Where is the Girl? (IV)

This was the girls' old pet taxi which we improvised into a cat bed (throw in a cushion plus a towel). Grimlock washed it and had put it aside for drying.

Guess who this might be?

"Sssshhhh, don't let the other two know I'm hiding here. Pretend that you didn't see me."

"Surely, I could do with some time-out."

Super Cat

Some time back, Grimlock showed me this comic in the Straits Times:

P/S: Well, it is the cat who keeps people ;)

My Sun-Kissed, Beautiful Babe (II)

Took this series of photos on May Day. The moment was so right. I was there. Skoda was taking in the late afternoon sun, just being herself (read: babe). I kept at taking her photos. Electrifying, awesome...

叫我如何不爱她？

My favourite shot of the lot:

"Watch My Eyes"

Besides being very vocal in making her demands known, Braun recently honed a new, tested "skill", ie dispensing deadly stares. She resorts to this when the Mouse is slow in responding to her commands. Life is hard for the Mouse...... >_<

One Claw Less - The Final Chapter

Before 9am today:

After 9am today:



We brought Braun for her review on Thurs, 24 April. The vet examined her wound which was almost completely well except for a small red dot on the area where the claw is now gone, so she said to wait for another 3-4 days before removing the cone. We took a look at the area this morning and the red dot is no longer there so we decided to "liberate" Braun. She immediately embarked on a good 25-minute grooming routine and then pestered me to bring out the cat fly toy. By the way, she found her voice back. During the past two weeks, she didn't yowl (as she usually does) to dish out instructions to her human slave; she resorted to staring >_<

Beauty Bloom (II)

I was looking through the slideshows I've created to-date of the three girls. The tally stands at six on Skoda and three each for Braun and Mikki. They're all photogenic so I'm surprised Skoda is leading the score by quite a margin :p

It is a Herculean task to clip Mikki's nails. She resists all forms of restraints. We did that this morning. Grimlock suggested using a different technique, ie putting her hind legs on the table (instead of having her sit on my lap). We managed to clip all the nails on her left front paw. Now, that is considered an achievement. Usually we're able to clip three nails at most. Fingers crossed that next time round, we'll be able to repeat the feat.

Attitude, Loads of It

Here, Skoda has this "sum sing" (gangster) look on her face. I'd think her sitting posture is so "unglam" (she is a girl!), tsk tsk tsk (the Mouse shakes her head). And she forgot to suck in her stomach (the Mouse sighs).

Have TV, Will Sleep

Braun and Mikki have a penchant for snoozing on top of the TV. They have no problem even if the volume is on the high side; the ceiling light is shinning brightly down on them; and having to do some balancing act. They have a thing about sticking a leg out. This spot is not suited for Skoda...because she is too 'broad' (ok lah, too fat) heehee.

The shelf above the TV is one of Braun's favourite snoozing spots. I bet she'll get to it as soon as the cone is off her.







(15 Mar 08)

One beetle, two beetle, three beetle...

(14 April 08)

One Claw Less (II)

Today before the vet visit for Braun's review:

We kept Skoda and Mikki away in the study in the morning so Braun was free to "roam" the house. I think she enjoyed the breather.

After the vet visit:

Braun still has the cone around her neck. She will have to wear the cone for another week :( There was some blackish stuff on her wound. I had thought it was some medication Dr D had applied (ie the same stuff Dr K applied the last time when Braun encountered a similar mishap). It was actually dried blood. During the week if I applied a little pressure when cleaning the wound (I wanted to remove the blackish stuff), Braun would yelp. Seeing her reaction, I just did some surface cleaning and then applied the Baneocin powder. It turned out the cleaning didn't do any good. Her wound is inflammed.

Today, it was Dr QH on duty (Dr K has been on leave since last week). She cleaned up the blackish stuff, trimmed away some of the fur in the area and prescribed an additional ointment (Centellase). Dr QH showed us how to do the cleaning properly (looks like it is unavoidable to apply some slight pressure). There was a big black dog barking at the top of his lungs in one of the cages in the treatment area. He just had quite a fair bit of maggots (!) removed from his body. The packet of maggots was placed on the treatment table. Definitely not for the faint-hearted, yucks! I whisked Braun out of the treatment area as soon as the demo was done. We requested for the clinic to clean up her ears (the base was oily and there were some brownish particles). Her ears get oily easily so we clean her ears like once every three weeks. She tends to get uncomfortable when we do the cleaning so I thought better let the experts do it this time round.

