On Thursday night we bought Boy's meds and I ground the pills into powder for easy sprinkling into his food. I still can't figure how the vet got him to take a pill but I reckon it's less stressful for both Boy and I to have his meds ground.

The other kids must have been harrassing Boy because he seemed very keen to hang out with me over the past few days. Imagine a 65-70 year-old man living in a home with teens and adults in their early 20s. Same thing here.

Early Wednesday morning, he invited himself into the bedroom just as his Dad was leaving for work and slept by my feet; Wednesday night, sat outside our bedroom door and his Dad let him in when he noticed him there while he brought in his phone; and Thursday night, his Dad brought him in to hang with me to help me sleep (so I wouldn't bother him!).

He got a lot of hugs and pets from a sleepless me (and even I slept better with him around). The first morning was funny. He came in and meowed a lot. I grunted a shh... petted him, and finally he settled down by my feet and slept. I dozed off too and woke again when my alarm rang. He got up, walked over to my face, sat and watched me as I struggled to wake up for work. I stretched out my hand and petted him, inducing a string of purrs. Then I realised the tension headache I had the day before, right up to the point when his Dad let him into the room, was gone! Talk about pet therapy. :)

Wednesday I didn't feel too well so I worked from home. Boy hung out with me at the feet of my bed while I napped in the afternoon. I took my pillow and lay beside him just to pet him and show my appreciation. He turned right around to face me and gaze lovingly at his old mom's face as I petted and blinked at him. He blinked back. When I got up, he followed me around. It was a lovely restful afternoon.

The last two nights we noticed he seemed to have gotten his groove back. I caught him swatting Tux with his paw from his living room chair. Endured some chasing by Buffy and Sam on two separate occasions. He seemed quite happy and confident to sleep by himself last night and tonight (Saturday) he is back on his own couch stretched out and napping. He was glad to have both parents home over the weekend and spent happy evenings blinking at me while I reciprocated in between watching TV. :D

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After 3 nights of half-sleep, I finally crashed today, working from home and taking a much-needed rest late afternoon. I'd thawed a large slab of salmon for dinner and decided to cook part of it for the kids.

Since it was still half-frozen (a lot of halves in this post... hm...), I chopped it up into sashimi portions and boiled them with a small blob of olive oil butter.

The cats meowed excitedly when they realised I was about to dish them their dinner! Boy took to his first, eating a few pieces before he decided he didn't like it.

Kaku ate up her portion and ate most of Tuxie's too. Buffy surprisingly ate all of hers, while Sam took a few bites and decided he didn't like it as did Tux.

Sigh... now there are 2.5 dishes of salmon that no one is eating. I am surprised the kids are sated with just a few bites each. Ah well... time to get my dinner from the oven.

We'd bought a few pieces of chicken liver and chicken breast (instead of fillet which came in a family pack) on Friday eve and their Dad promised he'd cook for them over the weekend.

Saturday lunch time: their Dad decided to cook chicken liver for the kids, despite my vehement protests. Naturally, they sniffed it with disdain and he was horribly disappointed. He sighed and threw the liver away, and then began boiling the chicken breast. It took longer than expected, being a lot thicker than the fillets. When it was finally done, he cut it up, put several pieces in each dish and we stood and watched.

Kaku chewed into hers with relish as always, but the rest sniffed it and walked away. Their Dad was even more disappointed, probably swearing never to cook for these ungrateful kids anymore. He took Tux's chicken and gave it to Kaku. Meanwhile, I took a piece in my hand and put it to Boy's nose. He sniffed it again and this time, gingerly took it into his mouth. When he realised it tasted really good, he began tearing into his food.

Sam watched Boy eat and decided the food must be good. He started eating the chicken in his dish and before long, demolished half of it. Tux sat in the corner observing all of this, but still did not move. Buffy began sniffing hers and eating her food. By the time Tux realised it was yummy, most of it was gone. Nonetheless, it didn't stop him from sharing Sam's food and even hissing at his lover to chase him away! We were quite horrified...

Anyhow, their Dad's faith in his cooking was restored. :) And the kids can look forward to more home-cooked meals.

Tuxie chided his Dad for going out on Friday night with Uncles Andrew, Hon Chung, and Abraham. While sitting on the TV as his Mom petted him, he made singular meows at his Dad as the latter put on his shoes. His Dad responded by saying he wouldn't be back late, he loves him, and all of the like. But Tux had a response to every sentence (that singular meow, which sounded very much like: Where are you going? It is so late!). LOL!

Feeding the cats supper tonight I realise Kaku always meows once just as I bend down and scoop food into her dish. I remember reading in a cat psychology book that some cats acknowledge and thank their human parents just before they are fed.

