Tiger and the toad

This evening, as we were about to leave for dinner, we spotted Tiger sitting on the culvert of the neighbour's house...and lo and behold, there was a big toad in front of him.  Both seemed to be quite happy sitting together, and Tiger even patted the toad. 

I did not have my camera with me, so these pictures were taken with my handphone. 

(The toad is circled in yellow.)

Yes, they CAN live together without harming each other.

Can we? 

Tara, Tara, Tara...!!

I went over to visit Tara at my mum's place today, and brought her chicken breast meat.  

Here's Tara, lying very contentedly in the porch.

We think Tara is just an extremely choosy eater.  Right now, her current favourite is sardines with rice.  She eats the chicken as well.  

 

That's her eating up the remnants of her lunch.  I can see she is slowly filling up (no more skin and bones).  But there is still some nasal discharge.  The cough has stopped. 

Updates on Tara

My mum had been giving me very regular updates on Tara.  A few days ago, we were all worried sick that Tara was going down - she stopped eating and her breathing became laborious. 

Then, mum's friends from Ipoh came a-visiting and Tara had so many (fairy!) godmothers looking after her, cheering her on. 

When Tara refused to eat, we tried everything and failed.  Finally we found out that she liked raw chicken meat (but only the meat, not the neck or liver). 

Mum says Tara is extremely well-behaved.  She is incredibly smart too.  Now, she knows her routine so well, she recognises the plate mum uses to put her medicines and would obediently wait to be given her medicines which she takes without any fight or struggle. 

Today, Tara even ate some kibbles for dinner.  She had sardines and rice for lunch.  She is starting to perk up now, and everyone is cheering her on. 

Mum feeds her four times a day, and spends time talking to her. 

Tara is a really adorable girl.  After going through hell at the pound, rescued and brought to Bentong, diagnosed distemper positive, thought to have had no hope, possibly just deliver her babies and lost them all, she deserves the 5-star treatment she is getting now. 

Get well, and eat up, Tara girl. 

We're all rooting for you!

What Suki did

And while I was busy writing up today's adventures, and also multi-tasking on our new tshirt design, this is what Suki did...

She climbed up onto my table fan and pushed the whole thing down.  It crashed and one blade broke.  I'll have to buy a new fan tomorrow.

She's been extremely naughty in the past few days, making escapades and going out onto the road (read: giving me heart-attacks).  And she won't come back.  My whole battalion of cats go out and help me corner her, but she'd hide under the car (right in the middle where you can't get her).  She totally ignores the feather as well.  I even had to crawl on the tar road on my hands and knees...sigh, the things we do for our (naughty) pets! 

The jailbird after breaking my fan.

Naughty, naughty Suki

Suki gave everyone a fright today.  She slipped past me when I opened the front door and made a beeline for the gate, went out to the road, and went under the neighbour's car. 

When I raised the alarm, Indy came rushing out, followed closely by Cleo, Cow, Bunny and Tiger.  Pole was watching from afar.

Soon, we had one human (me) and five cats trying to corner one little kitten (Suki), and we spent a good fifteen minutes unsuccessfully doing so until she slipped past all of us and went to the opposite neighbour's porch. 

I had to ring the house to get Ming-Yi to bring the feather out as I could not leave her alone outside, even though the five adult cats were watching out for her.

But Suki didn't fall for the feather this time, so we still could not get her to come back.

Finally, we caught her.

We brought her back and put her in jail immediately.  She made a "pitiful plea" to Jia-Wen, but we refused to let her out. 

Now, she is fast asleep, probably all tired out of complaining.

She has been having diarrhoea since yesterday, and is on a partial fast. 

Cow came back just now, with two injuries (again).  I don't know who fought with him.  I dressed his wounds with iodine and he's now sleeping on the sofa.

Life is never boring...

Updates on Tara

According to my mum, Tara appears to be much better today.  We hope she will recover in time.  I asked Dr Khor and he said it all depends on the immune system of each dog.  Some recover more quickly than others.  Some succumb later.  Distemper is tricky, but there is hope. 

As long as there is life, we will give any dog a fighting chance to heal. 

Visiting Tara

We visited Tara this evening.  She seemed very quiet and calm.  Mum said her appetite has not been too good.  I brought a new type of antibiotic for her. 

Hi Tara!

I fed her her medicines and she obediently took of all it without making any fuss.  She is incredibly obedient.  Mum says she has learnt to only do her business in one particular spot that is easy to clean.  And she never dirties her cage. 

Mum thinks she had just given birth as her teats are very enlarged.  Poor Tara.  She must have been separated from her puppies and that may be why she seems very depressed. 

She snuggled up onto my lap and I held her for more than half an hour, chanting softly to her.  Occasionally, she would look up at me, with "that look". 

There was no nasal discharge this evening.  But she seemed very quiet and tired. 

Get well soon, Tara. 

