Tara transformed

is this Tara? the woman couldn't believe her eyes when she visits. i must say her new family has done an excellent job. her eyes are now a brilliant blue and she's all plumbed up with that gorgeous tail in full bloom. beautiful.

Are we the 101st?

YES. Finally the Carnival of the Cats comes to the animal family. And for the first time. We have over 50 submissions, amazing the support that this carnival gets.

Before I continue, I must stress that if this entry blows you away, it is all ME. Despite their promises to chip in, these guys have missed all their wake-up calls. Yes, I know it’s 3am in Singapore. No excuse, you slackers.


We kick the Carnival off with a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Simba, who is 5 this week. Stay beautiful at All Things Jennifer!

Multiple Mentality discovers a software that claims to keep your cat from breaking your computer by typing on it. I’d like to put that to the test.

Baboon Pirates catches a cat that is none too happy to be stuck in an old Igloo container.

Brian J. Noggle shows us that all the cool cats are doing it. But just what are they doing??

Mommy's Little Helpers? Not. Rhett makes the simplest household chore impossible at No Deep Thoughts. But so much more fun too, like a cat would.

"I tawt I taw a puddy tat!" It’s Mélange’s Miss Scarlett watching birds watching her while Miss Clover discovers what happens to nosy cats.

See recumbent Mister Gato’s coffee-bean toes at enrevanche. Barry Campbell would also like to remind everyone, don’t leash your cat!

Diva Kitty takes a snooze on a rainy day.

What’s that lurking at Vacaville? Bothenook investigates at a geezer's corner, CSI-style.

Ferdinand T. Cat goes through excruciating human-devised hug practice at The Conservative Cat.

Call the cops! This cat molests blankets! The Stupid Shall Be Punished gives you the full licentious story.

It gets steamier. Huckleberry and Bagheera makes out at stereophile. Watch them at it.

Yet, nothing tops this. See the fetish for big panda on Begin Each Day As If It Were on Purpose.

Hanuka finds bliss between the calf and the thigh. Blog d’Elisson shows you the spot for cats the world over to claim for themselves.

Barney has other ideas for warmth at furry paws.

Duncan plays hide and seek at Texas Oasis. What pretty eyes you have!

i-pets.com tells us that Smoke loves his fishies. But I’m quite sure he’s not petting them.

More feline mayhem! MANX MNEWS reports on cat who struck gold. In her daddy’s underwear drawer. I don’t never get this kind of fun.

Is this Birman a couch potato or a mighty hunter? Aloysius makes a case for himself. Go judge at Catymology and let me know.

Sisu reflects on truth, honesty and college dalliance.

Grapevine's Ramblings tells us that it’s what Cali would want.

The McKitten boys display a rare heartfelt moment of brotherly love at Music and Cats.

The Divine Miss Marilyn thinks Video Catnip is QVC for cats over at Leslie's Omnibus.

Mensa Barbie Welcomes You to the world of high fashion as epitomized by the indelible Butterscotch.

A cat visits Watermark for the caged parakeets. so the warning sign is highly appropriate.

Gigolo Kitty give some sound love advice. I am certain to put it in practice!

A beautiful friendship in a small, midwestern town redeems both human and cat. Touching tale at composite drawlings.

Temporarily banished to an outbuilding, Church and Snowball finds themselves with nothing much to do. Give them a cheer at Josh's Weblog.

Carlos hijacks the puppy's firehose toy at maggies meanderings.

Tassles really are a cat’s best friend. Sabaki attests to that at Middle-Fork. More on Sabaki at Far Cartouche.

Millie demands your attention with her cuteness at cb.blog.

Kiri shows people who say that cats don’t like to be held upside down don’t know what they are talking about. Catch him at eatstuff.net.

Tinker and Harley are non too curious this week at Curiouser and Curiouser.

Maruschka looking rather secretive and eerie... Check her out at Rosa's Yummy Yums.

Catnip Tea anyone? Get the recipe at bigcatheads!

What Sabby doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Or would it? The Wide Awake Café gives you the full sordid details.

Val wonders if Eli and Tigger are up to something. Help her out at Val's Bien.

Her Ladyship and Missy share a discreet peck in the garden. Sweet. More cat pics at Elms in the Yard.

New Cat catches some rays by hanging out of a snowy cat cabin at Farmgirl Fare. And yes, that is his name.

