Wednesday, August 31, 2005

things that turn a heart cold

the woman googles animal abuse after reading this blog entry Animal Cruelty in Singapore is considered no big deal and finds the following:

Animal Abuse & Human Abuse: Partners in Crime
PETA People for Ethical Treatment of Animals

The PETA Media Center has this to say:

  • "Anyone who has accustomed himself to regard the life of any living creature as worthless is in danger of arriving also at the idea of worthless human lives," wrote humanitarian Dr. Albert Schweitzer.

  • Parents who neglect an animal's need for proper care or abuse animals may also abuse or neglect their own children. Some abusive adults who know better than to abuse a child in public have no such qualms about abusing an animal publicly.

  • Schools, parents, communities, and courts who shrug off animal abuse as a "minor" crime are ignoring a time bomb.

  • ... children should be taught to care for and respect animals in their own right. After extensive study of the links between animal abuse and human abuse, two experts concluded, "The evolution of a more gentle and benign relationship in human society might, thus, be enhanced by our promotion of a more positive and nurturing ethic between children and animals."

    if i were the judge for the cruelty case with the Alaskan Malamute, I would similarly fine him $3000 to cover my precious time spent in court on him. i would also have him donate $7000 to SPCA or Action for Singapore Dogs dedicated to efforts on uncovering other errant pet owners like him.

    a jail term would be largely punitive. i will give it to him anyway in hopes of deterring other morons cut from the same mold. but for the sake of his future pets and his family, i would make him undergo psychiatric evaluation, get some empathy training and do community service with an animal hospital or organisation for a year. he will also not be allowed to have a pet unless certified human again by professional psychiatrist.
  • Monday, August 29, 2005

    procrastination kills - Fruity falls from window

    the man and woman has been talking about installing chicken wire on the gate and grill for the longest time but procrastinates. today the woman forgets to close the window by the bed and Fruity falls 3 floors down. when she discovers that Fruity is missing and suspects the worse has happened, the woman flies into a panic and runs downstairs to see Fruity lying on her side in blood.

    Fruity looks up at her and meows, relieving the woman of her worst fear. the mouth and one paw are bloody. checking the limbs as best she could, the woman does not find signs of broken bones and rushes Fruity back upstairs where the man is still looking the place over for the kitten. after a few minutes of frenzied disorganisation, the man calls ahead to the vet while the woman grabs the carrier basket and rags.

    when it is time to leave, they find Fruity spitting blood and in shock under the sofa. she snarls with blind aggression, body arched, claws out and hair standing. when the woman tries to carry her, she bolts soiling herself out of sheer terror. the woman finds it hard to keep panic from her voice as she coaxes Fruity out of the hollow back of the cabinet where she desperately hides with body half in half out. the sound she makes is intense and knife-like to the soul. i sit up on the dining table and smell the anguish.

    Fruity calms down once the woman has her in her arms and she quietly settles into the rags in the carrier as they all rush to the vet in a cab.

    fortunately, it all looks worse than it is. the vet finds nothing broken. the blood is from a small cut on the nose. the x-ray shows a slight bruising on the lungs due to the impact of the fall which will heal quickly. Fruity will just be feeling very sore all over for a couple of days.

    back home, Tooty runs up to Fruity and licks her as she lays quietly down to rest. the man and woman makes getting the chicken wire top priority.

    afterwards, when the woman can look back on the episode without breaking a sweat, she finds humour in the old boxer shorts that is hastily grabbed to wrap Fruity in as she is transported to the vet. when the vet lifts Fruity from the carrier basket, she is clutching the old raggedy navy boxers in her paws. she wonders if the vet thought that short of a suitable article at hand, the man might have dropped his shorts in valiant desperation to save the injured kitten.

