Weight Gain & Loss.

My Slurpee's fur has improved tremendously. She has lost quite some weight too. Not sure why but she's still very healthy and happy these days :) Good girl.

Pepper on the other hand is putting on weight! Can you see her big fat tummy? Still as naughty as ever!

No News = Good News!

No posts lately? Simply because, all my 4 princesses are doing just great! (Besides growing fatter!) :D Slurpee's fallen hair is growing back, slowly but surely :) Cherry runs around as usual, catching flies and killing lizards daily.

Daddy's darling girl.

Mummy's hot favorite!

Cookie is our gentle angel and she's growing up so beautifully. As for Pepper, she's still busy as usual disturbing Cookie 24/7 besides learning a new trade of killing flies! However, Pepper has been influenced by Cookie and is definitely growing up very well *phew*!

Last Week.

Now that I've narrated much about Slurpee, Cherry, Cookie and Pepper in my previous posts, I'll be doing weekly updates unless something interesting crops up :) Meanwhile, I'm working on baking and my other blog.

Last week, we noticed Slurpee's fur shedding a big deal! I was particularly worried thinking of all the possibilities and probabilities. So, we took her to the vet who did flea test and other checks only to comfort us that she was, otherwise, perfectly fine!

Slurpee at her favorite spot in the kitchen.

Hmm. Anyhow, he suggested we administrate a laxative paste to expel hairball from pets (dogs and especially cats) which is supposed to be a monthly procedure.

Laxapet Gel - RM21

Cookie, as I always mention, rejects any kind of foreign medicine or anything to be taken orally. Somehow, we had to get it into her mouth and she ended up like this!

Cookie with Laxapet Gel all over her mouth!

As for Cherry, she's doing just great though a bit more mischievous these days!

Cherry rolling around... as always!

I managed to spend some quality time with Pepper by letting her be around me while I'm at the computer or in my room. She's growing up well (physically and character) but will still not give Cookie a break! Probably it's Pepper's way of showing her affection to Cookie. Hehe...

Wide-eyed Pepper.

Pepper; our Food Vacuum.

Although Pepper's our youngest cat, and still a thriving kitten, we don't spoil her much. At least, I don't :) I learnt that disciplining cats since young will yield a very lovable and obedient cat later on. Pepper loves doing things you'd never expect, understand or fathom.
In the mornings, when my Dad gives all 4 of them their portion of fish, she would literally vacuum her portion within seconds (literally!) and then run up to Cookie, push her away and continue vacuuming Cookie's portion of fish as well! Cookie, being our polite and gentle angel, would move aside and allow Pepper to complete her mission.
More often than not, Pepper tends to forget she's the youngest and bullies the rest.
Pepper is closest to my Mom as my Mom takes care of her the most during the day. She'd scream her way to be carried by my Mom! Mischievous? No doubt!
Pepper does things abrupt and non-femininely at all. She loves messing up her house and kicking everything everywhere! She'd kick the sand in her litter box all over and sometimes even empty it! The newspaper placed at the bottom of the cage would be all torn and strewn everywhere. As usual, her house has to be cleaned at least twice everyday.
Even though there's stairs in her home, Pepper would rather use the crook's way by climbing up the bars instead.
Pepper hates us applying any medication for her. You'd know that when you hear her screaming "Awww..." or "Nooo...".
Besides all that, Pepper is growing up as she should, though our vet mentioned that she's growing a tummy! Thus the nickname - Food Vacuum!

After 2 Years & 4 Cats!

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. -- Helen Keller

Almost 2 years has flown by since I first fell in love with 'cats'. Time has indeed passed quickly! 2 years and 4 cats! I just thought to pen down my heartfelt feelings about these adorable creatures after these while.

As I mentioned at the beginning of my blog, I was born the dog-lover as I had a pet dog since I was born for some years. Of course, I still love puppies and dogs. I still do yearn to own one but probably when I'm in a better financial situation than now. Dogs need plenty of quality time for attention and walks plus tons of moo-lah in maintaining them! I'm getting there soon! :)
I've heard of cats - Persians and such, being the kinda creatures which dislikes petting and too much attention. I always had the impression that cats only want to be served and pampered. That was my pre-conceived ideas of ALL cats! And boy, was I so wrong!! I own 4 awesome DSH (Domestic Short Hair) cats and I know now, cats were nothing I imagined them to be!
After Slurpee and Cherry came into my life, I began to learn tons about cats, observing and taking care of them. They indeed are so much more lovable than I even thought! All the more when Cookie was born and Pepper was found a short time later, my lessons on cats grew. I'm so thankful for not missing out these beautiful moments in life.

• LESSON #1

Cats are indeed grateful creatures. Cherry would rub her head against our legs whenever we give her food before devouring them - her grateful gesture. Slurpee would not waste one bit of food. If it falls from her plate, she would use her paw, pull it towards her and eat it up.

• LESSON #2

Cats DO love pampering and to snuggle close to you! All our four beauties enjoy us carrying them and being stoked and petted. But that is only when they fully trust you and are entirely familiar with you.

