Cat Boarding in Klang Valley and Selangor

At some point most of us cat lovers will need to go on a holiday where kitty can't come with us.

Options for kitty when you're away on holiday
So who takes care of kitty if family and friends can't be convinced to babysit?

1. Leave kitty to fend herself - I've seen this happen often, and I think it's heartless. I would never do this to my babies.
   
2. Leave kitty plenty of food and water - OK but perhaps only for a few days
3. Leave kitty plenty of food and water in an automatic dispenser - Better option than number 2, especially if kitty can't control food intake. But only good for 3-4 days. If it's longer than that, somebody needs to come in once in a while to take care of the poo stench if kitty's an indoor cat. And to check for food and water supplies.
   
4. Leave kitty at the pet shop - I've seen this at many pet shops. The kitties look like they've been drugged to sleep.
5. Leave kitty at the vet's - Hmm... better than number 4. But it would be like leaving your baby in hospital while you're on holiday. Imagine kitty being surrounded by other sick cats!
6. Cat boarding aka cat hotel aka cattery (not the breeding centre type) - Now we're talking! A holiday home :)

Cat Hotels

Scallywags Malaysia
3, Jalan SS1/1B, Kampung Tunku, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
I think this is the best cat hotel in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. It's got a really homey feel to it. The cattery is in the lush green garden of the owner's bungalow house. So rest assured that there's always someone to keep an eye on the cats in case of emergencies!

They've got rooms for 2 cats, 1 cat, and even 1 "kampung house" fit for 5 cats! The garden facing room for 2 cats is especially nice because it has multiple floors and nooks and crannies for cats to explore or hide. Each room has a chair, rug, sisal scratch post, a few toys, and even a little fan! The owner, Liz, has a certificate from the Feline Advisory Bureau, a UK organisation which sets benchmarks for feline wellbeing, including hygiene standards at catteries.

This place gets booked up very quickly during festive events (Raya, Christmas, Chinese New Year), so make sure to book ahead.

The downside? Well, the only thing is that the cats get fed dry food only (IAMS, Royal Canin, Orijen...). So no raw meat or canned food during the holidays for kitty...


Pet Epicure
16, Jalan Bandar 2, Taman Melawati, Selangor
This is a pet shop / pet boarding / pet rescue centre. So it definitely DOES NOT fall under my general rule to not leave kitty at a pet shop during my holidays. The owner, Alicia Horsley Ling, is really passionate about animal welfare that some of the rescued cats are actually boarding at the shop. But please, please, don't throw away your cats here just because Alicia has a soft spot!

What I like about the place is that they feed a raw meat diet for their boarders.

And apparently, the cattery is built to FAB standards - complete with sneeze barriers to prevent transfer of disease.

The downside? Well, it could do with a more homey feel to it. The rooms literally look like see-through fridges with a wire mesh ceiling for ventilation. Although there are shelves for kitty to climb, carpet post to scratch, toys to play with, little chair to sit on, and even fan and AIRCON, there just aren't any hidey holes for kitty to get some privacy! And if I'm not mistaken, someone needs to man the place 24x7 if it's truly built by FAB standards.

Verdict? Definitely consider if Scallywags is fully booked.

De'Ritz Hotel @ Pet Safari
Level 2, Ikano Power Centre, Jalan PJU 7-2, Mutiara Damansara, Selangor
If Pet Epicure's cat rooms look like fridges, the ones here look like mini-fridges! Much less homey, no privacy, and not good for the claustrophobic kitty. But at least kitty won't be surrounded by wailing sick cats like at the vets (I hope).

Shoebox vs Ikea Cat Bed

Cat beds don't need to be expensive. You can make one for free out of an old shoebox!

My chubby baby Oatey seems to prefer it over the RM300 Ikea cat bed made of rattan that we bought for him ;-)

Ikea lint roller vs 3M lint roller compared

Ikea Lint Roller
Pros

+ Cheap RM4.90 for 1 lint roll and plastic roller, RM9.90 for 4 lint roll refills (without plastic roller)
+ Waxed paper sheets are recyclable (I think)

Cons
- Lint roll sheets are thin waxed paper, so when if you don't peel off current sheet carefully, you may end up peeling the current sheet and the next 3 layers!


