How to train your owner - advice from an Irish Viking (ginger) cat Sticky Rice

Thirdfox

Hi all,

Just wanted to share a video with you guys of a special cat of ours - Sticky Rice (niangao sounds much better in Chinese ).

He passed away on 12 Sept 2019, 1 week before his next birthday - but we wanted to celebrate his life with us (only 3 short years unfortunately) - we adopted him from the <snip> back in 2016. It was a combination of a liver infection and an unspotted FIV (he was negative back in the <snip> and rarely went out/wasn't a fighting cat - much more of a scaredy cat).

He was a bilingual cat - speaking both Chinese and English...and he loved broccoli as a treat!

I tried to present the video in an informative manner for potential cat owners too - how to play, what to eat/drink, the absolute importance of insurance etc.

He will be sorely missed - but I definitely recommend people to look at adopting some new furry friends from their local shelter - in honour of Niangao we have welcomed a new rescue into our home - here's hoping she has a long and happy life

aonb

What a gorgeous cat
A lovely and loved, albeit short life
Thank you for sharing this lovely video

Stratvs

Such a beautiful tribute to Niangao, thank you for all the work that went into creating it. Your new addition is so lucky to have a family like yours. As a house currently with 5 rescues including a scaredy ginger girl I can relate so well to your video. I’m going to try broccoli at supper time instead of their usual pouches. I wonder what reaction I’ll get ! Also I agree on the insurance it is so worthwhile at around €150pa for peace of mind.

Addle

Lovely video.
Lovely family.
I watched it ‘til the end!

Thirdfox

Poor niangao was on a highly controlled diet as the steroids he was taking for his mouth condition meant he very easily tended to become overweight (a real pity as he was such a foodie cat) - always hovered around 5.3kgs even on a strict 40-50g diet a day. If we had known his life would be cut so short we would have given him as much kibble as he wanted (hypoallergenic food so it was all a "bland" flavour but he still wolfed it down as you can see in the film ).

When we found out he liked broccoli it was great because we could give him something to eat that he enjoyed which had no nutritional value to him (and didn't upset his mouth).

Poor guy used to wake up jumping up in pain during the night before we diagnosed his issue - it led to almost all his teeth being removed (other than his 4 canines ironically!) - Sticky kept those 4 teeth of his till the end though

New addition is called "Caution" as she is a super nervous cat (which is why she was being overlooked at the rescue despite being a kitten) - again it's a Chinese play on words - as Xiaoxin in Chinese means either cautious/caution but the characters literally means "little heart" as she is a blotched tabby with heart patterns all over her body.

jomalone14

OP what a gorgeous cat he was. Loved the video, heart wrenching at the end. It's so hard to have lost him so young but what a life he led.
Hope you're all ok and well done on giving another little soul a home, may she bring you lots of happy times.

Graces7

Stratvs wrote: »

Such a beautiful tribute to Niangao, thank you for all the work that went into creating it. Your new addition is so lucky to have a family like yours. As a house currently with 5 rescues including a scaredy ginger girl I can relate so well to your video.

From my five rescues to your five - and to all rescues and all who care for them. rescuers are special people..

sdp

Heartbreaking beautiful,
Thank you for sharing your wonderful video.
wishing your new addition, Caution, a long and happy life.