Christmas Spirit

Its funny how Christmas makes people feel like sharing stories of their little furry friend. I happened to find this story on the facebook page of the Cat Welfare Society.

read it alright? It will definately touch your heart.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/nov/13/cat-autism-julia-romp

add CWS to your Facebook! :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year my dear kitties!

Hey everyone, how was your holidays? I had fun and I took some time to enjoy the company of my cats both at home and out-of-home. It has been wonderful learning new things about cats. I have recently found a good video done by some students of Republic Polytechnic about homeless, stray cats. There is 4 parts to it. I found that it tells a whole lot of truths about stray cats and their daily lives. Hopefully this can help people to better understand their hardship.

Also, I found this video of Maia Lee from the first Singapore Idol finalist, singing for an event for Cat Welfare Society. Who would have thought she was an animal activist? We haven't heard of her for so long right? Well, I respect her although there were so many bad news about her. She seems to be doing good now, hence my respect. I'll be finding out about celebrities in Singapore who have animals and are helping out with the animal societies in Singapore currently. That should be rather interesting wouldn't it?

Well, I found a very cute cartoon "Simon's Cat" which is kind of entertaining. More of the videos can be found on youtube or on their website itself; http://www.simonscat.com/index.html

Sorry for the overload of videos but well, you know, good things can't wait! Thats all for today's post!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

xoxo,
Noreen

Neighborhood Kitties

Many people tend to think that stray cats are dirty and fierce. But, that is not entirely true. Stray cats are fierce and "wild" because they have gone through many bad experiences that makes them distrust humans. Why would a cat attack a human unless we provoke or intrude into their territory?

Many people would complain to the Town Council but what they do not know is how the cats are treated behind the scenes. Many cat lovers would know that calling them is not the best solution. Cats are naturally territorial and it is their hormones that cause them to be noisy and fierce. This can be settled by sterilizing them. Why sterilize? It stops them from looking for mates, preventing unwanted kittens, which is what caused by the males calling out to the females.

I have made friends with many stray cats in my neighborhood as well as in other places. Some are always angry and fierce but once you break down their barrier of fear, getting them to trust you is like an accomplishment of a lifetime!

I would like to introduce a big bully, we at Sports school named : Tiger. 

He came in unsterilized and uncouth, trying to woo our little girl, Ruby. Her brothers naturally came to her defense and he created many problems between the kitty family in sports school. He would hiss and arch his back when we came too near. He even scratched me on the hand before. Well, you can say he had permanently left  mark on me and my friends. Nevertheless, we found that there was no reason to chase him out or even try to make him leave. He was the first adult cat that the 4 cats in sport school had seen besides their mother. We felt like he could make a good protector and guardian of the kittens.

Hence, we continued to feed the cats and him while slowly integrating him into their family. With much patience, I slowly gained his confidence and trust till one fine day, I tried my luck in giving him a scratch on his head. It was like "heaven" realizing that he had allowed me to touch him without biting me back or running away. He took awhile to let other feeders touch him and it kinda made me quite happy for that period of time.  We gathered he must have been kicked at and hurt by a human hence, his distrust for us. He stayed awhile before he disappeared one day. We were all saddened by the disappearance but we hoped he was doing all right where ever he is.

Another cat i would like to introduce to you all is my neighborhood cat called Tippy. I found him wandering about my block and decided to buy some food back for him. At first, my mum was reluctant to help me when I went to school so Tippy tend to only get food at night. He was only a kitten probably around 10months old when i found him. Now, he has grown into a big muscular boy with a "girlfriend" which I found out only yesterday when I came back from school. 

Well, don't worry that they will be making babies or anything like that as Tippy and his "mate" are sterilized and from my guess, Tippy was left at the foot of the block by someone staying within the block. He was very friendly with humans and was fast in approaching me. He followed me and my mum everywhere. We had many complaints from the residents saying that the cats were dirty and leaving their waste everywhere. (Which, by the way is SO untrue as any cat lover would know that cats LOVE cleanliness.) 

Tippy looks something like this cat above.

**Just for the record, cats have a natural instinct to cover their business with soil, hence, you tend to see them scratching in the soil. (covering their poop, you see?) When they finish eating, they ALWAYS clean their mouths and their fur. They like things to be neat, you see. My cat is one of the fussiest I know. **

Well, those people were scared of cats so they felt like they had to get rid of them. One of them actually confronted my mum about feeding the cats, (and my mum, should not be confronted, EVER.) and all he got was a huge scolding of being heartless. She told him "Did the cats do anything to you? Have you ever gotten scratched by them? Why should I stop feeding him? He has a right to live as well! There are many people in the block that welcomed the cats here so why can't you?" 

Fierce eh? He didn't know what to say or do so he walked away. What my mum said was true. Tippy was loved. Many of them saw me feeding and playing with him. Children came up to him and he was always so patient with them. (He would vent his irritation at me later, but I understood as long as he didn't do it to the kids. He didn't do much harm, just a little tap on my hand.) There was a family on the 2nd floor who would leave out water and dry food for him outside their door. Tippy was well taken care of.

 Anyway, I have recently spotted Tippy with his girlfriend, around my block and he seems to be doing well. Trusting some people but not all. Oh, talking about feeding neighborhood cats, we feeders have a certain policy to keep the place clean. Cat Welfare society does organize talks to educate neighborhood feeders on the proper way to feed the cats. We are to use a plate or paper of some kind to place the food on so that we do not dirty the ground. We should not leave the food left behind so that pests would come. I follow all those and now it seems things have become quieter and more peaceful. Tippy doesn't show himself all the time, but if he does, i will be waiting. I hope i can get a photo of him soon. I'll post it up when I can.

