Area2 update

Quick update: Bradley and Saba have been taken earlier tonight… by V for sterilisation tomorrow. At least the situation is starting to get under control.

Brielle and Brenna however have disappeared since 9 Mar 2009. Scottie has been missing since 11/12 Feb 2009.

Area2: Saba, Scottie, Sumie

Follow-up to the juicy gossip, updates provided by A on 5 Feb:

Saba

It has been barely a week since she brought her babies in from the cold. She and her babies were installed outside the family’s flat, as expected, and her litter of 5 cuties are all MIA already. We had just heard her calling for her babies right outside the flat. just before we sighted and took this picture of her. According to A, the kittens defecated at will, often right on the doorstep of the family’s neighbours, a Chinese family which seems to have tolerated the noise and mess so far. But it can only be a matter of time before something happens.

We have worked out a plan with A to get Saba sterilised. Meantime, we will provide A with some of our Wellness canned food to help Saba recuperate, as she is forever ravenous and frequently begs A for food. We also suspect Saba may need to be dewormed, but will wait for a while more to do so as we do not want to risk her kittens’ health should they be still around.

Scottie

Before Saba appeared, we were saying “Hi” to Scottie. He does not behave like a cat who might have learnt his lesson, approaching us immediately.

Scottie still none the wiser

Scottie’s abuse was suffered at the hands of a bunch of Malay girls who were smoking at the benches nearby. Instead of knife cuts as was previously believed, his tail had been burned with cigarette lighters.

Scottie has the softest fur of any cat I’ve known. His fur is longer than his short-haired look leads one to assume. In fact, the closest comparison, both look and feel, is chincilla fur.

His tail, from the top, looks ok now. Despite being abused just weeks ago, and the family’s protestations of care and concern, especially to A, we consistently find him still alone, and unsupervised, often right by the spot where his abuse took place.

Later, Sumie also appeared, patiently waiting for succour from A

Nobody in their minds would think it ok to allow young children out of the home, roaming about unsupervised nor that they beg for food from the neighbours regularly. So it should be with pets, especially in Singapore, and even more so in HDB estates. And yet, here is a family who professes love, L.O.V.E., for the cats they have lured to their flat with the food they keep leaving out or otherwise kitnapped, wilfully allowing all these to continue happening despite events that ought to have taught them better.

On a related note. I may have sounded scornful, begrudging the family’s 2 wall-mounted large LCD TVs, expensive looking wall-mounted sound systems, and Hari Raya renovations. It is not judgmentalism with which we view the state of their spanking new palatial home furnishings. Everyone is entitled to aspire to newer, more or better. In fact, we are also getting our first LCD tv, a replacement for our aging 8 year old Sony Trinition, an old style cathode ray tv you will not find easily anymore.

My issue and frustration is not whether the family is able to afford their new possessions, nor do I care if they’re paying in installments (like we are) or cleared it all in full. The bigger gripe we have is that such possessions take some planning and budgetting to obtain or put in place. Still, it isn’t rocket science. Even simpler and cheaper is planning and budgetting for a cat’s sterilisation, 1 cat. And yet, the family has consistently failed to do what’s in Saba’s best interest for the past 15 or 16 months, despite their promise to us initially and now A, allowing Saba to birth 3 more litters, and everytime the excuse is she’s already pregnant, need to wait for her to give birth, need to wait for her to wean her kittens, can’t find her, no money on hand at the moment, need to wait for husband to have time to send her, she’s already pregnant …

What’s even more infuriating is that they have sent a later addition for sterilisation promptly, totally DIY with no one’s help at that, and at the rather high cost of $100 or more at a “specialist” which required a follow-up one week later. So they are being cavalier with Saba’s sterilisation, probably because she’s not anything ‘special’ like their white cat with a fluffy tail.

At last, trapping happens for Area2. And juicy gossips abound

Quick update: It’s now 12.05am, 23 Jan, and we’re just back from another trapping session, and unlike the last round where we targetted Area2 and ended up with 2 Area1 kitties and 1 marauding male, we went to Area2 and got 5 Area2 kitties!