3M Lint Roller
Pros
+ Thick plastic sheets, so you're less likely to accidentally peel off several sheets at once

Cons
- Expensive. Approx RM20 for 1 lint roll
- Sheets are not recyclable


Conclusion
I prefer the Ikea lint roller over 3M because it's much cheaper (RM2.50 per Ikea lint roll vs RM20 per 3M lint roll). In the past, I have favoured 3M because it seemed to pick up more fur off cloths than Ikea's lint roller. But having just finished using an Ikea lint roll, and switched back to 3M, I found that I get through just as many lint roll sheets for both brands. So I've decided to save money, and learn how to carefully peel off used lint sheets ;-)

Anicare Veterinary Clinic Wangsa Maju

Last Saturday, I decided to take the guard's cat to Anicare for a checkup and vaccine in preparation to get her spayed.

I turned up around 11:30am and was surprised to see so many people waiting! I must've been 5th or 6th in the queue while I waited for an hour. I had no idea how busy Anicare gets during the weekends - Right Angle Animal Clinic only seems half as busy during weekends. But then again, perhaps it's because Anicare is run by only 1 vet, Dr Chris, assisted by 2 aunties - 1 to help with cleaning and holding the pet, the other to serve at reception. Anicare is usually very quiet when I come on weekdays.

Despite being busy, Dr Chris was very attentive with the guard's cat. She double-checked sample crusts from the cat's ears for mites before declaring the cat's ears mite-free. And she was careful to space out a general physical examination with the more stressful temperature check (thermometer in the cat's butt) and vaccine, so as not to stress the cat out. She even praised little Comot for being so patient with her.

All in all, I'd recommend Dr Chris if you're a pet owner living around Wangsa Maju area. However, Dr Chris doesn't really handle spaying / neutering for the moment as she would need to arrange for her vet friend at another animal clinic to come over to assist her. So for now, she would normally recommend going directly to her friend's clinic (run by husband and wife) if you're in a hurry.

Dr Christina Blossom Welch
(Don't know how she got this name but she looks Chindian and speaks Cantonese. She graduated from UPM)
Anicare Veterinary Clinic
90, Jalan 1/2F, Pusat Bandar Wangsa Maju,
Section 5, Wangsa Maju, 53300 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel/Fax 03-41433273
Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri: 10am - 1pm, 3pm-5pm
Sat: 10am - 3pm
Sun: Closed

UPM Serdang animal clinic is GOOD but it's satellite clinic in PJ is BAD

I haven't found any vets in KL / Klang Valley who practise homeopathy on animals, like the famous Dr Pitcairn. But I have found some friendly vets who charge reasonable prices for treatment.

I have taken cats to Right Angle (Petaling Jaya), Anicare (Wangsa Maju), UPM animal clinic (Serdang), and UPM's satellite clinic (Petaling Jaya). Of these clinics, I would NOT recommend taking your pets to UPM's satellite clinic because the vet is not friendly, and seemed to favour euthanasia over treatment.

About two years ago, I brought the guard's cat, who was suffering from skin parasite, to the UPM satellite clinic. The vet wouldn't touch the cat, and even recommended euthanasia. I guess he's not a cat person.

But when I took the guard's cat to UPM's main animal clinic in Serdang, the vet over there complimented on how "handsome" the cat was, took skin samples, and prescribed medication!

What a difference. Here's UPM's animal clinic website for more info on address and operating hours.

Right Angle Animal Clinic

I haven't found any vets in KL / Klang Valley who practise homeopathy on animals, like the famous Dr Pitcairn. But I have found some friendly vets who charge reasonable prices for treatment. One of them is Right Angle Animal Clinic in PJ.

