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??

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! 

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 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.

M6 & M7: Day 3

Mikey & Molten visited the vet today and were given a clean bill of health.  They have also been given their first dewormer and  will be vaccinated in about 1 months time.  The vet said that they can go fully on solids and milk can be given as a treat, which is great news.

The both of them are settling down and shows promising progress with using the litter box.  Mindy is still unhappy but because the 2 boys are now not sleeping in the same room as her, she's somewhat appeased.  The boys will be spending their nights with me now.  My girl, Megan, doesn't seem too happy with me at the moment, but she's easy to please.  I'll pacify her later.  Murphy seems a little afraid of the boys.  While she's very curious about them, she gets scared when approached by Mikey.

Molten is really showing his acrobatic skills.  He can jump rather high and has been showing off.

And because I can't resist, I bought them a pet bed shaped like a flower from Ikea today.  The boys like the tag on the bed better than the bed itself!

M6 & M7: Day 2

Mikey & Molten has spent 1 full day at home now.  My dad put them in the 3rd floor balcony (it's a shaded balcony) with some toys, away from the rest of the menagerie.  They'll need to be quarantined for about a week before they can physically touch and be introduced to the rest, although they have "met" the rest of the group.

Mindy is still grouchy.  She refused to sleep next to my dad, which is very unusual as she normally shares my dad's pillow.  She was growling at me when I approached her after having played with the boys.  I think she can smell them on me.

Murphy is still as enthusiastic as ever.  Molten is definitely the naughty one.  He could see Murphy through the sliding door of the balcony, and while Murphy was there looking at him, he deliberately walked right up to the door and hissed at her.  Making Murphy bark.

Tonight the boys will be sleeping with me.  Hopefully this will appease Mindy somewhat.  But that means that Megan & Murphy will be spending the night in my parents room instead of with me.

My dad was saying that the boys didn't want to drink the milk when he tried feeding them during the day.  When I came home, I tried feeding the boys and they gobbled up 2 bottles (100 ml).  I guess feeding really does need a woman's touch.   Men just can't feed babies!

After having spent the better part of an hour exploring my room, climbing chairs, trying to get into my handbags and urinating on Megan's bed, the boys are finally asleep.  One on top of the other. 

PS: Although my brother wasn't too enthusiastic about the boys, he has been playing with them since they came home.  Guess he's a softie at heart. ;o)

M6 & M7: Day 1

Mikey & Molten just arrived home about an hour and a half ago.  They are both asleep now after having some milk.

Megan and Murphy (especially Murphy, she's still whining and barking at me to let her play with Mikey & Molten) are both excited with the newcomers.  Mikey is very sweet, he was looking at the 2 of them without batting an eyelid.  Molten, on the other hand, was more aggressive.  He hissed at them when they came near.

Mindy has been growling non-stop since the 2 of them came.  She's now hiding in my parents' toilet and refusing to come out.  Let's hope the 2 of them win her heart soon.

Magic and Mocha doesn't seem to have too much interest in the newcomers.

And just to help everyone get the 7Ms straight.  Here's a listing of my menagerie now (in order of age):

1. Magic, Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Male, 10 years 9 months
2. Megan, Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Female, 6 years 5 months
3. Mocha, Shihtzu, Male, 5 years 6 months
4. Mindy, Persian, Female, 4 years 4 months
5. Murphy, Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Female, 3 years 10 months
6. Mikey, Domestic Short Hair, Male, 1 month
7. Molten, Domestic Short Hair, Male, 1 month

Doggy Day

I subscribe to an online pet magazine called Pet Place.  There was an article the other day that talked about a dog's ideal schedule.  It's basically full of play time and nap time.

If you ask me, I think it's the ideal schedule for me too!  I've always thought that a dog's life a good one, and if the ideal dog schedule is anything to go by, I was right! 

And anyone who says that a dog's life is a hard one for sure has not met my dogs!

Obedience Training

Today was the 7th lesson of Murphy's obedience training class. She's doing pretty well. There was a sit/stay and down/stay command that Murphy demonstrated that she is either very lazy or she's really very obedient. The rest of the dogs were fidgeting and breaking their stay command after a few minutes but Murphy stayed in position throughout. Needless to say I was bursting with pride.

Her heel work though needs a little more work. She's not walking/heeling as closely to me as she should. I take it that she's a little too tired as she's normally more responsive.

That's okay, it just means that we'll have to work a little harder this week doing her homework. I'm sure she'll be acing the class by exam time.

Home Bond

It's the second day in a row that Mindy has not been successful in her escape attempts. It's not that she hasn't tried.