Aside from the torbie calico female kitten, Brielle who remains at large, and the short-tailed agouti who’s been missing since mid Dec, the dilute calico family comprising Mum-Brina, short-tailed and small-sized black kitten with white mittens-Brayden, 2 cream-coloured tabbies-Brenna (long-tail female) and Brennan (short-tail male), are slated for mojo freedom tomorrow. We also got a new adult male Jerry, whose gentle and sweet nature belies his experience. He is sterilised but ear’s untipped, so we’re sending him to get that done and to get him checked for the surgical wound he appeared with. We started out at 9.50pm (22 Jan), and called it a night at 11.30ish.

Bradley continues to elude efforts to get him but there may be hope. While waiting for V, we met A and her daughter, J, who feeds the cats nightly. A says Bradley usually waits for her behind the eatery at around 8something. We’ll work with her to get him. For interested readers, since we named him, we’ve not been able to find him until last Wednesday. He’s growing up quite well.

A has also sighted Stanley recently, and we’re glad to have the confirmation that he’s well since we’ve not seen him since his release.

Other interesting bits: A lives in the same block as Saba‘s family, and confirms she has a new litter she’s hiding in the drains somewhere.

Scottie has been claimed by the family’s man of the house due to his super sweet nature. Scottie was found with a knife wound to his tail last week and the family has applied medicine.

They also have a new white cat with a a fluffy tail which they paid more than $100 to get sterilised voluntarily but is still terribly unwilling to sterilise Saba. They told A they wanted to ask us to help sterilise Saba but can’t contact us as we’ve changed our numbers- which is incredible since both btmao and I have kept the same hp numbers.

A has been persuading them to get Saba done, but the same excuses as the ones they used on us were trotted out apparently. They even asked A to sponsor $30… a rather brazen request considering that they now have 2 wall-mounted large LCD TVs, expensive looking wall-mounted sound systems, and even renovated their home for the last Hari Raya.

Now that Saba has kittens, she has also been going up to A’s flat to ask for food too! A provides food outside her door. I told A to stop doing that and to feed in common areas with discretion as she would any other cat. I have also requested A not to let the family know she has made contact with us – I am fed up with them and the case with the white cat shows they are more than able to afford and find their own vet.

On a related tangent, btmao is trying to handle a complaint. The TC has pictures of a cat which an Area2  resident claims is noisy in the early morning but will not share the picture nor reveal the complainant’s contact details. In frustration, btmao asked the TCO why can’t the complainant then talk to the feeder or the cat’s owner since he is able to take the cat’s pictures. The TCO has no answer except that people don’t take ownership of their own problems. The TCO then said he would call HDB, so btmao reminded him that HDB does not allow pet cats, which means it would result in more cats outside which means more potential problems for him. He then said he might need to talk to the MP, and btmao said fine, we’ll go see him first. To be fair, the TCO is a nice person and he does try to work with us, but this was a conversation that really got nowhere fast.

Anyway, from our convo with A today, we believe the cat in question is the family’s white cat as A says it goes into the carpark nearby in the early morning and cries for food. We’ll need to think on how to handle this one.

Sally, whom we thought missing or displaced by Saba and the steady stream of later additions to the family is also on A’s floor. A Malay family allows her in to play with their children and shuts her out when they sleep.

Sunny has died, knocked down at the very busy intersection nearby.

The elusive mother cat and second litter we heard about and have yet to locate is most probably Sarsi. Only 1 kitten from her first litter survived, likely kitnapped for its looks. As for her second known and current litter, no one is sure how many there were nor how many are alive now. We shall try to locate her.

A new male cat we named Robby has been on the prowl for love. Two nights ago, he was after Brina like a greyhound was on to a hare. He was sitting right by the drains Brina’s family called home as we were about to call it a night, so V set the trap for him. Unfortunately, he was not interested in food at all, and eluded capture this time. We can only hope Brielle will remain safe until Brina’s return on Sunday, and that his lust will subside soon.

