Updates

Yay I am only 13 books behind in my review (9 fiction and 4 non-fiction). Well for the 2011 books I read anyway. I have another 4 (including 1 NDF) to review yet for 2012. But at least I am catching up, as it had been over 20 books behind for a long time!

Part of the reason was probably because I am reading rather slow this year, so I am not as many books behind. So far in January, I'd only finished 3 books, and had another 2 DNF. I am about half way through my current book, A Tiger in the Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan. So I will finish at least 4 books this month (and if I read something fast/short after that, I may be able to squeeze in another one). This is far less than my usual 8 books on average. Ah well, quality over quantity.

It's also Chinese New Year today! Happy Chinese New Year to those who celebrate it! There is not much atmosphere here though. I do miss the food... maybe next year I'd make more of an effort to celebrate it. I was thinking of going to the Asian grocery store for something, but it had been cold / road conditions hadn't been the best, so we abandoned that idea.

Kitties are doing well. Sometimes I wondered if Sesame should have been called Sesa-you instead of Sesa-me since he is quite "me-centered" :) He doesn't like you petting him if he doesn't want you to, but you'd better pet him when he wants it! Though I should learn from him - everything is a toy to him. The whole house is like Disneyland according to him. Empty boxes? Yay! Plastic pen? Yay! Toilet paper roll? Yay! If we could only have such an optimistic outlook and find fun in everything.



All reviews and posts are copyrighted by Christa @ Mental Foodie. Please do not use or reprint them without written permission.

3 Cats

Not their latest pic, but still want to post a picture of the 3 of them together :)

From L to R (adopted in order):

Kunik - thought to be Scottish fold, about 3 now? He was 1.5-2 years old when we got him. He really reminded me of this Japanese cat Maru (see blog) - they have similar markings and expression, though Kunik doesn't like boxes as much as Maru does. And Kunik is skinnier. We named him Kunik because he has a flatish face, but he still wanted to give us Eskimo kisses (nose-to-nose) and Kunik is the official term for Eskimo kisses. Sometimes I called him Kunnie.

Tallulah - about 3.5-4 years old now. We got her 2 weeks after we got Kunik but Kunik was missing his kitty friends at the foster mum's home. When we played cat videos on the computer, Kunik would try to find those kitties! They get along fine, but Kunik loves to play chase and wrestle, and Tallulah would only play for 5 seconds then she'd get annoyed... she's a lap cat, and loves food and neck scratches. When I thought saw her video from her foster mum, I thought she looked like a little wolf. But after we got her, she's more of a princess/diva lol. So I had to come up with a girly name for her.

Sesame - he was about 5 months old when we got him, so he's about 1.5 years old now and still act like a kitten! He's a Siamese -mixed. We got him 3 months after we got Kunik... we didn't plan to adopt a 3rd cat, but since Kunik really wanted a playmate, so we decided to try one more time, and luckily it worked as they love to play together. He definitley has the youngest-kid-I'm-a-spoiled-brat syndrome lol. He has a high pitch meow that sounds more like "eh?" (maybe he's actually Canadian instead of Thai?) and he loves to tilt his head to the side and looks at you all cute so you can't get mad at him even though he's the naughtiest. He's probably the smartest too. One of his toys fell behind a bookshelf from the top shelf (that has an open back), and some how he knew the toy was hidden behind the books so he pulled the books out of the bottom shelf to find the toy! The picture was taken when we first got him. He still looked very similar but with a bigger, rounder head now lol. And also he had more gray on his face and body.

Tallulah & her new hair do!

We decided to take Tallulah to the groomer's to get a lion cut (let's just say hairballs are not fun, I'll spare you the details.)

There are cats who look funny with a lion cut, but she actually looks very stylish - you can't really see in the picture that she has dots on her body, so she looks like she's wearing a leopard leotard, and her tail is like a whip lol! When she walks, she actually looks like a model down the runway lol. She long hair already felt pretty soft, but now she is velvety soft! I wonder how long it'd last...

The funny thing is, Sesame thought her tail is a cat toy - like those fishing pole toy - and kept chasing it when we first took Tallulah home! Tallulah wasn't happy, to say the least :) But she can hold her own. We're lucky that the three cats get along fine - there might be some hissing sometime if they don't want to play, but they don't hold a grunge.

