MIA

I've been out of action for a while now. Mainly because I was moving to a new house and there were many things that need to be settled.

The boys are now young adults if you would call them that. They will be turning 1 tomorrow.

Both have grown signficantly with very distinct characters.

Mikey is the food lover who has a devil-may-care attitude. He is not concerned with what goes on with the world as long as he is fed. He wasn't even concerned when we moved. Took to the new house like a fish to water. He was happy as long as his food bowl was filled. He'll meow loudly and insistently if the bowl is empty. He's a very fussy eater, only eating if there is enough canned food mixed into the kibble. He is also turning out to be very affectionate, giving head butts and asking for scratches.

Molten on the other hand is the adventurous one. Having escaped more than once despite our best efforts to cat-proof the house. The good thing was that he never ventured far and responds to his name. Given his constant misadventures, you'll expect him to be one brave soul. Alas, he is the epitome of a scaredy cat. He runs and hides at the slightest noise. He's turning out to be quite a negotiator, meowing a response whenever he is chided or asked to get back into the house, as if to ask for that little bit more time to frolic around. He's also quite a hunter, judging by the number of lizards, cockroaches, toads, moths, ants, etc that he has caught. I appreciate his efforts but would really rather he just let them be. Molten is also not a fussy eater. He will just finish whatever's left in the kitty bowl.

Despite all their flaws, they are my babies. I do really enjoy having them around. :o)

Kamikaze Kats

I'm beginning to wonder if my cats are actually members of a secret ninja society or something.

Molten & Mikey have been trying out flying stunts. I'm not sure what else do you call attempting to jump down from the 3rd storey onto the roof of the 1st floor trellis. Molten has already attempted this twice, and Mikey once. Both survived their stunts as if nothing was wrong. But I must say that Molten at least has some inkling that it's not something we approve of.

We heard a loud BANG at the back yard the other night and opened the back door to check, only to have Molten whizzing pass and up the stairs to hide. He had jumped from the third floor down and I'm not sure how he managed to jump from the roof of the trellis, where he landed, onto the floor.

The boys are definitely more than just a handful!

No iPhone

Well, at the end of it, I didn't get my iPhone afterall. I'll probably remove it from my Wants & Wishes list.

I did go and try to collect it 2 Fridays ago, but because my mobile phone contract still had at least a couple of months to go before I'm "allowed" to upgrade my mobile phone set, I had to pay a penalty of S$100, which I was most unwilling to do. Coupled with the fact that I would lose the Corporate Rate that I am currently paying monthly, it adds to the cost.

I decided to not get the iPhone and to wait for the hype to die down. When the other 2 mobile operators bring in the phone later this year, I'm sure the price will drop. I'm also waiting to check out the new Samsung Innov8.

Wants & Wishes

I'm on my way to fulfilling one of the items on my Wants & Wishes list.  And no, much as I would love it to be item #1, which is the Mini Cooper S Clubman, it's something less extravagant.  

I'll be collecting my new iPhone 3G next Friday!  Yeah!  

I'll post a review of it when I've given it a good run-through.

Kitten Update

After almost 3 months, I am glad to say that Mindy has accepted the fact that Mikey and Molten are now a part of the family. While she is not exactly friendly towards them, she is tolerant. Even if they are sitting right next to her, she's okay as long as a minimum distance is maintained. The boys have also tried to get her to play with them, but I think she feels that she's just too good for them. She hasn't started playing with them yet but would chase them away if they start swatting her tail.

Mikey has stopped seizing, so that's very good news. He seemed okay after his 2nd early this month. So I'm seriously hoping that he was just going through a phase. He is eating almost non-stop. Either he has no food control or he is really very hungry. I can't really tell.

Molten is definitely the sweeter of the 2. He likes to be cuddled and carried. Just last night, when I picked up Mindy, he came running to me and licked my feet and rolled on the floor, rubbing himself against me. He definitely got my attention and I put Mindy on the floor and picked him up, he promptly fell asleep in my arms. My heart definitely melted.

MIA

It's been close to 2 weeks since I last posted.

Things have been hectic at the home front as well as at work. I didn't even have a chance to do my cross-stitch! I've just been catching up on sleep as I felt very tired.

The good news is that Mikey seems to have stopped with his seizures but we'll know more when he goes for his 2nd vaccination this weekend.

M6 & M7: Day 42

Both Mikey and Molten are doing well and eating voraciously. Mikey gave me another scare when he another another seizure at 2am on 11 July.

I did some research on the internet and found that feline seizures are rare. The type of seizure that he is going through is called Grand Mal Seizure, characterized by foaming at the mouth, loss of bladder control and stiffness. Causes vary but the distemper vaccination could be a likely cause. The other possibility is that Mikey might have a growth somewhere in his body that is affecting him. It's also possible that this is a phase that he is going through. I'm hoping that it's either because of the vaccination or he's just going through a phase.

The vet advised to monitor him and if he has more than a couple of seizures a month, we might have to do further tests, including an MRI to see whether it's a neurological problem. I seriously doubt that, as he is smart and active.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he does not have another seizure this month.

Cross-Stitch Project: Chinese Wedding Scene 4

Here's another update of my project.  From the looks of it, trying to finish this in 2 months (and I said that 1 month ago) was wishful thinking.

A more realistic timeframe seems to be end of the year.  Hopefully I can finish it by then.