    Thursday, August 25, 2005

    lana comes to visit



    man's friend brings his new 3-mth old Shih Tzu pup over to visit our animal family. i watch from the dining table as they let the kittens out to play.

    i am ashamed to say that tooty and fruity ran from her at sight. even though the pup does nothing but sprawl eagle spread on the floor the whole time. one to lana (lang). oh, but it does get up. it waddles behind the study table and wees there.

    tooty gets braver as the night wears on, inching closer and closer to the pup. it crouches behind my litter box and crawls its way right up to lana, ready to pounce. it gets there just when lana raises its big flat head in curiosity. tooty scrams, two to lana.

    i get a little tired of this sad scene and make my way to my favourite corner by the front door. everyone and animal stop what they are doing and their stare follow me as i step off the dining table onto the sofa arm and down onto the floor between the humans, kittens and pup. i stretch when i have their fullest attention and leap up on the study table. everyone breathes a sigh of relief. i enjoy that.

    keeping the family together

    keeping an animal family together is as tough as keeping any family together. there are days when the man and woman are tearing their hair out trying to juggle work, finances, each other and us. with a lot of yelling.

    and there are days when they just want to give up. the kittens are impossible. i whine at the slightest hint of annoyance. rabbeet sulks. the man and woman contemplate giving us all away.

    'we have no fucking time to be running after fucking animals all day.'
    'what's your problem? no time so give them away la!'
    'give maneki away, old cat so grouchy.'
    'no, not maneki! give away the kittens, people always want kittens.'
    '(knnccb)... you want to give give all, or else don't give.'

    a big problem is the rising animal bills, an uncertain financial future and the very real sacrifices that may soon have to be made in order to sustain us. its a good thing the woman watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory recently. Grandpa George says to Charlie, "Only a dummy would give this up for something as common as money. Are you a dummy?"

    Saturday, August 13, 2005

    too something or other

    Rabbeet and I would sooner be alone than have to oblige the other animals in the house. the man and woman accuses us of being too reclusive, too frigid. Rabbeet is worse (i judge too). he rejects the hands that feed him and that is, even to me, too depressing.

    but gregariousness does not save the other animals or the humans from having their own labels. Tooty is too hyper, Fruity is too fat, the woman too zealous, the man too sardonic.

    Leafty thinks he is perfect of course. he is cute, doesn't make any noise and plays well with others. but like any girl who finally finds her perfect guy discovers, somebody will find him too something or other.

    personally, i find the albino rabbit too politically-correct, the sly bastard.

    Wednesday, August 10, 2005

    no good pets

    the woman catches Tooty grooming and playing little animal games with Leafty. Fruity wants to play too but cannot read him as well and he ends up running from her.

    social skills are a learnt skill and that applies to us animals too. i am much too old to start being all accomodating and affectionate but the three younglings are learning and seem to be taking cues from the more astute Tooty. i am slowly learning too the rules of social engagement with the man and woman, and the other animals in the family.

    but still i don't see myself as belonging to anyone, not even the man and woman. that is the way a cat is. i am slowly but surely being tamed but as to whether i am a pet? yes, in the sense that someone is responsible for my health and wellbeing. no, in the sense that no one dictates what i can or cannot do, where i can or cannot go, except me.

    so i tend to agree with my detractors. it is not in my nature to be an indoor pet. then again, i won't call a dog an indoor pet either. they need their share of fresh air and wide open spaces. difference is, they want human companionship more and is far more willing to sacrifice to get it.

    yet cats like most anyone respond to kindness. we form attachments and we don't take them lightly. i love my walks, but i know where i want to call home. when the man or woman calls, i traipse back. when i wake up perturbed sometimes, i go back to sleep only when i hear or see them around me. we are tamed by attachment, not ownership.

    and we feel intense loss when that attachment is broken.

    a lot of the rules that humans hold pet owners to have to do with boundaries. cats, dogs, rabbits, do not understand boundaries like humans do. territories yes, but these we know are ever changing. it's hard to respect something we don't understand. a good pet seems to be one that is easily confined and supervised. that rules out almost everyone i know, cats, dogs, rabbits, hamsters and some fish. so there really aren't any good pets, just caged or leashed ones.

    i can only dream of a place where people and animals abide in the same space outside of the artificial rules of ownership. where a curious invigorated life is not a life at risk.

    responsibility does not equate constraint. although sadly, to many pet owners who do not want to run foul of human conventions, it is much easier to think it is so.