Right Angle Animal Clinic
7-1, Ground Floor, The Right Angle, Jalan 14/22m Seksen 14, 46100 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Tel: 03-79601822
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri (9am-7:30pm), Sat (9am-5pm), Sun (9am-1pm)
Vets: Dr Siti and Dr Thong, both UPM graduates

This clinic looks more like a pet supplies shop than a clinic but rest assured your pets are in good hands. Both vets are animal lovers and have their own pets at home and at the clinic. When I last met them, Dr Thong has about 17 cats, and Dr Siti (despite being asthmatic) has 7 cats - and that doesn't include the cats that stay at their clinic, like Whitey. Both vets treat cats and dogs.

I especially enjoy taking my cats to see Dr Siti because she makes me feel welcomed. She's chatty and takes her time to explain about the treatments for Oatey and Friesia, asks me about my cat care routine, and talks about her own cats. (Dr Thong is nice too, but she tends to be more quiet and serious).

One time, Oatey pooed in the crate on the way to the clinic. Dr Siti let me wash Oatey with soap. She didn't charge for it even though the clinic's assistant Ann helped with washing the crate.

Overall, I think Dr Siti gives balanced advice, and doesn't make my cats take more treatment than necessary. When Friesia fell off the balcony, she administered some anti-shock injections and gave some anti-bleeding tablets, and asked me to keep an eye on any blood Friesia's bowel movements, and breathing patterns. She even took time explain her major concern - to look out for signs of diaphragmatic hernia where the stomach is pushed upwards closer to the lungs making it difficult for an animal to breathe. And even explained that although the operation success rate is high (90%) during operation, she has known a few cats to die soon after that. On the flipside, she has also known a cat who lived for 15 years despite diaphragmatic hernia, and she reckons it's because owner kept the cat inside the house and carefully monitored the cat's the diet.

I certainly feel that' s better advice than what my colleague got when she took in an injured stray puppy from the car park. The vet diagnosed the puppy with diaphragmatic hernia, proceeded with operation, and charged a whopping RM5,000 for the operation! I have never seen the puppy but I couldn't help wondering whether the puppy would have survived just fine with just some TLC.

In case you're wondering, Friesia seems to have recovered from the trauma, and is back to her normal self but wiser, as she rarely climbs up onto the balcony banister.

Cats and toiletries don't mix

March has been a busy month with family, so I haven't been posting as much as I should have. Thanks Shu for reminding me to keep writing :) I'll try to post at least once a week.

Last weekend, my parents came to stay with me overnight because they wanted to visit my sick grandmother who's living with one of my aunts nearby.

As usual, I put Oatey and Friesia into the master bathroom, along with their litter tray, scratch post, rug, water, and toys. Later on Sunday afternoon after my parents had left, I noticed Friesia had a bald patch of sore skin near her thigh. Both of my favourite vet clinics, Right Angle (Petaling Jaya), and Anicare (Wangsa Maju) had closed by the time I realised, so I decided to take Friesia the following day to Anicare because it was nearer to home.

Could it be mange or some skin parasite? Or did Oatey bite off Friesia's fur? Dr Christina examined Friesia, and concluded that it was probably chemical burn. And that was when I remembered that I did not remove my toiletries, cleaning bottles, and even the toilet brush out of the bathroom when I put Oatey and Friesia in! How silly of me.

Dr Christina prescribed the standard treatment - antibiotics and some medicated cream for Friesia. I haven't found any vets in KL who homeopathy like Dr Pitcairn.

Cat fishing

Of all the cat toys out there, I would say that string and ball (light ping pong size) rank top two fun cat toys for most cats. Even the expensive mechanical porcupine (RM30) and sock on a rod (RM15) would not come in the top 5 of my cats' list! So ever since a few months ago, I've kind of given up on buying pet toys from pet shops.

Back to the favourite string toy. I've tried remnant cloth strip, brightly coloured hand-braided wool, and off-white parcel string.

Of the 3 strings, the parcel string gets the most attention from my cats. I don't know why - perhaps it's something in the smell of the string? My cats (Friesia especially) likes it when I run with the parcel string around our home - over the chairs, sofas, TV, and their gym / tuck shop. Sometimes they like jumping up to catch a parcel string dangled just above their noses. When they're tired chasing the string, they occasionally enjoy lying on their backs and trying to catch the dangling parcel string that poked their cute bellies.

