started 2010 with a pet owners' gathering!

Last night at our NYE's pet owners' gathering at Angels we had a great time. Present were Shiro, Shadow, Dixie and Sayang. We learnt a lot about how to interact with animals better. Those who didn't know cats as much learnt how to carry them safely, why they eat grass (Sayang's favourite activity at Angels) and about their body language. We also realised that Shiro has started to show that he has colourpoints!

We were joined at about 3 a.m. by Vietnam Romeo. His owners have been diligently walking him on his leash but because he is so hyperactive, they sometimes let him out without his leash late in the night when there are no people around for him to bother and elicit complaints. Efforts to bring him back to his home failed when he struggled out of his collar. He made friends with Dixie and they nose-kissed! Unfortunately, Romeo got so excited he attacked Sayang in a bid to play. Sayang hates Romeo! So his excited-herding actions got her so riled up she struggled out of our arms and her harness and ran off, scaring Andy and I half to death. Andy was badly scratched by Sayang - cats extend their claws when in defensive mode, whether or not they are in the arms of a loved one - and Sayang nearly ran onto the road. She finally ran into the shop and hid at the back and we managed to drive Romeo away. When we brought her home, I found that she had a huge long bleeding wound on her leg from where Romeo bit her. She was hyperventilating from the trauma and I was sincerely worried about her. After cleaning her up and attending to her wound, I rubbed some lavender oil blend on her to calm her down and she slept. So the night ended badly for her even though earlier on she really enjoyed the grass-walking and lap-sitting. At least she managed to brave her fear of children - something she has been improving in already - and allowed them to pet her and kiss her.

Ha, cats are tricky animals indeed! Scooter is much more sociable with other cats than Sayang is, and he likes children more, but he scares easily from urban noise and he hates dogs even more than Sayang. Slinky hates being held and she is too big for our harness. Sayang is the only one that ever truly enjoyed visits to Angels, in her own cat-like aloof way. To prevent any more accidents we need to get a safer harness (thinking of a vest attachment from Ferplast), and to make sure dogs are leashed when they meet cats, especially those that cannot calm down in the presence of cats. Shadow and Dixie get along great because Dixie understands cat body language much better and is not hyperactive in trying to play with cats, as are many other dogs we know and introduce to cats.

Back to the pet owners' gathering - we will be continuing our Tuesdays' pet owners' gatherings at Angels @ Ubi into 2010! We had a lot of fun and gatherings like these are great for pet owner education, something we truly believe in in promoting the welfare of the animals we will come across in our lives. Here's to a great 2010!