Little Tiffy has arrived

At 3.30pm today, Melissa and Kenny came by my place to hand little Tiffy to me.

When I first opened the door, I wondered where she was since I didn't see a pet carrier. But Tiffy is so tiny, she didn't need to be carried in a carrier. Instead, Kenny set down a rose-print handbag on my table and opened it.

Out popped the smallest, cutest, furriest head! With a look of complete blurness, Tiffy looked around at this new and strange place. As Tiffy explored my house at her own leisure, the three of us got down to talking. I wanted to find out all about how they found her, her health, eating habits, litterbox habits and personality.

Sleeping beside me as I work

Tiffy was found in a box with about 5 other brothers and sisters outside a barber shop. It seems like she had belonged to an Indian fellow who has cats. The female got pregnant and that's how Tiffy arrived. A woman who was standing by the box asked Melissa and Kenny to take a kitten. I'm not sure if she has anything to do with the Indian man or if she was just a passerby who guessed that the kittens were abandoned and wanted people to take them home quickly. She told Melissa and Kenny that the father of the litter is a Persian.

This little one hasn't visited the vet yet. So she hasn't been dewormed, vaccinated, checked for fleas and mites, etc. I'll have to make an appointment for her quickly.

Tiffy has been eating two to three meals a day. Although she eats dry biscuits, Tiffy much prefers wet food for now.

She's litterbox-trained, but Kenny tells me that she makes the occasional mistake in a corner or on towels. Melissa had also tried to train Tiffy to do her business on newspapers so sometimes when she sees a newspaper, she'll do the deed. I've decided to 'untrain' her of her newspaper habits. I think it's better since most families leave their newspapers lying all around the house. Meanwhile, she has been using the litterbox well. No accidents as yet.

Melissa and Kenny says that Tiffy is very playful and noisy because she won't hesitate to tell you when she wants food or attention. In the last 8 hours together, Tiffy has been like any other kitten... a little playful. She loves being scratched on her tummy and will nibble lightly on your fingers as you do so. It's absolutely adorable. She mews to let me know when she's hungry or wants to snuggle up, but her mew is so soft... it's really more a purry-squeak than noise.

Trust me when I say that Tiffy's mew is nothing like my litter of 5 rocker kittens. When they all mew together demanding a meal, it's totally like a mad and wild rock concert.

I asked Melissa and Kenny again about Gucci and how he failed to accept Tiffy as family. Well! It seems like in the last few days, Gucci finally accepted Tiffy. He has started to lick her! In fact, just before Tiffy was whisked away to my house, Gucci was licking her rather furiously. Hmmm... maybe he knew it was their final good-bye???

So Tiffy is leaving Melissa and Kenny only because of her father's objections to having a second cat at home... not because Gucci wouldn't accept her. I'm proud of Gucci.

Melissa and Kenny found it very difficult to say good-bye to dear Tiffy and almost wouldn't leave my house, if not for the fact that they hadn't eaten all day and was terribly hungry. Melissa told me that her sister had cried, and that they will be missing Tiffy badly. She asked me to keep her in the loop of Tiffy's adoption, and that she would like to meet the new adopters.

After Melissa and Kenny left, Tiffy and I bonded by having a long, long nap together on my couch. She really loves to snuggle and sleep in really hilarious sleeping positions.

Adorable and affectionate. Tiffy will make a super companion

So tomorrow... I promise... I'll have exciting new photos of Tiffy for you. She's an absolute beauty and I hope my shots of her will do her justice.

~5-Cat Style

Dear Readers, I have bad news...

There will no longer be such photos of Gucci and Tiffy. Because as happy as they may appear in this photo, the truth is... they aren't.

Good moments like this are few and far between

Melissa called me last weekend to ask for help. Her father was demanding for Tiffy to be removed from the house.

Why?

Because Gucci is still unable to accept the little kitten. He is tensed and angry, hissy and aloof. Melissa's father has had enough and doesn't want Gucci to be stressed out further. He feels that a second cat in the house is simply one cat too many.

Does Tiffy know the family's decision?

So poor Tiffy has to go.

In the short two weeks that Tiffy was with Melissa's family, things were certainly dramatic. Gucci was terribly upset with the newcomer and showed his disapproval by staying away from the family.

As Gucci is, by nature, a very affectionate cat, the family felt the silent treatment to its fullest extent.

Gucci in loving arms

Because of all the stress and unhappiness, Gucci came down with an eye infection. The infection, before it was detected, made it appear as though Gucci had been crying. It left the family feeling alarmed and very guilty.

Will there be warm laps for Tiffy in the future?