    Sunday, August 07, 2005

    Fruity makes a quick recovery

    her eye is good now.

    here's a picture of Fruity that the woman shows to everyone she meets and they all go 'aohh....' i don't see what the fuss is about.

    Saturday, August 06, 2005

    cats don't belong here

    the woman is told that cats are not allowed as pets in hdb.

    she remembers reading something like this on an expat website and presumes it misinformed as it sounds ridiculous. she even laughed at the misconceptions ang mohs have about tight-assed singapore. but now she hears it from the officer at the town council.

    the woman is calling town council about the people who came round to investigate the complaints about stray cats. she wants to know what they do with the animals that are rounded up if it ever comes to that. the officer is sympathetic enough. it is the town council's job to investigate complaints but it is a grim detestable job rounding up cats and they rather not have to do it. so they hope crusading cat-loving people like the woman will clean up after the cats, sterilise them and keep them out of the way of crabby cat haters.

    i wonder if people appreciate the irony here. so hdb cat lovers gets to own all the responsibilities but not the pet. so when is a cat a pet? i would assume if you feed it, care for it, it is a pet. presume they mean to draw the line at keeping us as indoor pets. the reason being, cats cannot be kept indoors, they tend to roam and cause nuisance to residents. so the solution is to keep them all outdoors and roaming. i'd like to pick that brain.

    Streats Cat Welfare Society Asia Homes Wild Singapore

    i am a cat illegally kept in a 3-rm hdb and have no power or influence whatsoever on anyone about this mind-bloggling policy. in fact, as a cat, i have a case against myself as an easy pet to keep. La Idler is much too kind to say that after spaying (sterlising) we don't go for walks, caterwaul and we don't drool. period. well s/he hasn't met me, and i have been spayed twice.

    if we sneak into your house uninvited, caterwaul, fight, give you the evil eye, please remember that we are just being our god-given selves. if we are particularly errant, please remember that even for humans, a neglected life makes anyone a little paranoid and a little desperate.

    i have a great home and am well fed, but i am not dead. i don't do many of the things that strays do but i have a natural curiosity and i protect my territory because after all i am a cat. i drool because i am old and can't always control my facial muscles.

    fromhell strikes the right note. you build the city the way you want and we are stranded in it. cats have no natural habitat. star tortoise can at least claim the indian semi-desert or forest as their rightful home. so if you must blame someone for our detestable existence, blame the eqyptians for domesticating us back in 4000BC.

    or the people who dump their pets on the streets. especially them.

    i never thanked the uncles and aunties enough for leaving food out for strays those long days i spent on the streets. they help keep us sane. i remember an auntie getting an earful from this guy who claims that she is attracting more and more cats into the neighbourhood and thus more noise/mess/trouble.

    if i had the words i would tell him that if auntie did not feed us, we would not quietly go away because cats have all available urban territories covered. there are 80,000 of us out there. we will be hunting, scavenging and fighting for survival and that is much more trouble than he can imagine. worse, more of us get diseased.

    of course, many cat haters would like to see us rounded up and culled. i say culled because what are the chances that we are claimed or adopted? even if there are irresistable cats in our demographics and gene pool, hdb rules out 86% of the population as potential adopters. thankfully, culling is a danger word in the govt's vocabulary. the govt been there done that during sars and was rewarded with scathing local and international press for an uncompassionate, unprogressive singapore. Sydney Morning Herald Singapore Veterinary Association CatSite.com

    but the woman remains paranoid that there might be discreet ways of getting rid of cats because no one keeps track of us.

    she can't understand how someone can love their families and not have compassion for the rest of humankind. how they can love their kids without an ounce of sympathy for living breathing animal life. love is compassion and empathy. if you can extend to one why not to all. of course, humans are limited and naturally selective and can spread their love only in varying degrees. but an about-turn calls into question the quality of the way the person loves. it tells you the person expects returns on their love and so it is bestowed only on those that directly benefit their lives.

