I have some sad news. After much contemplation and discussion, we recently decided to give our dear Mishu away. It wasn’t because of anything bad he did or any issues with Nathan. On the contrary, he’s very docile and easy-going with bub… However when we did a good honest assessment of how each ‘individual’ in the household was doing, we had to admit that Mishu had become quite neglected since Nathan’s arrival . It was never something we set out to do, nevertheless we knew Mishu would be much happier with someone who can give him more attention than we could. After putting the word out, we eventually gave him to a family with a 12-year old boy who according to his mother had been hankering after a cat for the longest time. When they came over to check Mishu out, his eyes absolutely lit up when he saw Mishu and hurried across the room to pet him. I was sure he would be well loved with them. So we packed up all his earthly possessions and said our good-byes. Farewell dear Mishu,...

Just a snapshot of a moment I’d like to remember…

My kiut kuddly kreetur kamping on ze karpet... If you're wondering what he's trying to do, he's not trying to pounce or jump or play or anything. He's just lying there motionless like a snake. Attempts to coax him and tease him were only met with this blank stare.

I haven’t updated you guys about Mishu in a while. So I think that dusty corner of my Mishu posts needs a little visit. Mishu is doing fairly okay, but he’s acting up a bit in his behaviour. It started when the vet put him on a follow up round of antibiotic treatments just to make sure the infection he had is fully cleared. We usually put the tablet with a little bit food in his bowl, then hubby coaxes him to swallow it to make sure he eats it, then rewards him by topping up his bowl with the rest of his food. However all of a sudden one day, Mishu decided to go on strike and refused to eat any food at all, as if in protest against eating any more of the antibiotics. We tried different ways of coaxing and ‘tricking’ him to eat it, and it got so bad that he refused to eat any food at all even when we stopped putting tablets in it. He went almost three days without food, except for a small bite here and there when we tried to coax him to eat a small teaspoonful here and there. ...

I realise how boring my blog is lately. Food recipes food recipes food recipes. What else has been going on in my life??? I'll think about it and let you know eventually. In the meantime, here is an interlude to help break the monotony, someone who has been... ...taking over the couch inch by inch, ...not allowing himself to be ignored, ...still somewhat suspicious of 'the mouse', ...and frequently having his private 'pee time' invaded by lewd people!

So what has it been like having Mishu back home again? Well we just love the little bugger to bits! We’re so happy to have him around looking up adoringly at us at breakfast and dinner time… And our little invalid is really milking the sympathy… look at him! This is his “ I’m DYING of hunger, feed me! ” pose… We also need to spoon feed him his dinner now… must be something he picked up during his stay at the hospital . Mishu is a rather distracted eater. He will chomp on a few bites, then after a while he will walk around or go investigate something. If I’m the designated ‘feeder’ that day, I’ll eventually need to follow him, coaxing him to eat some more. Makes me feel like a parent of a fussy eater kid who can't sit still at the dinner table. We have now transitioned to spoon feeding him only the first half of his meal to make sure he swallows the antibiotic pills in the food. After that we will remove the cone and let him finish the rest of the food at his own leisure. Apart fr...

Guess who’s home and gloriously happy to be done with needles and drips and tubes ? And I have my little friend back to keep me company on the couch … He still needs to wear his cone a few days more until he is fully healed. He doesn’t like it but he puts up with it somehow, the good little boy he is.

After work, we dropped by the vet hospital to see how Mishu was doing. He was definitely looking much better and appeared to be feeling perkier… a very good sign. They attached a catheter to drain out any fluids in his bladder… at the same time they also had to fasten a cone thingy around his head to prevent him from licking/biting the catheter. I burst out laughing the moment I saw him. The nurse let us spoon feed him because he doesn't know how to reach his food like this . Sheesh ... sooo pampered kan? He seems to be doing well but will need to stay one more day just to make sure the infection is fully cleared. They will do a blood test on him tomorrow to check that his vitals are improving.

Mishu is the darlingest kitty cat. It’s really nice to have a living creature who greets you affectionately every day when you come home from work – even if he’s only thinking of dinner. But after dinner, on our free nights when we’re settled in on the couch, watching TV or browsing through facebook and various blogs… Mishu will jump up and perch on the armrest, meowing gently at us for some TLC. If I’m pretty focused on the TV or the laptop to pay him too much attention, he’ll walk up along the edge of the backrest, stop right behind my head and start licking my cheek. Usually that works… it depends how exciting the scene is on the screen or how interesting the blog article is. Recently he has this new trick of nuzzling in right up next to me and putting his paw on the keyboard. Cute kan? Told ya he was the darlingest cat! Sadly Mishu is presently sick. It started yesterday. He only ate half his breakfast, barely touched his dinner and was listless all day. This morning w...

Some initial images of what’s new around the house… Scholarly view of the family – photos prepared and arranged especially to commemorate the reunion. Oceans of cookies and goodies – pineapple tarts are homemade by my mum. Doggies… erm, not really new – but gloriously happy to see me and lavish in their kisses and snuffles. More later.

