Spice Meows Updates

RICKY

Ricky's currently being fostered by MIL. It was supposed to be a month-long affair whilst we looked for a new home for him. Well, said month has expired and since MIL hasn't said anything about it, we're keeping mum too. In the meantime, Mocha, SIL's newly adopted cat (an orange and white tom) has been trying to pick fights with Ricky. When Gravitas finally managed to find the time to ship both of them off to the vet, Mocha for neutering and Ricky to be vaccinated, they were both diagnosed with cat 'flu. Apparently, Mocha had been allowed to wander out of the house (before vaccination!!) and picked up the 'flu which he then passed on to poor Ricky. So they're both sneezing and having runny noses and eyes and can't receive their respective treatments until their 'flu clears up, hopefully by next week. In the meantime, both have to be content residing in their isolation cages for fear of infecting Frosty, MIL's resident cream senior tom. Ricky's put on a healthy amount of weight, and we're still waiting for MIL to definitely fall in love with him.

CORY

Cory has turned out to be the ultimate charmer, FIV+ or not. Sometimes he just likes to sit on the bookshelf in his room and look out the window. At other times, he wants to be near us, lying down at our feet like everybody's pet dog. He purrs loudly whenever we stroke or brush him, and when we give him his meals. The vet thinks sometimes strays are grateful for being rescued. Very unusually for a cat, he never fails to answer when we call his name and will come when called. Pepa and Ginger, in contrast, will only sometimes deign to look at us and perhaps meow in acknowledgement when we call them. Coming when called is reserved for when they think they'll be getting something they want, e.g. food.

He isn't getting along very well with the other Spice Meows though, as although he wants to play with them, they unfortunately got off on the wrong foot and the others are wary of him. In addition, he tends to play rough and nokitty wants to play with him. Pepa will growl, flatten her ears and run away. Saffron, if Cory so much as saunters within paw swipe distance will do just that before running away to hide. Ginger lately has started to challenge him. Once or twice, they have fallen into tumble-from-sofa-and-roll-on-the-floor wrestling matches. I suspect that old Gingy has gotten bolder lately because we would break up the skirmishes and send Cory to his room. Clapping our hands and saying sternly, "Cory, go to your room!" will send him scuttling back to his quarters. Having seen enough of that, Gingy probably thinks that we'll be on his side every time!

Other than that, We think Cory's getting better, sneezing less, becoming less watery-eyed and snivelly, putting on weight and getting more confident and contented.

SAFFRON

We've discovered that Saffron, far from being your average stray cat with a constitution of iron, has rather delicate digestion. Supermarket cat food gives him tummy upsets and he can only abide premium brand cat food... Since then, our cat food bills have doubled, because in addition to food allergies, he's also very greedy and will polish off any of the other cats' leftovers. Since both Pepa and Ginger are snackers, nibbling a little, wandering off and coming back later for nibbles, Saffron, whose palate is far less discerning than his gastro-intestinal tract, will end up with tummy aches again if we continue to give the others supermarket cat food. So in order to avoid that, everybody eats premium, although taste tests show that all of them prefer supermarket..

Saffron is also often responsive to his name, giving his trademark "wau" and skeetering over because he's also keen to be stroked, and purring when we do. He has grown somewhat since we rescued him, and has gotten more handsome (somehow I think a bowtie will suit his looks) and has acquired a paunch indicative of middle-aged prosperity although he has yet to reach adulthood. I suspect it has everything to do with his greedy and sedentary habits. Although he's also keen to play with the other cats bar Cory, Pepa will not give him the time of day and he doesn't get Ginger's attention very much more often than we do. Poor fella.

PEPA

Pepa's gotten standoffish of late. I suspect she's sulking because she isn't allowed into our bedroom to take afternoon naps with me on the bed anymore since our room was designated the cat-exclusion zone. But she'll still warble in greeting if I'm trying to locate her in one of her hidey-holes or when she wants me to hoist her up to get at choice bamboo leaves. She'll also come running, warbling, and as fast as her little legs will take her when she hears me remove the top from a cup of yogurt because that means she gets to lick the said top. She alone amongst the Spice Meows loves fruit yogurt. But she is less obliging than she used to be, and although she is the only cat who'd allow us to rub her tummy, she only does so under verbal protest and tries to wriggle free from our arms as soon as she can.

GINGER

His royal orange-ness has been in a prolonged period of sulking. It started when Saffron and Cory were rescued and hasn't ended eventhough both of them have been grudgingly accepted. He has lost some weight (he refuses to eat sometimes) and has gotten more manja, even to the extent of snuggling next to me in the armchair and taking a nap with his head on my lap. This is a totally new experience for me as he's never quite liked being handled, even as a kitten.

NUTMEG

We collected Nutmeg from the vet today, after three weeks of treatment. Although the worst of the cat mange is over, he still needs to be kept separate from other cats for a couple of weeks just in case he is still contagious. We were supposed to send him to an animal shelter but err, Gravitas has kinda.. well, Nutmeg is now in a cage in our bathroom.

The above is a picture of Nutmeg after three weeks of treatment. Below is the before picture. Note that in both photos, his mouth is open. The vets said that he is a very meowy kitty.