Bunny & Friends

Bunny ate 5 small kibble-meals today, all on his own.  I did not have to give him any AD or syringe water anymore.  Each time, he would come into the kitchen and meow for food. 

I think he still needs time to regain his confidence as he followed me everywhere in the house.  

This afternoon, I decided to stay put in the room, so that he could take a nice long nap.

While Bunny was napping, his friends took turns to keep him company...

That's Tiger watching over Bunny.

Cow and Cleo watching...

Bobby keeps Bunny company by also taking a nap! 

So, Bunny had a nice long afternoon nap until my husband and my son, Jia-Wen, came home from work.

Hi, Bunny...!!

In a way, it was "lucky" that I was on my semester break this week and was able to take leave to look after Bunny for the whole week.  A new semester starts next week, and I will be busy again. 

Bunny eats kibbles on his own!

This is the moment we've been waiting for....Bunny eating kibbles on his own!


Since Bunny fell sick on Sunday, he has been rooming in with my son, Jia-Wen (even when he was healthy, he often slept in Jia-Wen's room).  But Jia-Wen had to go to work at 4am this morning, so when he left, Bunny walked over to my bedroom.  I had been contemplating whether to go over to Jia-Wen's room or bring Bunny over to mine.  I guess Bunny read my mind and made his choice.


At around 6.45am every morning, Cleo will make her morning calls for breakfast.  This happens without fail.  So when Cleo called this morning, I went downstairs, and to my surprise, Bunny followed me. 


I put some kibbles in front of him, and he nibbled at some!  However, since yesterday, he has been feeling a little nervous by the presence of Cow and the other cats.  I guess Bunny still feels a little "not himself yet", so he feels threatened by the other cats.  He just nibbled a little and walked away.


He wanted to go into the garden, so I accompanied him.  He must have spent close to 45 minutes just grooming himself and getting a dose of the morning air.

Cleaning every inch of his body...

Indy and Tiger kept him company. 

I think they mean well, but Bunny preferred to be by himself.

He spent some time scratching on the rattan trunk and sitting on his favourite garden chair.  He has always liked sitting in the porch. 

Later, he went into the kitchen again, so I offered him some fresh kibbles...

He ate them!

Now, he is resting on the window sill in my bedroom, getting some sunshine.

As I am writing this, Bunny came down and asked for more kibbles again!

So I guess the vet was right.  Bunny seems to be on the road to recovery now that he is eating on his own again.  We will never know what caused his illness for the past one week.  We will also never know what cured him.  It must have been a combination of everything that we gave him - medicine, food, rest, tender loving care, time, prayers and positive thinking. 

But I remember doing everything I could not to stress him unnecessarily and letting him be as relaxed as possible.  This was the one thing the vet emphasized.  But it definitely involved a lot of time and patience monitoring him, keeping the other cats away and accompanying him wherever he wanted to go.

    

Bunny is with me in the room now. 

And Bunny says a big "thank you" to everyone who has sent prayers and positive thoughts for his recovery.

Thank you, everyone!

Just 4 kibbles

Today, Bunny ate from my hand again.  He still doesn't want to eat from the bowl, for some reason.  But it's good enough that he is eating the AD from my hand.

I managed to get him to eat just 4 kibbles this evening, and that's by wrapping the kibble with AD. 

I hope in time, he will eat his normal food again, because that's what the vet is looking for.  Then, at least we can all heave a sigh of relief that Bunny is well.

He still sleeps a lot.

Next top (feline) models?

It's not easy to take a good photo of the cats unless they are resting, lounging or sleeping.  And sometimes, when you're just about to take a really interesting shot, they get up and move away...

Here are some shots we took today. 

Bunny, after a meal.

What bliss...

Cow, the alpha and the terrorist.

Cleo, the Calico-Queen and the only one who can antagonise Cow.

Never judge a cat by her size or gender.

Tiger, the ever-so-mild-mannered cat, waiting patiently and asking for food.

Who can say "no" to a face like that?

And what is Bobby doing? 

Well, there was a lot of noise outside the house today (construction work at the neighbour's) and Bobby found it just too loud.

Bunny eats on his own

Bunny had taken a long nap after coming back from the vet's, and since he was asleep, I too needed a nap quite badly.  Bunny was on the ottoman (his favourite place), but after awhile, I was awakened by Bunny walking on my body.  He came right towards me, lay on my chest and meowed.  I hope he was trying to tell me that he was feeling better already.  When Bunny was small, he used to do this a lot.  

