Presenting .....

The latest addition to the Merican Clan : Our super model - Citrus aka Siti Ros aka Wowos

Checking out the most important item in her new room

We got the thumbs up, but she demanded a ledge to be place in her throne room so Papa dutifully complied and rushed off to buy a shelf insert from Ikea

This is more like it!

The beginner's guide to taking care of cats

For newbies: The following are just some of the things that you should keep in mind before starting your adventure into the feline world. Please note that the following may not be the way you would do things but since the world is made up of millions of people, there will be different opinions.

Boboy

Dusky

1. Do your research and read, read, read about cats and which breed you'd like to "grow up" with. - I rushed into the feline world head first so did not really read about which breed suits me and my life style best. But I believe I have made the right choice in choosing maine coons
2. If there's a cat association or club, join them or at least get to know a few of them before plunging into the ravine so to speak :) - in other words, don't do what I've done, do what I was supposed to have done
3. Ask yourself whether you want to start a breeding programme or just enjoy the cats that you have. Initially I only want cats as pets but I have now decided to breed maine coons 
4. Do you have the space to keep them? I keep my kittens in the family area but I have already allocated them a room in the new house. We'll be moving in June 2011. :)
5. Do you want to keep them in cages or let them roam free in the house? For safety reasons (and my peace of mind), I keep the babies in their individual cages when I go to work but will let them out once I get home. As they sleep most of the time during the day, I believe they don't miss much. Furthermore, it is easier to keep the boys away from the girls as I don't want the girls to get pregnant before they are one years old.
6. Do you want to keep them indoors or outdoors? I prefer indoor cats as at least I can keep them safe
7. Do you have a good vet within your neighbourhood? We have two vets located within 15 minutes drive from my house
8. Don't go cat searching during a long weekend break, most of the shops would be closed. In my haste to get a cat, I had to choose the long Chinese New Year holiday weekend! 
9. If the petshop is offering a kitten before he/she is three/four months old - WALK AWAY! They still need the mother and most likely have not been potty trained. A responsible breeder would only sell their kittens after they are four months old or so.
10. Buy the biggest cage you can afford in terms of size to fit your home as they will grow bigger. I bought the largest kitten cage (36"L x 22"W x 29"H) for both Boboy and Dusky as the petshop had only one. After scouting around, I found a small sized dog cage (48"L x 30"W x 36"H) which is the biggest sized cage that could go into my family area. I now have four of the dog cages.
11. And if you want to buy pedigree cats, make sure that the breeder shows you the registration slip for your kittens. Make a copy for your records as the breeder needs the slip to change the ownership. I made the mistake of not making a copy of Pearl's registration slip and am still waiting for the new one from TICA. In the case of Putra, I took a copy but am happy to note that the registration slip from CFA arrived on Friday 13 May 2011.
12. The best breeder are those who allows you to choose your own name. I gave Putra his name but had no choice on Pearl.
13. There are a lot of cat registration associations in the world but Malaysia only recognises FIFE (Federation International Feline, Luxemburg), CFA (Cat Fanciers' Association, US) and TICA (The International Cat Association, US)

Pearl

Putra

Fussy eater

I read somewhere, in my eternal search for information on cats and how to best look after them, that cats are not fussy eaters, they become fussy eaters because of their owner. Hmmmm, I am not sure where I went wrong but Boboy turned out to be a fussy eater. I normally feed them in the morning with a mixture of kibbles and the Royal Canin Babycat Instinctive mousse, the rest of the day I would feed them kibbles.

This is the scene on a normal day :

Boboy : Where's my food Mummy, where's my food???

The four musketeers relishing their breakfast

When I got Pearl, I was advised to give them raw minced meat as well. So one fine morning, I tried to give them a mixture of raw minced meat and kibbles. THIS was the scene that day :

We love you Mummy (scene before Putra joined us)

Boboy : Say what?!! Where's my food??!! I'm hungry mummy

Boiled chicken mixed with kibbles menu :

Boboy sulking at the top right hand corner, the rest are tucking in

Finally I relented, and gave him the baby mousse and kibbles :

Boboy : Now this is what I call food!

And Dusky will always be the one finishing everyone's plate :

The Babycat instinctive is now being alternated with the RC Kitten Instinctive and sometimes we will also give them other brands specially for kittens.

Photos of eating habits

Putra & Pearl - first date 25.04.11

Hello, I'm Putra. What's your name?

Excuse me, this is only our first date and Mummy's watching!

Hmmm, the girl is playing hard to get!

Thanks for rubbing my back!

Both of them were still young and Putra has yet to learn the art of mating hence nothing happened. Most of the time, the boy is kept separated from Pearl especially since she has started her "mating period". She was trying to entice Putra but all he did was grip her then looked a bit confused as to what to do next. Thank God for that! They are still too young and I am still learning how to take care of them. :) :) :) 

Additional photos

Boboy's turn

En route to the vet on 16 April 2011 :

Boboy loves to ride in the car. Normally he would be standing with his two front paws on the dashboard. But today is a special day ......

Sitting calmly in the carrier

Hi Mummy, are we there yet?

After the surgery :

Mummy, why is everything so fuzzy?

Hello, are you ok in there?

The day after the surgery :

Am soooo tired!

The following day :

Shhh, don't tell the others but I love my doggie

More photos

To neuter or not

When I started on this adventure, I had every intention to keep all my cats intact. But after having read about the various posting with regards to breeding and also our responsibility in ensuring the purity of the breed, I finally decided to neuter both Boboy and Dusky. There are a lot of information on the website but one of the better ones are http://www.cathealth.com/neuter.htm and http://www.knowyourcat.info/info/neutering.htm

We had Dusky neutered first on 2 April followed by Boboy two weeks later as we were not sure whether we could take care of both cats after the surgery. Both kittens were kept overnight in the cat carrier as we did not want to disturb them too much after the surgery as they were very groggy.

Both recovered the next day but we kept them for an extra day in their cages and brought them out separately from the others, just in case.

Dusky's trip on 2 April 2011

Last drink at 9 am before the start of his fast

As usual, initially he was a bit scared in the car and had to be cuddled.

Dusky : Can you please hold me, just in case.....

After the surgery :

Mummy, why is the cage so small? I want my cage... :((

Mummy, the light hurts. Where are you mummy?

Poor baby!...........

More photos