor girl has been getting the brunt of all the Bunny-attacks.  If we are around, of course, we will intervene and defend Tabs.

Here's one episode, caught in the act. It happened yesterday...

It was a very hot afternoon and the episode began in the condo where Tabs was just minding her own business, or rather, about to do her business when Bully-Bunny decided that would be an opportune moment to attack the poor girl. Bunny may look really innocent in this photo, but believe me, do not be deceived by his looks. He was already letting out his war-cries and was intimidating Tabs.

Tabs (as you can see in the photo) shirked back and I quickly intervened. I sprayed Bunny with garbage enzyme as that was the only way to get him out from the condo and he scuttled away to the Clubhouse.

Pretending as though nothing had happened.

 Why are you taking my photo? 

 Hey, I said "no photos"!!

As I turned to head back to the room, I heard another war-cry and Bunny had attacked poor Tiger!

 Yes, I was attacked but I'm okay. I just closed my eyes. 

 Meanwhile, poor Tabs took refuge behind the clothes line, hoping that the clothes might shield her from Bunny.

As though that's not enough, for the past few days, a new cat had appeared in the vicinity.

 This is "Bosco" (I just named him). He is Bunny-coloured and is a male. Five days ago, Bosco started coming right up to our porch and meowed loudly. I fed him, but it wasn't food that he wanted.

 He wanted to come inside the house, like he had some business with us.

My daughter noticed that Bosco sneezed out some yellowish mucus on Sunday and he also had some eye discharge, so I gave him Vetri DMG twice a day and he seemed to be alright now. No more sneezing, no eye discharge. But Bosco keeps coming into the house. He even comes right up to the grille of Bunny's place and insists on joining the rest. He would hang around the kitchen and the living room and sleep on the window ledge. He even went upstairs to our room and slept under our bed.

No, Bosco, this is not your house. You have to go home.

From his behaviour, he is probably someone's pet as he is very human-friendly.

I fed him, and he likes home-cooked food and not kibbles. Initially when he had the eye discharge, I thought he was sick and needed help and that is why he came. I was planning to take him to the vet's but a few days of Vetri DMG seemed to have done the trick and he seems fine now.

This morning Bosco came right up to the Clubhouse grille at breakfast time and everyone stopped eating and congregated outside the grille.

Of course Bunny let out his war-cries but Bosco was undeterred. He stood his ground and seemed adamant that he wanted to join everyone in Bunny's Place.

That would be asking for trouble, of course.

 So I led him away to the front of the house and gave him some home-cooked food.

But someone else was around...

 It was Mr G!

Mr G had come to defend his territory and the elder cat chased Bosco away.

This afternoon, Mr G came again for his lunch and as I was feeding him, Bosco came out from our flower bed. I hadn't noticed Bosco hiding there at all. But when Mr G saw him, a huge fight broke out and Mr G emerged victorious again.

Looks like Bosco would have to find another house to claim as his territory now.

But I think I have not seen the last of Bosco.

He'll be back...

And while the cats are all too busy fighting....

 A little guy thought he might benefit from "the spoils of the feline war".

 Yes, the coast is clear. Please help yourself.

Chomp, chomp...

 Well, as they say, "The meek shall inherit of earth"!

We also have a few frogs visiting every now and then, but that would be another story...