Mishu to Emeth : " meow meow! mew mew mew. mew mew mew mew. mew mew mew meeeeeeeeeow mew mew. mew mew mew mew. meeew mew meeeow " Translation : " Hello, Emeth! How are you? Thank you for thinking of me. My owner Serene loves looking at your photos and thinks you are a very handsome boy. I hope you are a good boy to your mummy and daddy. Be nice to cats. " (This is in response to Irene's comment about Emeth asking to see the 'meow')

I’m trying not to write too much about Mishu, lest it come a Mishu-blog. But this last incident was really funny so I just had to share. First off, let me tell you something… cats are decidedly weird and random creatures. They will catch you completely off guard, looking as if they are all dozy and sleepy... and then the next minute, they can do something completely random, like tear around the room with a sudden burst of energy. So anyway, it was Sunday night and I was in bed, with pillows propped up behind me, immersing myself in my book . Hubby was already snoring away. I was feeling all nice and cosy and sleepy, when… …Out of the corner of my eye I spotted an orange creature creeping into the walk-in-robe/ensuite area. He can be quite a night prowler at times, so I wasn’t alarmed. I heard a thump, which I took to be him just playing with his ball (his toys are scattered around the house) or pouncing on a spider. Then suddenly… and I really mean SUDDENLY… I heard an excited ...

Following various questions by curious people, I thought I’d post up some pics of the different objects Mishu’s life revolves around so you can get a picture of his daily routine and how he amuses himself (and us!) every day. First off, very important: The Scratching Post. Cats just have the need to scratch something every day. So to avoid it scratching the furniture or cushions, best to set a designated spot. Mishu usually does his scratching just before meals… so every morning before breakfast, and in the evening when we arrive home, just before we give him his dinner. After scratching time is meal time. We feed him about quarter cup of dry kibble and 50grams of wet food twice a day. Every day before makan time, he will meow and rub his body against our legs, scratch his post and look up expectantly for manna from heaven… or from his perspective, the kitchen counter. After makan, it’s toilet time. Again, pretty routine… almost immediately, or not long after licking the la...

After numerous jibes at Mishu being a ‘fat cat’ Here is fully revealed and stripped of all his fluffy ginger glory Yes, with the onset of the summer heat, his shedding fur was becoming a chore to maintain. We also suspected that the heat was making him rather listless and lethargic. So today we took him to the groomers to get his fur clipped. They clipped his whole body except for his head, tail and legs. It looks like someone plucked off his head and plonked it on the body of a sphinx cat . I know he looks hideous and rather ‘naked’, but it actually feels nice to stroke him… he has a soft downy undercoat, which is quite velvety to the touch. So now Mishu is all set for summer!

What is it about children and pets that they just have this innate desire to put strange things in their mouth? My friend Diana recently twittered that she had caught her baby girl putting a live ladybug, a clump of hair, egg shells, lego pieces, paper, plastic and tissue in her mouth. Really need to keep an eye on her! In our case with Mishu… the ‘thing’ in question was rafia string. Unfortunately by the time we realised it, the thing had already gone through his digestive system and we found out because it had already emerged at the ‘other end’. I was at the office on Thursday morning when I received a frantic phone call from hubby who informed me that our cat had a piece of string hanging out from his rear end. Apparently this is what happened: hubby was just seated at the computer, trying to configure something with our internet, when Mishu walked past him toward the kitty litter to do his usual morning business after breakfast. Minutes later he saw a strange sight of Mishu...

No presents under the Christmas tree today, Nothing except a fluffy orange creature Merry Christmas everyone!!! Hope you find something nice under your tree this year ^_^ Wishing you a blessed time this Christmas as you celebrate the birth of Jesus or simply cherishing special moments shared with loved ones this holiday season… This baby made the angels sing And this baby made a new star shine in the sky This baby had come to change the world This baby was God’s own son This baby was like no other one This baby was God with us This baby was Jesus ‘This Baby’, Steven Curtis Chapman …Love from me, hubs and Mishu.

Back by popular demand, here is more of Mishu... We've had Mishu for almost five weeks now, and day by day, we see more and more of his personality is coming through. He really likes being around us, and whichever part of the house we're hanging around, he won't be too far away. But it's different from a dog. A dog will immediately jump up and follow you closely at your heels whenever you shift your position, even if it's just a milimeter away. Mishu's movements are more subtle, for example when getting up from the living area and to go the bedroom to put the laundry away, if I'm away for more than 1-2 minutes, not very long later I will see an orange creature lurking in the doorway, peering about curiously. If he is especially curious, he will give a meow as if to enquire what I'm doing. Here he is hanging around in the living room on the couch arm rest. That orange cushion is his own special private cushion. A close up pic of him on his cu...

We have been talking about getting a pet. A dog would have been great, but I think they do need a quite a bit of attention and particularly consistent training at the start, which we knew we could not give. So we talked about getting a cat. Hubby had never had a pet before, so he had a lot of questions. “What kind of things will we need to get for it?” “How much will it cost to maintain it?” “How long can it live up to?” I duly answered his questions and did some research on the ones I wasn’t sure of… and when he was satisfied with the information, then came the best question yet… “Aaah, OK… cool, cool… so what can the cat do for us?” “Huh? do for us? He will love us lar! What do you mean?” “I mean like, what can it do… like maybe catch insects for us or something…” I burst out laughing. “Seriously, who knows… maybe can get some ROI or tax benefits for pest control or something” “You mean like put the cat in our investment property for it to c...

Cantik kan?