    another sterling example of Singapore's apathy towards animals Singapore Govt Strikes Again Noah’s Ark Natural Animal Sanctuary (NANAS) now resides in Pekan Nanas, Johor.

    jeremy

    town council people makes the rounds in the neighbourhood after receiving complaints about stray cats. so happens that jeremy is getting some sun in the corridor and the man is adviced to surrender him to ava to avoid illegal possession.

    the woman calls ava to find out what happens to the star tortoises that are surrendered. the officer says that there are a few places that will take the tortoises and have the expertise to care for them. They are the zoo and the tortoise museum at chinese gardens. but he says that these places are almost at the limit of their capacity. it probably also depends on the condition of the tortoises that are surrendered whether they do go to these sanctuaries.

    repatriation back to india is often not an option because of the immense logistical issues it poses. its not just the import/export licenses and country to country negotiations the officer talks about. wonder how a tortoise like jeremy will take to the wild again.

    the officer cannot say what will happen when the local sanctuaries have to stop taking in the tortoises because of overcrowding. in the mean time, while they concentrate their efforts on stopping the illegal trade and doing more public awareness, it is up to everyone to stop buying them.

    as the tortoise does not belong to the woman, she informs her friend to make the call about the fate of jeremy.

    Thursday, August 04, 2005

    Fruity gets her eyes scratched out

    it wasn't me.

    and it's not as bad as it sounds. it is a small cornea tear, probably the deed of Tooty. they just can't stop chasing, pouncing and wrestling each other. this is normal kitten behaviour but it is bloody annoying. the noise they make. and the cat manual says, it lasts for about 5 months. god help us.

    the manual also says that minor cornea tears heal rather rapidly. the woman monitors.

    Abscess Cat and other cats in the neighbourhood

    there are 3 other cats that share the block with me. we don't see tibby, an orange stray cat, around anymore. uncle leaves food for it at the stairs landing between the 2nd and 3rd floor so it often wanders past our front door to get to it. it had the audacity to walk into our flat through the grills once. i let it know how i felt about that. but i don't see uncle leaving food at that particular spot anymore, which is a shame because i like to go lick it sometimes when i am darn sick of the prescription dry food. the woman always tries to stop me.

    Now, an old Tomcat keeps coming around and rubbing itself on our corridor and the junk the man and woman leave outside the flat. it has a red collar so i presume it belongs to somebody. i detest it to the core and chase it on sight. the devastating snarl i make wakes up my next-door neighbour and on cue, she pours water and sprays insecticide all over her section of the corridor.

    abscess cat is a butt ugly brown stray cat that stakes out the letter boxes. its not bad enough that it has a tragically unlovable face, it has to contract a bad case of abscess too. hence the name. there is no sign of growth as in the case of maneki 2 but the excessive drooling is a dead giveaway. the drool is so thick that when it reaches the ground and comes in contact with someone's discarded junk mail, it drags it along. of course, there is that smell.

    the woman feels sorry for it and lets it run around her legs and rub itself against them. that's about the only human/cat contact it's ever going to get because most people have the good sense to run. the woman even goes so far as to pet it sometimes. until one day, she stooped down too far, abscess cat got curious about her glasses, jumped up and snatched them off her, leaving a deep scar on her face where one of its claws stuck.

    after one of these abscess cat encounters, the woman would soak her clothes in dettol. on that particular day, her face too.

    my animal family stays here

    Wednesday, August 03, 2005

    the place is too small for the 3 of us

    i am talking about the kittens and me. i don't much mind the rabbits as they have the subterranean all to themselves. i get the high ground. jeremy doesn't go anywhere. but those kittens...

    they are everywhere. they go on the bed and lick the man's head when he sleeps. they go on the sofa and curl up to the woman as she watches tv. they chase each other around the dining chair legs. they climb precariously on top of the chivas and vodka bottles. they tunnel into the laundry basket. they sniff around my litter pan and sit on my scratching board!

    the woman tries her best to keep them away from me and my favourite things but she is getting tired and dreams of a big happy family. well, dream on!

    i prefer the outdoors now where i choose a nice cool spot to watch the world go by. she still reserves her bed for me, throwing the kittens back in the utility room come bedtime. change the way i feel about them? i don't know. let me think about it.

