Two days ago Shah and I had held a mini celebration as our kittens turned one year old! This is going to sound absolutely cliché but only because time is truly a constant element of surprise: I cannot beLIEVE it was already one year ago on 02.02.2020 (beautiful date, right?) when I acted as Betty's "midwife".
I remember being super nervous when Betty started showing signs that she was ready to deliver late in the morning that day; I found her agitated and taking refuge in my closet room, her favourite room to sneak into. I panicked, thinking about her slinking in between my jeans or shoes and camping there to deliver her babies (oh God, all the blood), but I successfully managed to coax her to move into her prepared birthing space in my bedroom. She was leaving a trail of blood as she walked slowly and I remember my heart breaking to see her like that.
Shah unfortunately had to work in Johor at the time which meant he missed witnessing Betty giving birth — or he would've been my co-midwife, for sure. I was in need of moral support so I quickly called my mom and sisters to come over. It was no doubt such a special experience for us, but I can tell you right now that I don't ever want to go through that kind of nerve-wracking experience again!
Betty gave birth to four beautiful babies but sadly the fourth one didn't make it. I will forever wonder how that angel would have been like, but that angel is in a better place now. On that day I became the proud furmamma (I refuse to be called furgrandmamma, fyi) to three more of the cutest, sweetest, cheekiest kittens ever.
Meet My Three Little Furbabies
Moshimoshi
The oldest of the three, Moshi is hands-down the feistiest kitten, plus she's totally the nosiest one. She almost fearlessly sticks her nose in every little thing we're doing if it makes her curious, even if it's something she's seen before; I can't tell you how many times she's watched me fill up their litter box with my litter scoop, and yet, there she is, trying to swipe at the scoop to find out what is up and if she could participate.
When we found out Betty was pregnant, my family, Shah and I speculated who the baby daddy was; Betty roamed outside my parents' house for at least 3 weeks before we adopted her and there was only one stray male cat that was the prime suspect on everybody's mind. We all decided if one of Betty's kittens came out looking like Lucifer (the prime suspect constantly terrorizes the other cats in the area so I named him after the mean cat from Cinderella), then we would have our confirmation.
And lo and behold, the very first kitten that came out had Lucifer's EXACT colouring — which is definitely not a complaint because as terrible a cat as Lucifer is, he is one gorgeous cat and we're so happy Moshi took after him. (Thankfully, she is not a bully like her daddy.)
"Moshi moshi" is a common way to answer the phone in Japanese which I absolutely loved hearing when I stayed in Japan, so that somehow was a natural name choice in my head!
Nobu Baby
Since we have no idea what breeds Betty and the kittens' baby daddy are (Persian has to be a part of Betty's DNA, but we don't really know), we expected the furbabies would resemble their parents somewhat. Imagine our surprise when Nobu came along! She has the classic colouring of a British shorthair but not the facial features so much though. Some of the vets we saw suspected Nobu has British Shorthair blood in her but unless we do an in-depth test (which we won't bother), it'll remain a mystery. Female cats can (quite miraculously) produce one litter fathered by different cats at a time so that's something to consider too — so intriguing!
But her ladylike character sometimes makes me forget what a calm, great hunter she is, and how once she gets hyper, she will Keep. On. GOING. Unlike Moshi, who will jump at any toy dangling above her like a maniac, Nobu will retreat to a corner and assess which better moments to attack.
I absolutely adore how Nobu goes crazy when I pet her from the top of her head all the way to her cute lil butt, it's like her kryptonite! She always topples over from it and ends up resting on a part of my leg as if surrendering fully to the petting, which is kind of the cutest, most hilarious thing to watch.
Gandalf DaGrey
How lucky are we to have one Mini-Betty! The only boy out of the bunch, too. I have a soft spot for Gandalf, I have to admit, and I think of him as "my baby" for a good reason: he was born with Swimmer Syndrome, a condition that causes the animal's legs to splay out, making it unable to walk. It tightens my throat every time I think about how I had to worked hard to get him the help he needed when the vets we saw could provide information to help us. (Thankfully we have a better vet here in Johor! I don't want to think about finding a new competent vet in PJ/KL for now.)
That's a whole other post to write but don't worry, I figured out how to correct his legs (partly thanks to Goggle, not even kidding), and he is OK and he can walk now! But he also has other congenital conditions that have yet to be diagnosed as his appointments have to be postponed due to Covid, but let's hope we'll find out soon, and whatever it is, I pray that he could recover from it. He displays abdominal breathing ever since he was born, and he always breathes too fast and hard so I can't help but put extra effort into caring and loving him.
You'd think from his condition that Gandalf can't be as strong as his sisters but even I'm continually surprised by his tenacity and determination; he can definitely wrestle them even though he's more than half a kg lighter! I suspect that he has no idea that he's different from his sisters, which I can't help but admire.
Gandalf is not the baby just because of his condition but also because he's the most clingy out of the three; he does this thing where he wraps his arms around your hand when you're petting him, so it's like he knows how to make a hooman-petter feel special somehow.
He is the calm one out of the three — very much like Betty in that way. (This is also why I'm able to photograph Gandalf and Betty more than Moshi and Nobu!) Unlike Betty, who can be trusted to roam the house 24/7, we keep the three furbabies in their room at night. Once you let them out though, expect to witness Moshi and Nobu doing zoomies and evading your attempts to catch them for a kiss or a hug, but Gandalf, on the other hand, would just happily let you cuddle and coo over him in between his explorations.
Well, for about 10 seconds, but that's 10 seconds more than what his sisters would give us!
He was the smallest out of the three when they were born so I felt compelled to give him a strong, inspirational name for him to carry. There was a moment when I was admiring his brown-ish grey fur shortly after he was birthed and it hit me: GANDALF THE GREY. What's a more perfect name? Except I prefer the idea of a fancy-ish name so I fashioned it as "DaGrey" instead!
This is going to sound wholly mushy, but I can already see the heroic spirit of the Gandalf The Grey/White we see in LOTR surfacing in his little namesake. My babyboy is such a fighter and I pray he continues to be so and live a long, healthy, happy life, as well as the others.
♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡
I hope you've enjoyed "meeting" Betty's babies here for the first time! Thank you so much for reading this post. Until my next one ❤
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ReplyDeleteYour cats have the cutest names and they're so ridiculously cute! Thank you for sharing the furry faces with this cat lady. Love them and their distinctive personalities :) xoxo
ReplyDeleteThey're the cutest! (And oh so naughty.)
DeleteThank you for reading, Shanaz! <3