After about an hour or so, Bunny went over to Bobby, who was sleeping on "the favourite chair in the house".  Normally, everybody tries to get the chair (readers might remember Suki's infamous coup de tat to wrestle this chair from everyone else, dog, cat or human!).  Seems like Bunny just wanted to share the chair with Bobby this time.

And he did!

But Bobby wasn't comfortable, so he came down and went under the sofa.

And Bunny got "the chair".

At 4.30pm, it was time to (force)feed Bunny his AD.  I brought a small portion out and let him sniff the food, but as usual, he wasn't interested.  I put a tiny blob into his mouth, but he spat it out.  Instead, he slowly licked the food off my hand!  Looks like Bunny did not want to be forcefed.  He had decided to eat on my own!  I was really delighted.  For me, that's a milestone.  I know the vet said he would only be happy if Bunny started eating his kibbles, but for me, this is already a great achievement.  

So, Bunny licked up small portions off my hand, and finished about 1 tablespoon of AD.

Eat, Bunny, eat.

Bunny is eating on his own!

It was feeding time again at 8.30pm just now.  Again, he ate off my hand.  I hope in time, Bunny will eat from the bowl.  I gave him his medicine after that.

Perhaps the Baytril is working, or Bunny just needed a longer time to recover.  Whatever it is, it's moment-by-moment now, and as long as Bunny gets better, I am thankful.

Thank you very much for your kind thoughts and prayers for Bunny! 

 

Bunny's blood test results

I had been waiting in anticipation (and agony!) for Bunny's blood test results since early this morning.  We got an appointment at 12.30pm and off we went to the vet's. 

It is a relief of sorts that his blood test shows his kidneys and liver are fine and functioning well.  There is only an indication of dehydration (which is to be expected).  His white blood cells are also normal, which means there is no infection?  But wait...for Bunny's case, this is not conclusive because he is FIV+.  Having a compromised immune system, his body might not be able to react to combat any infection by producing an increase of white blood cells (as in the case of a healthy cat or any animal).  So, for Bunny, a normal WBC count does not rule out the possibility of infection. 

The other abnormality is a low platelet count.  This is quite puzzling, but again, we cannot draw any conclusion from this, but it probably can account for the fact that his vomit has brownish blood.  The blood is not able to coagulate.  Bunny has not vomited today, and I am really keeping my fingers crossed that the brownish vomit may only be due to the acid reacting on the lining of the walls of the stomach.  I felt there was a need to address this, and asked if we should begin force-feeding Bunny.  After all, it has been five days now that he has not eaten.  The vet said this is still not a necessity but we can do it, if I want to.  The vet preferred that Bunny eats on his own, because when that happens, it would be a good indication that he is getting well. 

But I did not want Bunny's stomach to be empty for so long, so we opted to forcefeed him.  We opened a can of AD and put a tablespoon of the tasty paste in front of Bunny.  He wasn't interested.  Then, the vet took a small blob and put it into Bunny's mouth.  He ate it, albeit reluctantly, but did not struggle at all.  All in, the vet managed to feed him about two tablespoons (we did not want to push our luck by giving too much), and with each blob, it got easier.  Bunny was more willing to eat the AD.  He chewed and swallowed all of it.  But he was fed.  He did not eat willingly.  Well, never mind.  At least he is eating. 

I will (force)feed him this way every few hours.  I hope he will eat without any struggle because in his condition, it is very important that we do not stress him.  He should be as relaxed as possible.

The vet told me that he often encounters this problem with FIV+ patients where you can't really be sure what is wrong, especially when the blood test shows that everything seems to be okay.  Their body might not react to problems as a healthy animal would.  So, the purpose of the blood test is just to eliminate possible problems.  For Bunny's case, it is probably not his kidneys or liver.  It may not even be his bladder as well. 

The vet also said Bunny's disposition looks good.  He is still very alert and his eyes are bright.  His weight has gone up a little, but that's probably due to the subcutaneous fluids administered yesterday. 

So, what is wrong with Bunny??

We still do not know.  Something could be wrong inside, but we cannot find out through our conventional methods. 

The vet still thinks it could be some infection somewhere, so Bunny is now put on another antibiotic, Baytril.  We are really hoping that Baytril will do the trick. 

The best bet now is that Bunny starts eating again.  If he does, the vet says we can close the case, be happy and it would be another case of "unknown cause".  

I understand that Bunny's problem is more complex because of him being FIV+, so please do help Bunny in sending him positive thoughts and prayers.  

Here are some photos of Bunny taken after I brought him back from the vet's this afternoon.  

I thought it would be good to let Bunny have a feel of the grass again after having been confined in the bedroom for a few days.  A healthy dose of sunshine might also do him some good. 