Mouse and Butter are best enemies at CathColl.net. you know what they say about having enemies like these…

The Queens Of Their Catdoms never disappoint their adoring paparazzi. Sydney in particular really looks forward to this week’s Carnival.

(yes, yes, I am trying to beat the Central Time clock. panic stations.)

Mind of Mog catches major cat fever with a Thirty Three Pound Pussy, Wild Beasties and Big Brother. Sue also reminds us that cats enjoy the dirt, loves Fridays and we never fail to stop and smell… something.

The People's Republic of Seabrook is quite sure the thirty-three-pound-pussy is not a cat, but a sausage.

Catcall remembers Edloe fondly. Not quite thirty-three-pounder but certainly a giant amongst cats.

The elusive Annie makes an appearance on Lisa Violet’s Diary.

StrangeRanger has a nervous moment with Maddie whose claw has grown a little too long.

World, meet Fuzzy. Operation Domestication is complete. Wind In the Wire confirms that he is now a bonafide domestic house cat. Glad you have joined our illustrious ranks and non too soon.

Egoist says Tom and Jerry are next on cartoon wars!

A permanent chatroom for catwatching addicts? We can only wish! TBIFOC throws us a (fish)bone.

And there you have it. Sorry about the tardiness. Promise to do better.. next... time..... zzzz (so not used to hard work).


Next week, the Carnival of the Cats moves on to Catcall!

freefall goes awry

new day

brokeback

the woman sustains something akin to an affliction. in a deep forgotten place stirs a furious yearning for something now irretrievably lost. time, youth, a violence of passion.

it infects me. in our collective memory is something splendid and noble we left a long time ago on the mountain.

i hate the movie. it leaves you broken and doesn't tell you how to fix it.

possible blood on our hands

oh no. one of the community cat feeders that the woman has befriended tells her her cats are sick and having diarrhea. as she is unemployed she asks if the woman has any medication on hand as she cannot afford to bring them to the vet. the woman gives her some kaolin.

the feeder is in her 50s and lives on her own in a top floor extended corner unit. before she was unemployed, she was a secretary. she has family at Upper Bukit Timah. her english is above average. the woman presumes she is temporarily down on her luck. and lonely. whenever they encounter each other, the feeder will be so happy for company that she will talk at length about her life and her cats.

then yesterday, she shows up at our door to ask for more medication. her gushing chatter turns into a monologue and then the most bizarre tirade. she says her ground floor neighbour is in cohorts with her top floor neighbour to humiliate her. she says her neighbour has drilled a hole into her living room to spy on her. she asks the woman to help her write her story to the press about the time when her neighbour's maid, a vampire, bit her but the police covered up all the evidence and put her in jail instead.

oh my god. they believe the feeder is having a schizophrenic episode. so now, the man and woman are not sure her cats are sick in the first place or she even have cats at all or dead cats (by now).

stupid. they should have gone to take a look in the first instance before giving away medicine. but typical Singaporean mentality - they didn't want to be too involved in their neighbour's life. their goodwill stops at hellos and inane banter.

the woman calls the Institute of Mental Health to see if they can send someone to check on whether the feeder is a hazard to herself. now that they know she is not right in the head, they are periodically observing her apartment from downstairs and see flickering candlelight in an otherwise dark apartment. IMH refers them to the police.

yesterday, the officer says they work closely with the Resident's Committee. they will check on her and if something is amiss, they will get a doctor in to assess her. today, they change their story. only if her conduct is considered a public nuisance will they send someone up to check on her. otherwise, she is her family's responsibility.

so suspect flickering candle not police responsibility. building burns down then it is police responsibility.

the woman's next avenue is Family Centre. hopefully she will get a more decent response. of course, the woman can always go check on the feeder herself but she doesn't have that kind of guts.

life goes back to normal

somewhat, as we wait for all available sets of bed linens to dry.

Bramblerose leaves

she finally goes away on an adoption trial and Suede has been sitting despondent at the door since, wondering where her new friend has gone.

bad boy!

"sorry for spraying the bed again."

dear jack neo

as i reread my last post, it hits me that it could make the first cut of a powderful heartstring tugging heartland script for jack neo's next local blockbuster!

Dear Mr Neo,
c/o Raintree Pictures

Can you make a movie about us that will make everyone cry and the government recover its sense of humour?