As I said, string is such a versatile toy that my husband even found that it's a good bait to lure Friesia off the top of the kitchen cabinet! Well, it worked for about 10 times before Friesia realised it, and decided to fish for the string from the top of the cabinet ;-)

Scratch Board for RM18.90!

I found this rather expensive scratch board at Jusco Setiawangsa's pet section.

I wouldn't buy it of course because I can make it at home with a small aubergine ;-)

Well, not quite but seriously speaking I did make scratch boards for my cats for much less than that!

To find out how, check out my blog post on DIY scratch board made of cardboard remnants.

Feline Fresh natural pine litter smells like Ikea :)

If there were a title for "World's Best Cat Litter", I would give it to pine litter and not the self-acclaimed "World's Best" corn litter. Like corn litter, pine litter clumps and is flushable but is not edible. In fact, it gives a pleasant pine fragrance just like in Ikea!

For just only RM21 for 2.73kg (6lbs) from Jusco Setiawangsa, the pine litter is good value for money. My two cats have been using it for 2 weeks, and there is still just under half a bag left.

Pros
+ Good value for money
+ Pleasant pine smell
+ Clumps better than clay, so litter doesn't stubbornly stick to tray or floor
+ Flushable, so no need to waste plastic bags for collecting litter
+ Biodegradable, so don't worry about it blocking your loo bowl
+ Not edible like corn, so no disgusting scenes of cats nibbling on litter
+ Fine texture, gentle on sensitive paws and feet. You won't notice you stepped on it like crystal, clay, or paper pellet litter!

Con
- Pine litter bits show up on dark carpets and sofas

Friesia's Tuck Shop Part II

Well, actually it's a cat activity centre made out of reused items. I couldn't help calling this post a tuck shop because Friesia's got her "Can I help you, prrr?" cat sales rep expression. Also the box makes her look like she's in a little tuck shop booth.

In retrospect, I probably wouldn't build a cat activity centre out of old mineral water boxes again in the future. The cardboard is too thin, and would only safely hold Friesia's weight - if she's careful. No chance for Oatey - last time he tried jumping onto the box, the flaps peeved in and Oatey slipped into the box. Needless to say, Oatey was put off by the experience and wouldn't risk climbing the box even to chase a string.

I suppose thicker cardboard boxes would make a cat activity centre more sturdy. Not sure whether there are places in KL / Klang Valley that sell them at discount prices. I managed to get a sturdy cardboard box from a hardware store but I doubt the owners would let me walk away with 10 boxes just like that.

Friesia's Tuck Shop

Yesterday, Friesia discovered another hiding place when I left the kitchen cabinet doors open, and was determined to set up a tuck shop ;-) I coaxed her to come out but she ignored me, and seemed unpeturbed even when I closed the cabinet doors for a few minutes.

Pic 1: Friesia in her tuck shop
Pic 2: "Can I tempt you with a can of Malay Tea cat whiskers ... or rrrrroselle, purrrr?"
Pic 3: Friesia leaps out...
Pic 4: ... onto the 1st floor
Pic 5: "We also have BIRD's custard - don't worry, no real birds used - it's meant for humans"
Pic 6: "Something salty and snacky...? Ah yes, here are the crrrrisps!"

Found what I wanted - not bad for a cat sales rep!

Free home grown cat grass

Cat grass is good for digestion, and helps make it easier for a cat to eliminate fur balls.

In the west, cat grass is typically grass grown from wheat, oat, barley, or rye seeds.

In the east, my friend taught me that you can find the Malaysian version of cat grass around the bushes.

I found mine growing at the roots of trees in a playground. A friendly neighbour's cat was chewing on it.

