November 1 is not just Halloween to this family. It is also the birthday of our 2 dear resident boss cats. I can't believe it has been a year since they were born. Their adopt-anniversary will be on December 7 but the neighbor of the owners of Kali and Raya's momma cat said they were born on November 1.
We were just recovering from our loss with our dear little Sasha when we learned about these 2 little angels. My daughter has been crying day and night. I thought about adopting a new cat that time to help her move on from this heartbreak. It just so happened that a friend of mine learned about what we were going through and shared that there are 2 kitties that are about to be thrown away. I was hesitant to get them at first because they were still so tiny and they still need to feed from their mom. But if I don't take them, they'll still be separated and worse, will be out in the streets.
I initially just wanted one kitty but learning about what's going to happen if there are no adopters, I went ahead and took these 2 bossy kittens right away. It was love at first sight. I remember Kalinga was hissing at me when I looked at them. She did not want to be bothered. She had this little cloudy right eye, I knew right away that it needs to be looked at. Hiraya on the other hand was the protective sister. She kept on covering Kalinga with her paws and meowing so loudly at me as if shouting "Leave her alone!" They were still babies back then.
When I brought them home, how they meowed while looking at the door crushed my heart so much. They wanted to go back. If they only knew what fate awaited them there. I tried to feed them wet food but they did not know how to eat on their own yet. They were practically infants. I bottle fed them every 2 hours. It was like having a newborn once again. Twins at that. I experienced them fighting over the bottle even when it's the other's turn already.
Hiraya has always been the mischievous one. Kalinga showed a lot of maturity. Hiraya was easy to toy with, Kalinga just wants to always be left alone with her bird watching. It was also Kalinga who showed the first signs of heat cycles. Oh boy, that was difficult. The spraying everywhere was unbearable. Not to mention the noise she made, she sounded like a baby in pain. What it was Hiraya's turn to experience her heat cycle, it was even worse. I thought Kali was noisy, Raya proved me wrong. It was a good thing that I found a low cost spay/neuter event near our place. The two little kitties have been spayed. For two weeks they looked like little flowers ready to bloom. LOL.
These two little kitties went through a lot in a year. Since they were separated from their mom a little early, they did not know how to regulate their body heat yet. They caught the colds during the cold season in January. As such, I had to give them medication. Boy, these two are not the easiest to give medicine to - especially Kalinga. I had to wrap her into a burrito first before I could give her medicine. That's why she hates the term kitty burrito so much. Because their immune system was low during that time, they also had some skin problems. It's like a fungal infection which their body could not fight off. Thanks to VCO, their skin and fur are the healthiest now.
Hiraya and I share a very special bond now. She bit me last March. I had to have 7 sessions of anti - rabies vaccinations. The most painful was the one where they had to insert the needle on the bite site itself. That one really made me cry. I was jokingly saying that Hiraya is now my b*tch because she caused me so much pain. But I think it made us even closer because she always follow me wherever I go. And I mean wherever I go. I now have a constant companion - even in the bathroom - no matter what business I'm doing, she's there. She sleeps on me, sits with me, watches with me, reads with me. I think through that bite, I may have sired her. I know she's the one who bit me, but this is what's happening now.
Now that we have fosters, these two little angels have taken on the role of momma cat. At first they hissed at the fosters. I remember Kalinga being extra grumpy when I brought home these boxed kittens. But now, I can see them grooming the little ones, letting them eat first before they jump in on the food. They share their beds, their food, their toys. At first, I think Kalinga may have thought that the little ones were toys because they were so tiny. Now that they found out that these little toys got some fangs too, they are now living harmoniously (mostly) and happily in our little home.
So to these two little bossy ming mings, I wish you a happy meowpy birthday. I wish you more birthdays to come. Don't worry, our new house will have a catio for you to hang out. Nanay will crochet more toys for you.
