Vet Visit: Ve Ching & Missy

Ve Ching, waiting to go home. 


Missy, after tormenting the vet. 

A vet once told me that animals have two basic response when they arrive at the clinic. They are either very frightened and become very still, allowing the vet to do whatever, or they become aggressive and try to fight the vet at every turn. Sad to say, my two boys are the very frightened ones that will let the vet do anything to them, while my two girls are the fight-like-hell ones. (Read about Harmony's Vaccination Day). Well, at least you can't accuse them of adhering to stereotypes.

Bringing Ve Ching and Missy to the vet is a 2-man operation, that's why we made the appointment for last Saturday. They both have to be picked up and put into their carriers at the exact same time. Otherwise the other will get spooked and run under the bed to hide. In fact, the carriers have to be opened and placed by the front door the night before. Because once the carriers are taken out, everyone (kitties that is) usually runs to hide. It's only after a few hours that they deem it safe to come out of hiding.

Saturday's appointment ran true to form. Ve Ching was nervous and meowed all the way from our flat down to the car. In the car, we faced his carrier to Missy's and covered them both with a towel and he finally quieten down. Missy only started meowing halfway through the car ride cos she wanted a view and didn't appreciate having her carrier covered with the towel.

At the vet's waiting room, Ve Ching crouched as low as he could in a corner of his carrier, while Missy stuck her head out and had a good look around when I opened the top of the carrier. She even tried to come out for a wander when I put her carrier down on the floor for a few seconds.

In the consultation room, Ve Ching let himself be weighed, looked over, pilled and injected in under 3 minutes. Missy, on the other hand, protested at being weighed, growled so loudly that the vet couldn't hear her properly through his stethoscope, pushed the deworming pill out of her mouth with her tongue (the vet gave up after 3-4 tries), but was finally injected and popped back into her carrier.

I'm glad to report that both had no reactions to their vaccinations and are back to their usual routine of sleeping, eating and playing.

Gecko Hunting II

Wouldn't you know it? Right after I post about their last gecko hunting expedition, what did kitties do? Frighten mummy half to death with more of their lizard catching exploits!

The Hunters


Harmony 

Tigger 

Missy 

The Hunted


Gecko 

At around 10+ last night, we noticed Harmony sitting on the balcony ledge, staring intently at the ceiling. We knew then that there must be a lizard/cockroach/fly/any other insect there. Alex took a look and announced that it was a fat, juicy lizard. As it was pretty high up, he deemed it safe where it was and left it alone.

Not long after, while we were watching CSI (recorded), the gecko appeared in the living room and decided to run a mini marathon. Its little lap around the room only served to attract the attention of more kitties. By this time, Tigger and Missy had both joined in the hunt. Everyone got even more excited, when the lizard started to descend the wall. When it was about a quarter way down, Harmony welcomed its approach by scrabbling up the wall. We could hear her little claws clicking as she carried out her version of rock climbing. That at least scared the gecko enough for it to run up the wall again, out of harm's way. We turned our attention back to Grissom and his pals for this hunting business is usually a long drawn affair that could last the whole night.

When the commercials came on, we suddenly noticed that all the kitties had disappeared from the room. With a sense of foreboding, we went in search of the cats. In the study, they were everywhere. Harmony was running furiously up and down one side of the room, in pursuit of the lizard, while Tigger and Missy were watching her closely, all heightened and ready to pounce, should any action come their way. In the middle of the room, there was a lizard's tail that was still wriggling about, trying desperately but hopelessly to distract the kitties from its ex-owner. Alex went off to get a dust pan and brush, to save the gecko with. By the time he got back, the lizard had hidden under the CPU. Alex lifted the box and the lizard made a mad dash... towards me. I ran screaming from the room, followed by the gecko, kitties and Alex with his dust pan and brush. Luckily for me and the gecko, Alex managed to sweep it onto the dust pan pretty quickly and deposit outside the flat. Hopefully, it would have better sense than to come into a multi-cat household the next time.

Gecko Hunting

Everytime a gecko enters our flat, I pray that the kitties will not spot it (killing for sport can't possibly generate good karma for them right?), but they inevitable do. What happens next is a little meowing and then a long patient wait for the gecko to somehow fall down to the ground. Although I've never seen a gecko actually do a freefall (what else are their sticky pads for?), they must somehow do so, because I often wake up in the morning to find bits of lizard around the place, be it a bit of tail or a squashed body.

On this occasion, Ve Ching and Harmony had been hunting the gecko for awhile. But they must have taken their eyes of it for a moment 'cos the lizard seemed to have made good its escape, as shown in the picture above. Seconds later, Ve Ching spotted the gecko making its getaway and immediately jumped onto the Osim chair and used it as a springboard to launch himself at the lizard. Unfortunately he crashed onto the wall, bounced off the floor and careened towards the balconey. Alex rushed to pick him up to see if he was alright, and saw something white sticking out of his mouth. He shook Ve Ching and lo and behold, the gecko dropped out. With his hands full of squirming, wriggling cat, Alex yelled at me to save the lizard before Ve Ching gets loose. "You've got to be kidding!?! I'm not about to touch an eeky creepy crawly lizard," was the first thought that came to mind. Luckily for me, by the time I reached the balcony, the gecko had already made good its escape by dashing out the front door. That is one lucky lizard!

Thanks Dawn!

Tigger the Unofficial Meow Mix Spokescat

Dawn came back from the U.S. with a Kitty Hoots Tail Chaser and some Pounce and Meow Mix treats for my kitties. Tigger, Ve Ching, Harmony and Missy would like to say a big thank you to their Auntie Dawn! Ve Ching drooled so much over the Tail Chaser in the 1st five minutes (because of the powerful catnip), that it was absolutely drenched. Only Harmony would deign to play with it after that. I wouldn't have touched it with a 10-foot pole!

The Meow Mix Box is so adorable, as ably demonstrated by Tigger above. Inside, the treats are also very cute, as some are shaped like a cat's head while others look like tiny fishes.



Harmony Attacking the Tail Chaser

Japanese Tea Commercial

I love this video too! Alex will probably say that the way the little caterpillar cries reminds him of me. To which I say: :P in advance.

Kitty & Rooster

I love this video. When I first came across it, I watched it non-stop three to four times. It's better appreciated without the sound I think.

Tigger, An Addict?

Today, I caught Tigger licking the glue off an envelope. It set me wondering again, whether he could have been a substance abuser in a past life. As recently as a few months ago, Alex had a sticky board on the wall next to his study table, on which he pasted his notes etc. Tigger would lick the exposed areas, i.e. the sticky bits of the board. Glue is also not the only substance that Tigger likes licking. Whenever he comes across any photographs, he would lick the stuff that makes up the glossy sheen of the photos. And no, he doesn't seem to get a high from all that licking.

Living in a HDB Estate

I love, love, love living in a HDB flat. Today, when I went downstairs to get my lunch, I spotted a mangosteen, sitting by its lonesome self, in the middle of the 11th storey lift lobby. It just seemed so strange, a mangosteen sitting all by itself, with just a piece of tissue paper for company. I contemplated clearing them off, but didn't want to rob someone else of this curious sight, for at the very least, it might just amuse them as it did me.

Later, when I went to get dinner, it was no longer there. But I saw it again, about a block away, on a little strip of grass between two blocks. Was it the same mangosteen? Or was there a little old lady walking around with a plastic bag that was leaking mangosteens?