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MrWildy's Catsitting Diary

21/6/2022

All the Lovely Cats (and furry ones) that I have Taken Care of Before

Having spent much time (and love) with all the furry ones, I thought I should dedicate a blog post to all the cats and furry ones. All of them hold special meaning to me in one way or another, and for most of them, I have grown closer to them through the house visits, and I certainly hope that I would have the chance to meet them again! I try to help cat sitting and cat visits, and you can find me on Pawshake.

Tron, Caline and Speedo

Tron, Caline and Speedo are the friendliest cats I've ever met. They belong to the lucky cat owner Danny, who regularly reaches out to me to help look after his cats. In fact, he's so trusting of me that he has passed me a set of keys to his house and access pass and even registered my car so that it would be easy for me to go to his place to take care of his fur-babies.

Even though Danny did not require me to groom his kitties, I took the effort to give the cats a dose of daily grooming. This is especially so when Tron and Caline are long-haired cats, and they are unable to fully groom themselves. Caline, being the most shy cat eventually got familiar with me with my regular brushing and bonded with me. I think this is the best things about cats - they don't just give you their love and affection as easily as dogs; you really have to earn it lol.

I've done several cat sitting for this bunch of cats, and I look forward to seeing them again. (Danny, please go on a trip soon!)

Sophia

Sophia is the British Shorthair baby of parents Izam and Zarinah. This is an intersting cat sitting, because Sophia has kidney issues, and Izam and Zarinah needed help with administering medicine, supplements as well as doing a subcut.

I was initially reluctant to assist, as I do not have experience with administering subcut. But after listening to Izam and Zarinah, I realised that they really needed some help, otherwise they are unable to make the trip overseas.

Hence, for over a week, I took care of Sophia, with the help of Izam and Zarinah's mom (who didn't travel). Initially, it was difficult (and scary, I would add), but we both knew it was for Sophia's survival, so we did it anyway.

Siena

Siena is a really shy cat who lives at Meyer Road area with her owners. It took me almost a week to get Siena feeling comfortable enough to get close to me, but even so, she's always cautious and hesitant. Because of this, I maintained a comfortable distance to ensure that Siena did not get stressed by me (she was already stressed by being alone without her owners near her). Siena will not say no to treats however, and that gave me an opportunity to get closer to her.

Enzo, Fleur and Cookie

With Cookie, June 2022

With Enzo, Dec 2021

There was a request for me to do regular dog-walking (on a weekly basis) for Enzo and Fleur, a pair of Golden Retriever siblings, as well as Cookie, a Maltese. As I have an affinity for Golden Retrievers, I gladly took on the assignment.

These days, I walk Enzo, Fleur and Cookie on a weekly basis (except when the weather is bad), and I've seen them grow bigger as they mature in age.

Update: June 2022
It has been six months already, and I am still doing the weekly Sunday dog walking with Enzo, Fleur and Cookie. It's something that I look forward to, and both Enzo and Fleur are also big puppies now.

Zuko

Zuko is a really adorable tabby belonging to owner Daria. The owners were travelling to Germany for the Christmas period, so I had the opportunity to spend some time with Zuko, as well as help to water the Christmas Tree in the house. Zuko is friendly and always come over to me for brushing when I am at the apartment. He has large and round eyes that makes him oh soooooo adorable!

Mochi

I took care of the really friendly Mochi while his owner was away for a much-needed VTL vacation in December 2021. Mochi was really friendly, and while he was a fussy eater, he never fails to walk over to me for some cuddles and grooming. Because of his thicker fur, some effort is needed to groom Mochi to prevent his fur from matting.

Zorro

It was difficult to snap a photo of Zorro cos he's always moving around. Rather friendly, Zorro was kindly adopted by Shilpa into her family and is now a happy and loving member of her family. While some Singaporeans shun black cats (because of bad luck?), Zorro is a fantastic case of how we should not be prejudiced by the colour and breed of a cat. All cats are affectionate and are deserving of our love, and Zorro (and Shilpa) is a fine example of this!

Poppy and Winston

Poppy and Winston are two really adorable and beautiful ragdolls of owner Kate. Poppy (the one with the white "socks") being the more friendly one would come approach me while Winston usually hides on the upper level. As their fur require a lot of grooming, I bought a brush so that I could help keep their fur in good order and prevent matting. This wasn't easy, especially for Winston, hence after my catsit period, Poppy was the one with the nicer looking coat. Also, over time, she has gotten closer to me -- and I do look forward to meeting them again. Nice ragdolls!

Doufu

Doufu is a shy ragdoll with a really beautiful coat of fur. She's a little shy initially and would hide inside her little cot, but once she's adjusted to my scent she would come out to play. Doufu requires much grooming due to her coat, so when I visited her I always make an effort to brush her fur to prevent any matting.

