Uhmm...

I was feeding Timmy et al this evening, when a woman and her young son of kindergarten age walked by. They must have seen Timmy eating as I overheard their conversation.

Mummy: Do you know why we cannot disturb the cat when it's eating?
Boy: Because....

Oh, what a nice mother to be teaching the son not to disturb the cat, I thought to myself.

No, I am not Timmy. I am Charlie, ok?

Next, she said to the son: Because.... the cat will scratch you! When it gets angry!


Sigh... It's a case of ignorant people teaching rubbish things to the young.
*Grrr... *

The outing

I went out one day, you know. I really did, and it wasn't to the v-e-t!

Mommy was going out to pass some... Frontline or backline to the aunty in the next block. Seeing that I had voluntarily gone into the pet carrier, she thought she would take me out to smell the erm... grass outside.


But it wasn't quite a fun thing....especially for mommy. She said it was stressful.

We first went into this small room that moves up and down. I was so terrified that I screamed and screamed non-stop! Mommy asked if I was trying to scream the whole lift shaft down.


Along the way, I screamed some more. Mommy was disappointed and said that I was useless, but I didn't care. All I wanted was to go home!


When we saw a black cat with white socks, mommy put the carrier down and went to call her Timmy, who seemed very disoriented at seeing me and ran away.


After that, mommy put me at a quiet corner and tried to pacify me. We sat and watched a few birds flying past.

Then we left and walked into the small room (again!), where I screamed and screamed non-stop again. Mommy was thankful that we were alone.


I think mommy wasn't happy and didn't give me too many sayangs after that. *sheepish*

Sunday morning ride

Now that I've learnt to walk with the leash and walking jacket, mommy said I should learn new things, like blogging. Yes, blogging, can you imagine? She said technology keeps on advancing, just like the prices of everything, so we must keep learning to stay in touch. I've decided to blog about mommy & papa's bicycle ride on Sunday.

Mommy hasn't rode her bike for a loonngg time, so we can imagine her bike really needed the exercise. So does her butt, but don't tell her I said so or she may withhold the temptation treats.

Along the way to their breakfast place, they met this sweet ginger community cat, which papa named Garfield. Someone had already given him food.



After breakfast, they met this small-size female kitty, who seemed very hungry. Luckily, mommy had dry cat food with her, so the kitty got to eat the same food as me.



They think she's a Persian-cross... and probably another discarded "property" by those nasty beans. Mommy said the kitty reminds her of her first foster cat.


Puffy (that's what mommy calls her) is supposedly really sweet. Mommy said she could clean Puffy's eyes easily, and Puffy allowed herself to be carried without a protest, which was more than what mommy could say about me. *Grrr..*

They both luv her big, flattish paws, and once again, mommy is tempted to take her home (the horrors!), but she remembered what papa said about one is enough. *Phew!*

They cycled to some place in Seletar...



All these may soon be gone...to become a place for aeroplanes, papa said. Then the kitties living out there will have fewer places to do their toilet. Oh no! What are they going to do??



On the way back...



This big snail, fully crawled out of its shell, caught mommy's eyes. Hope it didn't get scorched by the sun, although I would have loved to maul...erm, I mean, play with it.



Back view of its lovely shell.



Back home, mommy & papa met Timmy. Mommy said Timmy almost could not recognised her in her cycling helmet, but she can recognised mommy's voice, as only mommy calls her Timmy.


Mommy thinks Timmy is a real sweetie, but I think I am cuter.

After all the blogging, I think it's time for me to take a nap.

~ Coco MaoMao ~

Community cats update

It was good to to meet these cats on my way home last Wednesday. I gave them a little snack of dry cat food.

Jambala, who had just woken up from her nap, under a parked car.



Tuxedo cat Timmy, looking nice and plumb and as sweet as ever



Sugar & Jon-Jon



Sugar had a bout of painful gum problem for the past weeks, and caregiver Ms A had taken him to the vet. At one point, Ms A needed our help to feed him his medication. On one night, while refusing to take his medicine, Sugar went berserk and even threw his frustration at Jon-Jon, which was shocking to us. I think he was in much pain that night to react that way.

Although he's now his usual sweet self, he's rather wary of Ms A or us, coz he thinks we may feed him with medication! We still find him very adorable. :)




I also met these cats the week before.

Kiddy who is very affectionate and gets along with most new cat that appears (now it's Mimi who loves to stick to him)



Mimi - apparently she had fever the other time (Ms A confirmed at the vet) but has now recovered.
Soon, she will be sent for spaying.




Shiny, whose eyes have recovered gradually.

