Little Stories 223 : My Awan kena sawan 2

Read previous post here.

Yeap, my cat knows how to be all dramatic.

When we went to Japan several weeks ago we sent Awan (my now old cat) to a pet's boarding in Ampang.

This time, we were ready. I asked Aja to borrow a portable cage for Awan so it should be easier to bring her into the car (there were several complicated incidents before). It wasn't that hard to put her into a cage because she trusted me, but once she was inside - she started to give her deep-throat-weird miaows. We got ready, Af drove the car, Aja lead the way, while my little sister and I sat at the back to keep her calm.

After Af put the cage inside the dark car in the parking lot and we sat next to the cage, her cage suddenly shook so hard. I thought she was trying to find ways to escape and when I saw her through the cage's door, I saw Awan was having a seizure. I forgot what I did, I think I shouted saying "Awan is having a seizure!", everyone in the car saw that and waited. Until her body stopped contracting and she slowly regained consciousness again; drowsy eyes, weak legs, drooling saliva, and she accidentally peed in the cage this time. Oh, poor Awan, she must be feeling awful and ashamed. 

She was silent afterwards, all through the 40 minutes car rides. I kept talking with her because she knew my voice - I FELT AWFUL FOR HAVING TO DO THIS. She just kept silent, stared at me in her now wet cage and didn't even cleaned herself up (not even her drooling saliva). It was like I betrayed her T^T

When we arrived at the pet's boarding and put her inside one of the cage, she just stared and sat down silently. She almost never see any cats most of her life and suddenly she was in a room filled with all the cats in their own cage. I think she was shocked and scared. But we had to leave her.

Fast forward to weeks later, Aja took her out from the pet's boarding and brought her home.
No sign of third seizure this time. Aja said she was calmer.

Note : She had 2 seizures in her life under my care and both times when we had to take her out. I don't think there's any medical conditions that I should worry about her. She's just too afraid of going out to see the real world, sometimes she can't control it. Just terrified, thus the seizure =.=

Little Stories 210 : Awan's New Enemy Part 5

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 :

It's been almost a month after we launched the Plan B on Awan *using Frontline Combo Spot - On. I can't believe it! I combed Awan several times and never found any cat fleas. We didn't receive any unwanted random bites on our body. It actually worked!

So I highly recommend it! 

Again, it is super expensive - RM 65.70 for 3 pipettes in a box and it needs to be used once a month. We just started our first month and saw huge improvement :D I will continue this as well to avoid any future infestation :

• Weekly vakuum
• Daily sticker scroller on bed sheets and pillows *you can buy the sticker sheets in Daiso
• Showering Awan with Machiko shampoo every 2-3 weeks

This was yesterday.

See how all her nails were trying to grab something, anything. She refused to be showered and it is still one of the toughest thing to do, which is why Azmi is still the one in charge of it :D

I gave her some wet foods and cat treats afterwards ♥ ♥

Now she smells like all flowers and nice herbs ♥

*

Little Stories 210 : Awan's New Enemy Part 4

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 :

It has been several months since the cat flea attacks on us and Awan. We still haven't find the way to be completely cat flea - free. The worst victim is probably Aja, the others only had a mild bites here and there. 

Early this month, I decided to to try the Frontline Combo Spot-On Cat - the one that I bought several months ago in this story. This is my plan B : to use powerful insecticide on Awan in order to stop this problem completely. We've tried so many things, and I'm desperate. I used the flea comb every 2 days, and it got to the point that I can catch around 15 - 30 fleas daily! I wash the beddings every 2 weeks and clothes every day. I use the roller twice every day, every where! I banned her from my room completely. 

I'm just exhausted. So Plan B it is.

1. That weekend, Mi shampooed her with Machiko Flea Control Shampoo. Afterwards, Mi called me and showed me Awan's fur on the stomach part where we saw around 5 dead fleas tangled in her fur. I never saw any of this, so I just became convinced with the shampoo that day. I decided that Awan needs her shower at least every 2-3 weeks, even though she hates it. Now it becomes compulsory and Mi is in charge of that.

2. Two days after she showered, I dotted the Frontline drops on her neck. She licked her fur vigorously afterwards, I think she can smell something different with herself. Ha.

3. I didn't use the flea comb for 3 days. Until I saw one dead flea on her fur, that means the poison works! Tried combing her fur and got only 4 fleas :D Compared to what I caught daily for so long, this shows a good chance that this plan B might work.