Bedtime Pals

Mikey & Molten get along real well with Murphy, especially when Murph is asleep.  Here's a cute picture of the 3 of them cuddled together.

M6 & M7: Day 31

Mikey and Molten went for their first vaccination this morning. Both boys were very brave and didn't cry when the vet gave them their jabs. We also weighed them today and both are above 1 kg.  Mikey is 1.1 kg and Molten weighed in at 1.2 kg.

Later in afternoon, Mikey gave me a scare when he started foaming at the mouth and wasn't able to control his bladder.  I called the vet right away (it was a good thing that they were still open) and rushed him back to the clinic.  The vet checked him over and found that he's okay.  It wasn't a reaction to the vaccination and was probably just stress from the journey to the vet earlier.  Which was likely as there were quite a few dogs there in the morning and they were hissing away.

Now both boys are sleeping and all seems well.  I'll have to monitor him for the next 24 hours, just in case.

M6 & M7: Day 29

mI'm a little impressed with the 2 boys today. I think they really know their names now.

Usually when I'm back home after work, I'll let the boys out from the confined space on the 3rd floor and let them roam around the house.  I would usually bring them down to the ground floor and let them wander around, all the time keeping an eye and making sure that they don't run out.

As I needed to get something upstairs, I called out to Molten to come up the stairs with me.  Surprisingly, he climbed up and followed me up the stairs.  Later, as Mikey prefers to play on the 2nd floor, I called Mikey down.  He understood me and came running out of my parents' room and came down the stairs.

Like I said, I'm impressed!

Murphy's Graduation

I've just received Murphy's graduation photo. Isn't she cute!

M6 & M7: Day 26

I'm getting Panda Eyes!

The boys are getting up at 4 am everyday just to play.  And they don't play quietly.  They would chase each other around the room and jump all over the place.  They also seem to ignore the fact that I'm sleeping right there and would run over and on top of me as if I'm just a bump on the road.

It's been getting so bad that Megan has refused to sleep in my room.  Even Murphy is startled awake by them during the night.  

When can I have a sound sleep??

M6 & M7: Day 20

The boys had a little encounter with Mindy yesterday.  They were finally really face-to-face with her and she was definitely NOT happy about it.

She hissed and growled at the boys, so much so that Molten became upset and started making whiny noises.  He tried to approach her and stopped at a safe distance while whining all the way.  Or should I say it sounded like a combination between a whine and a growl.  Mindy held her ground and continued her low growl with the occasional hiss.

Mikey then came from the side and pounced towards her with nary a care.  Mindy decided that she wasn't ready to confront him and bounded off to the front yard and hid under my car.

Hopefully their next close encounter would have a better ending.  

Best in Class

Today was Murphy's "exam" after 8 weeks of training.  She did really well considering that just the week before, she was ignoring me totally in class.

She managed a 188 points out of a maximum of 200.  She's in the top 3, after a poodle and a schnauzer (who both managed a 189) and both these dogs were wearing a pinch collar.  

In my books, Murphy is Best in Class and Top Dog of the Day! 

Cross-Stitch Project: Pooh & Piglet

Here's a project that I completed just before I started the Chinese Wedding Scene.

Cross-Stitch Project: Chinese Wedding Scene 3

What with work and 2 new kittens, I didn't have as much time to spend on my project. There is some progress but not as much as I hoped.

M6 & M7: Day 11

The boys have grown so much and are so agile that the cardboard box is too small to keep them in.  They can jump out of it very easily now, so for the last 2 nights they have been sleeping either in their flower bed or in the cat tree.  Megan and Murphy were okay with them outside the box and 2 nights passed without incident.

Molten seems to be the more needy of the 2.  He insisted on sleeping next to me last night whilst Mikey was happy sleeping alone in the flower bed.

The boys are really growing fast.

M6 & M7: Day 8

The boys are settling down really well.  They have also put on quite a bit of weight.  When they came last week, I could carry the both of the in one hand.  Now, I can only carry one in one hand.  They are also playing with Murphy and Megan.  Or should I say, they are not afraid anymore when Murphy runs right up to them and pokes her nose into their faces.

Mindy is still a little upset.  For some reason, she is constipated and vomited a few times last evening and today.  We brought her to the vet and the reason could be the change in canned food.  At least it's not in reaction to the boys.

M6 & M7: Day 5

The boys are now sleeping in my room together with Megan and Murphy. Murphy was insistent on sleeping with me after one night in my parents' room. She's used to sleeping on my bed and she's not about to give up that privilege. Megan joined in the 2nd night, sleeping on her own bed on the floor. The boys remain in their box during the night but have naps in their flower bed during the day. With the boys spending nights in my room, Mindy is a much happier cat.

I had a nice weekend with them taking naps on my tummy. They love to climb onto my lap and promptly falling asleep. It was nice having them snuggle in my lap while I type away at my computer.

They are already on solids (both canned and dry kibble) for a couple of days and are taking it well. Molten is definitely the greedier of the two. He literally meowed at me and smacked his paw into the bowl when I wanted to add a little warm water to it. Mikey just let me do whatever I wanted with his food bowl.

We've also tried to introduce the boys to the dogs as the vet said that they do not need to be quarantined from the dogs. They will still have to be separated from Mindy for the time-being, not that it's a problem as Mindy keeps far away from them. Magic is totally not interested, while the other 3 would observe their movements. Megan has actually given Mikey and Molten kisses, although I don't think the boys liked it too much.

All is progressing well and I'm glad.