Let's all send her positive healing energy. 

Tara's progress

I visited Tara at my parents' home today.  She was very happy to see me at the gate and wagged her tail excitedly.

Mum says she is starting to be "naughty" and bites her teeth tightly when mum tries to feed her medicine. 

I brought chicken for Tara today, enough supply to last for a few days. 

We let Tara out and she went under the car to sleep. 

Mum says her teats have shrunk a little now.  We suspect she had just given birth recently.  Poor thing.

Tara still has a bit of cough, and is under medication. 

Get well soon, Tara.

Out of the eight brought back, I guess Tara is the luckiest - she has a home now, with my parents, and they love her to bits. 

Urgently required - fosterer for Sean

Sean is one of the two dogs with distemper (from the Klang rescue).  The other is Tara and my parents have adopted her, and is nursing her now. 

Sean is presently boarding at a clinic, but the clinic has told me they would like Sean to be discharged after three days' treatment (today is the third day).  I found a fosterer for Sean yesterday, but he just told me "no" a few minutes ago.  Looks like he has changed his mind.    

Please help me look for a fosterer for Sean.  It should ideally be a home without any other dog.  The fosterer needs to feed Sean, give him his medicines, and make him feel he is loved (I believe this helps tremendously in boosting recovery).  

Many vets would say recovery from distemper is very slim and they recommend euthanasia.  But our panel vet has seen enough cases and he says the chances of recovery for local breed is good (one even recovered after having gone into the seizure stage).  So has Wani - she says some puppies tested positive for distemper recover without even displaying any symptoms.  

I want to give Sean a chance, but I need your help.

Please help me look for a fosterer for Sean.

Thank you. 

My mum adopts Tara!!

My mum has decided to adopt Tara! 

According to mum, a few days ago, she had a vision in her mind that a dog would come into her life, and it looked like an alsatian. 

Yesterday morning I told her about Tara and asked if she would be interested to foster her for the duration of her illness/recovery.  To my surprise, mum immediately said "yes". 

So, this afternoon, I brought Tara to my parents' house.  They took an instant liking to Tara, and they liked her name, too. 

Mum said she would want to take Tara for walks after she has recovered, so I brought along a brand new collar and a leash.  For now, it is just around the porch.   

Mum and Tara

Mum talking to Tara

This evening, my children and I went over to mum's place for Winter Solstice dinner, and Tara was very happy to see us. 

Mum said that earlier, Tara had already eaten up several helpings of chicken.  And, she is really very well-behaved. 

After dinner, I fed Tara her medicines.  I hope she gets well soon. 

My parents have put a chanting player on top of her cage (see the brown instrument on the newspaper?). 

Both my parents love Tara to bits! 

Get well soon, Tara. 

I'm really hanging on to what our panel vet said, that local breeds have a good chance of recovery from distemper.  He had seen many cases. 

One step at a time....

Suki, after a long rest....

I'd like to thank everyone who had written in to enquire about Suki, and also to offer your ideas on what had happened and how it should have been done better.

Let me assure everyone that Suki is fine now.  She took a long nap after returning from the clinic yesterday, and by midnight, was up and about, and even ate four spoonfuls of AD. 

Here are some photos:

Indy visits

After a long nap...

Playing with my daughter's stuff

Not as mischievous as usual, but getting there...

At her favourite chair, this morning.

As I'm writing this post, right now.  She jumped up by herself.  She loves sitting with me whenever I write.

Thank you very much for all your positive thoughts, healing energy and also comments, which I am sure, were all given in good faith and with all good intentions.  I have noted all comments, and will certainly learn from the wisdom shared.   

Suki is back to normal again now.  Phew, I'm glad each kitten only has to go through this once in its lifetime!

Suki's home!!

We went to pick up Suki about an hour ago.  According to the vet, her recovery was "quite harsh".  It seems she banged her head repeatedly on the carrier.  This, according to the vet, is because she's a highly-stressed kitten. 

Poor Suki.

Anyway, she's back home now, and I've put her back in her cage.  Her eyes are still red, and she is not very focused yet.  Just played with the kibbles in her bowl, and did not eat. 

Bunny and Bobby welcome Suki back home.

Back in her own cage, playing with the kibbles.

She's settled and sleeping now.

Suki is going for spaying today

Our little Suki is about 5 months old now, so I've made an apppointment for her spaying this morning, at 11am. 

That's Suki, mischievous as ever, as all kittens ought to be!

She started the day (after complaining about having no food - needs to be fasted for the spaying afterwards) by doing a coup de tat on Tiger.

She succeeded, of course, and poor Tiger had to come down and get into his baby basket.

Then, Bobby pushed open the window for her, and out she went into the garden, with Indy following close behind.

Play, play, play!

I want to climb the tree!

She got to the top of the pillar.  Indy watches over her.

Go away, she tells Indy, this is my tree!