The groomer also said she was very well behaved, so she wasn't a problem at all (when we dropped her off, we heard another cat crying loud!) When we took Tallulah to the vet a couple of weeks ago for her annual check up, the vet said cats' heart rate is usually around 90-100 at the vet since they are nervous. Tallulah? Her heartbeat was 80! She must also have a calming effect on Kunik - the first time we took Kunik to the vet for an eye infection, his heart rate was over the roof (like 120?) For this annual visit, we took them in together (Sesame's annual visit won't be until Nov), and Kunik's heartbeat was just around 90. He's usually a bit more nervous than Tallulah, but I think with her there in the exam room with him, he felt more comfortable. When we first took Kunik home, we stopped by my sister-in-law's house for dinner on the way back (it was a 6 hours drive one way to take Kunik home, and SIL lived an hour away from us), he hid the whole time in her office. After we took him back to our house, he hid for 5 minutes, and didn't want to be lock up in the mud room (as advised - so they can slowly familiarize themselves in the new space). With Tallulah? We put her in a 2nd bathroom when we took her home 2 weeks after we adopted Kunik (we put her in the bathroom so we could slowly introduced her to Kunik), as soon as we let her out of the cage, she went straight for the food. No hiding for her! Give her food and a head/neck scratch, she'd be your BFF! Good thing we keep her indoor only!

Kitties, kitties and more kitties!

No, we haven't adopted another one (but gosh is it ever tempting!) I'd been busy taking pictures of the cats at the local rescue, hoping it'd help to get them adopted faster. If you live in MN or close by and want to adopt any one of them, let me know and I will send you the rescue email!

Catpic

Get away from the books! Play with me instead! ~ Kunik

This boy is full of energy! He'll probably knock me off the stairs one day from the way he zzzzoooooommm up and down the stairs.


Note - TBR pile from the library a couple of weeks back... had to return a bunch of them as I couldn't renew them, and didn't have time to read due to the cats (too busy researching online about cat products, how to live with cats etc)

But I'm the good girl! Pat meeeeeeee! ~ Tallulah

Tallulah is recovering from her cold she caught from the shelter... and boy was I a worry-wart... googling every cat diseases she could've had from all the sneezing (like 10 times in a row!). But I think she's getting better. She LOVES LOVES LOVES food. Fit right into the family!

Delayed!

Reviews, postings, blog visiting are delayed because the new kitty loves sitting by my keyboard / mouse, and I can't type very comfortably with the keyboard to the side... or having to use the mouse on the left side of the keyboard (I'm right handed)...

What a pet owner would do for their pet... just so they can get comfortable even if we aren't!

Coming up (when I learned to type side way...):

• 5 reviews (including 1 did-not-finish)
• 1 giveaway (my very first!!)
• ummm maybe a new blog dedicated to just the cats...? So I can do product review and document my experience as a new cat mummy? Would I have the time and energy???

Pictures of the 2nd cat

No name yet... have a few in mind, but have to see what fits her! She's about 2-3 years old. Maine Coon. Brown tabby with green eyes. About 9lb.

She is in a "safe room" now. Didn't try to hide at all when we brought her into the room. Went straight for the food! She and Kunik (our first cat adopted 2 weeks ago) had a supervised visit today and it went well. Kunik kept following her and sniffing her, she was okay about it at first but got annoyed a little later and hissed at him. However no aggression shown from neither cats. I think he wanted to play and she just wanted to explore.

She's very affectionate and loves to give kisses and rub her face on our hands! Doesn't she look like a little wolf?

2nd Cat

We found a potential 2nd cat that sounds like a great match for our first cat Kunik! We'll be picking her up this Saturday and hopefully they'll become buddies! Reading up on how to introduce kitties now...


We'll be driving 10 hours (same day return) that day to take her home... it's from the same shelter and they'd just been wonderful to try to find a good match, so I'm sure it'd be worth the drive as we love Kunik!

10 hours drive - also means lots of reading time if I don't fall asleep, like I did last time :)

Will post some pics once we get her!

Updates - Books and Cats

Books

• As you can see, I'd been reading, but didn't have a chance to do my 6 book reviews until now for the books I read in July (except one!) I averaged about 10 books a month, and didn't quite reach that this month, since I was busy doing research about cats, and got busy with the cat we adopted! (updates about the kitty below!)

• Reading Veracity by Laura Bynum now - another dystopian book. I am really enjoying this genre. Though I am struggling with this book... I heard it's a little scary if it comes true... but I just can't seem to focus right now. I'm on p73 right now. I have to return it to the library by early August... I may just have to return it, and read it later when I feel like it. I think with my lack of sleep, I just need something easy to read! Anyone read it? Worth sticking to?

• My next Book Club read is The Last Picture Show. I think it's a movie too? No idea, never heard of it...

• Have 2 Crazy Book Tours coming up - Crossing and With One Eye Open.