Just an update on Tinkie: He recently got some lice on his fur so the video is me and my dad bathing him with medical soap to kill them. Tinkie didnt like it but he doesn't over-react as much as some cats... Sorry about the shaky-ness. I wasn't looking through my phone.

Thats all for this post! I hope you guys enjoyed my third post on stray cats. I'll post up pictures of Tippy soon!

*References to Tippy's pictures: http://croydonanimalsamaritans.co.uk/images/pagemaster/Grey_tabby.JPG

Xoxo,
Noreen

Different Breeds = Different Personalities

(My cat : Tinkie)

Well, in the last post, I introduced my cat, Tinkie, explaining about my passion for cats. In this week's post, I would like to introduce to you 4 new kitties, Amber, Ruby, Bella and Topaz. They are my lovely school compound pets who have made their home in my Secondary school, the Singapore Sports School.

(My Secondary School)

I am into running and specifically into hurdling, but my key passion for cats never faltered. After washing up from a training session, my friends and I went for our dinner. On our way there, I heard unmistakable meows a kitten. I looked around asking if anyone could hear the meowing. It was then when I got the first glimpse of the four baby kittens in our compound. I couldn't believe it! How could this 4 kittens have gotten here without their mum? She was nowhere to be seen! The 4 kittens had hidden at the sight of us, and I began to worry for them.

(Amber,Ruby and Topaz @ the same plate)

(Bella when he was young)

(Curious little kittens ; Amber and Bella)

After dinner, we have a self study session for 2 hours. I was worried for the little kitten's safety, wondering if they had food to eat and water to drink. After that, we would have a break with snacks and Milo. It so happened that that day, we had tuna sandwich as snacks. I found the 4 little kittens huddled near the bushes under the stairs so i took a few sandwiches and went to them. They were afraid of me and they had the right to be. Their mum had gone missing, leaving them alone and unsure of who to trust.

(Ms. Ong and I @ Graduation)

They ate the tuna filling so fast that I had to take more. I was reluctant to leave them but had to go back to my room. I informed my literature teacher, Ms Ong, who was also a cat owner as well as a cat feeder in her area she stays around. She was such a good person to go to as she had food to supply to the kittens. The next day, she came with food that could last the kittens a whole month!

(Amber)

(Ruby)

Amber, was the Alpha male in the pack. He was strong, friendly and playful. Amber was an orange tabby with a slightly long fur coat. He would always be the first to come to us when it was feeding time and he Loves to play with us. He would chases strings when we brought them, pounce on our backpacks and play hide and seek with Ruby.

(Playful Amber and Ruby)

(My backpack became a victim in a double attack!)

He was always accompanied by Ruby, the Alpha female. She was the only female in the pack but she always followed Amber anywhere he went. In a way, she always took care of her three brothers. She took the role of the mum, by grooming Amber, Bella and Topaz. Her favourite brother was always Amber. Ruby was also an orange tabby but with a short fur coat.

(Bella The Boy)

(Topaz)

Bella, is a male cat who was so shy and "pretty" that one of our exchange students wanted to name him "Bella". We usually explain that the Bella is not just Bella, but Bella The Boy. He always sticks together with Topaz who is equally as nervous and as shy as Bella. They are always the last two to come out for meals and they usually stay behind to watch Amber and Ruby play. Bella is a Himalayan mixed cat so he has the inherited one of his parent's genes of the white and black color but with a short coat. Topaz also an orange tabby, but he has thicker, longer fur, unlike his brother and sister, Amber and Ruby.

Ever since the first day I saw the kittens, they have grown so much. From the time where they all hid in the bushes until they came out to play with us. There were tragedies and joys taking care of them...

(My Beloved Amber)

Amber, has passed on after a vicious pack of dogs came into the school on a rampage that went on for a few weeks. He had been chased down and flung around until he hit the railing which ended his life quickly. We were so distraught, me and my fellow "cat-feeders". Amber's ashes went back to the soil in the school where he made it his home.

Ruby and her brothers were still unsafe and they had many different hiding places in such a huge school. For weeks we hunted for them and we uncovered with camera surveillance that the dogs came in from the gates with larger openings. The school principle, Mrs Deborah Tan, was also distraught and wanted to fix this problem. She found that it was a good thing to have the cats there so that the children of the school can learn about responsibility and the joys of caring for animals. She wanted to make it a safe place for the remaining kittens so she made sure that the gates were changed and the fences made stable.

(Bella and Topaz keeping close to each other)

After that was done we saw Bella and Topaz regularly again whereas Ruby was placed in a student's home with a lot of love after her favourite brother had passed on. Bella and Topaz have had some adventures of their own after that, with Bella disappearing for 2 days before returning home with a scratch on his ear. The remaining kittens have now been sterillized and are doing well. Ruby has been getting increasingly bigger and happier, although I still think she misses her brother sometimes...

(thinking of Amber)

(Ruby in her new home)

As of now, only Bella and Topaz are in the compound and they are being looked after by students appointed by Ms. Ong after my friend and I left the school. I will post up their recent photos if I can get them. Anyway, hope you get to understand more about cats with this post. They suffer hardship and loss too. They have emotions, and dreams just like we do. So remember to give a little love to the cats you meet, as they may have faced hardships in life, none of us can understand.

Here is a cat quote to think about for the meantime :

"Confront a child, a puppy, and a kitten with sudden danger; the child will turn instinctively for assistance, the puppy will grovel in abject submission, the kitten will brace its tiny body for a frantic resistance."
- Saki


Check out more cat quotes on http://www.catquotes.com and with that, I end today's post. Hope you enjoyed it!

*Special thanks to Habibah for Ruby's recent photos and *

Xoxo,
Noreen.