Go, go, go....she chases poor Indy away.

Ok, I'm going back to my tree now.

My tree and my pillar!!

Indy, still watching.

Then, she comes over the disturbs Indy.

Ok, small fry, you asked for it!!

I'll be sending Suki for spaying in about 2 1/2 hours' time.  Sobs...each time any dog or cat is sent for neutering or spaying, I do worry.  Whatever it is, it is still an operation.   

Do please send positive healing energy to Suki - thanks. 

Suki gets to climb a tree...finally!

Suki had been itching to climb a tree for some time now.  Every kitten must go through this stage, otherwise, something would be missing from their kittenhood.

So off she went this morning, under strict camera supervision....

Up, up and away!

Peek-a-boo!!

Hello!

Higher up...

Under the ever-watchful eye of none other than good old Indy Jones

Time to get down now

Wait...what's that noise over there?

Come down, Suki!

Spider-kitten?

Six years ago....

Talking about animal-friendly hotels and resorts, six years ago, in 2003, we participated in a puppy.com event which took us to Port Dickson to an animal-friendly resort, with Mac and Bobby.  The following year, puppy.com had another event in Melaka, also in an animal-friendly resort. 

Here are some photos from the yesteryear event in 2003:

The most memorable event was "The Recall Race", where Bobby was the oldest participant.  Bobby was up against huge dogs, all much younger than him.  Old Bobs was already 7 years old at that time.

Despite running off-course, Bobby came in first!  It was a photo-finish.  Second and third were these two huge and younger dogs.  Actually, Bobby didn't know what was going on.  He just wanted to get to me.  Jia-Wen was on the other side, just psyching him up with "where's mummy? where's mummy??"  And off he ran, just following the sound of my voice.  That won him first prize....which was a beauty bath and (unfortunately) four tickets to a resort in Kuantan which did not allow animals (we never went!).

After the beauty bath, all fluffed up and sweet-smelling, at the prize-giving ceremony the next day.

I never knew dogs could swim instinctively.  Bobby and Mac both swam in the sea, together with the other dogs.  They just took to the water as easily as ducks would!  Of course it was the doggy-paddle for them.

Jia-Wen, Bobby and me - in 2003.

Langkawi cat-friendly hotels and my son's wings

Yesterday, I had a one day break from AnimalCare work (but not really also, because I was on the phone dealing with Yen's rescued labrador and possible adoption of the football pups). 

So, where was I yesterday?

On Langkawi Island, to attend my son's graduation ceremony from HM Aerospace Flying Academy.

But before that, did you know the hotel where the ceremony was held is cat-friendly?  Now, isn't that nice?

This is the lounge of the Bella Vista Hotel, also owned by HM Aerospace (so I heard). 

Up the stairs to the dining hall...and what do we see?

Something you would not see in any posh hotel in the Klang Valley...

A little kitten running across the dining hall and looking very confident!

Here she is....hey, she looks a bit like Suki!

We decided to walk across to the open air restaurant and enjoy the sea breeze. 

Lovely weather, bright sunshine.

The open air restaurant overlooks the beautiful sea.

This cat seems to be a resident in this dining area.

We gave her the sotong, prawns and chicken from our fried rice.  By the way, she looks a bit like Joanie.

How nice if our hotels over here were animal-friendly too, yah?

Permit me to digress from animal news now and show you some photos of my son, Jia-Wen's graduation...

Jia-Wen and his coursemates, Firdaus and Hidayat.

The happy full-fledged pilots, waiting to get their wings.

A proud moment for all of us.  That's Bridagier General (retired) Dato Ranjit Singh (formerly with TUDM), now principal of HM Aerospace, pinning the wings on Jia-Wen.

 

The license to FLY!

Some of their ground school instructors - most of them are retired generals from the Indian Air Force - absolutely no fooling around.  The standards are very high. 

A force to be reckoned with, Capt Rana Singh, Chief Ground School Instructor, tough, but also very caring.  A rare and much needed combination, in any teacher/instructor. 

All of us.

Now I have two pilots in the family.

Fly high!!  Hooray, no more school work!  Er...not so fast, there's a base check every six months once you guys start working.  BTW, there's one girl in the group...do you see her (second from the left)? 

At the hangar.  This is one of the three aircrafts used for training.

Explaining the controls to sister, Ming-Yi, and grandma.

This is the hangar, and it's dog-friendly.  Jia-Wen and his friends used to feed a mother-dog and her puppies.

That's our present for Jia-Wen! 

It had not been exactly easy for Jia-Wen because hardly two months after he enrolled, he met with a bad motor-vehicle accident on the island (which almost gave us a heart-attack).  This was followed by monthly trips back home for treatments for almost a year, while undergoing the very tough flying course.  

It has not been easy....but that's life, isn't it?   

Nothing comes easy....

It's all about perseverance and moving on with whatever you have.