the hyperactive tubby cats

(this post is really late, by about 2 months - not sure why i didn't post this earlier. oh well.)

it's been slightly more than a month since we've adopted Jay and Joey!! (this post was supposed to come out on the 28th of June, exactly one month in but blogger was having issues... and i was waiting for the cat supplies to take a proper picture.)

while all the couples around us are giving birth, there we are also learning how to care for lives who are pretty much also ours to look after. and all i can say is - i never want to have twins.

getting 2 cats at once has rendered me unable to work on my business plan for a month but oh, THE JOY OF HAVING THE KITTIES. we're still learning more about them and here're the kitty chronicles so far.

jay is growing like a monster. we believe he's actually much older than joey and a trip to the vet confirmed our suspicions. he's 1.75kg (and still growing) while joey's only 1kg. but joey has grown under our care, i'm proud to say. her rump is rounding really nicely and her big beautiful eyes are still sparkling. she's a clear favorite among our friends because she's got such a sweet personality. she will play with ANYONE, lie on ANYONE (even on the skinniest thighs - as long as it's thigh she will nap on it), and rub herself all over ANYONE'S legs.

also, she is smaller so she doesn't look as terrifying as jay. but try giving her some ear drops... i've stopped holding her because i wear shorts at home and my thighs are HORRIBLY exposed. i let alvin do it after he comes home from work since he's still got his 3/4s on. she's got an yeast infection in her ear, the poor baby.

jay is much larger - carrying him is an exertion now. i can actually feel my arm muscles do some work. but man, i love this boy so much. contrary to what our friends think, jay extends his claws very rarely while joey will swipe you if she gets the chance. he's got a mask over his eyes, and alvin's aunty calls him 'bandit' (i totally agree) and he's got a squirrelly tail. big cats also mean larger paws and JAY'S PAWS ARE SO FLUFFY AND SOFT; he's incredibly manja and meows A LOT (joey doesn't meow - she squeaks and only when in pain)... and clumsy. he keeps falling over his feet, leaping and not making it, or running so fast across the marble floor that he skids and crashes against various furniture.

they're both fascinated by fluffy cat toys, sparkly things, and... housework. it's a pain trying to sweep up their mess in the kitchen because they will BOTH attack the broom, or when i try to hang out the clothes to dry and they're forever in my path so i always scream and fall over trying not to step on joey, or get freaked out by jay's crazy I-WANT-TO-PLAY eyes when he's on the top of his scratching post and aiming for that sock just hanging out of his reach.

but good grief they HATE the vacuum cleaner. we don't have one yet (the electrolux is on its way) so i've been sweeping and mopping the floor until last week when we did some serious spring cleaning, so we decided to bring the Chong family's Rainbow Cleaner over.

the moment we turned it on both cats darted out of sight. joey ran into the back of our washing machine which was fine, as compared to jay who completely flipped out and kept trying to escape the sound by climbing to the highest spot he could find. his fright gave US a fright when the top of the scratching post was not enough and he leapt unto his litter box, to the window ledge (i tried to stop him by grabbing him and cuddling him - the stripes i have from that terrible day are still healing as i type, my wrists, my chest, my arm)... and started climbing the mesh that was placed over the window grill. and that mesh did not go all the way up the grill. and SHIT jay is still clawing his way to the top with no signs of stopping.

he reached the top and stuck half his body out into the open night air, then looked back to see where the vacuum cleaner was, and if he needed to escape even further. that was also when i started screaming because i was so scared... then the screaming drowned out and i just walked over to the vacuum cleaner, turned it off and asked alvin to bring the ladder in.

then i took the treat that jay loved so much and dangled it out to him. but he was so damn high up he couldn't come down again and he just gripped the mesh looking scared and meowed. omg i was going to cry until alvin brought out the ladder and climbed up to disengage jay from the mesh.

only after that i realized my emergency response had kicked in like a MOTHER. exact same kind of robotic calmness i had when i created a fireball of gas in the chem lab. THAT IS VERY COOL.

but the rest of the night we placed them in the bathroom so they couldn't go berserk and the vacuum noise was muted. and for the rest of the night i kept seeing jay's terrified face in my mind. which is probably why i didn't punish him too badly after he scratched and bit the curtains... then cowered in alvin's shirt on the sofa and gave me his puss-in-boots eyes coz he knew i was upset.

i am putty in their hands. DIE LA.