What I've Been Up To Since December Last Year (PS: I Made A Life-changing Impulsive Decision)

Meet Betty Boop, our little adopted furbaby girl! ❤

Adopting the admittedly perpetually cranky-looking darling Betty was very much spur-of-the-moment. Shah and I went out for dinner with my younger sister Rina in mid-December last year and afterwards, as we were getting out of the car at my familys' place to drop Rina off, she suddenly whispered out loud, "Liyana, that's the cat I've been talking about!" I turned around to see this glorious teeny furry thing hiding under my brother's car behind me.

It was like serendipity; at the time, Rina had told me about a stray cat that's extremely cautious of people wandering around our family's neighbourhood for about three weeks already, saying the moment she spotted it she told herself that if I were to see the cat myself, I would take it in a heartbeat.

And, well, the rest is history! I had named her "Betty Boop" on the spot because she somehow instantly reminded me of the adorable flapper cartoon character I had been in awe of when I was a little girl.

I may have been the one dreaming about being a cat owner in like forever but plot twist, guys: Betty "chose" Shah as "her person" that very first night she came across our path. She bounded straight for Shah from under the car and rubbed herself all over Shah's legs and hands, and even standing on her hind legs to lean against Shah while meowing adorably. Until now, Betty Boop much, much prefers Shah's presence (and "aura", I suspect) over mine so I have to accept that she will forever be a "Pappa's girl".

Betty was deemed to be in relatively good health when we took her to the vet the next day, albeit underweight with a slight fleas problem. 
And in a stranger turn of events, while visiting the vet again a couple of weeks later to get her shot in preparation to spay her, we discovered that Betty was pregnant. My reaction (comprised of shock and disbelief) must have looked comical because the doctor declared with a flourish after breaking the news, "Congratulations! You both are about to become grandparents!"

There I was, just starting to get the hang of being a furmamma, and to suddenly find out I was about to become a furGRANDmamma? After Shah and I calmed down from that slight freak-out, the doctor kindly suggested us putting up her upcoming kittens for adoption if we wanted to stick to one cat in the household, which we said we would consider.

Fast forward to today, I'm happy to announce that I absolutely love being a furmamma to FOUR cats — and as you may have noticed, I refused to be called a furGRANDmamma because in my eyes, Betty is still a baby just like her kittens, so I really cannot not see them all as my babies.

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I've mentioned years ago that owning a cat would forever remained a dream of mine — I was so sure of it at the time, too. Up until the very minute before I laid my eyes on Betty, I had no idea I was about to become a furmamma and that my life would drastically changed. That goes to show, we may plan and plan but God-written fate clearly has other plans for us.

My regular readers may have noticed that posts have been sparse here, and I want to apologise for my absence. Turns out being a furmamma was quite a handful for me, especially a furmamma to a pregnant cat. I kept thinking about all the bloggers out there with either full-time jobs or little children or both, and I want to say I have mad respect for you all.

I'm not sure if I would be the kind of blogger churning out kitty content but I hope you won't mind a little update here and there on them! 
If you're a total cat person and following cat accounts is your thayng, please do give @bettyandthebabes a follow on Instagram as YES in this challenging times of self-isolation, I decided to open up an account filled with exclusive pictures of my cats. Have I become a full-blown Awesome Cat Lady or what?

Until my next post, stay safe and, preferably, please, stay at home if there is no need for you to be outside. Loads of love from Malaysia ♥♥♥