The vet said he had a full bladder, so I let him wander a bit in the garden so that he could ease himself.  He chose to do it in my planter's box!  Big brother Cow, is looking on.

Scratch, scratch, scratch, to cover up the evidence.

How are you, my friend?

Good old Bobby is always on hand to greet all his feline friends.

Ooh...I haven't scratched this for so long. 

Our rattan trunk is the cats' favourite "scratching post"

Happily scratching...

And now, it's time to groom myself.

I think Bunny feels much better after yesterday's subcutaneous fluids.  I'm hoping the AD will also perk him up.  Let the cause be unknown if there is no way we can find out.  I just want him to be well and happy again.  After all, sometimes, there is just so much that we don't know. 

Many thanks to those who responded with suggestions and thoughts.  Thank you for sharing what you know, and thank you for caring.

Get well soon, Bunny!

Bunny comes home

I've just brought Bunny home from the vet's.  The urine test shows excess protein, white blood cells and haemoglobin.  The blood test results will only be known tomorrow. 

Based on the urine test alone, it suggests possible bladder infection or mild kidney infection, but it does not show kidney failure.  Another possibility is the presence of all these large molecules in the urine indicates that the kidney filters are not working well.  If this is the case, it is a terminal condition.  I pray it is not this.  The vet also palpitated his organs, and Bunny did not show any signs of pain at all. 

However, the urine test isn't sufficient for a proper diagnosis, so it's best to wait for the blood test results tomorrow.  Upon checking Bunny's records, last year, he was straight-away given Doxy and Baytril (two antibiotics) and he recovered within 1 1/2 days.  The vet was tempted to put him on Baytril today, but since blood has been taken, it would be better to wait until tomorrow instead of simply pumping Bunny with all kinds of drugs. 

Bunny did not vomit while at the vet's, and he was "exceptionally well-behaved" when all the procedures were administered, according to the vet.  Good boy, Bunny.  But he vomited just now, while going up the stairs.  Sigh...it was a lot of brownish stuff again.  This really worries me.   

He is still not interested in food at all.  He was given subcutaneous fluids so his hydration is taken care of, at least until tomorrow. 

Bunny back from the vet's.

Cheer up, Bunnyphant!

Bobby checking in on his friend.

I just want to sleep and rest.

Ok, we won't disturb you, Bunny.

But please get well soon.

Many thanks to Cathy and Joe, for your very kind concern and thoughtful wishes for Bunny.  All positive thoughts for Bunny would help very much. 

It would be at least 20 hours before we know the results of the blood test tomorrow.  Time doesn't fly when we want it to...

We'll be keeping vigil on Bunny tonight.  

Sean is adopted!

Many thanks to Mandy for giving me the contact which eventually led me to Charlie.  Charlie has been looking for a dog, and I asked if he would like to take a look at Sean.

Today, I took Charlie to my mum's place, and Sean and Charlie took an instant liking to each other, as though they were good old friends! 

My parents also felt very happy that Sean will go to a good home.

Here's Sean, waiting while we dismantled his cage.

This is Charlie. 

Sean saying "thank you" to my mum.

And "thank you" to my dad, too.

Sean was rescued from the Klang Dog Pound on the day he was scheduled to be euthanised, together with 44 other dogs.  We sent all the dogs to Pahang, but Sean, along with 5 other dogs had symptoms of being ill, so we brought them back for treatment.  Since then, Sean has been fostered by my mother.  He has been neutered and vaccinated.   

In these 8 months, Sean has become a very obedient and grateful dog.  Though still playful, he is very alert and sharp.

Going into Charlie's car.

Bye, Sean... 

Have a good and happy life!

Thank you, Charlie, for giving Sean a good home.

Every time we manage to rehome any (former) stray animal, it is always an occasion for rejoicing and gratitude.  We are very thankful to all these kind-hearted people for choosing to adopt a street animal instead of buying a pedigree.  They are life-savers, in the true sense of the word. 

And thank you to everyone who has been helping us forward our postings for adoption.  We definitely need your help.  

Sean, up for adoption

ADOPTED!

Sean was rescued in Dec 2009 from the Klang Dog Pound.  He was then tested positive for distemper and the only symptoms were diarrhoea and a slight cough.  He was treated for both and recovered very quickly. 

Sean has been fostered by my mother since then and he is now more than ready for adoption.  He has been neutered and vaccinated. 

Sean obeys simple commands, is friendly and very adorable.  He is also very alert and is a good watchdog. 

Sean's age is estimated to be 1 year plus.

Sean and my mother.

He sits and shakes hands before eating his meals.

If you would like to adopt Sean, please send me an sms (012-6935870).

Please help Sean find a loving home.