The Law of Impermanence (some Minnie-5 stories)

Minnie and her boys have been back for more than 2 weeks now and so much has happened!

Robin came back with chronic diarrhoea and was malnourished. I was so worried that he already had organ failure, but that does not seem to be the case. Now he is on track to achieving his ideal weight of 4.2kg. His diarrhoea is more or less settled. I think he is allergic to duck or beef, so that should be avoided. Robin used to be such a scaredy cat in his previous home but now, he is super confident.

Rey came back with “just” a balding problem, but as it turned out, he also had an ear infection. Now, an eye infection has surfaced as well. And we have just discovered that he has some structure loss in both his kidneys, a condition probably he was born with or acquired due to drinking insufficient water. Bladder inflammation has also been detected and we are addressing that now. Rey, however, also has to lose some weight.

Lynx had a minor issue of a tongue ulcer. Otherwise, he only need to lose some weight. It is as though he knew (of course, cats are empaths!), after coming back from the vet’s, Lynx started to eat less.

Smurfy did not have any issues. Only that a fright made him so skittish until he did not dare to eat. Now, Smurfy has regained his confidence and he steals food from other bowls! Smurfy now also trusts me enough to let me touch and stroke him. At his former home, he was a loner and often isolated himself from cats and humans.

Minnie has a tongue ulcer but is otherwise okay. She behaves like a queen!

When I had no choice but to give them up for adoption one-and-a-half years ago, little did I know that one day, circumstances would allow me to take them back home. I missed them terribly throughout that period even though I received monthly video and photo updates. There were many reminders which were quite heartbreaking.

There’s the road to taiji class in PJ, at that very spot (near Paradigm Mall) where husband and I decided we would bring them back after the first round we sent the four boys (backstory: we sent the four boys for a first round, then after two days, we brought them back, but two months later, we had no choice but to rehome all of them to the same adopter). I could never travel on that road anymore after we sent the whole family for the second round. Now, I can! They are home! (I gave up taiji class, but I’m not resuming…haha.)

There’s the children’s book, Tiki & Taj, where one of the tiger cubs has the exact expression as Robin’s. I could never read that book anymore to my grandsons. Now I can. They are home!

There’s Chopin’s Nocturne in Eflat major. The song I was learning to play and Lynx would sit nearby to listen. I could not play that song for one-and-a-half years. Now I can!

There’s Memory, the song from Cats, which I was also learning to play. The lyrics broke my heart. I could no longer play it anymore. I told my teacher, she understood because she too is an animal lover. Now, I can learn that song again!

There’s the children’s sing-a-long youtube, “Five little ducks went out one day”. This was the most heartbreaking, especially before we managed to catch Minnie to be united with her boys. After we reunited them, I could at least listen to this song when Ryan played it. I didn’t feel as bad. Now I can listen to it and rejoice at the ending when all the five little ducks came back!

There’s the three little stainless steel bowls. I bought so many for them as kittens and I sent five along with them when the boys went away. I kept three for our cats but they were constant reminders for me. Sad reminders…but not anymore now!

Minnie and our boys are HOME!!!

The Law of Impermanence – Change can be a good thing!!

No more fighting for food. Very much less of musical chairs too! All converted back to a 100% raw diet instantly – I was amazed! They are an incredibly smart family. They have even identified one bedroom as their dining room and the other as their toilet. They do not use the litter box in their dining room even though both rooms are relatively big.

Next challenge: Waiting for Birdy to fly the nest, then to bring Minnie-5 down to Ginger’s Catio and hope they don’t frighten Ginger (!!) and Tabs won’t be afraid of them. And Minnie won’t escape!! But even if Minnie manages to find a loophole to escape, I think she would definitely come back for food. Minnie knows this neighbourhood well. They would have been confined in the two-bedroom apartment for three weeks by the time Birdy flies off, so they should have left enough scent for them to return in the event that they do escape (a possibility I do not discount despite our very best efforts at Minnie-proofing both Ginger’s Catio and Bunny’s Place). In fact, we have identified three possible loopholes (yes, quite impossible as it would require total athletic and climbing prowess but we are talking about Minnie here, aren’t we?), and yes, we are getting the loopholes patched up in the next few days.