There is another new male cat we sighted early last month untipped and unsterilised. He then turned up 2 weeks later with a tipped ear and a collar. We call him Jet due to his spraying. From A, we got to know that he belongs to the family’s neighbour. The family DEMANDED Jet be sterilised as he was getting intimate with Saba and they don’t want more kittens. The wonder is that the neighbour complied. The bigger wonder is that the neighbour didn’t demand the family reciprocate with Saba’s sterilisation.

No wonder my head get achesies

We’ve exchanged contact info with A and J and will be sharing more info, esp kitty food info.

Details and of course pictures of Brina and her family, Jerry, Jet to come.

Betsy is now mojo-free. Area2 kitties continue to be elusive

Betsy has been sterilised on Thursday, 9 Oct. The four foetuses she was carrying have been aborted in the process. We sent on the little ones with well-wishes and sadness.

Betsy, as she is so friendly, will be prepped for adoption.

As has been mentioned, she was an Area2 kitty.

We had mentioned the frustrating situation with the kitties in Area2. Of the kitties mentioned, we have been sighting Bambi randomly ever since. mostly around the area’s eatery. But we’ve not managed to establish her schedule and have not managed to “get” her. She is now nursing a litter of kittens, as elusive and skittish as ever. In fact, the night we got Betsy, we were trying to find her, as she is super emaciated, probably due to the strain of nursing her babies. The good news is we think we may be getting nearer to a Bambi schedule – for the past week, btmao has managed to find and feed her 3 out of 7 times. The headache though is that we need to wait for her babies to be weaned, and we’re nervous as btmao found Stanley on the night we catnapped Betsy. Also, Bambi needs fattening up before de-mojoing. With an irregular schedule, that’s going to be a challenge.

The shy little white kitten with tabby patches has been sighted only once since, early this month. Also as skittish as ever. However, it seemed to be healthy, and is now a bigger kitten.

Sarsi, the last cat we saw has never been sighted since.

That doesn’t mean things are quiet in Area2. Even before Freda’s discovery in February, we know there are many elusive new kitties around there, due to irresponsible pet owners. We’ve had random distant sightings of a ginger cat, alone and chasing after another one whom we only heard. Between then and now, we’ve had one-off sightings of different cats. The most recent one is a 3-5 mth scaredy, mostly white calico kitten first sighted on 26 Sep 2008 sitting in the drains. It is likely a girl. btmao sighted her a week later, hanging  out near Bambi’s eatery territory.

Saba, as far as we can see is still intact, with the very virile and wanderful Stanley paying court to free-ranging pet cat just yesterday. We have decided to not offer any more help to the family due to 2 reasons: 1) the family shows no concern about the issue nor have them attempted to contact us about arrangements for Saba even though we see Sue, the woman of the house often enough on the way home from work; 2) since our last update on Saba, Sue had only called me once, but was more interested in trying to get the same “deal” for her friends than to make arrangements for Saba even though I had already told her sterilising Scottie, Sunny and Sumie was a one-off deal that we were paying out of our own pocket due to the circumstances.

Scottie was out and about, and as friendly as ever. We also caught a glimpse of Sunny. Though Sumie was not sighted, we believe she is well and about, as we’ve sighted her previously. All three look fantastic, and of course it is being mojo-less that gives them their sleekness.

Benji is still around, and seems to have moved back to his original territory, rather than stay around Saba’s area. But even he seems to have gotten in on the act, and is only randomly sighted. He was most recently sighted and fed on Thursday evening.

All in all, our report card on Area 2 this year has been quite dismal. Things have just not been going well in TNRM terms. But with Betsy catnapped, and Bambi finally letting us get a clue about her schedule, maybe the situation can be remedied soon. Hopefuly, we will not have to make difficult decisions as we did on Betsy’s behalf.

Area 2 cats… sometimes it gets complicated

So! I have been busy these two mornings, running around like a good TNRM minion should, taknig care of “business” in area 2. The result? Scottie and the siblings, Sumie and Sunny have lost their mojo yesterday.