My baby girl is well-mannered. :D I am so proud of her.

After advice on how to prepare chicken from 2 cat friends, I bought 300g of chicken fillet tonight from NTUC and divided the portion into two. The recommended feeding portion is about 2 MacDonald's Chicken McNugget portions per cat. I thought I should test if they like it first.

I boiled the chicken fillet and made sure it was properly cooked before pouring the fillet into a bowl. It smelled quite delicious and Buffy meowed. I cut up the pieces into 10 pieces and placed 2 in each bowl.

Tux, Buffy, and Boy sniffed and licked their portions while Kaku chewed into hers with gusto. Sam looked perplexed at his. Boy began eating gingerly, Tux brought one piece onto the newspaper and began to eat it. Sam moved away to watch. Then their Dad pointed out that the chicken might be a little too hot. I must remember to cool it more next time.

Before I could say "was it yum?", Kaku had finished her 2 pieces and snuck over to peer at the others' portions. Buffy had started eating one piece and I saw Kaku slip in, grab one piece in her mouth and run away. As Tux took ages with his, and Sam abandoned his dish, their Dad picked up another piece to feed Kaku with as she'd finished Buffy's stolen piece already!

Boy had finished his portion by now and slipped over to eat alongside Tux. He began eating Tux's second piece much to my amusement while Tux ate up Sam's portions. All cats sat licking their chops after the meal and looked at me expectantly. Their Dad resolved to buy more chicken for me to cook. :) It is cheaper and healthier than Merrick's!

My headache from the day vanished as I cooked for them and watched them relish their meal. :D Finally! Appreciation for my cooking.

As quickly as things went sour, they seem to have reverted to normal.

Boy held his own against Tux and Buffy last night, paw swatting and hissing to retain his living room chair beside the shoe cabinet. Sam rubbed his chin against a leg only to be greeted with an unpleasant glare. He hastily moved away.

As if the failure to oust the chair from Boy was unbearable, Tux and Buffy began play-fighting. When Kaku came into the living room and sat for a while, Buffy chased her off. Hostility from cats doesn't seem to deter Kaku, who didn't hesitate to sit in any group gatherings.

Boy seems content again. He even let me pet him for almost ten minutes while sitting on the kitchen counter. When he had enough, he attempted to nip me. I patted his bottom and said no and then left him.

The little ball bearing in his right leg seems to have thickened very slightly. His Dad says it is a most likely a sebaceous cyst. We should get it checked out at his next vet appointment.

I noticed Sam likes stealing Kaku's food. I guess she's the only one left he feels he can bully. She doesn't seem too upset though. She returned after to nibble at whatever remained. Then happily sat on her fave dining room chair to look out into the blue sky and the world. Her nonchalance at the politics of feline hierarchy has given her a unique strength in coping in a multicat household.

Sam seems to be the one slightly depressed. He doesn't eat much and prefers to steal his sister's food. He's been absent from living room gatherings, appearing from time to time to look for Tux. The rejection from Tux hasn't boded well. We've given him much more attention, called out to him, and petted him more. It won't make up for Tux's attention, but at least he knows his human parents love him too. He's stopped bullying Boy, which is a good thing. Hopefully he'll regain confidence in himself soon.

It's a quiet and very peaceful Saturday afternoon with the family. I feel happy and very content.

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I've been worried about being a good mother. After all, if my kids are fighting all the time, isn't it a bad thing if I can't resolve their problems?

Spent an hour in Borders reading about cat psychology. Bottom line: if I shower less attention to Boy, the bullying by Sam, Buffy, and Tux should cease.

It was dreadful watching Tux swat Boy off his usual chair in the living room and then triumphantly leap onto the show cabinet. Even worse, to call out at Boy later, who was hiding under the printer table and he just stared at me sadly.

If he wasn't a senior cat, I would have gladly left the cats to sort it out themselves. But as it is, even the books advise to keep your older cats stress-free and not bullied by the younger ones. Conflicting advice, unfortunately.

Hence I am sitting here at 1.34am typing this. Happily, Boy came out from under his printer table and returned to his favourite spot on the study couch head to sleep. Sam attempted to harrass him, leapt at him once but failed then leapt onto the arm and they had a staring match. Sam backed down, looked away and left. Boy has since nodded off contentedly and Sam took his battle up with Buffy, howling when he lost yet again. The naughty boy just walked back into the study and thankfully, past Boy without disturbing him, probably in search of Tuxie for a comforting hug. :)

I guess what I really needed was to observe them for a while and also reassure them that I am around and I love them. It reassures me that they are okay and are happy.

I thought of building them a cat tree. It would certainly ease tensions with a new member of the family joining us soon. Let me study some blueprints...

Sam is now playing catching with Kaku. :D