We'd only managed to treat her eyes with eye drops for 5 or 6 times, coz we failed to to find her on some nights at her usual hangouts.


(Shiny, 3 March 2008)

After a few days of treatment, her eyes were no longer red or tear as much, but the 3rd eyelid on her right eye was still quite prominent. However, it went down on its own subsequently, and Shiny's bright eyes will soon be back again.

Jambala found

After having dinner last night, we've decided to try to look for Jambala at her regular hangout. It was about 8pm, and too dark around that corner of the car park to be able to see if there was any cat underneath the cars. I went to the parked cars, and began calling Jambala's name...hoping that nobody would hear me. :p

After several minutes of calling, Jambala finally emerged from under one of the cars and meowed at us in her usual soft, sweet voice (the voice she uses only when outside). Not only does she recognise her name and me, but she recognised the SO as well, although she still shy-ed away when we patted her.


Jambala looks well and cheery, and I thought her tummy looked rather round! I guess she still gets fed by the regular feeder. We gave her some dry food, a last sayang and said goodbye to her after clearing up. Then we were off to look for Timmy, the tuxedo community cat.

(Timmy, June 2006)

Timmy is looking plumper nowadays - it must be the extra snack of cooked fish that Ms J has been cooking and feeding them. Anyway, I always like the community cats to be slightly plump especially now that the rainy season will here soon. On those long rainy days and nights when it can rain non-stop for 24 hours, the cats can hide away and not come out to feed. The extra store of fat should come in handy to cushion them from the cold and hunger on those cold, rainy days.

Community cats update

Jon Jon (Sep 07)




Sugar (Sep 07)



Sugar, this morning (Oct 07)



It rained this morning, and we found Sugar snuggled in the bike basket, looking so cute that we could not resist taking a photo using the SO's handphone.



As soon as he saw us, Sugar wanted to come out of the basket.

Being coaxed to stay in the basket for a shot.


Blackie (Oct 07)



Blackie seems to have made-up with Tabby2 and Tortie gal...or they're just tolerating each other's presence. These 3 cats would greet us in the morning on our way to work.


As usual, black cats are so very sweet.

Kiddy (Oct 07)



Affectionate boy Kiddy, also known as Baby, his big wound on the left shoulder fully healed nicely. That big-holed wound (probably from a fight) incurred some $400 in medical fees!

Timid Timmy, also known as Coco (Oct 07)



She was so timid when we first found her (abandoned). Now she's affectionate and even allow me to carry her.


She's a really good-looking, petite tuxedo cat.

May all of them remain healthy and safe.

Why you feed cats and not feed people?

I couldn't find Timmy at her usual place last night, so went over to the opposite block to ask the mid-life uncle who mans the small provision store. I thought he's quite alright with community cats, since a Siamese-cross used to sleep around his store in the past and he didn't make a fuss. Upon finding out that I feed Timmy, he said some things to me:

Why you feed cats and not feed "ren", i.e. people in Mandarin?
(After which, he gave a "certain look", eyes look downwards, gave a soft sigh cum slight shake of his head) .

The cats here are so "hao ming", i.e. having a good life.

Well, if the community cats are indeed having a good life, then they would not have to run away to hide whenever they see certain kids and adults nearby. They would also not have to hide among the bicycles in the cold, wet, windy and misty void deck because it's night time and they are really hungry for food (to wait for feeders).

He's a nice, friendly uncle, so I told him nicely, the things that came to my mind:
* I feed the community cats because no one cares for them
* What we give to them is just a tiny bit of our love/concern/compassion
* We, as human beings, cannot begrudge them that little bit of food/concern shown to them.

Sad to say, the uncle's view is quite widespread among the general population. My poor MIL always have to kena such disdainful looks from the folks in her estate.

How would you deal with such a question? What would you tell these folks?

Where do community cats hide during the torrential rains?

I've often wandered where the community cats hide themselves during the day. They're so good at the disappearing act that one hardly noticed them until they all come out at night during mealtimes. With the non-stop monsoon rains that's been coming down for the past 2 days, I wonder where they could all be hiding?

Around my place, I've only seen Sugar and Jon Jon who have been provided with a nice box placed in a sheltered, dry area for them to sleep in. That's about as dry as it gets for them, as the void deck was thoroughly drenched with the pouring rain and windy conditions. Other than that, I haven't seen any cats around during the day. Sometimes I don't even see them at night as they must still be hiding from the rain.

I missed seeing Timmy on Monday evening as it was raining non-stop then. Last night (Tue), I finally caught hold of her during a brief respite and she ate the dry food heartily, but later threw up half of what she'd eaten. Just then, it started to rain again and I saw her scurrying away quickly to some place to hide. Unfortunately, I didn't see where she'd ran to as I was busy clearing up her vomit.