With the meshed-up gate, it's hard to tell that there's something there but she senses that something is not right. She has been staring at it the last 2 evenings trying to figure out what exactly is it and why does the gate look blurry to her.

To keep her entertained, I went and bought her a cat tree today. She had one in the past but that was thrown out when she had a lice problem. She's been amusing herself with the mouse that's attached to the tree for the last half an hour. Let's hope this will be enough entertainment for her to forget about the outside world.

Houdini Cat

Mindy tried getting out again a few times today. My mom was saying that one time she tried climbing the gate today, she basically fell flat on her back. I think all that weight makes it harder to be agile. So my dad covered more of the gate with whatever polycarbonate we have left.

In the evening, I saw her trying to climb the gate but because the polycarbonate covered part of the gate, she had problems getting past it and jumped back down. To prevent further escapes, I went to the pet shop and got a mesh. We spent about half an hour meshing up the rest of the gate.

Let me tell you, I didn't think it worked. Mindy got out again. I'm not sure how but to play it safe, my dad moved the marble table in the backyard further away from the wall.

We've ordered more polycarbonate to cover up the gate better.

I'm really in a bind as to what I can do.

Anyone has any suggestions??

Mikey & Molten

I just received the pictures of the kittens. This is Mikey. I am hoping to bring him home this weekend but that is to be confirmed later this week.

And this is Molten. She's a real sweetie-pie ain't she? It's not likely that I can bring her home. I'll leave it to my mom and dad to decide as they'll be the main caregivers.

Another Cat Scare

We had another cat scare today.  Mindy got out again!  I have absolutely no idea how she got out this time around since my dad has already blocked out her previous escape route.

My dad realized she was not around at about 8 pm.  I was playing with her at about 7.  So she got out between 7 and 8.  My dad and I walked around the neighborhood calling out her name.  She came running out from one of the neighbor's house and I scooted at her to get inside.  Luckily she listened and ran into the house.

This cat is really given me a headache.  We have to figure out how to block out other possible routes.  We think she climbed up the gate.  Meshing up the gate wouldn't work as the mesh that is sold at the pet stores basically provide her with a means to climb up.  We are going to get more polycarbonate to cover up the gate.  

Hopefully all our efforts will work now and she'll stop trying to get out to explore the world.  The only good thing about this is that we know for sure she knows her way home.  And this is also a good thing as it's showing us where we need to plug the "holes" before the kitten comes home to us.

New addition?

Today I went to 2 different fosters to have a look at some kittens.  I've been thinking of adopting another pet for a while.  I know that with 4 dogs, having another dog is a near impossibility.  So the other option is another cat.

My youngest baby, Murphy, is already 3 years 10 months old.  She still thinks of herself as a baby and is very frisky.  She loves cats too.  I'm not worried about the dogs accepting the new kitten into the family.  Usually dogs have less of an issue accepting new members as they are pack animals by nature.  If the new addition is introduced properly, they will typically accept it into the fold readily and think of the new addition (be it puppy, kitten, baby or otherwise) as part of the family pack and will protect it.

The first foster we visited had 4 3-month old kittens up for adoption.  3 ginger boys and a black/grey girl.  I was quite taken by Madhu (the sweetest of the 3 ginger boys) but my dad and brother were a little less impressed.  The plus point for Madhu is that he is used to having dogs around so he would be able to take to my 4 without a major issue.

The second foster had 3 6-week old kittens. 1 dark golden girl, 1 charcoal boy and a white boy with a racoon-like tail.  I aimed for the white boy and he basically stole my heart.  My dad was won over by the dark golden girl.  She was really a sweet little darling.  However, with so many girls in my house already, we decided we'll take the white boy.   As he's still a little young, the foster said he'll only be ready for adoption 2 weeks later.

We are going to name the boy Mikey.  My mom and dad even came up with a name for the dark golden girl, Molten.  I wish we can take both in but I think that would not be very possible.

We'll have to see how it goes.

Cat Scare

We just had a bit of a scare. My dad went around looking for Mindy and calling her name. She was nowhere to be found!

I asked my dad to check out the backyard (she likes to hang out there and our domestic helper has shut her out there a couple of times). Turns out she wasn't in the back yard but was outside the front gate! We found her desperately trying to jump over the covering that was put up to prevent her from getting out in the first place.

Luckily it was just a minor scare. She's back save and sound. We guessed that she couldn't have been outside for more than an hour. Now we'll have to figure out another way to cover up the front gate so that she can't get out. She hasn't been out for the last 4 years, so I'm still scratching my head wondering how she did her Houdini trick.