Blacky

Blacky died. He spent 15 of his 15 1/2 years with us. He followed us from Switzerland to Malaysia. He liked it here, we could see that: the warm weather and the fact that he could come and go the way he pleased. We think, he had a good life! He was a very affectionate and loving cat - asking for affection and love in return of course! We miss him!

Pinky's kittens

Remember Pinky? The kitten I
saved from drowning in the
drain several times, a bit more
than a year ago? She is not a
kitten anymore, no, she has
her own kittens, two girls,
about 3 months old.
Very pretty and very naughty.

And Pinky is the most adorable mother cat I've seen so far. After three months she still does not leave them, she cleans them, teaches them, plays with them. Maybe it's some sort of compensation for her own motherless kittenhood?

Toilet training for cats

Right now we are living in a house with a big garden in a rural area. So the question of cat litter boxes never arose. But we may move into town one day, and what happens then? Litter boxes in the toilet, no choice. Really? Watch this!

Cat tails on the menu?

At least once a week we hear these questions: "Why do the cats here in Malaysia have short tails, or no tails at all? Is it true that people cut them off? Do they eat them?" No, nobody cuts their tails, there are no restaurants that specialize in the preparation of cat tails! The cats are born like that. One litter can surprise you with a whole range of different tails (as well as colours): perfect long tail, long tail but twisted or a bit curled at the end ..... almost no tail at all. I know for sure, because Pedro and Lucy were born in my wardrobe, and both of them have short tails, from the very first day!


















Lucy has one more special feature: 6 toes on each paw!



Mutations. Inbreeding: Suara, Pedro's and Lucy's mother, was "given" to us by a neighbour, so chances that the father of her kittens was her own father, or a brother or another male relative are quite high! Whatever the reason: the variety of colors, sizes, tail length, tail form, paws, ears, eyes of the house (stray...) cats here is enormous! Go for a walk in any Malaysian town and look around, it's amazing!

Or just have a look at Suara, she's got a bit of all of them!

Expat Cats

When we decided to move to Malaysia almost 11 years ago, we had two cats: Blacky and Michi.

We were not sure what to do, find a new home for them in Switzerland? Or take them with us? Both of them had been with us for several years and there were bonds.

And the feeling that we had a responsibility for them. So we talked to our vet. She had all the information we needed. We were a bit worried that the climate here would be to hot for the two of them. But she said that cats like it hot - and she was right. We had decided to live in the countryside, so she thought that the cats would be very happy (and lucky) not to have to spend their lives in an apartment. And again, she was right.

You will find a few more pros and cons in this link to expatkl.com. About the quarantine: It was not to bad, quite clean, nice staff, and the two of them could stay together. Only thing, when we brought them there from the airport, the vet straight away gave them a rabies jab - and they had had one just a few days before we left Switzerland - I thought it was a bit much, but they were okay.

It was expensive (the airfare for the cats), it was a bit troublesome for us (about 5 hours from Mersing to KL, where they were in quarantine), it was a big change for them (temperature, light, food - no Whiskas in Mersing back in 1996!) - but I would do it again.

List of historical cats by Wikipedia

Something you might want to check out on a rainy Sunday afternoon....

The cat in China

History repeats itself, different continent, different culture, but basically the same story (see The Great Cat, one post earlier). Click the title to learn more. And read the comments at the end of the article, some of them are quite interesting too.