One reads. The other one jeers.

The newest (and youngest) two that we have in the household is Maggie and Jenny. 

The sisters showed up on a stormy evening in September 2010 and long story short, after a couple of months waiting for a suitable new owner, I made the decision to become just that. I can tell you that I didn't do it because I needed  to add to my crazy pack nor to fill in a psychological void. I did it because it was really hard to earn their trust (especially Maggie) and when they finally decided it was ok to be around humans without fearing the worst, I didn't have the heart to hand them over to someone else. It felt like betrayal if I had sent them away after they finally decided it was safe to not be scared of us. They were born feral and didn't have a pinch of trust for people and even now, they aren't friendly among unfamiliar faces. Plus, Parsi wanted a posse of his own. Boy, did he regret that later on because they can't seem to understand his want for "me time". That's what you get Pat for refusing to be my lap cat. Now you get to have not only one, but two of your own! 

Maggie: "Oh My Spinx! Did ya know that wizards wear pointy hats so that they could communicate with aliens?!
It's MINDBLOWING, right?!" Parsi: "UGH! She reads ONE BOOK and then she thinks she knows EVERYTHING!"

Being the young ones, they usually like to put on their glittery heart-shaped glasses on and think about new ways to catch butterflies and geckos successfully. 

Jenny (right) likes the outdoors while Maggie (left) prefers the house furniture but they make time to wrestle with one another everyday, in and outside of the house. They're both terrified of male human beings but have a lot of love for male cats. As I mentioned before, they're quite attached to Parsi as if he's the one who rescued them from the streets. But now that they've gotten older, Parsi easily gets miffed over Jenny's clingy nature but still tolerates her in his posse because his heart is not as dark as his fur. But don't tell anyone because if word gets out, he'd lose "street cred".

It took a while to tame them and to have them accept us for more than the source of food, but now not only do they trust us gangly-limbed giants but they also seem to "like" us too. Maggie will come up to me and hang around. Occasionally she'll subtly rub against my leg, but more often than not, she prefers the legs of furniture nearest to where I'm standing. Jenny is also not much for tactile affection but prefers to be vocal. It would be cute if she didn't sound like she's trying to warn us that the house is on fire every time she opens her mouth.

They've settled in quite nicely and every day they get fatter and fatter because they'll eat at every chance they get. Life was hard on the street. Now that it's cosier, it's time for first world problems even though they only live in a "developing country". Next thing you know, someone is going to have a problem with the kind of plastic their cat bowl is made of and after that, will start questioning why they can't ride in a leopard print designer bag instead of the old pet carrier that's so yesterday. I can already see it now, these budding divas are going to demand they show up in style at the vet for their yearly jabs or make you carry them around the building to enter through the back door.

What's that? I'm projecting a hint of regret, you say? No, of course not! There are no regrets in keeping them. None at all. Just ask Parsi who is constantly diving into the ditch to get away from all their wants and needs. Seeing Parsi get grumpy is what we all live for :)

Note: If you like the funky glasses, you can get a pair of your own at PuglyPixel.  

Food Chain

Benny is known for his love of food and trash but I know he doesn't have a particular knack for hunting.

However, just a few minutes ago he caught a poor little sparrow and brought it home in the rain =(

The cats occasionally catch unsuspecting birds but I'm never quite sure which one is responsible for making us humans schedule an unexpected burial. I was closing a window when I saw him with the unfortunate creature hanging upside down from his jaws. He set it down underneath the outdoor table and I could see that it was clinging to the last moments of its life. The slow and subtle rise and fall of its breathing. Having sensed my disapproval, Benny then transported his victim to the back of the house.

I know Benny was hungry because all of the cats are ever so impatient in the last couple of hours leading to feeding time at 7pm. But I also know that he's not going to eat that bird he just caught. It's just his natural instinct to kill.

I hope the little bird doesn't have anyone waiting for it to bring home dinner.

UPDATE:-

Sure enough, half an hour later we find him by the side of the house with Peekaboo standing by waiting for a lapse in Ben's concentration in preserving his kill so he could snatch it away and bat at it to his heart's desire. We tried to take it away from Ben but it was clear that he was not done with his fresh dead plaything. He ran off with it out of sight.