    8 and counting...

    the woman is mad. the place is already turning into a petting zoo and she accepts a star tortoise from a friend who is going away for 2 years.

    nevermind that the star tortoise is endangered, completely unsuitable for tropical weather and is probably illegal to possess. i sure hope he didn't come to singapore packed in a hand luggage. BBC ACRES Wildlife Trust of India

    talk about a pet being for life. this is a pet that might outlive you if it does miraculously survive the less than adequate conditions and the pathetic lettuce and zuchinis. and where will it be? old, feeble, sick, abandoned in an urbanhellscape. and he has a lot of years to be miserable. thank god cats only have about 15.

    i hear ya, jeremy.

    Leafty makes new friends

    a rare shot in the dark.

    i have to share

    we have had tooty & fruity (who names these animals??) for a little over a month now, since 26 Jun 2005, and i am still adjusting.

    recently, the man and woman have started to let them roam out of the utility room into MY space. i tolerate it as the woman reassures me each and everyday that i am still her number one. but don't i see them near my food and water bowls. the woman bangs the table when they get precariously close to warn them that that is MINE. touch at your own risk.

    Tooty especially, seems to have a death wish. she darts like a maniac all around the house and comes right up to me every chance she gets. when i hiss at her, she stares back all eeky curious. smarten up, kiddo. that's no way to survive on the streets and you will be back out there if i have a say in it.

    Fruity is the slow blur one. she has wandered out there longer before being found and it shows. she is smaller, her fur is all haywire and her reactions are retarded. it took her a while to get the hang of jumping the utility room barrier when Tooty is leaping over any opportunity it gets like a true cat can. Fruity jumps, hangs on and slides back down, a disgrace. its abnormally large abdomen is not helping any. it was worse but the laxatives and bene-bac are doing their trick.

    but of course, humans think Fruity is so cute with its big doppey eyes. they say Tooty looks fierce as it is all lean and watchful-eyed. they say i look fierce and i take that as a compliment.

    only the woman thinks i am cute. i give her my big doe eyes because she loves me.

    Tooty & Fruity

    And then there are 7.

    new pussies in town

    and they are cuter.

    man finds a white black orange kitten at the void deck and takes it upstairs. it's so small it sits on the palm of a human hand. no one can resist something that small.

    not to upset me, the man and woman sets up a place for it in the utility room, sacrificing their big red cushion for the runt. they are wary of me after seeing the way i spring into action anytime a cat comes close to our front door. i chase it, i wail at it and i claw. so they got their sleeping bag out and start taking turns sleeping in the utility room with the kitty.

    the woman even brought it to her yoga class as she isn't sure about leaving me alone with it at home. she's probably right. i hate it.

    the kitten makes itself useful at the SPCA Healing Hands project that the woman volunteers at for 2 days. walking around with it and a donation tin is a winning formula. people donate $5, $10, $50 even, when they stop to ooh and ahh over the cute puss all wrapped up and snug on someone's arm. it is a big hit.

    a week later, the man finds another kitten with the same white black and orange marks and once again brings it back home.

    i'm cute

    Maneki 2

    Maneki 2 disappears and sometime later, the man and woman see it at their void deck. they go up to it and discover a huge growth on the side of his face. it has a massive jawline before but it is now twice the size on one side. when he yawns, yellow pus drips from his mouth. the stench is unbearable.

    woman and man pack Maneki 2 off to the night clinic. they apologise to the cab driver for the overwhelming smell and are grateful he does not mention it.

    they leave Maneki 2 at the clinic overnight for a check-up and go home to wait for the results.

    the next day, the vet calls and they have a difficult choice to make. it costs another $200 on top of the $300 they already paid as a deposit to clean out the decay and pus. that's a staggering amount they could not afford. more importantly, Maneki 2 tests positive for feline virus. he would require constant medication for the rest of his life.