Purringly Yours,
Tooty

our town sparkles

not.

drugs, contrabands, prostitution, violence, poverty. and we are just 5 minutes from sparkling orchard road, not exactly heartland. in the 2 years that the man and woman have stayed here, they have seen and heard some weird shit.

their cleaner friend finds drug needles on his cleaning rounds ever so often. we actually had a drug user come to our door once to borrow $400. all bleary eyed, he says it is for his sister's medical bills. he bargains down to $80, then $4, then leaves when he isn't getting anywhere with the man. he says his sister stays upstairs on the 12th floor. there's only 10 floors in this block.

the woman goes round to the neighbouring block again to look for Mummy. she takes the stairs up 3 floors, in case. every floor has ah long notices spray painted, repainted and spray painted again. more than one person is in some serious trouble.

(she does eventually find Mummy hanging out with what looks unmistakably like Bramblerose's Daddy. he has some balls on him so that marks him as next month's target.)

you wouldn't believe it but we have a police post right next door. but that doesn't stop this auntie from plying the streets with contraband cigarettes in a grocery push cart. and if you know where to look, the market rate for a romp here is $30 a pop. welcome to singapore.

so cats are the least of everyone's problems. for the ones who do care, namely the feeders that the woman has encountered, they are either the elderly living alone, unemployed or hanging on by the skin of their teeth. much respect to them that the cats here still get to enjoy meat and fish portions rain or shine. but talk about sterilisation, they say yeah great, can you help us ask _____ (substitute SPCA, Cat Welfare Society, AVA, Town Council, PAP) for money?

so the idea of rallying a resident cat sterilisation and management squad sounds almost like comedy. to the tune of Police Academy - ragtag underdog team of ah long, mee pok man, cleaner, grandmother, school dropout, saves day cat.

funny. and then we remember it's not that funny. the animal family is only one step removed from the sudden death russian roulette many around here play. chalk it to some poor human judgement.

Tara adopted

finally she can get the one-to-one attention she needs to get fully well.

something's gonna give

as a resident cat of the animal family, i think i have been pretty cool about the craziness around here but there comes a point when a cat has to put her paw down and yell, get freaking organised or stop this insane crusade once and for all!

yes, i get that a lot of what's going on in this estate to do with stray cats is a grevious matter of life and death, what with its suspicious cat control tactics. i almost have no excuse to complain as i myself have stood to gain from this family's slapdash sentimentality. but we live in a box, all 56 sqm of it and when you guys moved in you never anticipated the animals and so this place is just not designed to fit so many of us in it all at once.

5 resident cats are about pushing it but lucky for you, we really like each other. but to foster every kitten that comes your way for weeks at a time? and in the meantime also pack wild, probably diseased, very likely flea-infested cats overnight in here too?

edgy Mummy who has not taken to us well from the start has been caterwauling. she has also started to chase and maul us, especially Suede. i have a lot of sympathy for you girl and could have understood if this is all to protect your little Bramblerose but its not. you just hate us so very sorry, you have to go.

maybe if we had just one more extra decent sized room in the apartment, we could do this right. someone suggests that all the crazy cat people get together to rent a place to properly foster and quarantine animals. the woman really likes the idea but no money no talk. as sterilisation remains a cornerstone to the saving of cat lives, they have to still pump whatever they have that way. still, quarantining cats is a real problem. the vet has been very kind to let the man and woman put up cats there overnight for free if they have space but they can't impose all the time so its the bathroom for those hapless suckers.

- because we don't have enough litter pans so it's easier to hose down when necessary.
- it's the only enclosed place in the apartment so it keeps our curiosity in check.
- it also provides little but valuable sound-proofing to keep neighbour's hostility in check.

this arrangement however, sets the man on edge because being sensitive to smell, he is often odorously menaced into taking his business to the nearby hawker centre public toilet.

it's not a question of stopping but a question of getting organised. ideal: renovate the apartment. form a cat management team. get more funds. educate through neighbourhood campaign. realistic to man and woman's capacity: reorganise the apartment, find at least one like-minded person in the neighbourhood. education through flyering. buy a few more litter boxes.

sadly last night the woman takes Mummy back to the neighbouring block where they found her. Mummy starts marking her territory on the columns and after sniffing around a little, disappears. the woman sticks around to see if Mummy would come back or call out. sometime through the night between Daniel and Hosea, an old man comes around to feed the community cats. there are more than 10 and the woman sees only 2 tipped ears. she spots a male white bushy tail and marks it for sterilisation. she sits with it till dawn before taking him back home in time for today's appointment. still no sign of Mummy.

