Stick Figure Cat!

I'm sorry, Max :(

I just got a frantic call that my mom is being rushed to the hospital. She's successfully battled lung cancer for almost three years, but her condition has suddenly deteriorated over the past few hours. So I'm heading back to Taipei tomorrow.

It seems so selfish, so un-daughter-ly, to say that I'm sad about leaving Max and the Spots for I'm not quite sure how long. But I can't help it - and not just for their sake but mine as well.

When I first heard the news, Not Spot, who usually doesn't like to be held, let me hug him for a long time. And that really, really helped. I'm not looking forward to facing my mother's illness without his moral support.

Update: My mother had to have emergency surgery, but she's recovering. I was gone for almost 2 weeks and was soooo happy to see the cats when I got back!

Doppelganger cats! Sort of

Jess & Colin pointed out that Max kind of looks like their Mongoose.

I think so too!

By the way, Mongoose's sister Tesla starred in Colin's famous Cute Overload proposal to Jess. She said yes :)

We shared a latte

Yesterday I went to Dan Shui, a touristy area just outside of Taipei. I wanted to check out book686, a very cute book shop I'd read about on Twitter. I had the best latte ever...

Because I got to share it with this kitty! After making my drink, the nice people from the store gave her the leftover steamed milk.

This little guy came by for a snack, too. They're two of book686's 20+ feline regulars.

Cookies and Cream!

Speaking of cookies, I met someone from these two kitties' new family on Thursday. He came to the shelter with a friend who's looking to adopt. He said Cookies and Cream are crazy little monkeys who love to jump and climb. They're 7 months old and sooo much bigger now.

I love it when pairs of cats get adopted together. I felt bad when someone filled out an application for Banks (who looks a tiny bit like Max) but not his brother Baxter. Baxter ended up with someone really nice, too, but I wonder if they miss each other?

On a much sadder note, I also ran into Chris Gonzalez and Dan Murray. I'd read on the Shawington blog feed that Jack, their Beagle, got lost over the holidays. For the past 5 weeks Chris and Dan have been making regular rounds through all the local shelters, hoping someone might have brought Jack in. Poor puppy... I hope he makes his way home.

I can has cookies?

Calsifer from Tipped Ear Clan said she's sending me a surprise. It arrive today and inside the box were...

Cookies! They're a Malaysian/Singaporean Chinese New Year delicacy called Kueh Bangkit. They have an almost meringue-like texture and are made of tapioca flour, coconut milk and pandan leaves. Calsifer sent me a recipe. I might have to make more once I eat them all.

I heart you!

I can't believe I never noticed until Doris pointed it out. He has an upside down heart on his back!

Or maybe the lop-sided heart hadn't taken shape before? (The photo below was taken 2 months ago.)

They match!

Yay for Domino! He's on his way out of the shelter and into a foster home! When we first met last week, he was in a sorry state from having lived outdoors. He's still looking a bit disheveled, but the scar on his nose has healed and his burnt whiskers are starting to grow back.

It's so awesome that he'll have Ruckus and Elsie to keep him company as he continues to recover.

Thank goodness he fits in with their color scheme. As his soon-to-be foster mom puts it, "IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT THEY MATCH" :)

The feline time machine

Here's Maxwell, a two year old kitty who's waiting for a new home at Washington Humane Society.

Doesn't he look like an older version of these two little New Yorkers? Gitano and Horatio are lisacat's foster kitties. They were at the BARC Shelter in Brooklyn; I hope they've been adopted by now.