Fun with Cats and Bubbles

Brought home one of those bubble toy thingies, not exactly sure what they're called. Bubble-blower? Y'know the ones that make bubbles when you blow on 'em? Anyway, I thought the cats might get a kick out of it. They were a little bit scared of the bubbles at first, but they quickly became fascinated with them, watching them float around and occasionally popping a few with their noses and / or claws.




What games do you play with your cats? :D

Condo Cats Origins: Along Came Kit

Nicknames: Kitty-p, Slinky, Mongki-kit, Agent X44, si Puti

Breed: Chocolate-point Siamese

Likes: Chasing anything that moves, following Bubu and Unni around, sitting on male human's lap during breakfast, being petted by female human before bedtime

Unlike Bubu and Unni, there's no special story behind Kit's joining our family. Though of course, this doesn't make her any less special.

I've always wanted a Siamese cat, it had always been my "dream pet." But having two cats already made this dream seem both impossible. However, one day, while walking through the local mall, my attention was drawn to a skinny little kitten happily playing with her tail, oblivious to the people staring at her and the other animals through the pet store display window.

My husband couldn't help but notice the look on my face and he asked if I wanted to bring the little guy home. It would be highly impractical, I tried to reason. We already had two cats and are living in a small apartment. We can't possibly take another one in. Besides, could we even afford taking care of another cat?

We deliberated for hours, till it was minutes before the mall's closing time. Long story short, Kit became the latest addition to our cat clan. :D

Not only that, as her alter-ego Future Cat, it is her job to make sure that we can all have a future. Read all about it in the Condo Cats comics archive.

Condo Cats Origins: And Bubu Makes Two

Back in our old apartment, there was a family of strays who used the common garage as a home. When Nini-p was still a kitten, we used to let her out at night to play with the other cats until it was sleeping time. I would make my husband go out and bring Nini-p in for the night and he usually succeeded, but not without Nini playing a "forced" game of tag with him first.

One night, he couldn't find her. She wasn't in the garage, not under any of the cars nor was she wandering about in the streets. Though I was worried, we figured she'd meow to be let in when she got cold and realized the male human wasn't there to play tricks on.

But when we woke up, she still hadn't turned up. So we asked the neighbors. Sure enough, she was in the company of other cats, lounging in the garage of the house beside our apartment. My husband asked politely to retrieve her and that was the end of it.

Or so we thought. Though she was technically still a kitten, we didn't know that she could get pregnant at that early age! Had we known, we would've gotten her spayed before she went into heat. But her belly was already big when we realized what had happened so we waited for her to give birth before getting her snip-snipped. Yes, our feisty cat had a single night of indiscretion and Bubu was the result.

Actually, she had six in the litter. One was stillborn, the others lived. But sadly, just for a short while. Maybe it was because she was too young to have kids, but Nini-p's kittens grew weak and started dying one by one. Not even antibiotics and other shots and pills from the vet could save them. One did thrive, though. The smallest and weakest of them all. She was the runt of the litter and when the sickness hit them, she was so weak from it that when she cried out, no meows could be heard from her open mouth, (nothing human ears could pick up anyway) and I was so sure she would die in the night. But it turns out, she was a fighter and she survived and grew up and was named "Bubu."

Baby Bubu sleeping in the arms of Mommy Nini.

Now for some Bubu trivia!
Nicknames: Bubu-p, Stinky, Stanky
Likes: High places, leaping to reach high places
Dislikes: The male human (with a passion)

Bubu is the most athletic of the Condo Cats. She can jump the highest and walks so gracefully. Her physics is so precise, you can actually observe her calculating a jump before doing so and making it all the time. She has not miscalculated yet. And when she lands, it's never with a skid or a stumble. That's how precise her calculations are.

Condo Cats Origins: In the Beginning, There Was Unni

We love creating Condo Cats comic strips. But right now, it is a labor of love. With us working freelance -- him an artist and I, a writer -- we have to grab where we can sources of income, which will ultimately translate to sources of sustenance for both we humans and our beloved cats.