    the man and woman feel helpless and a little more. the cat was fine just a month before, how did it get so bad? if they had taken him home with them on that first night.

    the situation now stands that they have no resources to care for him in this state and putting him back on the streets would mean passing the virus on to the other cats in the neighbourhood. SPCA? the decision is likely the same. they make the choice to put him to sleep.

    the woman goes back to the clinic after work. the vet isn't there so she pesters the staff on duty for explanation of the test results. 'what's felv, fiv?' 'is the cat in pain?' 'will the cat survive without treatment?' all useless words of course. the staff is patient as the woman breaks down. she decides not to witness the deed and then decides she would.

    the woman visits Maneki 2 in his alloted cage. he is eating! the woman starts to have a change of heart and has more questions for the staff. but it comes back to the virus, it is not going away.

    the philipino male assistant places Maneki 2 on the stainless steel table and he sits there quietly. the woman strokes him as she tells the assistant how much Maneki 2 resembles the cat she has at home (me). She tells Maneki 2 that everything is alright and that she loves him. more useless words. the assistant rubs a little alcohol on Maneki 2's right paw and injects him with a green liquid. he does not flinch but slumps down instantaneously as the woman continues to stroke it. the assistant places his hand over the eyes and its over.

    my twin

    i like to go for walks in the middle of the night (a sign the multivits and prescription diet help in forstalling the inevitable) . sometimes to the 2nd floor landing, mostly just along the corridors and occassionally to the back of the block. when they are about to turn in, man and woman will come get me.

    on one of their nocturnal 'dates' (yep, they call walking around the neighbourhood looking for their cat 'pak to'. such is married life) they get frantic because i learnt to hide from them so that i can buy myself a little more me time. they split up. the woman takes the lift to the 10th floor and starts there. the man goes behind. he sees me, picks me up and starts walking back.

    he thinks to himself, she smells real bad. and what's that between her legs??

    the cat looks like me but is NOT me, pal! yes, it has the same grey shade, is about the same size but on a closer look, he has a bulldog jawline and he has balls! from that day onwards, he is christened maneki 2 and they play with it everytime they see it. they want to take it back with them but their finances hold them back.

    i go for a check-up

    woman worries when i start to sleep all the time. she takes me for a check-up and the vet has bad news. my kidneys are failing.

    i am peeved. i am old. things are bound to start falling to pieces but leave me some dignity and some mystery. i try my best to keep cheery, the minute i slack off i am probed, felt up, held forcedly down while they take a picture of my insides.

    it's not the check-up, i am just grumpy. it comes with age. i don't want her or anyone to know i am not at my best. when did it all creep up on me? the way she looks at me now. she cries at night as she strokes me. i love her and knead her stomach as she strokes me. its all i can do to be a better cat.

    poor Leafty

    feeling bad that the once free-roaming Leafty is all caged up, the woman toys with the idea of giving Leafty away. she trys the pet forum at www.pets.com.sg and gets quite a few calls. but she couldn't bring herself to give Leafty away.

    a friend of hers keep rabbit, a lop-eared bunny. they take Leafty away for 2 weeks to see if he will bond with her. but alas, it doesn't work out and Leafty is back in the cage condo in the utility room. he also contracts weepy eye and is a miserable sight.

    the break up

    see this? it ain't happening no more. maybe because i changed the dynamics in the household, or young Leafty is growing up and doesn't want to be anyone's bitch no more. whatever it is, woman and man find the rabbits at each other tooth and claw when they come home one day. fur is flying but no blood.

    after that, Leafty gets the cage condo. the grills however, does not keep the rabbits from scratching at each other. they also start a shit warfare around the perimeter of the cage. the woman has enough so Leafty and cage goes to the utility room.