I scooped some of the grass into my pot, brought it back home, and put it on the balcony banister away from prying eyes. It didn't work because one of my cats is a bit of gymnast. Friesia spotted it, and eagerly leapt onto the banister to chew the cat grass. I kept pushing her down and told her "No" and bobbed her nose. She knows what I mean but she ignored my command and leapt up onto the banister again. That's it, balcony's out of bounds for Friesia, until she learns not to jump on the banister!

Free-range DQ clean chicken at Jusco Setiawangsa

DQ clean chicken is organic in every sense - the chickens are free-range, grass-fed, antibiotic free (owner Mr Wong, prefers to call it "beyond organic"). From my experience, it's difficult enough to find antibiotic free chicken, so finding organic chicken is even more so. BTW, before you list various places to find kampung chicken, let me clarify that kampung chicken is actually a breed name, and does not imply free range.

Food Safari's blog lists only 5 places to find free-range DQ clean chicken, so I was well-pleased to find the 6th place: the new Jusco Setiawangsa (RM23.99 each). Not only that, Jusco Setiawangsa stocks frozen Australian turkey leg and fresh local Boer goat meat, which make nice alternative to raw chicken for my cats :) And for us health-conscious herbivores, and omnivores, Jusco Setiawangsa also has a generous selection of organic veg, pulses, and snacks.

Happy Bird-Day!

It was my husband's parents' birthdays recently, so my husband decided to make an e-card because he couldn't find any interesting cards in the shop.

The photo shoot took two hours because our models couldn't stay still. When they eventually rested after a few rounds of string chasing, my husband picked them up for the nth time to sit together. The dangling wrist strap on my camera phone caught the cats' attention, and made them look up with their adorable large round eyes. Perfect moment. Snap, snap, snap!

After that, my husband got even more creative. He added an oil-painting effect onto the photo except on the Happy Bird-Day cards that I drew, which helps smooth out the grains on the cats' fur without blurring out the text. As a finishing touch, he converted the photo into a video, complete with fade in/fade out effects, cheesy music, and a rolling birthday message :)

ORIGINAL

OIL-PAINT EFFECT

DIY scratch board made of cardboard remnants

Cardboard scratch boards like the ones in the photos typically sell for around RM30 each in Ikea and Pet Lovers Center in Ikano Power Centre.

I made these large scratch boards for less than RM10 each out of old cardboard boxes and non-toxic wood glue.

473ml of Titebond original wood glue costs around RM30 from Ace Hardware. Looking back, I could have saved some money and glued them with homemade tapioca glue (tapioca flour boiled in water).

How did I manage to cut the cardboard so neatly without blistering my fingers? Well, I sent it to a professional paper cutter in a back lane workshop off Jalan Tun Sambathan in Brickfields. It's walking distance from KL Monorail station, and I remember passing by a shop selling meat as I entered the back lane.

There are several paper cutting workshops on the back lane but the first two or three workshops refused to cut cutboard in case it damaged their machines (their paper cutting machines were mostly for cutting up wedding cards and flyers).

Eventually, I found a workshop willing to do the job. There were two customers who were there before me. I watched the man cut up flyers for a local temple ceremony, and a few large pieces of coloured plain manila card with his large industrial paper cutter. My brain started estimating the cost of my job, as he collected RM10 for the few pieces of manila card he'd cut up. Hmm... RM30? RM50? I have enough cardboard to make 4 large scratch boards!

When it was my turn, the man asked me how I'd like the boxes cut. I explained that I'd like triangles and strips of rectangle to make scratch boards for my cats. The man smiled, and asked about my cats. While we chatted, I helped him collect the cardboard pieces that he'd cut from the machine. I even helped remove the huge staples from the box, so it wouldn't damage the machine. If the box size was different to the one he had previously cut, he would confirm the shapes again with me. It took about half an hour to cut all the boxes up.

My brain was thinking.... RM50 for all the effort. So I was pleasantly surprised when the man said "kira cincai... RM10"! I thanked him several times for his kindness, and said that my cats will enjoy scratching them very much :)

Refurbished scratch post with sisal from Ace Hardware

The sisal rope on the cats' scratch post had worn out towards the top, so it was time to replace ... or refurbish the post.

