Cheeky The Cat

Cheeky the cat
Our pet cat Cheeky.

Cheeky is 24 years old already, in cat years that is. He has been with us for two years and has grown up to be a handsome feline. His fur is generally white except for a small patch on his tail that looked more like a smudge than part of him. Other than that, he is pink all over – his ears, his paw pads and everything else not covered by his white fur. His nose gets even pinkier when he is excited.

Although he is neutered, he can be aggresive at times. The multiple scars on Wuan’s hands and legs are testament to that. He has been very gentle to me, though. Whenever I took noon naps, he would hop onto the bed, purr loudly into my ear to get me to extend my hand for him to rub his face against. If I ignored him, he would put his front paws on my belly and gently knead until I extended my hand for him.

On the other hand, he only responds to our calls as and when he wishes. The times that he responded, he would amble from wherever he was at, usually from the back of the house, and nonchalantly walk pass us. He would then lie down, keeping slightly more than arm’s length distance from us so that we would not be able to touch him. Those times, we wished we had adopted a puppy instead.

Abandoned Kitten From Pandan Perdana Market

Kitten cuddling up next to Fei Por
Kitten cuddling up next to Fei Por.
Photo by Wuan.

Wuan rescued a kitten from the Pandan Perdana market last Sunday. It was mewing incessantly near a garbage bin. It was scrawny, scruffy and looked so fragile. As we had to go out, we left her with Fei Por in the compound. Unfortunately, Fei Por was not interested in mothering over the kitten as she did with Cheeky. When we came back in the evening, the kitten was nowhere in sight. We searched around the neighbourhood for a couple of hours without success.

Close up shot of kitten
Close up shot of kitten.
Photo by Wuan.

This morning, Wuan found the kitten a few houses away. It had a dislocated shoulder. Its front right leg was dangling limply to the body. I do not know how Wuan did it but she managed to pop the shoulder back into the socket. She left for work after that. The kitten was confined alone in Cheeky’s room for the whole day. We converted one bathroom for Cheeky to live in. We were not too sure how Cheeky would take to it as he can be rather aggresive at times. We though it was better to keep the two apart first.

Kitten sound asleep
Kitten sound asleep.
Photo by Wuan.

It was walking normally when we checked on him just now. It was as if nothing happened. It could even climb up the one step from Cheeky’s room to the hallway. We are glad it is fine now. We still cannot make out its gender. We would love to adopt it ourselves but we cannot possibly look after another cat. We are going to take him to the vet this weekend to have it put up for adoption. Hopefully he will get a good home.

Should We Rename Her Pork Chop?

Fei Por the fat cat
Fei Por aka Pork Chop.
Photo by Wuan.

When Fei Por first came and made our home hers three years ago, she was already rotund, hence the name. Her idea of exercise was to walk from the basket where she slept and napped to her feeding bowl a mere meter away, and going out of the compound to do her business. In the three years that she has been with us, she had at least three litters of kittens but none survived. That was when we decided to spay her.

Occasionally, she would chase away female cats that dared to stray into her territory; male cats she allowed to come into the garden. That was how she got fleas on her and consequently the sore from licking the spot where the fleas made their home on her. That was also about all she did. Wuan even had to get a mouse trap to catch the rats that have been terrorising the garden. Fei Por just could not be bothered with the rodents scampering all over the place.

We have kept her in the house the past month because she is wearing a cone collar. We do not want her to get caught at the gate while squeezing through the grilles. The sore on her buttocks has healed. We will let her out after the scabs have fallen off, which is any time soon. Hopefully, she will not get anymore flea infestations after this.

She has balloned up even more since staying inside. She still gets the same amount of food. We attribute the obesity to her extremely sedentary lifestyle. She eats and sleeps only. The toys that get Cheeky excited do not work on her. She would just look at them nonchalantly. She would not move to allow me to pass even when she was blocking my way. That is how lazy she is.

If she continues putting on weight like this, she is going to resemble Totoro soon. We are not sure if she can go out through the grilles or not now. She already had problems going through the last few months. She definitely has to go on a diet after we let her out. It would be a tragedy the day we have to cut the grilles to release her should her belly gets stuck in between.