Braun was tired out from the vet visit. After giving her some treats, she promptly took a nap outside the toilet.

This photo was taken in the storeroom so the wound looks black.

Braun perked up after the power nap. Here she was getting playful, "dangling" her head from the top of the newspaper pile.

I was looking forward to "liberating" Braun after the review. Brought tuna treats as a reward for her (the girls love tuna but I'd only give this to them once in a blue moon). The celebration will have to wait. Come Monday, she'll have to be placed in isolation when we are at work. This girl wouldn't quit going for the high spots. I caught her getting ready to leap a few times in her present state (she got more than a round of shelling from the Mouse). Mikki doesn't take well to seeing Braun with the cone around her neck. When their paths cross, Mikki would scrowl at Braun (like a cobra going to strike), hunch her back and do mini prances sideways (this part is quite a comical sight, hahaha...). I read somewhere such behaviour might be due to fear rather than a display of aggression. Braun gets jittery at sudden and loud noises and will scamper to take cover. How is she going to run fast and safely in her present state? Ok, so the beans will do what is best for her, that is, stay firm and make her wear the cone for another week; be more "daring" when cleaning the wound; AND "heartlessly" stick by her imprisonment.

《猫科宣言》 (Hearing It from a Cat)

Late last year, I featured a compilation of cat drawings titled 《猫科宣言》 by 蔡智忠 (Cai Zhi Zhong), a Hong Kong comic artist. The drawings are peppered with the feline's take/perspective/philosophy on life. I extracted 10 in total from the book and put up seven of them. Here are the remaining three. I've uploaded all of them on the side bar.

Translation: The canine species derives their authority from what others would bestow onto them, hence they must obey higher orders. The feline species draws authority from their own abilities, hence they live up fully to themselves.

Translation:
You can sleep in whichever way you want. The key lies not in the posture, but in the ability to get into sleep and sleeping well.

Whether in a high- or a low-point, we can remain unbounded irregardless of conditions. Don't put the blame on circumstances, but rather the fault lies in one's inability to adapt.

Be it whether you are a red, white, black or patterned cat, you're a good cat as long as you're unbounded. No matter which direction one is to heed, the good lies in being able to "submerge" oneself fully in the moment.

Translation (love this one):
If a person is very capable, don't say he is different from us;
If we ourselves lack the capability, don't say everyone is the same as us;
If we harbour these two mindsets, then we're trying to rationalise why we are unable to make the mark and all the more an unlikelihood of making progress.

One Claw Less

A mishap struck Braun again. We didn't see how it happened. Grimlock woke up this morning and then came back into the bedroom to tell me he saw dried-up blood on the floor. I sprang up from bed immediately. Blood was splattered on the wall and the floor in the living room.

We checked the girls one-by-one. Didn't spot any injury on the first round of inspection. We repeated the checks on Skoda and then Braun. When we pressed on one of Braun's claw pad, she yelped and on taking a closer look, the whole claw was gone and the hole looked a little red. Rang up the vet's clinic immediately and made an appointment. There was blood on Grimlock's shorts (hung over a chair by the window). I gave it a shake and a claw dropped out.

Dr D was on-duty. She said a whole claw had came off right from the base so it is likely the claw will not grow back again. Only the nerve muscle was left. Dr D gave Braun a Tolfedine injection and prescribed Tolfedine tablets (for anti-inflammatory), Chlorhex cleanser and Baneocin powder. She also put an Elizabethan collar around Braun's neck to prevent her from licking the wound. We're to bring her back for a review in a week's time.

Earlier in the wee hours (before we went to bed), we had caught Braun all stretched out with her front paws on the window mesh. She was looking at something outside the window (I checked and didn't see anything). I whisked her off the table. Our speculation was that she probably persisted in her "pursuit" and then her claw got stuck in the mesh and somehow the claw got yanked off - ?!? OUCH!