Scottie, a lovely silver agouti tabby, on the way back from the vet today. He’s still wondering what hit him.

Soon after this vid was taken, he relaxed and napped all the way back.

In contrast, the siblings were as calm as ever.

Total spent on the operation: $145.00 (Sterilisation bill excludes taxi fare of $22.70 to the vet, and $15.90 from the vet. This is not taking into account the transport cost and time for my trips from the vet post-delivery and pre-collection)

In conjunction, we also found out a few things from Sue, the owner of Sumie, Sunny and Saba. For example: the relationship between the kittens and Saba were not as we speculated. In all honesty, we also suspected that it might not be so, given the timeline, but it was the closest to making sense then. Now for the real picture, I give you the timeline of their story, guest-starring Stanley (the long-tailed adult silver male featured here), and Benji (his brother Kenji is sitll missing)

Somewhere in late 2005

• Sally appeared in area 2 with a tipped ear. She displayed the nervousness of a cat thrown into a new environment. Gradually she established herself in one of the two carparks there. By 2006, she became a semipet of Sue’s family, who refused to listen to advice to not leave food and water outside their ground-floor flat. With a regular food supply, Sally wasn’t too keen to depend on the tec soup-kitchen. Sue’s flat is very near the carpark which Sally used to call home.

Jan/Feb 07:

• Complaint in Sally’s area led to the discovery of Stanley, a long-tailed silver tabby adult male, and a very handsome young dilute calico male (never sighted again).

April 07

• Spotted Scottie for the first time in the opposite end of area 2, away from Sally’s. He proved elusive. Later, we found out from Sue that he also frequented Sally’s for the food Sue leaves outside.

May 07

• Saba first sighted.
• Sometime before this, a different female cat who has established herself in the same area and went to Sue’s for food, gave birth. She was Sumie and Sunny’s mother, a cat we’ve never sighted. She was caring for and moving her litter of 3/4 kittens around. She was later killed by a dog. Sue adopted the litter, then less than 2 months old. In addition to Sumie and Sunny, there was another ginger kitten with a long tail, who has since disappeared.

Jun/Jul 07

• Saba got pregnant.

Sep/Oct 07

• Saba gives birth to a litter of 5 during Ramadan/near Hari Raya, of which only 1, Sabia, is still living.
• Somewhere in between all the changes, Sally decided to move back into the carpark.
• We sighted Sumie and Sunny for the first time and flyered all the ground floor units.

