LBC

There are many stray dogs and cats in Taiwan. Previously these animals were euthanized, which made only a small dent in the growing animal population. Now the policy of the animal organizations here is to catch-neuter-release—there are too many to place in homes.

We have been feeding several strays in the neighborhood and ended up getting very attached to one particularly friendly one. We decided to do our part to help control the population and brought “Little Black Cat” (as we called her) to the vet to be spayed. After daily visits to the vet’s office during her recuperation we realized we would not be able to put her back out on the street and decided to adopt Little Black Cat (renamed Lucy).

We really debated, as we didn’t want another cat and we don’t want to become the crazy cat people—thirty-something couple with three cats and no kids has a certain stigma. Even so, we decided to bring LBC home. You’ll notice in the pictures that one of her ears has been cut. The vet does that to strays to mark them as neutered. When we brought her in we hadn’t planned on adopting her, otherwise we wouldn’t have let them cut her ear. She also has a shaved belly from being spayed. We will update the pictures once she looks her best!

Little Black Cat when she was a stray. Now LBC is on the other side of the glass playing with Pixie and Millie.

Kittens to cats

Millie’s feet in the sun

I vowed not to make this a ‘look at our cats’ blog so the amount of entries with Pixie and Millie have been very limited, maybe too limited. These photos are by special request from someone special in the Orlando area. You know who you are.

Two of my favorite friends

We’ve had the cats for a while now and they just get funnier and funnier. It’s so nice to come home after work and see these two waiting for us. It’s been a lot of fun watching them develop from kittens to cats.

Millie, right, has her ‘why are you looking at me’ face on. Pixie, left, could care less

Millie’s happy in a box of shredded confidential papers

Getting down to Pixie’s level

Millie trying to break free

If there’s one thing they must do together, it’s sleep together

Coneheads

 

Pixie and Millie went in last week to be spayed and came home with shaved bellies, four stitches and very kitten friendly (not really) orange cones.  They were fairly drugged up for the first few days and had trouble walking because of the medication and the awkwardness of the big cone.  All of the normal places that they would dart in and out of became quite a struggle and a bit of a comedy routine at their expense.  The saddest part was that they didn’t recognize each other with the cones and spent the first two days hissing at each other.  We looked it up and found that it wasn’t the cones, instead it was the medical smells that remaining on their wounds that masked their normal scents and kept them from recognizing one-another.  Fortunately this only lasted a couple days and then they were back to what you see above.  The cones come off in three days, just when they start adjusting to life with the cones.

Crock Pot Kitten

 

We couldn’t resist taking a picture of Millie sitting in the crock pot, although we usually shoo them away when we catch them on the table. We had just made ribs so I think she liked the warmth. We’ve been trying to keep the kittens off the table, but as everyone knows, cats have a mind of their own.

Two New Friends

  

Pixie (on the left) and Millie (Right) when they are about 6 weeks old.

It’s time to officially introduce two new friends of ours, Millie and Pixie.  About four months ago we were put in contact with an animal rescue group.  After several emails we received a message saying that they had three young kittens that were rescued from the streets in Taichung.  We decided to adopt these two little girls, but found out that their brother who had been injured didn’t survive.  We finally made the 90 minute train ride south and met Millie and Pixie for the first time and brought them back to Taipei as our new friends.

Laura with a mini kitten blanket.

I know that there are entire blogs dedicated to pets and animals, and we don’t want ours to become another blog that gets overrun by pet photos.  So we’ll try and control ourselves and not flood our site with cat photos.  (let us know if we do)

 

Hanging out on their scratch pad.

As sisters they get along very well and rarely sleep apart.

Synchronized sleeping.