Braun is now very moody with the E-collar on her; she looks so listless. Thank God she is good-tempered enough to tolerate the E-collar. For her safety and speedy recovery, we'll put her in isolation in one of the rooms when we're not around. Mikki has become cautious of her, while Skoda appears emphatic (saw her walking up to Braun a few times and sniffed her on the head). Will give her wet food for dinner for the next few days - hope this will cheer her up.

Close-up of the claw. Warning: It looks a tad raw.

This is the second time Braun's curiosity or persistence got the better of her (or maybe mischief?)

"I swear I've no inkling how it all happened..."

睡美人 (Sleeping Beauty)

Such a delight to 'catch' Skoda even when she is asleep...

Let's take a closer look at Skoda's curves :) (the last photo is a bonus)

All Grown-Up (III)

My puppy has bloomed...

(24 Mar 08)

Where is the Girl? (III)

Braun decided the food supply was in need of "security protection" (the kibbles are kept inside the containers). She could have gotten too comfortable for until she was caught red-handed, it looked like she slept on the job :)

Pet Food Label

Some useful links that I came across (added them to the sidebar):
1) Pet Food: The Lowdown on Labels"
2) What's Really in Pet Food
3) Selecting a Commercial Pet Food
4) Pet Food Recall (US Food and Drug Administration)

1,000 (Green) Origami Cranes (VI)

I last left off on Skoda's urinary condition that she needs to go on a precription diet. The rascal, you know who I'm referring to, ruled out Prescription Hill's; she would rather starve than eat the kibbles. The beans ruled out IAMS. That leaves us with Waltham Urinary S/O (LP34). The manufacturer is Royal Canin so hopefully Her Royal Highness would take to it. The ingredients list is not published on the Internet so we ordered the smallest packaging (1.5kg - S$26.75) for a trial.

The claim: A complete dietic food for cats. Its urine acidifying properties and its low level of magnesium make it suitable for dissolving struvite uroliths and reducing their recurrence. It is also formulated to combat lower urinary tract disorders.

• Dissolves all types of struvite uroliths;
• Lowers the concentration of ions contributing to crystal formulation;
• Urine dilution ensures a urinary environment unfavourable to the development of struvite and calcium oxalate uroliths; and
• Catarius glycosaminoglycans which are naturally present in the mucous membrane of a healthy bladder.

I'm not too impressed with the ingredients list:
Rice, Wheat gluten, Dehydrated poultry meat (min 27%), Maize flour, Animal fats, Maize gluten, Hydrated animal proteins, Minerals, Vegetable fibres, Beet pulp, Fructo-oligo-saccharides, Fish oil, Soya oil, Egg powder, DL-methionine, Hydralysed crustaceans (source of glucosamine), Taurine & Marigold extract (source of glucosamine).

Average analysis (%): Protein-34.5/ Fat-15/Ash-7.3/ Fibre-2.7/ Calcium-0.8/ Phosphorous-0.7/ Sodium-0.9/ Magnesium-0.05/ Potassium-1 / Chloride-1.9/ Sulphur-0.5

We started Skoda on the new diet food yesterday night (mixed with the existing Nutro Maintenance formula). Her "reaction" has been so-far-so-good, ie more receptive than when we tried Precription Hill's. Will gradually increase the Waltham portion. Fingers crossed...

To increase the girls' water intake, they are now given wet food on alternate days of the week (wet food comprises of 75% water content). Skoda is warming up to wet food so we might give them wet food for dinner daily. The other two love wet food!

Once the current pack of Nutro kibbles is finished, we'll be switching over to another mainstream brand of kibbles. The girls are shredding a lot more fur, their poo smell stronger and recurrence of hairballs while on Nutro (as compared to Royal Canin Indoor formula formerly). I don't think the Waltham formula presents a balanced diet - yes, I know I'm not a vet and ok, maybe it does help in managing urinary conditions. On the latter, we'll find out when Skoda is due for her review in two weeks' time (after starting her on the prescription diet).

"Oh, you're trying to put me on a new prescription diet food har! We shall see lor..."