I was very tempted to get a much taller scratch post, as our cats are now grown up. But the local pet shops didn't seem to stock 1m scratch post poles (or close to that). The tall 1m+ scratch post I found was actually a few short scratch poles stacked on top of each other and stabilised with wide plywood bases at each level. That's not long enough for my grown-up cats to perform vertical full-body stretch and scratch. Anyway, I have no intention of turning our living room into an expensive cat gym. An American fragrant cedar cat tree would have made a fine replacement but at USD390, I'm sure there are cheaper local versions... if I can find the wood and carpenter.

For now, I decided on a temporary solution - to get more sisal to replace the worn out sisal on the scratch post. Seriously, it wasn't easy finding more sisal in KL. I had enquired at several local hardware stores but they didn't seem to know what sisal is! After weeks of hunting, I finally found 1/4" (0.63cm) diameter sisal rope at Ace Hardware, Mid Valley Megamall selling for 50 sen per foot. It's in the ropes and wires section, stored in rows and rows of large reels. It's not clearly marked, so I searched for labels or handwritten notes on the side of the reels to make sure that I didn't mistaken manila rope for sisal. I've read that manila rope tends to be heavily oiled and stinks.

I was surprised to discover that, even without glue, the new sisal grips quite well onto the scratch post's old sisal. So I started wrapping the scratch post from the top while making sure that the top end of the new sisal is secured by tightly winding the rest of the sisal rope over it. To secure the bottom end of the rope, I tied several knots towards the last few rows of the windings. Of course, skipping the glue meant that my scratch post didn't look neat for long but it will do for a few weeks.

All in all 10 metres of 1/4" sisal rope covers about 2/3 of the 50cm tall by 8cm diameter scratch post.

Dirt basket for indoor cats

Is your indoor cat experiencing the following symptoms?

1. Rolls over fresh sandy cat litter
2. Walks over plants
3. Rubs back on balcony patio floor as if it's laced with catnip.
   

My cats definitely were. My friend says it's because they miss being in the wild.

To bring my cats closer to nature, I took my friend's suggestion to make a dirt basket. A dirt basket is basically a container with some soil, or sand. Of course, the container needs to be large enough to fit at least one cat. In the photo, I used an old Ikea litter tray (with curved sides for better dirt containment), filled it with soil, and placed it on the balcony patio floor.

Within a minute, the dirt basket received paws of approval from Friesia. A few moments later, Oatey shoved off Friesia to give his roll of approval in the dirt basket and curled up to sleep in it for the afternoon. The cats love it!

Oatey harvests catnip

A few months a go, my friend gave me some catnip plants to grow for my cats. They grew for a while but then one by one shrivelled and died. For sometime, I didn't have catnip until about a month or so ago, a few sprouted out. I was waiting for one of them to grow until the spores fully bloomed before uprooting them for my cats to chew on.

My cats didn't seem to realise the catnip was there until today. The pot of grass was bare from overgrazing. Oatey was looking for a mid-morning snack to chew on. That was when he sniffed upon the pot of catnip!

As you can see from the pictures, Oatey really enjoyed chewing on his harvest that he wants to keep every bit for himself. Luckily I managed to salvage some spores and sprinkle over a few pots. Let's hope the catnip grows again ;-)

Cat ping pong

This game is adapted from Vicky Halls' Cat Confidential.

The pyramid is made of toilet rolls supported by two kitchen rolls at the bottom. The rolls are stuck together with UHU glue.

I meant to chop the kitchen roll into two but couldn't be bothered, so I stuck them at the base. It turns out to be a good design decision, as the extra gap on the base allows missed ping pong balls to roll back to my side. Also the kitchen roll gives my cats a chance to practise their smash ;-)

P/S: This pyramid also doubles as a kibble hideout for when we want the cats to forage for food.

Ceramic tile cleaner for cats who eat off the floors

Ceramic tile cleaner
Mix 1/4 cup (60ml) white vinegar into a gallon (3.8 litres) of warm water. Apply with sponge.
Recipe from Dr Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats, p142.

