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Please sign my guestbook so I can be motivated to writing the blog. Suggestions on design is also welcome!
William Leewrote:
Bringing up Val should give you plenty of experience to aid you when one day you assume your parental responsibility.
Apr. 24
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April 27 GroomingThe most difficult thing for a beginner cat owner must be grooming your cat. Although cats like to keep themselves clean regularly, a human must still do the stuff the cat can’t do on its own. This includes many things but there are a few that more or less needs to be done daily. 1) Wiping the eyes – as with humans, cats do get dirt into their eyes, by blinking, the dirt washes out with the tears which are left around the eyes and need to be cleaned daily. The thing to do here is hold the cat’s head in a tight lock and apply a gentle pressure with cotton pads (damped with optic cleaners for felines) to get the dirty stuff out. The cat really has no idea what on earth you are doing and starts to retaliate which can turn to be a real fun game if you forgot to shut the door of the room since he’ll start playing hide and seek with you around the house. 2) Cleaning the ears – once again, grab the cat’s head in a tight lock but this time pull on its ear so it can’t shake its head at all. Then apply a few jobs of ear cleanser into the ear canal. The most tricky bit comes next, you will have to rub its ear canal from the outside (grab the skin around the ear), before it manages to get out of your hold and shake all that fluid in your face. 3) Brushing – once in awhile you’ll have to brush the cat down to rid its loose hairs. Although short hair cats can do a pretty good job of it on their own, humans should still do it from time to time. Since when the cat licks its fur, the loose hairs will be swallowed into the stomach which can’t be digested. Some cats will throw up fur balls but others lack the ability to it and fur balls will damage the digestive system if they remain within the body for too long. Since Val is an English short hair breed, I tend to be a tad lazy within the brushing cycle… April 23 Old blog/New blogFor those of you interested in my older blog entries, you can follow this link:
The cat and mouse gameVal (kitty) has had 2 accidents while playing with his mouse. One time, he swatted the mouse so hard, the elastic (ties from the mouse’s tail to an inverted mounted surface) flung around and tie a knot on his paw, he was frightened (as you can imagine) and tried to pull his paw away. The only effect this had was to make the knot tighter and thereby hurting him more. D (the missus) and I were in the next room when we heard the distress calls and came running to his aid. My first reaction was to calm him by holding him in my arms, while, D tried to untie the knot. However, Val’s frightened perception was that D was the one hurting him and thus, bit her finger. We realize it was not possible to untie the knot without further injury to all 3 of us so we cut the elastic. D and I rushed to the bathroom to take care of the bite while Val hid in a corner. Val didn’t say another peep that night again, I figured, he knew it was wrong to bit D once he heard D cry............
The other time was when Val had leapt very high (for his standards) at a vertically hanging mouse tied on some wool. His claw was caught on the mouse but he couldn’t set it free since he was hanging by it. Those distressed calls came again. This time I made sure I had a firm hold in a way he couldn’t bit me and told D I could handle it by myself. He was carefully released once I pick him up (so he wasn’t hanging by his paw anymore).
We were really lucky that the 2 abovementioned accidents happened while D and I were at home. I can’t imagine what harm it would have caused both physically and psychologically had it been otherwise. What we learn from these 2 accidents was 1) always put hanging toys just high enough it’s not touching the floor and 2) cats and elastic don’t go together.
Since then, we have cleared nearly all lose bits (mainly D’s earrings) from everywhere: tables, bed side tables, stools, chairs and anywhere that Val can get to. Having a kitty is like having a child; you never know what mischief they get into! A new family member in my household!Last week, the missus and I purchased a kitten in Causeway Bay. It's breed is Scottish Fold and the color is red smoke (apparently) but from which ever angle I look at him, he's look pretty beige to me with a touch of brown stripes here and there. Anyways, his DOB was 14.02.2007 so my obvious thought for naming him was Valentino (Valentine for a girl)! My wife said the name was too long so I settled with 仔仔.
When he was first introduced to the apartment, I had to pick up him constantly to the litter box so that he knew where it was. We also bought him a cat furniture - a fluffy carpet with a scratching post and a little fluffy stool mounted on top, which too, I had to continuously grab his front paws and scratch so he knows this is the place to sharpen his claws and nowhere else (however, sometimes he likes to sharpen them on my arms and chest...*signs). We place food and water for him (obviously) as well. Since he was fairly bewildered from all the differences (between the pet shop and our home), he explored on a fairly chicken basis and retired to bed early on the sofa. This amazed me since I had put mats and carpets out under his litter box as well as his feeding station but he felt comfortable elsewhere (since cats love furry stuff).
Anyways, he is getting along with us now since first arriving but there are still some annoying habits of his which drive me up the wall. For example, he gets very enthusiastic when the missus and I are getting ready for bed. He will dive for our legs on top of the covers at no particular pattern for around 15 mins before residing to his favorite nap spot (our bedside table) for 5 minutes. Next he walks on our pillows meowing for awhile. He gets the message when I ignore him and finally lie down on my pillow with all his paws resting on my head (I think my short hair gives him comfort psychologically as it resembles another cat??) to doze off. Around 2 to 2 and a half hours later, he's up and begins to meow again for attention, I ignore him totally while the missus will stroke him a little before they both fall asleep again, Meanwhile, I am still awake listening to the constant purrs and snoring from the 2 of them.......*signs
Another thing that annoys me is when I am sitting at the desk using the PC. He will call to me for some affection (which I give) and then I usually pick him up onto the desk so he can see I am surfing while he wanders all over the desk checking out every item that's here. Eventually, he gets bored and jumps back unto the floor (not all that annoying you say? This is the bit that gets really annoying...). Within 10 seconds he turns around and starts meowing again, so I go check if he has food and water, done...hmm...maybe his litter is full so I go and check that, done...maybe he wants another scratching, so I spend another 15 minutes with him (which I do every morning during feeding, cleaning and clearing out his shit), ok so that's done, peace arrives but before you know it, he appears again after sipping from his water bottle and the meowing thing starts all over again.
While I am writing this, he's sleeping on the floor under the desk between my feet, so IMHO whenever you hear meows, check the normal stuff (food, litter, injury?), give your kitty some attention and then let them be or they don't know whose boss!
If there is anyone thinking about buying/already owns a cat, check out these 2 great sites:
Chimp & Dog "Sit-ups?"I really didn't want to kick off my new space with a youtube video but this one is a must see!! |
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