Not 5 minutes later I enter the kitchen to see him hanging around the cat dish. The winged thing was not within view. Knowing how the cats would not likely let a good thing go to waste, I was pretty sure the bird was in the house somewhere being presented as a "slightly used" gift. We found it scattered in a pile of its own feathers underneath the kitchen table. Symbolic, no? I guess Ben's an angsty artist. After all, he wears a broody expression with his black fur pretty darn well. If only he had let us take it from him earlier so we wouldn't have had to take out the broom. But some people like to make their gift giving a dramatic gesture.

Thank you, Ben.

And yesterday, Ben's momma, Kecik, brought a salamander in. All sleek and slimy and ALIVE!

The look on her face said something along the lines of "What? It'll go well with the sparrow. You haven't cooked it yet, right? I'm sure I saw it in the freezer".

Steamed Sparrow with a side of Salamander, anyone?

UPDATE 2:-

Its final resting place. 

And here lies a broken sparrow to be recycled and forgotten as per nature's way, under a heap of earth. The shovel temporarily marked its grave until we had to use it to remove cat poop on the ground. At least we didn't just chuck the poor bird unceremoniously into my neighbor's yard. Not my next door neighbor, but the evil one across the street. The mean retired man could have used something to do but he would have done it with hate and we felt that the bird should at least have had a prettier face to send it off to its grave.  

Black Panther

We used to have a number of black cats but now we only have one.

Oh, wait! I've always referred to Parsi as a black cat but he was never fully black to begin with and now in old age, he's gotten even more copper brown than before. Kind of like when you bleach your hair the wrong way and then made it worse by trying to wash it out with Clorox. Obviously to do that could only mean that all those chemical fumes have gotten to your brain :p

The look suits Parsi quite well although he does indeed look like someone dipped him in hair dye minus the hair damage. His fur is so smooth and soft! And I don't even groom him for fear of his unbridled rage.

"It ain't my fault that I'm this attractive"- Parsi/Pat
Pat wears his grouchy pants every day. Never leaves his bed without it.
He makes no attempt to cover his grey hair or his contempt.

Ben, the B in P,B &J of yore, is our black cat. Or rather, he's my sister's cat now as she has taken a great liking to him and vice versa. I can't say if she's a closet witch and needed a black cat as a companion for when she brews magical potions in a cauldron on a full moon. But I can tell you she does work nights so she might just have vials of murky liquid lined on a shelf in her room to be suspicious of. You can try getting past Ben at the door to snoop but have I mentioned that Ben likes to mew at the sight of people? I suspect it's some kind of secret warning signal between them to inform her when intruders are approaching. Sometimes though during the day he'll call out from inside her room so someone from the outside would open the door because his owner is out cold and he needs to get to the kitchen to rummage through trash before someone else gets the good stuff.

Mini Black Panther/Resident Ninja/The Witch's Assistant

I honestly think Ben will go with anyone who owns a full trash can as that is unfortunately his favorite thing in all the land. He probably doesn't believe it's a bad thing and views his scavenging as more of an adventure. You just never know what the humans throw out. I used to feel sorry for him when he was a little kitty because he was "ugly". We sorta nicknamed him Babi Hutan (Wild Boar) much to my mom's dismay (she's averse to piggies). But all in good fun, of course. He wasn't really all that ugly but he was not unlike that most famous duckling talked about in fairy tales. Just his luck that his brother Peekaboo was just that much more handsome and looked the complete opposite of him - Peekaboo is white! Shocking discrimination? I know! But what can I do to change the popular vote? It's a superficial world. Make no mistake though, I certainly love all them EQUALLY (expect for Mama Ayeow because she will always be extra special and I don't think they mind) and tend to think it's for their personality rather than just appearance. Just like men, some look good but boy, once they open their mouth to talk, you realize how small a percentage of their brain they actually use. Luckily, it's not as complicated with kitty cats and I thank God for that.

Ben has certainly grown to be our own black panther ninja and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. If we were going to keep one of the P,B&J, we were just going to have to keep them all. While the thought of keeping Ben was born out of pity, but the truth is, it was more out of love and that love was attached to all 3 of them. Obviously, I am a failed foster caretaker because in the end I just promote myself to full time owner. I can never place enough trust in others to give them away and while it may be the fault of some of the adopters I've met before, but it's also mine because I get waaaaaay tooo attached and there's just no turning back.