    FOR SHAME!

    dumb man dumb woman take me to the vet to be spayed. they open me up and guess what they found, I'VE ALREADY BEEN SPAYED! i could've told them but dumb humans don't speak cat. of course, my previous owner didn't bother to mark me as spayed. back then, they thought it might 'damage' my good looks so now i have to live with the stitches and a drafty bald spot all for nothing. for shame!

    i arrive

    i join the family in previously described fanfare on 16 feb 2005 and quickly establish myself as queen. once out of the cage (when it is clear that i have absolutely no interest to hunt bunnies) the woman can't get enough of me. i dine on their oversized dining table leaving suspicious brown stains and plenty of hair everywhere. this grouses their friends out when they are over.

    i sleep on the bed with them, usually on the woman's side as it is much closer to the food, which is just a quick hop away from the bed onto the chair and then the dining table (yeah, their place is that small).

    my swheat scoop (swear by it!) litter pan is in the middle of the living area. she likes to watch me take a dump. says i look so cute doing it.

    life is good for me. but the bunnies, well...

    Tuesday, August 02, 2005

    the language of lagomorphs

    Rabbeet is sterilised the next day. after a recuperation time-out, he is taken to visit Leafty. it is love at first sight.

    Rabbeet starts to hang out outside Leafty's cage every waking minute and they start to bond. the first couple of times Leafty is let out of the cage however, Rabbeet displays dominance with aggression and mounting. it shocks the man and woman but they come to terms that that is what rabbits do. soon, the hierachy is established and the 2 bunnies are inseparable.

    Leafty joins the animal family

    after a couple of weeks in cage, Rabbeet is let out to roam the apartment. he is happy enough entertaining itself but never quite gets used to human company. if you ask me, i think he had a tough old time out there too and knows to watch his back. cats are the same but we have a couple more defenses going for us so we don't mind the humans getting close. if they screw up, they get screwed if you know what i mean.

    after 2 months, he starts to look a little lonely and the woman thinks about getting him a companion.

    the woman signs up as a SPCA volunteer and goes to the briefing at Mount Vernon with her friend. in the mean time, they check out the pound and there sits Leafty in his cage. he captures their hearts immediately, but as Rabbeet has yet to be spayed, they decide to come back again in a week.

    cooing about cute little Leafty all the way into town, their mania grows 'what if Leafty gets adopted within the week??!' 'no!' at scotts road they turn and drive all the way back to Mount Vernon to adopt the albino dwarf with the yellow pee stains.

    he comes away from SPCA is a brown box, the very same one the woman stuffed me into on route to my uncertain fate at the SPCA. after a pedi/mani with the ladies at far east plaza, they take Leafty back to his new home and he becomes our no. 4 on 4 Dec 2005.

    Monday, August 01, 2005

    meet Rabbeet

    i am situated in the utility room while i recuperate because as i discover, i am no. 5 in this animal family. besides the man and woman, the rest of the 3-rm apartment is playground to 2 dwarf bunnies, Rabbeet & Leafty. They roam free in the flat and particularly like it under the bed and a corner of the bathroom right next to the bowl where their constant butt resting has left a permanent brown stain on the tile. (eek) but the man and woman don't much care. it makes for opportune bunny bonding time when they do whatever it is they do in the toilet.

    the 2 bunnies affectionately share everything and get up to some mad capers zipping around the house tripping up the man and woman and doing bunny hops on the turkish carpet.

    the woman and the man found Rabbeet wandering next to a construction site on 08 Sep 2004 while walking home from Holland Village at 3am. they talked about getting a pet when they have more cash but there was Rabbeet hopping right onto their path and that decided it.

    it's not easy trying to catch a rabbit in the dark and with no experience. after some clumsy failed attempts, the woman emptied her laptop bag onto the grass and upturned it onto the rabbit, scooping it up. she was on a roll and ran all the way back to the flat with a brown rabbit head bobbing up and down out of the laptop bag held chest high in front of her. the man followed behind with the laptop, mouse, mousepad, wires and several files in a desperate clutch wondering about the crazy world he just stepped into.