4. Two weeks passed, today I combed her again. 

I didn't catch any fleas. ANY fleas ! :D

5. She still needs her twice monthly shower and Frontline dots every month for at least 2 more months. And we will see what's the next plan after that.

  

Little Stories 96 : Awan's New Enemy Part 3

Last week, I found a decent cat flea's comb at a pet shop for RM 14. 

I bought one, I wanted to try it on Awan. 

By this time I've tried it 4 times, as many times as I can without having to annoy Awan so much - because she isn't use to petting and she doesn't like physical contact much. 

As I read from Google, it should be advisable to put a little plastic container with water next to her while combing her fur. I also added several drops of lemon juice in the water. For every stroke, I'll dip the comb in the container and dip it back again right-away. So those fleas can't jump when it got stuck on the semi-wet comb and it will drown in the water. That's the most efficient way I found for now.

Even for this morning alone, I managed to catch around 15 fleas from the adult to the tiny-tiny sized ones. I guess those tick drops I bought several weeks ago didn't kill them all =.=

*

As for plan B :

I already bought a box of Frontline Combo Spot-On that should be able to kill all types of ticks and fleas from all levels (eggs, larvae and adults) in 4-6 weeks. There are 3 little pipettes in the box, each to be used once a month. It costed RM 65.70, that means around RM 20 for each month.
Here's about Frontline Combo Spot-On :

• It stops and prevents flea and tick infestations. 
• It prevents all flea stages starting from eggs, larvae to pupae developing. 
• Frontline Combo effectively kills adult fleas, flea eggs, and flea larvae.
• It completely helps control re-infestations.
• This topical solution has long lasting effect and thus, keeps away fleas and ticks for a longer period. With its fast-acting property, it removes all fleas and ticks within few hours. 
• Being waterproof, there is no worry whether your dog goes for swimming or bathing.

BUT, it is a type of insecticides type 3 so it is poisonous and it is a bit expensive.

I'm still having doubts on using this due to reading so many good and bad reviews, so if there's no results on traditional ways to fight those fleas' infestation, we'll have to try this method.

Little Stories 95 : Awan's New Enemy Part 2

Not a happy story *for Awan.

It started 2 weeks ago, when we decided to do something with Awan's fight with cat's flea. Sunday morning, Azmi woke up and told me that he's going to shower Awan with Machiko Flea Control Shampoo again. Yeay! - for the initiative without having to plead him to do so :D 

We aren't sure about the effectiveness compared to all other brands - but for now, we are using this, at least until her rashes get better *ingredients : all natural herbs. Awan isn't a cat that loves water, she hates it. She even knew Azmi was going to shower him this morning. The last time I showered her, my legs were bleeding all over from her scratches =.= So it needs to be done by my brother because he's the only one that can be a bit tough on her. 

This was how she looked this morning, all grumpy and whiny :

Next plan :

In another 2 weeks time, she will need another shower and new flea drops on her neck. I read several reviews on other flea sprays and decided that maybe we'll try to avoid something that might make her rashes worse because of the chemical ingredients. We'll consider Frontline if all these don't work. In case people might ask why I didn't bring her to the vet? - the last time I took her out, this happened. So I'm trying to avoid forcing her go out from the house, I knew she's the worst anti-social. Even worst than her mother :D

Plus : We need to clean-up the whole house weekly. Chop chop ! 

*

Little Stories 92 : Awan's New Enemy

I think about 2 months ago, our family was attacked by some kind of little insects. We got spots on our bodies and those spots itch twice as bad compared to mosquito bites. At first, we thought it was red small ants' bites. But we never found those little ants.

Until we finally figured that it all came from Awan, probably cat's fleas or ticks. We always see her scratching, but we never really checked. She never went out of the house and never really met other cats, so we thought it was near to impossible for her to get fleas. I was wrong. I checked online and read about symptoms on human - even if cat's fleas don't really like human, they do attack human if they need to. Red spots, never-ending bad itch, 3-5 spots each part, I think the culprit is cat's fleas. I never saw any cat's fleas on my bed or clothes, and I do use roller every single day - so I still can't confirm this.

But, as for Awan, it is a serious case.

She got fleas and it is troubling her.

*

1. I went to pet shop to buy flea control liquid. The one that cost around RM 14 per tiny bottle where I need to put it on her neck. So I put several drop of those last week. 

2. The day after, it was Azmi's turn to help. He was in charge of showering Awan with Machiko Flea Control Shampoo, the one that ma bought for RM 17.80 per bottle. It should removes fleas, lice, mites and ticks naturally - it stated "Combination of selected plant extracts including neem, citronella, tea tree and cedarwood, to collectively maximize their traditionally known insect repelling and skin care properties in a mild shampoo base." Sounds good enough - all traditional ingredients.