(Unless a kind soul takes it upon himself or herself to help us feed the cats by clicking on the "donate" button on the right. :D )

Right now, we are fortunate enough to be assigned some paid projects and we are doing our best to meet deadlines. On the downside though, this means we have no time to work on our "pet" project, the Condo Cats.

However! I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk about my favorite subject... the cats! Let's begin with Unni...

It was February 2007 and my husband and I were walking to the nearest Jollibee (a local fastfood chain) when I heard some loud mewling. I was shocked to see a little itty bitty kitten near the side of the road, so near the traffic. I quickly scooped it up and tried looking for its mom, who was nowhere to be found. I placed the kitten some place safer, thinking its mom was foraging somewhere and will come back for her baby, then we had our lunch. But I was fretting about the little guy all throughout our meal. I told my husband that maybe we can take her home. I knew that the stray who made our apartment's garage area her home had recently given birth, so perhaps, she'd take the lost kitten in, too. Hubby said that if the kitten was still around when we passed through the street again, then we can take her with us. Sure enough, she was still there, all alone and mewling her lungs out.

But I was in for a shock. The feral mom's kittens were already weaned, the mom was not nursing any more. She wouldn't let the noisy little guy any where near her. That's when I decided to hand-raise her. But boy did I underestimate the amount of care a kitten needed. First of all, I didn't know cats were lactose intolerant. We see cats going gaga for milk on TV and movies and cartoons all the time, right? So I had to research on cat momma milk alternatives.

My second biggest discovery... baby cats can't eliminate waste on their own! They need their mom's assistance. I had to use a wet tissue to rub kitty's underside and help her with her business (which ended up in my hand most of the time. -_- ) The wet tissue approximates the feeling of a momma cat's tongue. When the little guy pooped by herself for the first time, I never thought I would feel proud, but that's what I definitely felt. Happy, too, now that the palm-pooping days were over.

We were supposed to just help her till she learned how to fend for herself and then give her up for adoption. But then a friend of ours came along and named her "Unni," after a character in a manga we were working on at that time. And as my husband said, once you name them, you get attached to them. But even before she was named, I knew I couldn't bear to give Unni to somebody else. I did teach her how to poop. :D

Unni Trivia!
Nicknames: Nini-p, Fatty
Likes: Yawning in your face, sleeping, being in charge, tuna!
Dislikes: Non-tuna food, excessive activities, water, loud noises

LOLKit!

Our very own Kit as a LOLcat! :D

And the Winner Is...

After Ondoy (International Typhoon name: Ketsana), here comes Pepeng (Parma.) Though (hopefully) not as devastating as the last storm, things are still pretty stressful around here. So we have to apologize yet again for not coming out with a new episode this weekend. :(

However, we are happy to announce that Luis Lontoc of Paranaque City, Philippines -- our 110th Facebook friend -- has just won an original, autographed Condo Cats artwork. Seen here, it's line art used way back in episode 11. A piece of history indeed! Congratulations!

To be our Facebook friend, please click on the "Condo Cats on Facebook" link on the right. You can also follow us on Twitter! Be sure to check in with us here or on our FB page for other, upcoming contests.

Artwork to be Given Away while Ondoy Wreaks Havoc

Yesterday, the Philippines was visited by Tropical Storm Ondoy. He holds the record for dumping the most rainfall on us in history, or at least, ever since they started recording the amount of rainfall.

Meteorologists at PAG-ASA (Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration) estimate that the amount of water Ondoy spewed on the islands in a day is the equivalent of the amount of rainfall we should be getting in a month! At the best of times, a decent drainage system couldn't cope with that amount. And with Metro Manila being crowded and polluted as it is, this isn't exactly the best of times. The result is virtually all of the cities comprising Metro Manila as well as nearby provinces were submerged in flood waters ranging from knee-deep levels to those that reached rooftops.

For the past two days, we have been busy checking up on family and friends who are victims of the flood. Unfortunately, we are not able to upload a new strip for this week.

But we do have something else to offer, we will be giving away an original, signed Condo Cats artwork to our 110th Facebook friend! This is the line art used for the strip. To be our Facebook friend, just click on the "Be a fan banner" on the right menu. Good luck, guys!