    The next day, Rabbeet went to the vet. He had a mild case of scabies but was otherwise healthy.

    i am what i am

    this is me the day i came to the family. the woman's cousin drives us from SPCA to Mount Pleasant for a look-over and then to Holland V Pet Lovers for supplies. they both have to work so they get me a big tiered cage and leave me there in the pet wash line.

    the pet shop people are nice and helped keep my water and food bowl filled. i am all cleaned up by the time the woman and her cousin are back. the groomer is concerned that my skin had next to no elasticity, a danger sign of dehydration.

    the cousin got us back to my new home. she suggests to name me after the japanese beckoning cat. the woman googles it and that is how i became maneki neko. while the more popular white or red maneki neko beckons fortune, the black maneki neko is said to ward off evil. so that is probably what i do here.

    my uncertain fate

    i had a good meal in the night and i didn't have to share it. in the morning, they brought me to the vet on duty. i see the woman was back at the reception. the vet was nice. she told her that although i was old (over 8yrs. cats don't keep count but that would explain the stoop and the wonky paw-eye coordination) i was of *gentle* nature with some good years ahead of me with proper care. but there was something in the way she said 'old'. i don't blame her much, normal people would not adopt droopy old balding cat with no teeth when there are the sprightly selections in the next room. just they wait till they get where i am.

    i looked up at the woman with my widest eyes of innocence. SPCA gave her back the surrender form and she took me home.

    meet the woman

    i am a cat. if you doubt, go look at my picture. i am starting this blog because i am increasingly disgruntled with my family and need to rant. read on at your own risk. it is not my intention to turn humankind against itself but if i do, well, you bloody deserve it.

    since this blog is about the family, i will begin on the day i meet the woman. life as a stray is a bitch, especially for a cat like me that has had a good number of years in domestic bliss. i used to be cute but now people run from me ever since the street diet (when i get it) has given me a bad festering itch.

    as with previous evenings, i wander towards the void deck where uncle leaves food out. its not bad when there's any left but wouldn't you know, cat with 1 tooth and no street skills is pretty low on the food chain so i wait for the others to finish.

    woman gets off the cab and starts cooing like a nut. as the others scatter at her enthusiasm, i stuck to her leg meowing my sacharrine sweetest as she stoops and pets my head. she stops when she sees my bald scabby patches and runs. figures.

    as i settle back into my wait, woman comes back with a beaten up brown box and puts me in it. it stank of rabbit, curses! what the hell does she think she is doing? i struggle, i yelp, i scream and i tear the box at the top, side and bottom. but she holds it together with all available parts of the body, while asking people at the bus stop to help flag a cab. not much luck there. a man grunted 'no' and slided away as i put a paw with hooked claws through the box and it stayed there because her hands were full with my nose jamming through the top and my hind leg breaking through the bottom. the box was a shambles, she was a wreck, people stayed away.

    finally a man on a crutch hailed her a cab and helped put us in it. 'SPCA', she said. the cab driver sped us there while i yelped up a storm in the box.

    at SPCA, the night staff picked me up by the skin behind the neck. excuse me peoples, i am no fresh itsy pussy so its gotta hurt! the woman tells the staff that i am in a bad condition (to put it mildly) and is there anything SPCA can do for me? when it is clear the woman is going to leave me there, he asked the woman to sign a condition of surrender 'on the understanding that it is left to the SPCA's discretion whether the animal/s will be selected for adoption or humanely destroyed'. she started to ask a lot of questions pertaining to 'humanely destroyed' and so she should. 'So how does SPCA decide whether the animal will be selected for adoption or destroyed?' The staff could not say. 'It is the vet's decision.' 'Can I call to check after the vet has seen it before i fully commit the animal?' 'No, signing the form means we have full discretion with regards to the animal.' ' Is there a vet nearby I can consult?' 'Yes, but at this hour, the charges are $250.' '....'

    yo, i love the SPCA because it is the only real organisation doing anything about sad sods like me. problem is, there is just way too many of us out there getting lost, abandoned, abused. i would want distance too to stop from breaking down in a blinding defeating rage.

    short of taking a filthy cat home with any amount of unknown creepies on it, the woman was out of options. she signed and left and i was brought to a room and placed in a cage alongside other animals. some of them are much worse off than a couple of scabs so i hope my chances aren't all that bad.
     

    blogger templates | Make Money Online