My cats are messy eaters. When they eat, they tend to displace their food off their bowls, and lick the food off the floor.

This habit worries me because when my cats lick food off the floor, they are also ingesting some of the no rinse commercial tile cleaner that I use to mop the floor. The commercial tile cleaner has a long list of chemicals, which I don't understand but I've read that it may be toxic if ingested.

So when I discovered this recipe, I started using it to clean the kitchen floors (where I feed my cats) instead of a commercial tile cleaner. I find the sponge a little warm to hold, so I usually grip the sponge using a pair metal tongs. My husband says that the floor smells a bit like the vinegar in fish and chips but don't worry, this smell disappears once floor dries. Now I can be confident that my cats won't get sick from licking the floor.

Where to fly a kite in KL

Kepong Metropolitan Park. I accidentally discovered this gem on the way to The Malay Teahouse in FRIM Kepong. It was windy that day, so there were many people, young and old, flying kites of different shapes and sizes. If you haven't got a kite, don't worry, because you can buy one from one of the kite stalls in the park.

That's just the way I discover interesting places in KL - by chance. Personally, I prefer to discover places through google rather than burn petrol in my quest for such places. I found out later that other people EXCEPT KL city council (DBKL) have written about this "famous park": KL city guide, Malaysia vacation guide, allmalaysia.info. The lack of online info from the authorities is very Malaysian. Even the Tokyo city council has a drab page describing their famous Tsukiji fish market in English! That's one of the reasons why I started this blog - to fill in the information gap on things to do in KL apart from shopping.

Last weekend I tried flying my kite at the park but only managed to get it in the air for 2 mins at most. So after about half an hour trying, my husband and I packed up and left.

Wouldn't it be nice if there is a wind sensor at the park, which sends daily information of wind speeds at the park? That would save a lot of time and petrol for kite enthusiasts. As usual, I googled to find out.

The best I could find is a weather forecast for KL/Subang from timeanddate (not a Malaysian website). Funny that foreigners seem to know more about our weather than our national weather forecasting agency.

Using gloves to remove cat hair from sofa

Removing cat hair from the sofa is the most arduous task of my vacuum cleaning activities. It could easily take me 30mins to remove 1 week's worth of cat hair from the sofa using a vacuum with rotating brush.

Occasionally, I'm too lazy to lug the vacuum cleaner, and resort to the expensive sticky 3M roller for pet hair (RM20 for refill, RM30 sticky roll with roller). I find that the 3M roller picks up more cat hair compared to the RM10 roller from Ikea.

I wondered whether there are more efficient ways to remove pet hair and found suggestions such as using packing tape, brush with bristles, rubber brush, and rubber gloves.

I tried the brush with bristles and gloves suggestions. Between the two, I prefer gloves because it seems less abrasive than a brush with bristles. It feels more natural to me to to just run my hands over the sofa to collect the fur. As you can see from the pic, the gloves do a good job collecting fur. On another sofa covered with a new rug, the gloves even picked up lint from the rug!

I'd still supplement the work with vacuuming to pick up fine dust. But at least I won't have to spend so much time vacuuming the sofa!

World's Best (Edible?) All Natural Corn Litter

I like to keep a good stock of cat food and litter in case I'm too busy to get replenishments when they run out. So when one of my favourite pet shops, Pet Epicure, had a special 1-day 10% discount, I took the opportunity to load up on supplies.

However, they didn't stock clay cat litter, so I decided to try another similar product - corn cat litter! I suppose that means it's a little less harmful than clay if the cat ingests it, right? After all, don't many manufacturers use corn in cat food?

Keyword: Food. I didn't think about that. Needless to say, I was surprised when my cats actually took turns to sniff and... nibbled on the cat litter! I was a bit worried that my cats would get confused and pee elsewhere but they eventually figured it out. But when my husband cleaned and topped up the litter, they started nibbling the litter again...

Oh dear. I think we'll revert to clay litter. At least the cats don't try to eat it and it's better at controlling odour.