By this time, Azmi mentioned about her reddish skin condition around neck, obviously from those scratching.

3. I bought another bottle of flea control liquid, this time cost RM 10 - because it was from different pet shop. I dropped those liquids 2 days after she was showered. This should last a month. We should repeat the showering with Machiko Shampoo and flea control drops for 3 months.

4. Buy tablets for cat's worm control. I read about how usually some cats with flea infestation will be infected by worms as well. I bought one for RM 8. The feeding process was handled by Azmi, again, because he is the only one that can be tough on Awan. Momsies can't do such brutal thing like forcing tablet inside her throat :p It went in after 5th try. They said we should give her the tablet at least every 6 months.

Other :

5. We cleaned our beddings, use the roller everyday, wash towel every fortnight and clothes everyday. We also need to vacuum the house every week. Oh, and she is banned from entering our room until she is completely flea free.

6. Cut Awan's nails to avoid more harm for her skin.

7. Spray vinegar on carpet and sofa in the living room.

*

I hope this would end super soon-soon.

And if you are bitten by cat fleas, don't you ever scratch, just use ice.

  

Little Stories 58 : My Awan kena sawan

Last week for Eid, we went back to Pekan for several days.

Like usual, I planned to leave Awan at my dad's house. While we were packing things up on the morning before we left the house, Awan sensed something and started to hide away. I had to capture her several times and with my brother's help, we managed to put her in a big tote bag *letting only her head out so I can still hug her while she watched outside and she won't feel wholly trapped in the bag. It's not possible to merely hold her, the last time I did that, she climbed onto my head outside of our apartment and that was humiliating enough.

Awan stayed in the house most of her life. The only time she saw the world outside of our little apartment were 1) when she was sick and survived a surgery 2) during Eid - that was like 5 times in 2 years. So, she is not up for what the world can offer. Ha. 

She hates new people by this means she will stare at you most of the time you are in the house. She puts a well-defined space between you and where she is at that time and if you try to touch her, she'll attack you. Nope, she is not a well-behaved young lady, I forgot to teach her about manner maybe because we hardly receive any outsiders much. 

Continue my previous story :

So after several attempts, we put her in the bag and I brought her to the car. She gave her oddly big-voice miows maybe because she was scared and while in the car she sat so tightly in my arm. We arrived at my dad's house and she was restless again once we went out from the car. She started to panic and moved 'in' the bag trying to find other way out, it was getting harder to hold her. 

Once I entered the house, I looked at Awan in my arms and I saw her twitching. At first it was her paws, and I thought it was a reaction because she panicked. Then she started having a seizure ! I didn't know what to do, I put her on the floor and shouted to my sister to call my dad - because my dad was once a veterinarian, so I thought he knew how to handle things like that. 

I stayed at her side, watching her body contracted uncontrollably. That was the longest 2 minutes ever. After that, she seemed to regain her consciousness, and tried to stand up but her legs were too weak, it slide.  I tried to calmed her down and asked my sister to put her in our room, less spacious, less stress? Phew. 

Seizure !

It sounded a big dramatic for a cat to have a seizure, but yeap : 

my Awan kena sawan. 

It even rhyme. 

*

We picked her up after 5 days, my sister said she twitched and was restless in her sleep, like she was having a bad dream. Poor Awan, my scaredy cat.

Read more on :

Seizures and Convulsions in Cats 

Little Stories 44 : Glasses, SecretFamily & Awan

Story 1 : Glasses

I woke up at 4 am, thinking I should do something productive today. I went to the toilet, washed my face, went to the kitchen to make a hot milo and turned on my laptop. I tried to find my glasses, but there was no where around the room, the kitchen, the living room, the toilet.

I hate it when I can't find my glasses.
I squinted my eyes while trying to find it, but I can't see clearly.

If I am a spectacle, where would I be? 

Gah.
*I typed this without my glasses on.

*

Story 2 : Secretgroup's Photo

Two days ago, I was given a task to collect all my colleagues' photo for our website. Assuming most people probably wanted to retake their photo *I am included, I hated the old ones, I voluntarily offered to take everyone's latest picture. 

Here is the challenge : 

1) I am not a good photographer when the object is other human. In 2009, I tried several freelance works in weddings and events - I  found out that when I take photos I became awkward and they became awkward. I make people feel uncomfortable. Ha. 

2) Some people are born photogenic. Some people are super shy, and I will become even worse than them. 