Nov 07

• A week after the flyering, Sue spotted btmao feeding Sally at the carpark, and approached her. That’s how the whole story started falling into place. btmao talked to Sue and got her to agree to sterilise her cats – Sumie, Sunny, Saba and Sabia. Benji, who’s been missing for months, also appeared! But he was promptly chased off by Scottie.
• To cut a long story short, Sue said yes after some negotiating and excuses. Sue has 4 children, is a housewife and claims her husband, who works shift, is the decision maker. We even got CWS involved in case they were in financial difficulties. But Sue said they will arrange for sterilisation themselves and the husband, who drives, will send Sumie and Saba for sterilisation first, in the weekend past though we tried our darnest to persuade her to send Sunny as well. But getting any cat done is better than none. We were relieved and were cautiously happy that at last we’ve met a free-ranging pet cat family who just might make honest pets out of their cats.
• But by this Monday, the two were still intact – Sue claimed her husband wasn’t free to send the cats. Now, if you’ve ever arranged for a sterilisation appointment, you’d notice a few things that doesn’t jive.
• Anyway, btmao was especially anxious as the siblings were looking to be at least 7-8 months old, and Sue had said that Saba was mated by Stanley in the week past. That evening, when btmao saw Sumie, Saba (who’ve both been kept indoors to prevent “accidents”), Sunny and even Scottie on the scene, she decided we should just rob the siblings, Saba and Scottie of their mojo and deal with the after-effect. Of course the fact that we have to bear the sterilisation cost for 3 pet cats left a bad after-taste in my mouth. But I was practical and I agreed with btmao’s decision. Luckily, we were able to book 4 sterilisation slots for the next day with Foster Mum’s help. In between all the logistics, btmao got in touch with Sue and told her our plans. Sue was amendable since it meant she didn’t have to pay a cent. In addition, she agreed to house Scottie for us. I arrived with the carrier for Scottie, and proceeded to impress on Sue that I am jobless and we’re doing this for the sake of every cat outside, and not only to help her cats. We decided not to send Saba in yet after checking in on little Sabia.
• On 13 Nov, I sent Scottie, who had spent the night in Sue’s toilet, and the siblings to the vet
• Today, I collected the de-mojoed kitties. The vet receptionist remarked that all three were absolutely lovable and easy to handle. I told her they’re probably home pets allowed to free-range but no one wants to take responsibility. She laughed. Upon arrival, I released Scottie, who proceeded to cry for a bit and then ate out of the bowls outside Sue’s flat. Then he spotted Benji and decided to get some exercise, and chased off Benji. I hope he’ll mellow out and learn to tolerate poor Benji, who is beginning to try to get into Sue’s flat (according to Sue, he’s super-affectionate, a trait which we are well-aware of). At the siblings’ home, I spoke to Sue about preparing for Saba’s turn, which should be soon, especially since Sabia was already starting on solids, as she claimed. I emphasized that the siblings’ bill will be ours but that for Saba and Sabia’s bills she will have bear the full amount. I also showed her the taxi receipts to impress on her the cost of transport and asked her to factor that in to the sterilisation costs as well. (Surprisingly, Sue did not return the receipts to me… instead she gave me $30 as reimbursement. I told her we’ll use it for Stanley). Present at her home was her sister, Julia. Julia lived in a nearby block and she revealed a piece of news that was good for us – Stanley, who refuses to let us near, trusts her and she’s able to catch him. So I asked her to assist – if we can get Stanley at the same time as Saba’s appointment, we’ll share the transport costs. Also, Julia said that Stanley hangs out at a different part of Area2… Sasha’s place, and where Benji and Kenji used to be too. That was also near to where we first spotted Scottie. btmao and I suspect that Sasha and Benji and Kenji had been displaced by Scottie and Stanley or simpyl changed their routines. Neither Sue or Julia have ever seen Sasha or Kenji, whom we’ve not sighted for a few months. But if Benji is able to survive, they may be coping too. Hopefully, after we get Stanley, both he and Scottie will mellow out enough to allow Sasha and Kenji to return.

To be honest, it still baffles me how people can claim to love their cats, but allow them to wander outside. For these semi-pets, it’s not like their family has no idea of the dangers: the fate of siblings’ mother is an example, and Sue has had a cat who passed away from FiV. I an deathly afraid that our sympathy for the cats will be exploited, and that’s why we kept telling Sue that

• we’re trying to save their cats’ lives, that Town Council is not happy and there’s a chronic complainant lurking around. All true.
• we’re helping her to get her cats sterilised because of the first point, and to reduce the possibility that TC will round up all cats in the area
• we do not want her to tell people about what we’ve done for her as the risk was getting too huge for the cats in her area, and we do not have the money to sterilise every pet cat, which should be done by each individual owner anyway.

Regardless of the fact that I still feel we’ve been led by the noses in sterilising the siblings, ultimately, we will still try to work with Sue – it does take more energy to be antagonistic. Besides, we’ve had a few minor pleasant surprises out of this whole saga, which balances out the frustrating parts.

The semi-pets cats

Sally, who Sue calls Sayang

Sabia, Saba’s only surviving child out of her litter of 5, est 1 month old. Sue calls her Misty

Saba, who is Smoky Lost, simply Lost to Sue. Estimated 8 months old – was pregnant at 6.

Sumie, who is Angel to Sue. Her surgical site was only a tiny dot… really amazing work.

Sunny, who is Fluffy to Sue. He peed in the litterbox they prepared and proceeded to beg for food.