• Again, I am behind visiting everyone's blogs!!! I have over 1000+ new posts to read. Sorry about that! Will try my best to catch up soon... I was supposed to vote for the genre I registered with for BBAW, and didn't have time to do that!

• And THANK YOU for all your comments on my blog too! Will reply soon!

Cat

• Well it's been just over a week since we had him! To answer some of your questions, the shelter thinks he's a Scottish Fold with straight ears. He's about 1.5 years old, 7lb or so. He's a small cat but has a rather long body for his head proportion! :)

• I think we'll call him Kunik - which means Eskimo Kisses as he likes giving them! Still trying to see if this name will fit him. It's so hard to come up with a name that fits his look and personality!

• The first night was tough, he cried all night... and we were exhausted after a 9 hours drive that day (return). But he had adapted amazingly well - using his litter box perfectly, eating fine, loves following us around, loves being petted, loves having his tummy rubbed. He keeps rolling over and over in front of us. He can get a little vocal at times, like waking us up at 5am-ish 3 days in a row for more food, and we're not morning people :p He also cried for a few minutes when we go to bed but hadn't done that the past couple of nights. He doesn't really want to sleep in bed with us, he just likes being in the same room with us, preferably somewhere high, so he can watch us. But I can't get sleep that way with him walking over my pillows all night!

• He LOVES his cat tree - so glad we got it!! Catnip has NO effect whatsoever on him. Doesn't really like play toys either. I should do product reviews of all the things I'd gotten him! I did a lot of research, and that's why I didn't much time to read or blog this past couple of weeks... I have a tendency to do A LOT of research, list pro/con, before I make a decision...

• So, so far so good with the cat. We'll probably get a 2nd cat soon to keep him company. We went to the shelter yesterday but didn't really see any that jumps out to us. We don't just a 2nd cat, we want one who'll be a good fit for Kunik personality wise. We want them to be good buddies, not just 2 cats who'll try to tolerate each other in the house

• Today, we were watching some video about cats we were looking into adopting. When Kunik heard the cat meow, he just stared at my monitor and wouldn't look away!! Husband J found some other clips of other cats meowing (just to see if it's that particular cat, or just the meowing), and Kunik went behind his monitor, figuring that's where the meowing was coming from, only to be disappointed that there were no cats hiding behind the computer :( He wasn't hissing or anything, just got really curious. We think he really, really misses his other cat friends in the foster home (there were 6 there). While I think he's happy with our attention so far, he can definitely use a friend, especially at night when we're sleeping! So our hunt for a 2nd cat continues!

• Yesterday he missed his steps and fell from the window sill to the cat tree (not a very high drop) - my heart almost jumped out! Good thing cats have 9 lives and are good at landing from high drops!!

• If anyone is in the Mid-West looking to adopt a cat, I can high recommend the shelter we got our cat from - Specialty Purebred Cat Rescue (SPCR)! The foster mum was amazing, and answered my numerous questions. And they took such good care of the cats. I didn't really have a preference for purebred or not - I just happen to like the look and personality of Kunik! That was even before I knew he was a Scottish Fold (he doesn't have the signature folded ears, so I had no idea), and I had always thought Scottish Folds were cute with a wonderful personality! So I got what I wanted, without even knowing it!

• I have to say he's a great first cat to have. I couldn't have asked for a better first cat. Now hopefully we can find another great cat that's a good fit for our home!

The reason I haven't read or posted much the past couple of weeks

We drove 9 hours (return) to pick him up yesterday! No name yet... still waiting to see what name fits him :)

Now, if I could just find time to finish The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Tuesday for the book club! Only 1/3 way through... enjoying it so far though!

Books about cats?

My husband drew up with pets (mostly cats), I didn't.


He really wants to have a cat or two. I asked if he'd regret it if he never have pets again. Yes, he said. I am willing to give it a try... while I don't like the idea of potentially finding cat poop or pee or puke on our carpet when we get home (I stayed with his family for a bit when we were dating - I was visiting from Australia then, and had experience on stepping on the nasties because I couldn't see it on the dark brown carpet... luckily we do NOT have dark brown carpet! Just beige... so should be easier to spot!), perhaps I also don't know what I could be missing out on from having a pet - the love and companionship I hear about (and read about, like Dewey the library cat, and Marley the dog).

So, for those of you who have cats, are there any books you can recommend so I can be better prepare for this new adventure? We probably won't adopt for another month or two, as I want to finish cleaning up the house first. It's not pet-safe right now. Plus I want to finish painting the different rooms first as I wouldn't want kitty painted paws on the carpet, or knocking over the paint can (I'm clumsy enough as is!)

Would love to hear your experience with your kitties!