Barney (Above) & Mui Mui (Below) - DSH. The world’s best cat duo.

It took two kittens to fill the big hole Jyn’s left behind…

After Jyn passed away, we embarked on some travels, as it hurt so much to stay in our Jyn-less apartment where her absence could be seen at every corner. We needed some time off from being cat slaves and took all the time we need to mourn our loss and process our grief… After 3 months, we realised we still has so much love for cats, and it seemed only fair to share it with kittens in need. So we made our way back to SPCA Hong Kong’s adoption centre in Wan Chai.

We weren’t entirely sure what kind of cats we wanted to adopt, but we both agreed on adopting a pair. One thing we felt like we didn’t provide Jyn was a playmate. Not that she’s really fussed about playing at all, but we thought she’d be less bored with a feline partner to stay at home and do nothing with. When my boyfriend went to scout for the right kittens (He wanted to check them out first because he feared I might just fall in love with all the cats and we ended up adopting 20 cats), he was thrilled to find Duke & Daisy… a 3-month old brother & sister duo.

It wasn't just their incredibly cute faces that won our hearts; it was also the tragic story that led to these two little scaredy cats being placed in an adoption centre. The gentleman who had fostered the kittens happened to be there checking on them, and he told my boyfriend about their heartbreaking past. The kittens' owner had been killed in a car accident, and the kittens were in the car at the time of the tragic crash. Their mother fled the scene when the rescued team arrived, and their other sibling from the same litter was also killed sadly. Duke & Daisy were still babies, so the police called in this foster carer to look after them. He took excellent care of them and eventually brought them to SPCA for adoption once they were ready. My boyfriend sent me photos, and I too fell in love with them instantly. We expressed our interest to SPCA and made an appointment for me to visit the kittens again before officially adopting them.

Kitten mui mui (Left) & Barney (right)’s first day home

There was no way I was going to say no to these adorable little meowsters. The only problem was obvious—their names. They didn't look like Duke and Daisy to me at all! So, we brainstormed a few names, and by the time I went to see them in person, we had decided to rename them Barney and Robin (from How I Met Your Mother). And kids, that's how we met our meowsters.

Having two kittens at home is very different from caring for an adult cat. They are curious and energetic. We managed to sleep through their late-night/early-morning zoomies, but waking up to the aftermath was something we dreaded. Nevertheless, this cute little duo could do no wrong; they could break anything in our place and still win the best cat awards every day. The only time we had to really scold them was when they got too curious about Jyn's favourite Lego Ferris wheel and her home-urn. We had to safeguard it with many cushions and blankets, but, well, everything's a phase. They soon grew out of it and moved on to destroying something else.

There's nothing we would change about Barney and Robin since the first day we brought them back home, except for two things:

First, we didn't feel like Robin was very 'Robin.' Barney's personality is nothing like Barney Stinson, but he's always wearing suits, so that's 'Barney' enough, I suppose. But Robin just didn't feel quite right. On paper, her name is still Robin, but we started calling her Mui Mui (it means 'little sister' in Cantonese), and it's been years now, so she doesn't know her name is Robin.

Secondly, they needed to be neutered/spayed. We had them booked at SPCA for the surgery on their adoption day. SPCA encourages all owners to bring their pets in for desexed surgery by refunding part of the adoption fee once the adopted pets are fixed (it's about HK$1,000, which equals to about £100). We didn't do it just for the money-back, of course. It's also because of the health benefits (reduced risks of testicular cancer, uterine infections, mammary tumours, etc.), and to avoid inbreeding. It's a simple surgery, and SPCA has the most experienced team performing desex surgeries (they also neuter/spay tens of strays every day as a measure of stray population control). The kittens were in and out of the clinic in half a day. Barney bounced back from the operation almost right away. We had to put Mui Mui in a cage as recommended by the vet. The poor little girl was so disoriented after the surgery that she even hissed at Barney Boi and kept trying to pounce her head against the cage. Eventually, we gave up and let her out after a while. She became calmer after the anaesthetic wore off, and it took her a couple more days to get back to her usual self.

Angry donut Mui Mui (Left) & her pawsonal bodyguard Barney boi (Right)

Just like any siblings, there are times when they love each other so much that they curl up together to form a big furry heart, and there are times when they fight viciously, trying to scratch each other's eyeballs out. They certainly share some similarities (e.g., not being lap-cat material, messy eaters, etc.), but they are two very different cats.

“Furry heart” - the world’s best cat duo

Barney Boi is a dog-cat. He's just so lovely and soft, always craving attention and cuddles. Though he doesn't really like being picked up, he loves to rub his head against our feet and follow us around the house. However, his craving for love is nothing compared to his obsession with food. He's highly food motivated, and his trigger word is 'crunch.' He gets all excited when we mention that 'c-word.' His favourite food is anything put in Mui Mui's bowl – this smart boy knows that Mui Mui is a slow and picky eater, so he'll start on Mui Mui's food first, then go back and finish his own. He's grown from a round cat to a land seal, and the vet has already instructed us to get him on a diet...

Mui Mui, on the other hand, is a cat-cat with a major princess syndrome. She needs attention when she wants it, and at the exact level she prefers. She'll meow at the top of her lungs on the first floor while we're working in the kitchen. When we drop everything and rush up to see her, she'll flop down and look super cute. But if we try to pet her or give her cuddles, she'll run away immediately, giving us a look that says, 'How dare you touch me!' She likes her food but prefers being hand-fed. She uses her litter tray, but she doesn't mind peeing on the bed in the middle of the night just because she's awake and wonders why we aren't.

It's now our fourth year as Barney and Mui Mui's catslaves. We brought them with us from Hong Kong all the way to the UK, and they've settled in remarkably well. While they are primarily indoor cats, we occasionally allow them to explore the garden, giving them a taste of fresh air and a closer, more personal birdwatching experience. The story of how we brought them over (during COVID time when flights were limited!) is worthy of another blog post, but as we all know, “Once our meowsters, forever our meowsters.”, there was no way we'd leave them behind, and we're immensely grateful that they endured the long journey and have become a happy UK cat duo!