One morning, without informing the family, Melissa's Dad brought Tiffy down to the void deck and left her there. Gucci, knowing that the 'intruder' was no longer around, became his old happy self again. The family wondered about the sudden change... about why he was so happy and sticking closely to them like glue.

When they discovered what had happened, Melissa's Mum quickly went to search for poor Tiffy and brought her back home.

Melissa knew that she couldn't sit on things anymore and that was when she called me.

Dreaming of a loving home...

I've agreed to foster Tiffy and to look for a loving home for her. So tomorrow at 11am, Tiffy will be brought to me.

... Where she'll be accepted and kept safe

Speaking now as a foster, I am relieved and grateful that the family had decided to keep Gucci. Frankly, I wasn't sure that Gucci would be the one to stay. I thought that it was highly likely that the novelty of having the new kitten would be too strong.

And because I can still remember just how unhappy Melissa's Dad was with Gucci initially, all because his coat was black, I was afraid that this might just be the chance for him to rid his house of a black cat.

I am glad I am wrong.

Melissa and her family gave me their word that they would always care for Gucci responsibly, when they signed the permanent adoption contract. Clearly, they are taking that promise seriously. For that I am grateful.

If they had chosen to give up Gucci instead, I feel that the situation would be that much worse. Finding a new home for Gucci would definitely be a lot more difficult than it would be for Tiffy. That's a given.

Why?

Gucci is older, bigger, less cute. Plus his coat is all-black, not exactly a selling point in a superstitious environment.

So I am relieved that it is Tiffy who needs a new home, and I am grateful that Melissa and her family are standing by Gucci. They really do love this big guy.

I suppose this is the silver lining on this dark cloud.

So now, I await Tiffy's arrival. I'll be working hard at finding a good home for her. Please help me spread the word that this cutie is now up for adoption.

Photos courtesy of Melissa & Kenny

~5-Cat Style

A very lucky coffeeshop cat

Meet Magic Eyes. Isn't she one helluva pretty cat?

Magic Eyes isn't really her name. I just call her that because... man, oh man... just look at those eyes!

Magic Eyes has made herself very comfy in a coffeeshop in Clementi and is extremely popular with the stallholders there. She is their most loyal 'customer'.

It is no wonder then that she was very friendly when she saw me. She walked right on over, sniffed my camera, rubbed her head against my knee and plonked herself down in front of me so heavily that she knocked her head against the leg of a chair.

Then she decided to 'save face' by pretending that it was her original intention to use the chair's leg to scratch her round head.

A stallholder saw Magic Eyes posing for me and yelled out in Hokkien, "This cat, ah.... very pampered. She doesn't eat fish, you know. She only eats pork!"

That certainly does explain her bulk. This really is one well-fed, contented cat.

The Flyer then told me that this cat is a very lucky cat.

The previous coffeeshop owner did not like her at all and wanted to pour boiling water on her.

This outraged the other stallholders who stood up against the ex-owner and protected Magic Eyes.

Since then, Magic Eyes has been like a child to them. They love her to bits and feed her whatever catches her fancy (which seems to be pork).

So really... Magic Eyes is one lucky cat. Not many community cats out there are so cared for.

I hope she'll be loved forever and ever and ever...

... Even after stallholders come and go.

I'll try and pop in on her every now and then. Her ease with humans makes her an absolute darling to photograph.

Below is my favourite shot of Magic Eyes caught with her tongue out.

And I confess... every time I see a cat, I have to... HAVE TO photograph it. I simply cannot help myself.

So when I saw this cat sitting up against a wall, I fumbled for my camera right away.

In the sheer darkness that enveloped us, I squinted and tried my best to focus on the shadowy silhouette that was the cat's. It was awfully difficult.

I was extremely pleased, when I played back the images later, to see that I had indeed managed to photograph the cat.

And what a pose it was! Talk about relaxing after a hard day's work...

~5-Cat Style

This one is growing up to be a real talker

Hahaha! This is the chattiest kitten I've ever seen. This little one, it seems, was chattering at the 23 birds outside. Really!



~5-Cat Style

My Favourite Cat Blogging Words

I've been tagged by my dear furriends, Victor Tabbycat and Bonnie Underfoot.