Maybe we ought to attach a mini camera to these cats for a day, just to see where they go to hide and what they're up to when they're out of our sight.

Feline capers

Newbie on the block

A newbie cat has been spotted in the neighbourhood for the past few days. I first discovered this newbie when I spotted Notti-Boy trying to chase the newbie boy away.

Notti-Boy was also a newbie cat that came to the neighbourhood a few months ago. A very loud and whiney cat, he is quite picky about his food and usually reject the dry food that I sometimes give him. He remains untouchable till today and therefore is still spotting his "ding-dongs".

I am Notti-Boy, and you still can't catch me! Neh nehny neh neh!!

I first encountered Newbie Boy on Saturday night, on my usual round to feed Timmy (aka Coco). To my surprise, Newbie Boy, although very greedy, is friendly to humans, and has also chosen to stick to Timmy, to her chagrin and annoyance....heheh! Newbie Boy is smart to stick to Timmy because regular meals do come her way. Sadly, I suspect Newbie-Boy to be another abandonee...and not yet neutered.

For some unknown reason, poor Timmy seems to be a magnet for these newly-arrived cats, who are usually males (which makes sense since males tend to roam). Timmy can't stand these noisy boy cats that quarrels and which stick to her like glue, and would sometimes be so unsettled that she refused to eat. When it gets too much for her, the dimunitive Timmy would give these newbie boys a smack with her paw.

*Piaakk!!*

Thank goodness she's spayed already!

Timmy: Haiz...boys will be boys! *roll eyes*

Last night, the tables were turned. It was Newbie boy who turned on and tried to chase Notti-Boy away. I guess Notti-Boy didn't do a good job of protecting his territory and ex-gal (the unwilling Timmy) ;) .

Sugar, the Fatboy?

Newbie-Boy had better not cross path with Sugar, or else fur will surely fly! Sugar, although getting fat now, is still capable of chasing foreign cats up the trees.

Sugar was at my home yesterday, and ate so much of the Royal Canine which I'd bought for Jon-Jon to improve his skin condition. The SO and I were thinking of calling Sugar Fei-Bai instead of Xiao Bai (meaning Fat White instead of Small White in Mandarin).

(Archive photo) Jon-Jon: Sugar ain't heavy lah, he's my god-brother!

Fatty Blackie

All along, we'd all thought that Fatty Blackie (who looks pregnant and was spayed) is fat. It turns out that all that "fat" around her tummy is actually one big tumour. :-(

Ms A (my kind neighbour) has took her to the vet and is feeding her medication, which seems to have helped in reducing the tumour somewhat. I can only hope and pray that the tumour is not cancerous and that she's not in any pain, and that she gets better with the medication.

Experiment Part II : Testing catnip sensitivity with live subjects

Since the last cat experiment failed to produce any discernible result of sensitivity to catnip, I tried again with different live subjects. *grin*

What I did was plucked a couple of fresh catnip leaves and tore them up slightly to release the scent. I left the catnip leaves for each cat to have a sniff, BEFORE showing them any cat food, so that they could concentrate on the catnip and not be distracted by the food. I gave them cat food only after I've done the catnip test.

Here's the result:


1st subject: Gal-Gal

See the catnip beside her - totally untouched leh...
Result : More interested in the cat food than catnip *auntie p scratches head*


2nd subject: Timmy aka Coco

Result : No interest in the catnip too !?!?


3rd subject: Jon-Jon

Result : Jon-Jon was more interested in the bag I was carrying than the catnip. Anyway, he has always been curious about my handbags (which reminds me of the purple Teletubby - Tinky Winky? )

Why, why, why??

(Sorry, no photo to show evidence because camera battery conked out!)

What is it with the community cats at my area? They all don't seem to be interested in catnip? Or is catnip a luxury meant for the housecats, and which community cats, being more concerned with bread-and-butter issues such as when the next meal is coming, simply have no time for?

Haiz... So till today, I have yet to see a cat happily engaged with catnip.

:)

On a Saturday morning (Part 1)

Tortie getting friendly with Uncle S


Being manja



Pretty orange tortie coat which is also smooth and silky






Ms Timmy




Also known as Coco, she has the sweetest meowing voice I've ever heard (In 2nd place currently is Ms Tortie above)


The new male cat that has been picking fights with the resident cats













Xiao Bai aka Sugar, the resident "King"


Ah Koon aka Jon-Jon aka An-An, Sugar's god-brother who is usually sweet to most newbie cats