And that is why in late 2010, we added 2 more to the family.

The new ones always take a liking to Parsi and Parsi is ever so accommodating.
He's very loving despite his surly self...so long as you're not human that is.

We're just outside the window!

Tip-toeing on the rooftop on our dainty little feet and crooked tail :)

We're going to pick things up starting from now! Because taking pictures of cats has been quite easy here on this side of the fence. Cats are just photogenic and can be aspiring camera whores :p Frankly, we're running low on hard drive space with all the shots they insist on keeping for someone feels too cute to be deleted. Also, we kind of wanna share the love with the rest of the crazy internet cat community. The internet surely welcomes all the cats they can get and after all, sharing is caring. Unless of course, you're a cat in which they'll only share once they try to claw each others face off first. Yes, if anything has changed, the clawing most certainly is not one of them. Plus, I just want to get back into (Almost) Crazy Cat Lady mode and allow myself to write about my beloved cuddly furry things (with claws and a whole lotta attitude) because my friends don't really wanna hear it and as self-important as the cats may be, they're having none of it when I try to talk to them about how much I luurrrve them and can you please knead my aching tummy? What's that? Ouuwh no! I said knead. Not gut me open like a pig!

The reaction to all that mushy gooey baby talk will only be tolerated if it's accompanied with a full can of tuna of their chosen brand. Otherwise, they just keep me around to clean the litterbox and if I retaliate by staging a strike, they could care less and just shit on the carpet. Cats. Why again do we love them? Pictures below should illustrate as to why I let them think they can keep me at their mercy instead of the other way around.

Someone is basking in heavenly light..................................                 There's nothing like the soothing scent of bananas.

What do you mean we can't sleep on these nice and clean clothes of yours???

The night we had meat and potatoes.

Here we have the poster cat for fabric softener.

Sweet lips!

What??! Peanut butter and chocolate ice cream?? Where?!!!

These pictures should also clearly indicate their 3 favorite activities:- 

1. Sleeping

2. Eating

3. Staring into your soul. 

What's this?

Oh my...I've not been here in ages and I haven't the slightest clue as to why I've allowed this place to rot in the land of the Internet. Not that we have any fans or actual readers and to say nothing exciting has happened within this catty household would be like saying an Indon sinetron is not over the top dramatic =) Going through the cobwebs of this blog gave me quite the surprise as I can hardly remember my cats being so YOUNG. People, I'll have you know that they look different now! Especially since time waits for freaking no one and they've grown up and have fully developed into their own unique characters. Looking at Kecik's photo in particular made me realize how much she has also changed. Much more mommy-ish and healthy too. She still plays with her kids by the way.

This is why I started this blog, a place for me to visit so that I can look through the posts and the pictures to relive the moments I've had with my awesome and squeeze-worthy cats. It's bittersweet especially since I've lost some in the past 12 months.

Will update in the near future with the latest from this fur-laden nook of the world. Til then...here's how I picture Parsi would feel if he ever had the privilege to get high on catnip. Or maybe how I'd see him if I were high on LSD.

Don't do drugs, kids! =)

Somehow related to shoes

If not just by this picture.

This one is a splash of sandy blond against a black canvas and she wears it so well. I am so fond of my tortie even if the majority is not. Sakura gets a lot of hate just because she’s an unpopular shade and pattern. And when I say hate I don’t actually mean hate hate. People just overlook her or think she's scary. I haven't a clue as to why. She's as cute as a button and doesn't hiss or snarl at people. In fact, she'd be the first to greet you if you came over and she will win you over.

We’ve been feeling drugged by the saturnine weather lately. It cloaks us with a sleepy, sluggish, wet atmosphere. Rainfall by the crock-load. The sun coming out only through a sliver parting of the gray clouds. The cats' health always seems to be somewhat affected by the weather. Whenever it gets like this they tend to be on the down low, choosing to spend the day snoozing indoors.

Kecik had a bad case of diarrhea a few weeks ago that lasted for quite a long while. It got pretty severe when she started excreting a nasty smelling liquid instead of something solid. She lost a significant amount of weight. After giving her only 2 pills of her medication I let her off to heal on her own and thankfully she has recovered.

