The City that Never Sleeps

We were in Hong Kong (HK) for a five-day break, starting Fri, 11 July (‘7 Eleven’) which marked our 4th wedding anniversary. This was our third trip together to HK. We are fond of HK – my dialect group is Cantonese, and we both love the shopping, the vibrancy of the city and the food.

We took the first flight out on Cathay Pacific. The sky was pitch dark when we set out from our house…

A bird’s eye view of Singapore:

We stayed at the Stanford hotel located in Mongkok. The view from our room (no zoom was used to take this shot). It was that close to the next building.

Some flavours of potato chips which are unavailable in Singapore. They tasted just like the usual flavour.

We didn’t forget to get something for the girls. We were at a stretch of pet shops in Causeway Bay and came across the Temptations treats (costs about S$3.20 per packet). I wonder why this is not sold in Singapore. Initially only Braun likes them, now Skoda and Mikki have taken to them as well. They are not crazy over the treats though. While in one of the shops, I saw this blog link being featured on a notice board – Ding Dong Foundation, a shelter for stray cats.

An animal welfare group, Rescue Centre for Abandoned Pets also put up a stall in the area. Its volunteers were raising funds through the sale of merchandise and distributing brochures on what the Centre does and to seek support.

We bought these publications from a roadside newsstand and a convenience stall respectively. I wonder when we would have a local cat magazine.

On our last day, we took a late lunch at a Delifrance cafe that was well tucked away from the busyness on the streets. Just look at the human traffic…

Hong Kong is truly a city that never sleeps. People hang out on the streets late into the night and shops are open till 10-11pm. The weather was similar to Singapore’s (ie some sun with interim showers).

We shopped to our hearts’ content, covering shopping malls in Mongkok, Tsim Sha Tsui, Nathan Road and Causeway Bay. This might explain the lack of photos taken of the trip. It was summer sales’ time. The mainlanders are the ones who keep the cash registers ringing. We usually don’t go for branded stuff but the discounts proved irresistible. Common sizes were fast running out of stock. My haul included three pairs of jeans, three pairs of shoes and 13 tops (hee!) in total. The things in Hong Kong are not necessarily cheaper as compared to Singapore (HK$5.45=S$1), but the variety is a lot more interesting and more to pick from. I won’t need to go shopping for some time to come.

This time round, we entrusted our girls to C, a cat sitter with KittyCare. Here were the daily updates:

11 Jul: “Cats are fine. Skoda under sofa, Mikki in the room and Braun is on top of the fridge.”

12 Jul via MMS:

13 Jul: “The girls are fine. They let me touched them today :)” I expressed my surprise that Braun was “touchable” and C replied: “Yes Braun was a bit scared but did not try to run away.”

14 Jul: “Just to let you know that the girls are fine :)”

When we reached home, Skoda and Mikki were near to the door. Braun had gone into hiding under the sofa but she emerged shortly. They looked just the same. When I went into the master bedroom to put my things, Braun sneaked into the room and plopped herself on the floor – this is her way of “demanding” for chin rubs, which I promptly dispensed. Coming home couldn’t get any better.

Beauty Bloom (III)

While we're at our wits' end on how to make Skoda drink up, Mikki, on the other hand, drinks quite a bit (in terms of frequency and amount). We often see her lapping up water from the water fountains and bowl. She is also a non-fussy eater, taking readily to both dry and wet food. I checked with Dr K on her drinking habit and he said drinking up a lot is less of a problem than not drinking enough.

Back in April 2007, a blood test revealed that Mikki's liver enzymes exceeded the normal range by like three times. Subsequently, the condition was under control, as confirmed by her last blood test in Jan 2008. She was due for her review so I brought her to the vet yesteday, 5 Jul. She howled from the moment we put her into the pet taxi until we settled down at the vetinary clinic >_<

Her blood test result:

Mikki's liver and kidney indicators are within the normal range (WHEW!). I'm reminded by the test result printout that this girl is now one-year-nine-months old.

This time, I made sure I got the nurse to unbandage Mikki's feet (where the blood extraction was done) before we left the clinic. The last time, she put up a good fight for 30 minutes before we finally managed to remove the bandage.

After her spaying, Mikki has developed a habit of getting down on her side on the floor and rock from side-to-side and at times, throw in a good stretch as well. And here, My Little One (Mikki's nick) was at it again:

1,000 (Green) Origami Cranes (IX)

Brought Skoda for her review on last Sat, 28 June:

As you can see, it was termed as a bad urine report. Infection and crystals were present in her urine. Dr K asked whether we want to administer subcutaneous infusion of Hartmann's Fluid (found out from ST what this is called) on our own for Skoda. We opted to try syringe-feeding Skoda first. Dr K requested that we put her on 100% Waltham and to review her urine in one week's time.

It turned out that syringe-feeding isn't easy. We only managed to syringe-feed like about 7ml. Skoda runs out of patience quite quickily. We increased her Waltham intake to about 70%. The gang share a common bowl (it is ineffective to be feeding on separate bowls because they would end up stealing from the other's bowl). Braun doesn't like Waltham that much, Mikki is a non-fussy eater while Skoda will eat Waltham only if she is really hungry. We changed our feeding arrangement to mixture of Royal Canin Indoor with Waltham for their breakfast, with just enough RC for Braun and Mikki (usually Braun will eat first, followed by Mikki and then Skoda). Dinner is 100% Waltham. We've cut down on the amount of free-feeding - no topping up after breakfast and we leave out a small supper (100% Waltham). They get wet food on alternate days. I'll continue to source for a wet food that is palatable for Skoda (Braun and Mikki love wet food).

I read from a website earlier this week that prescription food to treat FLUTD or UTI aims to "acidify" the cat's urine, and so it is not advisable to feed it to cats who don't need such a prescription diet on long-term. The website also mentioned this is contrary to what vets would say. I've decided to take an in-between stance and will give Braun and Mikki their RC and just a little RC to Skoda, and give them wet food on a regular basis.

Brought Skoda's urine sample for review yesterday, 5 Jul:

Hurray, there are no more crystals and her urine is less concentrated. Previously, her urine was so concentrated that it couldn't be measured - it is still on the high side though. So, diet does play a part. Dr K asked us to go for 100% Waltham and to continue syringe-feeding her. He said the subcutaneous infusion can be put on hold and the next review is one month's time.

A compilation of Skoda's urinalysis results since Jan 2008:

"Oh no, the beans are gonna continue to syringe-feed me..."

When I'm at the vet's, I'd also go next door to the pet supplies shop (my supplier too) and seek Shadow out. Most of the time, he is not around (somewhere in the neighbourhood). When I stepped into the shop yesterday, there he was. I squatted down and was quite tempted to stroke him. I asked the shop owner if he takes to patting by strangers. Just when I finished my question, Shadow came over to me, did a head-bump and laid down at my feet. You can imagine my delight, it was as if he had read my mind or understood what I just said. I had a good time stroking him. His fur is smooth (has a nice sheen too) and "solid" (Shadow weighs about 11kg, he is three years old).

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Braun is the undisputed 'grooming queen' of the three; nothing less than a thorough job. Mikki is fairly diligent and merticulous too - she is small-sized so the movements are cute to watch. For Skoda, the mood to groom comes by as and when. And if she does get into the mood, ONE area is of particular importance and calls for all of her efforts.