Our Cute Little Paws: July 2008

Our Cute Little Paws
By: Syah & Amir,
a.ka The Cat Daddies, Abah & Ayah

Our first darling was Sidney (Sid) whom we adopted from the local SPCA in April 2006. This was the starting point to more cute little paws being adopted into our household. Although we both came from families that value and love the presence of cats, we have never though of actually sharing our small condo unit with any of them, that is, not until Sidney came into our lives.

Sidney was a local breed. It was a case of love at first sight when one day we decided to drop by at SPCA and saw him in one of the cages staring at us promising undivided love and attention. Our decision to adopt him had changed our lives forever. Sidney was indeed the best behaving cat we’ve ever had. He was playful yet obedient and adapted quickly to his new home. He was our daily alarm clock and would wake us up at seven in the morning to feed him. Sidney would already be waiting for us at the door in the evenings demanding for attention. Sometimes we even took him to the office but most of time Sidney had to be left alone at home. Realizing that he may be lonely, we were slapped with the idea of adopting a companion for Sidney – well, one could never be enough!

Two months after adopting Sidney we returned to SPCA to look for his companion and fell in love with a skinny mixed Persian. We took her home and named her Gabrielle (Gabby). It was quite difficult for Gabriele to adapt to the new indoor living and managed to escape twice through the bathroom window. She was not so friendly to Sidney either and had defied our purpose of getting her as the boy’s companion. To our dismay, it was like Gabby had known that there was no point being friendly to Sidney as we soon discovered him to be infected with FeLV and FIP.

Sidney fell terribly ill after that and we had to separate him from Gabrielle fearing infection. We decided to send Sidney to our parent’s home to be nursed by our younger brother. However, during Sidney’s last couple of weeks at our home, Gabrielle had shown a turn of attitude and started showing affection towards Sidney It was a motherly affection. She would spend endless time grooming Sidney, making sure that he was looking his best.

We were both devastated looking at Sidney’s condition and visited him every other day when he was in my brother’s care. We had to clean and disinfect the house with Clorox so that Gabrielle would be safe – we were worried as she had been attending to the boy two weeks prior. We were advised by our vet not to take in more cats or let any cat into the house for that matter for at least six months. Sidney had to be fed with liquid diet and had to be force-fed using a syringe and a plastic tube.

Soon as if it was fate’s calling, Amir came across a newspaper article calling for pet adoption by a pet rescue group called the Independent Pet Rescuers (IPR). We were immediately called to find out about the programme and even though the vet had advised us not to have anymore cats for the time being, we couldn’t resist the urge. Moreover Gabrielle was alone and needed a companion.

Two months old Troy was adopted from the IPR while Sidney was still around fighting for his life. We lost a friend in this process and were accused of purposely exposing an innocent kitten to FIP and FeLV. We were stubborn, yes, but we had great faith in God. When Troy arrived, Gabrielle was the happiest creature on earth and had loved him dearly. She took care of Troy like she did with Sidney. The couple would run around the house like nobody’s business. We were glad to see that both of them were happy and healthy.

Sidney left us to Rainbow Bridge on 28th June 2006 after a month of struggling and suffering. He did not get to live to be even one year old. We bid him farewell in a little funeral at our father’s backyard.

We were soon convinced that it was okay to have more kids around. About a month after Troy we returned to the IPR’s weekly road show at Hartamas in KL. We have always wanted a black cat and there was a really cute kitten named Tina with a pair of smashing blue eyes. She was about a month old and soon after taking her home we discovered that Tina was actually a male - so we named him Hercules. Together with Hercules we also adopted a three year old female cat that we named Isabelle. We now then had four cute little paws sharing our cute little home.

Our home immediately became a battlefield. There was no point laying rugs around the house or having ornaments on top of the cabinets like before. It took a great deal of sacrifice losing the things we loved, seeing them shattered into pieces because the boys (Hercules and Troy) were at their peak of growing and was really mischievous. Our sofa had become a favourite scratching post for Hercules and the Piano, Gabrielle’s sleeping place. Isabelle would always either be on the fridge or on top of the kitchen cabinet. At one point we even had to breathe the same air as the kids’ and their litter pan as our eighth storey unit had no grills installed. Fearing they would run around and jump over the open window, we decided to have them closed at all times. Later we installed shutters on our windows and got rid of the curtains so that we could have the windows opened and breathe fresh air once again. We even had to decide a ‘No Fur Zone’ in our rooms but the kids are free to roam around the rest of the house.

On the night of Malaysia’s 49th Independence, we found Troy lying on his bed looking weak and miserable. Amir took him onto his lap and Troy opened his eyes for the last time, coughed, choked, threw-up and then he was gone. We were terribly shocked witnessing his death right in front of our eyes. How could two kids left us in less than three months? Troy was so alive and kicking the night before and he was still when we left him with his brother and sisters that very morning. Was the vet right after all? Was our friend’s accusation of us true? This second death killed us both.

During Troy’s last few weeks with us, he started having this really peculiar habit of nibbling on our earlobes. He would come to us when we were watching TV or at any opportunity he had, he’d come to be near our ears. Soon it had become a must for him to nibble on one of our ears – so we took turn sacrificing our earlobes for our dear son. The cause of Troy’s death remains unknown until now. He too was buried at our father’s backyard beside Sidney’s grave.