• LESSON #3

Cats can be trained! My Mom proved to me that anyone at all can be taught. My Mom started off with training Slurpee to do stuff like 'turning over', 'shaking hands', 'play & catch' and 'eat' successfully. Then My Dad began to train Cherry to 'turn over', 'come', 'sit' and many more. I tried training Cookie and now she's a real darling! Now Pepper is in the training process.
Though being the only cat who roams around freely, Cherry is the most obedient of them all. You'll have to see to believe!

• LESSON #4

Cats are extremely intelligent. As for this, it varies in each cat.
Slurpee is an alert cat with the knowledge of every new object around her. She always rushed to it to check it out.
As for Cherry, she understands our words just too well. Sometimes I feel she's so human!
Cookie knows when we are going to take her back to her cage, she would run to a corner and hide. Cookie would mew or cry until she gets what she wants. Mischievous but her demands are always reasonable so we give in :)
As for Pepper, she knows exactly when to cry what. Meaning, when we're applying cream or medication for her, she would cry out "Awww!" and when I'm giving her the oral Cod Liver Oil she would promptly shake her head and say "Nooo!" Not kidding! Hear to believe! ;)

I'll continue to update this section when I do recall other lessons I've learnt :)

Kittens Unite Again.

Each in their own territory... but not for long!

It was indeed a beautiful moment to watch Cookie and Pepper happy together and un-lonely again. They had so much fun roving and playing around to celebrate their reunion. Pepper is being pampered all over again! But soon... they'll have to be separated for another short period once again... Keep tuned.

It's a bump! No. It's ring-worms!

We found a bleeding wound on Pepper's forehead on 7 August 2008. Actually, Ye En who was over at my house noticed the 'injury' on Pepper's forehead (between her right ear and eye: the size of a 50-cent coin). It was bleeding at that moment and I had not much time to be with her (and also thinking it was an injury due to her running and falling moments), I dabbed off the blood and applied Body Shop Butter on it.

Days later, the bleeding stopped but I continued to apply iodine and gave her Seven Seas Cod Liver Oil orally everyday. Thank God I did! But the wounds did not seem to heal neither did the fur at that spot seem to regrow :(

Then, on 19 August 2008, while carrying Pepper as usual, I suddenly noticed a similar looking wound on her left paw! This one was much smaller (about the circumference of a straw) and one of her fingers were almost eaten up! Mortified was I! Although she lives with Cookie, I knew very well that Cookie had nothing to do with this. Immediately I called up our vet, described everything and he asked me to take her in for consultation. That was when we finally knew it was RING-WORMS attacking our baby! I was totally disappointed with myself for not taking Pepper to the vet any earlier!

Ringworm is an annoying, highly contagious fungal disorder that is curable. The problem with this disorder is that there are 35 different species of ringworm that can affect cats, dogs and be transmitted to humans as well. (Source: http://rubyglen.com/pets/ringworm.htm)

Pepper and Cookie had to be separated due to the infection being contagious. It was indeed a very difficult time for Cookie, Pepper and us as well; to see both of them suffer alone (esp. Cookie being terrified being alone).
The vet prescribed an anti-fungal gel to be applied once a day and anti-fungal shampoo to be applied for 10 minutes before washing it off every few days.

Pepper took the treatment very badly as the lotion smears her skin due to alcohol content and she hates being wet (which cat likes being wet anyway?)
All of us took turns taking care of her and it sure paid off! Today Pepper officially recovered! How do we know? My Dad bought the Wood Lamp to check out her wounds for the worms and when we used it to check her wounds this morning, it was all clear! Thank you, Jesus! :)

Notice the improvement at that spot? :)

After showering Cookie and Pepper today, we put them back together again! And you should see how crazily happy they are together now. I'm bliss. *phewww*

Pepper's First Meal.

This is how Pepper used to eat! Poor hungry child...

Hot & Spicy Pepper.

There's BLACK pepper and WHITE pepper.
But my lil one is GREY Pepper :)
Nah... Take a look!

That's our littlest baby kitten on the very day she was added into our growing family of cats.
29 June 2008 was a rainy Sunday. It was pouring since the time I woke up, the entire day! I went to church in the morning, had lunch, rested in my warm cozy bed and headed out for night market with Dad.
When Dad parked his car, he said he heard a cat mewing loudly under a car. I ran to investigate!
There Pepper was, lying in a pool of water, under a car, unable to move as she was too tiny and weak to jump to the pavement. And even if she did, she would have been further soaked!
My heart shattered! This poor child was in the cold, dirty water since morning. I lured her out, grabbed her and ran home. I quickly got warm water and a cloth and wiped her. [Til today, whenever I recall that incident, it still causes a sharp pierce in my heart]
Pepper had the naughtiest face you could ever imagine of a cat! Noisy too was she! Cookie and Cherry who were indoors then, started hissing at baby Pepper.
That day, Pepper officially became the baby of the family. Much to Cookie's initial annoyance. Today, the story has changed entirely :) Both Cookie and Pepper just can't bear being apart! Cookie plays big sis to Pepper and sure is playing her role real well! Lovely twosome chasing tails and climbing bars. Amazing entertainment most of the times! Here's Pepper's first video on her first night with us.