Wasabi

Wasabi is a really beautiful cat with a soft thick coat and a flurry tail. She was initially very shy and wary of me, but as I took on a long-term house visit of about 10 days, Wasabi got really familiar with me after two or three days. In fact, I think she was rather lonely being alone at home and was very vocal when I visited. Hence I spent more time with her, with the usual daily grooming as well as the brushing.

Tiberius

Tiberius is one of the most affectionate (and manja) cat that I've house visited so far (except for Markiz, which was another really affectionate cat). Tiberius would be waiting for me by the door for my arrival, and then from the time that I enter the apartment, till I depart, Tiberius would be all over me, following me wherever I go. Tiberius is a very sociable cat, and when he realised that I was about to leave the apartment, he would rush to the door to block my departure. Such an intelligent cat!

Bailey

Bailey is a Bengal breed. As Bengals are extremely rare in Singapore, I was very excited to be able to house sit Bailey. She sported a larger frame than most cats, and was certainly agile. I liked the fact on how Bailey would make an interesting cat sound while waiting for her food. Bailey was definitely one of the most athletic cat that I've ever seen (besides my own cat Tigger).

Chi and Gandalf

Chi was a really shy cat and took several days to get familiar with me, and initially I couldn't even get close to Chi. I also helped take care of Gandalf, the Chinchilla living in the glass tank. Fortunately both Chi and Gandalf could get along rather well (as long as they were not left alone in an open space!). Chi has a really demure and gentle character which made her really unique in her own catty way.

Bubba and Padgett

So far, for all the numerous cat visits that I have undertaken, I have always been able to get close to the cat(s) and form a connection with them. The only time that I've failed was with Bubba and Padgette (lol!). Both Bubba and Padgette were really shy cats, and once they hear me arriving, one would hide under the sheets while the other one would make a beeline to the back of the fridge. Because they were rather fearful, I took gradual steps to engage them, but the closest I managed was to take a photo of them without scaring them away. I would definitely like to meet both Bubba and Padgette again.

Chesterfield, Mittens and Paolo

Unfortunately, I was unable to get very close to either of the three cats, as one of them had the tendency to make a dash out of the house. Hence there was great care needed to handle this family of cats. (btw, Chesterfield is a Rabbit).

Boo and Max

I spent a fair bit of time with Boo and Max as well (about two weeks?). Max (the black and white one) is the more friendly and sociable cat while Max is the more wary one. Fortunately, after about four or five days I managed to get closer to Max. They had a tendency to choose on the carpet slippers so I had to keep them out of their sight. Both cats love grooming time and would come to me once I had the brush in my hand.

Markiz

Markiz remains one of the most affectionate cats that I've visited so far. In fact, I did look forward to visiting him, and I also look forward for the opportunity to visit him again. Markiz makes the cutest cat sounds, and he was always seeking attention and human company every time I visited him. Anton, the proud owner of Markiz contacted me for the second time to take care of Markiz but unfortunately I was away on vacation and missed the opportunity to visit him again.

Nheo, Tho and Ginger Sooke and Meng

I did a short cat visit for 5 cats across 2 homes. As this was a really short cat visit, I did not have the chance to spend quality time with all the cats, and while some were shy and wary as usual, a few curious kitties did come out to greet me, which was nice.

DD, Ah Mei and Orb

This cat sitting assignment was a special one as I was requested to take care of DD, a 20-year old cat (not in the picture, out of respect for DD). DD lives together with Orb (left) and Mei Mei (right). As DD was getting senile, the really caring owner wanted to find someone who was able to come between 2pm and 3pm during weekdays to help feed and care for DD. I decided to take on this responsibility for an extended duration, all the way until DD passed away. This experience of cat sitting was a very special one, as I had built a special bond with DD over the many weeks spent together. When I heard of DD's passing, I did cry uncontrollably, and this is a reminder to myself to never take my cats for granted, and to spend quality time with them.

Trotster and Talent

Occasionally, I do take care of dogs as well. Here, I was requested to take care of Trotster and Talent - both Miniature Pinscher. It was an interesting experience for me as I realised that different skillsets were required for taking care of dogs, which was somewhat different from taking care of cats. In particular, Talent was rather territorial and aggressive to a point too, so I had to be very careful in managing both of them.

Luna and Naomi

I did repeated house visits for both Luna and Naomi. As usual, one of the cats, Luna, was the more gregarious and friendly one and greeted me from the moment I stepped in till I left the apartment. On the other hand, Naomi was the really shy one, and it was so difficult to catch a glimpse of her, that I took me a while to make her warm up to me.

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