Big Tom caught!

at last Tomcat walks right into our animal family trap and its bye bye testosterone tomorrow.

Tibby remains elusive. the snatch and grab operation the other day ended in bloodshed. the man's and woman's. and Tibby is still on the run.

finally she sleeps

Brambleblur

it is quite impossible to capture a good picture of Bramblerose. she just won't sit still. being the smallest kitten of the litter hasn't stopped her from taking on bigger cats like Suede and Bobby with a vengence even as the rest would hang back. hopefully her gregariousness will infect Tara who is starting to perk up a little.

rollercoaster week

it's pretty trying times at the animal family right now. if you ever wonder why crazy cat ladies look the way they do, well, it is because they just don't have the time or energy to comb their hair or coordinate their clothes. i know because i have one at home.

Tara is more feisty now and it is getting harder and harder to medicate her without her foaming at the mouth to get rid of the nasty taste. but finally, there is something for the woman to jump for joy about in her haphazard hairpins and stained t-shirt. Tara just had a long beautiful firm slightly moist dark brown perfect shit. yes, crazy human alert here.

Bobby, who has started spraying on our sofa and Mummy have both been sterilised. when the man and woman go to pick them up, the vet has another customer there picking up his sterilised male cat. the man asks if he could keep his cat's balls. the nurse replies, do you want them as is or preserved? i'd like someone to explain that to me.

Monster, Rex and Mungo go away on adoption trials yesterday. Monster and Rex to 2 sisters and Mungo to a family whose beloved cat died. however, Mungo will come back again today because their other 5-yr old cat went berserk and tried to kill him. Mungo will go on another adoption trial on friday. Bramble's potential adopter fell through due to family objections. more people are coming to see her in the next few days.

it is absolutely heartbreaking for Mummy. she has been calling for her missing kittens. she never ventures out of the utility room when she was nursing her 4 kittens but has started doing so in search of them. i hope adopters appreciate the pains of the mother when they leave with her kittens. hopefully they will value them all the more because of it.

gangsta boy

a malay family of 6 kids from the neighbouring block comes over to play with us cats. later, they bring their own cat over. it is the fattest meanest boy i have ever seen but the woman could not stop oohing and ahhing at the mutant blimp. thank goodness she has a mind not to let him loose in our house to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. according to the kids, he is the terror of their block. so happy to see his ear is tipped cause we sure don't want such a gene pool in our estate!

Tara with nice nurse

nice nurse at the Holland V Vet volunteers to take Tara home to give her periodic saline injections under the skin as the man and woman have no confidence they can do it right.

seems to be helping as the nurse says Tara has started eating voraciously. they will take her home tonight.

one word can save lives

really cool posters by the Blue Cross of India, Madras.

curbing the tide

Tara is eating a little and there is more control of bowel movements. after the tide has dribbled to spurts, she is peeing normal although we have yet to see hard stools.

the man can't wait to reclaim the bathroom from the smell and has taken to doing his business with a mask drenched in lavender mist.

hang in there, Tara!

tar-a

meet Tara. the man picked her up last night from... you guessed it, our void deck. we have not seen any siamese mix here before so wonder where she came from.

she is named Tara because of the tar that keeps coming out of her ass. yes, pretty bad. she's skin and bones and very dyhydrated from it. after medication, she is doing a little better and her black diarrhea is starting to turn brown. we hope that is a good sign.

she had an interesting night. because the man found her on his way out she spent her friday night with them at bikini bar at sentosa. they also had interesting time when Tara leaked tar on man's shirt.

between a rock and a hard place

this little guy is doing a pretty good job of staying out of domestic affairs.

not surprising, these gorgeous ginger babies are quite a hit at the adoption website. so won't be long now...

almost time to leave mummy

whenever is it a good time? mummy still looks for her kittens when the man and woman take them away to socialise them with humans and us cats. she is also getting increasingly restless to get away when their antics get too much.

as the kittens are starting to eat solid food, guess its about time to find them new homes.

greetings from Skodaland

Skoda is growing up to be a really pretty girl. her mummy says she has exchanged her biting habit for kisses instead. when carried, she will tilt her head upwards, close her eyes and give quick, short kisses to her mummy. aww...

unlikely odd couple