3) Some people just love to be photographed, this is very helpful & challenging, *because I were to blame if any pictures taken will make them seemed fat/dark/anything possible to be critiqued.

4) Some people will only blame me for how they looked. *Okay not some, one particular person, I personally think he did this on purpose. No problem, I will still bring the camera next week. 

Anyhow, I love the result and the experience and the fussiness and how adorable everyone was : each and every one of them was very unique & different when they had to stand in front of the camera. That was new.

There are some pictures that I need to retake, and some people that I have not take yet. 

*

Story 3 : Fatso Awan

Awan sleeps in my room at most nights. 

Around 4 am, I will sleepily be awake by Awan's heaviness on my stomach. She will lie/sit/other yoga-ic postures to lick her whole body's fur until maybe she feels clean & well-licked, then she will sleep somewhere else. 

This happens almost every night.

My rough hypotheses on why Awan needs to be on my stomach while she does her fur-licking routine :

1) Maybe it is easier for her to do odd postures while lying on my stomach, than on the flat floor.

2) Maybe it is just for her amusement to wake me from my sleep.

PS : Awan is quite heavy now.

*

    

Awan.11

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Hello !

It's been 1 year and 4 months since we adopted Awan. 

The original story of why I adopted Awan was this. 

Last year, when I was 24 years old, I felt the urge to have children - this is due to the normal effect of comparing my life with my married friends : the famous peer pressure effect. But I wasn't married or even in a stable relationship, so I asked my mom and siblings about adopting a cat. PS : People who know me well should know how much I adore children. 

I said " Yes, I am ready ! I'll  take care of it, I promise. ", " If I have a cat, I'll be more responsible " - all those childish promises kids do. 

After the death of Rene our previous cat several years ago, I mourned for years. I was so affected by its death. I was not even friendly to any cats for years. So knowing that I was ready was a good sign. My brother *the-ever-so-supporting-person and I kept on doing research on cat adoption, online. We literally exclaimed to my mom about how this and that certain kittens were perfect for us. My mom was not really excited over having another cat. 

Weeks later, my sister's friend Kak Shila called her and said there's this abandoned little cat behind her house. Long story short, Awan arrived at our house. Weak and small. She can't drink milk yet at that time, so we fed her using our fingers. We let her lick her mouth before she learned to drink herself.

*

Awan is so dear, to me. 

She is huge now. So huge she takes almost whole of my upper body when she lies down. 

She is no longer white. She is now stripey white+almost grayish chocolate.

She is no longer the clingy one.

But she still waits for me in front of my door room every morning.

I wish she will never grow up.

T^T

* 

*

You can see her album on instagram, here.

Awan these days :

Awan.10

Awan eats a lot. Awan sleeps a lot. Awan bites strangers. Awan hops like a grasshopper. Awan loves to lay on me for 5 minutes every morning. Awan's favorite victim is cockroaches. Awan eats popcorn and cheese. Awan loves to lick my chin. Awan answers my call by wiggling her crooked tail. Awan shouts behind the door if she wants to come in. Awan saw other cat once in her life. Awan survived major surgery. Awan's fur is all around the house - which I hate the most.

Awan is almost a year old now.

Awan on lazy Sunday.

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Awan.9

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Here are the latest pictures from Awan, getting healthier. I think she got used to wearing her plastic collar. She looks like a desk lamp, don't you think? She licks her collar ever so often, just like she licks her body before the surgery. I bet she felt so dirty for not cleaning up herself for almost 2 weeks now. Well, Awan, toughen up! 

She got several new habits :

1.

Awan sleeps on my bed almost all the time. I had to bring her out of the room every night. I can simply conclude that I am allergic to her fur, because I got bad cough since she started to sleep on my chest every morning *before the surgery. It wasn't that bad now.

2. 

When she wants to hop on the bed, she hangs her body halfway up and waits for someone to carry her up. She literally shows her big eyes!

3.

She seems much nicer now compared to before. She hardly bite anyone and she wants us to be near her most of the time. Poor Awan. So manja.

Awan, the space cat.

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Awan.8

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Awan is currently at the clinic.

Her surgery was scheduled yesterday afternoon.

Hope she will be just fine.

I miss her badly.

T^T

*

Update :

Awan is home.
The surgery was fine.
But she is super degil and it is VERY hard to handle her.
>.<

Awan.7

I love you so much, Awan.

Please don't die. Please.