The tag this time is about my five favourite cat blogging words. They are (in no particular order):

• Pawtraits - Portraits of paws... I learnt this word from Finnegan and Buddy when them clever kitties organised our furrst ever Pawtrait Contest
• Beans & Little Blurpy Things - 'Beans' are human beings... 'Little blurpy things' are little human beings... I heard of little blurpy things from Mad Moses Kitty, but have no idea which kitty started calling our human pets beans
• Niptinis & Meowgaritas - Potent kitty cocktails fur wild purrthday and gotcha-day parties... I don't know who invented Niptinis, but I take the credit for Meowgaritas! I brought them to Finnegan and Buddy's purrthday/St. Pat's party and got Timothy Dickens so sloshed, he was dancing with the lampshade on his head!
• Singapurr - Singapore the teeny-tiny, hot-n-humid country I am furrom

And here's a bonus word that I would like to dedicate to my beauties -- Bonnie, Bella and Princess Mia...

• Catango - A furry sexy feline dance... and one I just so happen to be furrbulous at!

Now... I tag Sanjee, Oscar, Tyler & Jagger, Caturday and Jojo.

~Bombay

An 'extra' talented kitty

This cat doesn't just have 5 toes on each paw, she has 2 tongues too!!!



~5-Cat Style

My bruffer is angry with me

I'm feeling furry sad. My bruffer, Gucci, scolded me and gave me The Paw when I got too excited and pounced on him in the morning.

He refused to have anything to do with me the rest of the day. It made me furry furry sad.

My big bruffer wouldn't let me nap beside him after that. And he wouldn't lie down facing me either. I felt so lonely and rejected.

I couldn't stand napping alone anymore. So when my bruffer was in a deep deep sleep, I crept quietly towards him and lay as close to him as I could.

I hope he doesn't wake up soon. Otherwise, uh-oh... I might just get The Other Paw.

Photos courtesy of Melissa & Kenny

~Tiffy

Do you think...

... I sit smart enough to be a royal Egyptian cat?

~Bombay

A page from Gucci's diary

Dear Diary,

I don't know how it is possible that I suddenly sprung a sister.

My Mommy and Daddy came home two nights ago with this ugly gray thing, calling it my sister. They want me to share my beautiful home, my comfy bed, my water bowl and my litterbox with it! How can they expect me to be happy about that?!

I've been staring at this Thing (Tiffy they call her, Thing I prefer, hehe) and she is quite mad, I suspect... I hope my parents know that.

One moment she's all sweet and docile...

Then she acts furry violent the next! I think she must be... er... schizofurrenic.

When she gets too much, I march on over...

... And I... er... 'remind' her to behave? Yeah, that's it. I GENTLY 'remind' her.

At least she listens to my 'reminders'. Er... Just ignore her frightened look.

When bedtime comes, I let her share my bed with me. But, I don't let her sleep too close to me. I'm a big boy and I need lots of space, you know.

Look at how stoopidly Thing sleeps! Her ears are pricked up and her double chin is out. She's giving us cats a bad name.

Then Daddy came in to kiss us good-night and snuggled down with us. I think he just wanted to make sure I didn't use Thing as a support pillow.

Daddy couldn't stay awake very long and I considered tying Thing up into a bolster.

But, I got sleepy too and I didn't.

Am I not a furry good boy?

Purringly,

Gucci

PS. Thing has ugly gray roughed-up fur, not like my own cool glossy all-black coat. So, really... how can she be MY sister?

Photos courtesy of Melissa & Kenny

~5-Cat Style

Did Gucci have a bad day?

I wonder if Gucci is coping alright at home with his new baby sister. I sure hope he doesn't murder her in a fit of jealous rage.

Nah... I'm sure he won't. He's a gentle soul underneath all that hissing.

But, maybe... I had better check in anyway.

~5-Cat Style

A coup in Gucci's domain

Gucci has been living the perfect kitty life for as long as he can remember.

He is the King of his own domain... President of his own country... a true Numero Uno Kitty in his eyes.

Gucci has always enjoyed undivided attention from his darling Melissa, her boyfriend Kenny, both her parents and her sister.

Whenever he wanted a cuddle, he got it. Whenever he wanted to play, he did.

But, things won't quite be the same anymore.

"Wha...?!"

Meet Tiffy, Gucci's new sister.

Tiffy (name taken from Tiffany & Co.'s) was found alone near Melissa's home. Melissa's heart melted when she saw her and decided to take the dear little thing home and make her part of the happy family.

Tiffy, thought to be about one-month-old, does look very happy indeed. She is settling down nicely at home and is delighted at being the new Princess of the house.

Unfortunately, Gucci is quite startled at this new presence and is hissing his disapproval very loudly.

The loud hissing hasn't put the new Princess off thankfully.

Melissa says that she is trying to spend more time with Gucci to help make this adjustment a little easier for him. As a result, Tiffy has ended up feeling closer to Kenny.

Meanwhile, Gucci's final word on this matter is...

"Hmph!!!"

Photos courtesy of Melissa & Kenny
~5-Cat Style