More photos taken today

Upon arrival, the first thing Scottie tried to do was enter Sue’s flat. With him is one of her 3 daughters.

Poor Benji, creeping back to the scene, and hiding on a chair after being violently chased off by Scottie. Let’s hope things will get better for him.

Saturday sneak

Just got home from a rare trip to town.

We volunteered at the ACRES roadshow mentioned. It was the first time we’ve come into contact with their bear-bile display.

Though we are very aware of the cruelty people inflict on bears, especially bile-extraction, the message of the display was accentuated by the recorded sounds of agony of a bear enduring the painful process of bile extraction. The sounds made my tear ducts swell and still echo in my head. I wanted to call it quits but then, what is my discomfort at the poignant audio track compared to the real ordeal the bear experienced?

We persevered. The volunteers’ main job was to canvass for donation with tin cans. Yes, Flag Day. While I’ve expressed my feelings about Flag Days in general, this was one I supported wholly. And it was quite an interesting experience – being on the asking side confirmed many things we’ve observed about people and also broke a few other stereotypes. Perhaps it’s a Singapore thing, but all in all, I’ll stick with my view of my fellow homo sapiens: humans are hopeless, and yet there are decent people. More later.

We also went to watch An Arctic Tale, taking the opportunity of a rare non-clannies weekend to soak in the consumerism that is Orchard Road. Being documentary junkie-geeks, some of the footage were familiar. But the way the story meshes is the key and the ending message is what made the difference. I hope the kids who were there, and especially their parents went away with the intended message. The fervent hope is that the Nemo aftermath, where coral reefs and their denizens paid the price when kids pestered their irresponsibly doting parents for little Nemos of their own, won’t be repeated.

Coming home, we were struck and amused by the ad plastered on the MRT windows – The Remaking Our Heartland exhibition by the HDB. Of course, it extolls the virtues of yet-to-be plans and exhorts the masses to participate and send in comments. Do consider sending in your thoughts about the still-inexplicable-after-more-than-20-years HDB ban on pet cats. For added reference, this (pdf) is the speech by the Minister for National development at the exhibition launch.

And what’s a day without some clannie news? We walked home, and swung by Area 2. Not a cat in sight, until we were at the border between it and Area 1, minion base, when we caught sight of the silver tabby virile male that btmao first sighted in April. He was friendly, but a little wary and while the problem is that we do not a handle on his schedule, he is another target for mojo-robbery, along with the boy who most likely gave Ivan his limp. Tomorrow, we’ll try to add him to the mugshot gallery.

EDIT: During our sojourn into town, we didn’t forget to whom we owe our first allegiance – we got something fun for the slackers, and for the cattery kitties too. Update to come.

Area 2 Silver boy fed 2nd time last night

btmao spotted this new guy for the second time ever last night. He was hiding in the drains. When she called him, he was a bit defensive and hissed, but he gobbled up the food quickly enough.

btmao took a pic with her phone. Check back to see the beautiful one.

Spotted: Area 2 new silver tabby boy

Last night, btmao was on her usual feeding duty in area 2. But the regulars, Sasha, Benji and Kenji (still with mojo intact), weren’t the ones she was serving. Instead it’s a new silver tabby agouti, an adult male with a semi-tail. He was super friendly, on his back and presenting his tummy as soon as he saw her.

That’s when she called me. I could hear him calling. He sounded like he was really hungry.

Later btmao confirmed that he was ravenous, but not emaciated. Newly abandoned? doesn’t seem so, he was not scared or desperate… or maybe he’s that naive and trusting. He could be a semi-pet cat let out to roam, but we’ve never seen him before, so is he a new cat on the block? But semi-pet cats in a new environment behave somewhat like newly abandoned cats too, especially when they’re figuring out the lay of the land.

Whatever the case, he definitely needs to be relieved of his mojo too. We’re hoping we can get both him and Kenji. Now on to a name for him… Somehow, sight unseen, I’m tending toward Brady already, but of course I need btmao’s concurrence so for the moment, he’s just the new silver agouti tabby boy.