*

Awan.6

Last Monday I came home from work. My sister and brother said Awan was not feeling well. She won't eat, she won't go to the toilet, she miowed loudly all the time and she kept on wanting our attention. She hid under our bed whole night, sleeping. I was worried sick >.< 

I saw some whitish discharge from her back side, and I googled it right away. I suspected she was having Pyometra, the life threatening uterus infection. I tried not to think much and asked my brother to bring her to the vet the next day *which was yesterday.

And I was right, she is having those infection and she is not feeling well. The vet said she needs to take antibiotic for several days, and see how it goes. If the antibiotic is not working, the infected uterus and ovaries will be removed in a surgery. 

I am scared. 

After Rene died, I mourned for several years before I was ready to accept another cat in our family. 

I put Awan so close to my heart and now I am scared. 

*

Awan.5

I have no idea how old Awan is.

I've lost count. It's over 5 months, if I'm not mistaken.

Last 2 weekends, Awan managed to yank out one of my Mac keyboard's button *the arrow to the right. And for 3 days, I've been searching vigorously. I didn't scold Awan. I know it was such an innocent act *can't imagine how I would react if my siblings were the one that did that, haa.. 

But I was sulking with Awan, yes. 

After those 3 days of searching, I picked up my mechanical pencil in my pencil case, and there you go : little arrow to the right. So safe and sound. Hmph.

*

Last night, my mom complained to me. Awan ate my mom's dinner on the kitchen table while she was in her room. Hu. I brought back Prosperity Burger *her current favorite to replace it. I guess Awan was super hungry because we went home late and that was my mistake. Awan is supposed to be under my supervision. My responsibility. 

*

Hu.

Tough up Reen! 

Awan, overly pampered :

Awan.4

My cat, Awan is now 22 weeks old.

While we've been away to Bandung for 5 days, we left Awan at my dad's house with Bibik. I don't know  if she is just straight-forwardly a coward or just because of the new environment. 

But I found out that for days that we've been away, Awan stayed in our room at my dad's all day and hardly explored the house. I thought Awan would be as curious as a cat? It's their nature.

There is even a proverb saying :

Curiosity killed the cat.

She didn't even let anyone touch her at first. So we took her home as soon as possible and now she's back to normal. Kisses in the morning, asking for breakfast, waiting for me to wake up, what a nice way to start my day.

:)

*

Awan.3 & My Weekend

My cat Awan, is now 20 weeks old.

She looked a bit cranky lately, and kept shouting a lot. Worst of all, she didn't finished her food. We were all worried and thought that we should bring her to the vet when Aja comes home.

Later when I was cooking for lunch today, I heard the horniest mew ever, made by our Awan. Apparently she's not sick! She is just, how should I say, "in the mood"- I guess. 

She never saw any cats before in her life, I wonder if she knew she is a cat.

What should we do?

Pity Awan.

Cranky Awan

*

Other than another 20% of my freelance work, and good old Syabu-syabu session at Johnny's, nothing much happened this weekend. I missed doodling a lot, but I am too much occupied with other stuffs. And funny thing is, even how much I don't want this blog to be personal, it turns out to be quite personal indeed. Oh well. 

My brother, cranky Awan & me.

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Awan.2

My cat Awan, is now 19 weeks old.


My mom just arrived home yesterday after 40 days she's been away for Hajj. We were so excited!

Me : Ma, you won't believe how big Awan is!

Home :
Awan came to greet us at the door. She sniffed and kissed my mom.
*yeay for the recognition & curiosity!

Ma : Awan is soooooooo big! I can't believe Awan is this big! It's like a different cat. Did you guys changed it with different cat?

Later in the morning :

Ma : I still can't believe Awan is this big! He's like a "bapak kucing"! 

Me : Ma.. Awan is a she. Awan is a female cat..

Me : ......

Ma : Oh, right! "Mak kucing!"

Hah. Failed. Awan is too good looking to be a female cat :D

Awan being 19 weeks old.

 *

Awan.

My cat Awan, is now 17 weeks old.

Awan loves to shout.
She literally SHOUTS when she is hungry.

She knows that every morning, I will wake up to give her breakfast. 

She even waits for me to wake up. 

I saw her sitting patiently next to me this morning. I was too sleepy to pat her before I drifted off again. 

I love waking up seeing Awan :D 

I let my room's door a bit ajar so that she can sleep with us.

It might sounds creepy, waking up and seeing someone is staring at you. But I know Awan is just waiting for her usual breakfast. If she is too hungry, she will just scream to wake me up. And I am too soft-hearted to ignore her (=.=)'

Awan, 16th weeks.