The other kids sensed Troy's absence, especially Gabrielle and Hercules. Isabelle on the other hand has always been a loner. She would be minding her own business and not mix with the other kids. She however seeks affection from her fathers demanding to be touched and pampered whenever there’s a chance. She would wait for us to pat or stroke her and until she gets what she wants Isabelle would not move and remain at that same spot like a statue. Whenever we indulge in pampering her, she would remind us to continue stroking if ever we stop for a breather by patting us on our hands using her furry paw.

Over time, our kids didn’t just grow in size but in number. We took in another hero that we named Alexander. He was adopted from PAWS on the 18th of August 2006, less than a month before Troy died. Alexander was four months old when we took him home and has Gabrielle’s resemblance. They both turn out to be best friends thereafter. Gabrielle continued to play the big sister’s role with Troy, Hercules and Alexander. Alexander spent his first night in Syah’s room and was hiding under the sofa the whole of next day. Troy and Hercules were excited to see the arrival of another boy and wanted to play with him but he was too scared and shy to befriend them just yet.

On 10th September 2006 we visited SPCA again just to fulfill our cravings to be with more cats - well, this has become a part of our occasional visit to catteries such as SPCA, PAWS or sometimes to IPR's road show on Saturdays. Syah used to have a British-blue coloured cat named Victoria during his school days. The moment he saw one similar looking cat at SPCA that day, he made no further delay adopting her. She was named Vitoria the Second (Vicky). We got to know from the keeper at SPCA that Victoria was surrendered by her previous owner because she was too playful and liked to bite anyone who was near. She has been fine with us with of course occasional friendly and playful bites whenever she wanted some affection and attention from us. Victoria likes to sleep on our laps when we’re watching TV. She is known to be very photogenic and loves posing for the camera but could be very shy to unfamiliar faces (or scents).

Napoleon is also known as PO (the Kung Fu Panda) because of his colour, size and Chinese look (and of course his appetite) was adopted from Amir’s neighbour in Shah Alam. He has been a subject of interest for quite sometime when one day Amir brought him home as the owner had agreed to let us have him. Napoleon had to be kept in a cage for two weeks as he had problems adjusting to the litter pan. Napoleon likes to play with water and he wouldn’t for any reason (other than food) miss being at the sink whenever we are washing the dishes. He would just sit and very fascinatingly look at the stream of water coming out from the tap. Napoleon often becomes the victim to Syah’s bullying him but he would patiently let his father do as he likes. He would be made to dance on his hind legs and Syah at times would be teaching him the ABC and singing to him nursery rhymes!

Constantine came into our lives when an office mate had kittens for adoption. So, having the idea of giving Syah who was currently outstation in Langkawi a surprise, Amir took him home but went on a detour to the airport – what a log journey for our three weeks old Constantine. Syah was of course pleasantly surprised as we had earlier on agreed to stop at six but now we suddenly have seven of them little paws. We had a good experience taking care of this little boy, bottle-feeding him with milk and litter-training him was indeed a wonderful experience for us. Looking at him now, we are always awed at how much he has changed, except for his fascination towards plastic bags. Constantine was a noisy fella when he was small but now at over one, he is pretty quiet but very inquisitive in nature. He would be anywhere near new things sniffing, trying to figure out what the thing is.

We have had cats living with us in this small condo unit for over two years now and looking at them play and witnessing them grow from a kitten to an adult cat has indeed been a treasure that no one else would experience other than us cat lovers.

Our message to dear readers of Pets Lover magazine, if you cannot adopt a cat into your home for whatever reason, do spend some time volunteering at the catteries. You would be doing these creatures a very huge favour even by going there and spending a little time with them, stroking their backs, talking to them like you do with other humans. Believe me, they would remember you and appreciate your effort. Make it a habit to keep some packet cat food (dry or wet) in your glove compartment or bag and feed strays whenever you find one. It wouldn’t harm your pocket if you spend a few Ringgit on them. No matter how ugly or dirty these strays may appear to you, it is the love they are able to share that matters the most. Better still, take them home and make them a part of your family – they’re free-of-charge!

We were approached by a new pet magazine called the Pets Lover for a photography session with the kids at home recently. They have found us from the SPCA website and are promoting the idea of adopting cats. Since all of our kids were adopted - none we bought really, we were requested to appear on the mag for their August issue.

The Girls; From Top - Isabelle, Gabrielle, Victoria II

The photographer Ms Pua and her friend Alex came over to our apartment on a Sunday evening an took photos of the kids in action at home. Ahaha Gabby was the most famous one and as usual she'd pose naturally like a model - well, she loves her picture taken, that's for sure.

The Boys; From Top - Hercules and Alexander

Vicky and Napoleon was so afraid of strangers coming to the house - since we seldom receive guests except for family members whom they already know, so they both hid under the sofa throughout the session - Ayah had to lift the sofa and pull them out so that their photos can be taken by the photographer.

The Boys; From Top - Napoleon and Constantine

we haven't got a copy of the photos yet but we were promised a set when the August edition is published - it's called 'Pets Lover' and I'll be doing the write up for our story - will publish them soon.