Kecik channeling Queen Sheba.

I didn’t complete her medication because the first round of pills that I obtained from the clinic had a powdery texture and were too big and too bitter for us to administer to her. The moment it touched her tongue she spat it out like we just fed her a dung beetle. Even when the vet gave her the meds at the clinic she started hypersalivating for a good minute or two. I went back to get something else. This time these pills were much smaller and had a shiny coating which I knew would go down more easily. I went home and gave her one. All was fine until 10 minutes later she started foaming at the mouth and spitting all over the house leaving a trail of clear white bubbly saliva in her path. I put her in a cage to observe. She was hypersalivating just as she did at the clinic but this time it was worse and it didn’t look like she was anywhere near done. Freaking out, I thought she had somehow overdosed on the medication although I only gave her one pill as instructed. So I phoned the clinic and told the vet. She assured me that it was a normal reaction to the meds because it’s uber bitter in taste and even though she swallowed it with ease it must of left a rising aftertaste. Also, apparently, all diarrhea medication had that same side effect. I don’t know how accurate this information is but it came from a vet I didn't quite have full trust in. Anyhow, I was given reassurance that the salivating would subside in less than an hour and not to worry unless she starts vomiting. I kept her in the cage, periodically wiping the saliva off her mouth. Luckily, it passed and Kecik was back to her usual self.

She no longer appears lethargic and is back to tumbling around with her kids. Although she was actually playing around with them even when she had pooping problems. Yes, she still plays with them even though they’re about her own size now. They particularly love the game of chase and would run about the entire house bumping into whatever that’s in the way if not leap over them. Like the couch. Don’t be surprised if you’re lying there minding your own business and suddenly you see a cat in midair above you. They would jump right across you, one after the other like you’re the obstacle in an agility race. Today they knocked over my mom’s vase on the stairs, cracking it in two. It’s funny how they only stop to breathe once there's an accident. A moment of silence follows the crash and everyone looks at everyone else before bolting and then quietly waiting a distance away from the crime scene. Anticipating the scolding that was sure to come. I like it how they then sit there blinking in innocence.

It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve ruin property out of the sake of good fun. We’ve had two phone chargers bitten in two and the cable of my headphones has teeth marks all over it. Our couch has been mercilessly scratched until a gaping hole materialized. I had my beloved bracelet dented when Peekaboo wrestle my arm and tried to pull it off with his teeth. That’s just the inanimate objects. Our skin has never been safe from their claws. It might cause you horror to know that they’ve scratched our faces some. I’ve had the experience with Pat and Peekaboo. My kid brother has gotten it from Peekaboo and Mama Ayeow (though this is entirely his own fault and not exactly uncalled for as he likes to bother them when they do not want to be bothered). My sister Afah has also seen her face injured and today, my mom received one to the side of her nose just centimeters away from her eyes also on account of Peekaboo. All to the face. Fortunately, all injuries where only superficial and were in no way severe. No one has been scarred for life. You just need to be careful when the cats are agitated and tetchy. But in Peekaboo’s case, you just have to be on your guard because he doesn’t mean to cause you harm, he’s just playful like that and doesn’t really know the extent of damage he can do to us with his claws. To him, biting and scratching is simply an act of play.

EXHIBIT NO. 1: Syafiq's nose.

This one is from Peekaboo because when P.Boo said “I AM NOT YOUR PERSONAL RUBBER DUCKY” – he meant it. Should we say lesson learned here? Unfortunately no, this brother of mine doesn’t really listen.

EXHIBIT 2: Afah's cheek.

This Picasso inspired piece happened on one bright drowsy morning. Now this here I believe was an accident because Angie was the culprit and on normal days Angie does not do any hating. She LOVES people. Seriously. Sometimes Angie likes to sleep with us (it’s an on and off thing) and she also likes to give people massages. Usually not to the face. I think on that morning she somehow mistook Afah’s face for a sore muscle.

You might not want to dangle anything to entice the cats right in front of your own face either. Needless to say that’s like calling a nyah a whore. OUT LOUD. And you KNOW when you do that you’re going to get your face punched in and if you think you’re safe in a car and you try to talk trash from a crack in the window, remember this: Nyahs wear stilettos and stilettos can break windows and possibly your skull too.

From me and the catty kids