Feeding Bobby...

Getting Bobby to eat has been a difficult task for many months now. He, as with some old people, has become extremely choosy with food. And we also don't know if some sort of senility has set in (Bobby will turn 15 this October), or he is just plain strong-willed as he had always been all his life! Or, maybe, too much association with the cats have rubbed off some cat characteristics in him, ie. "you stand your ground, don't have to pander to what 'em humans want you to do, we cats don't do that...and we'll get our way in the end...." 


So, he stopped eating his Hill Science (for elderlies) more than a year ago, and since then, I've been trying all sorts of food, but to no avail. Sure, the vets would say, "Leave it, he will eat when he is hungry".  Er...not true. We're talking about one stubborn dog here. He would just refuse to eat and he actually lost weight...lots of it, too. 


I finally resorted to cooking for him every morning, and he would only take stir-fried chicken meat with a dash of Liquid Aminos. Sometimes I sneak in some mashed carrots, but he is clever at picking it out.  


Even feeding him is a problem because he is blind. Cow used to take him to his food bowl every morning, but lately, even this doesn't work anymore. I do wonder if Bobby's sense of smell is deteriorating.  


But he loves the cat's kibbles, yet it's too high in protein and won't be good for his kidneys. So, he cannot have that, either.  

So, my hunt for alternatives went on....for months.


Until I found this last week, at Casa's opening....

I asked Chooi Chooi, the proprietor, what she would recommend for picky old dogs, and she said to try this. So I bought a pack and ............

Voila....Bobby ate it!!

Yay!!

But I have to first give him some canned food, then, as he starts to eat, I'd pour in the Canine Caviar kibbles. Only then will he eat them up. If I just put the kibbles, he merely sniffs at it and walks away.  

This is what happened this morning, at breakfast... Bobby's stir-fried chicken was served, but he wasn't interested...again. Cow comes along and licks up the gravy. 

 Bobby walks around the food...still not interested.

 But you see, with just a few days of eating Canine Caviar, he has put on significant weight!

It's such a relief that I've found this food for him. At least there's some variety for him now. I know, the vets would recommend sticking to one type of food, but chicken meat alone is not balanced. And a friend actually told me, "Try feeding your kid with just one type of food all his life, see what happens? Your kid will die", he said. He could very well be right...

 Cow moves away, after licking up all the gravy. As much as they like chicken meat, they will not eat up Bobby's food. Now, comes Bunny...trying to persuade Bobby to eat...

See, Bobby, it's nice food? Come and eat... 

 Bobby plays hard-to-get and goes into the room to inspect the tshirts...

I'm not interested in food...not yet.

After about 20 minutes, he comes out to the kitchen again, having done his round of tshirt inspection.

Eat, Bobby...please? 

A little nearer, please?

 The two cats watch in anticipation....with bated breath..."Eat, Bobby, eat...", we all chant in unison.

YES!!

And that's just breakfast...lunch is coming up next...

And it'll be the same old story again.

  

Karuna on homeground again

I was facilitating a course at the temple today, so I went to see Karuna after the talk. She was so happy to see me! She didn't look so sad anymore now.

Let's go for a walk, Karuna.

 This is the playground which used to be her home.

She seemed very at home and again, was attracted to the cars on that main road. I had to pull her back again. I do wonder if she wants to cross that main road to go home...? But that road is next to impossible to cross.  

After the walk around the playground, I took her back to her spot behind the kitchen.

She's so sweet and friendly.

She looked back several times as I said "bye".

It breaks my heart knowing that she may have been someone's pet before this (she has been previously spayed). We will never know how she got into this situation, whether she was dumped or she had got lost.  Don't we wish we could talk to animals? But this is reality, and we'll just have to accept it and be glad that Karuna is safe and alive now, and in good health. No point lamenting over her past which we don't know about. Just be thankful she is well now.  

I'll come see you again, Karuna.

Bye...

   

'Tis the season of the bluepoints!!

Fa la la la la
La la la la....


Rozita sent this eat-your-heart-out photo of the bluepoints she is looking after.


First there were four, remember?  


Then, one more came to the back of her house and wanted to join the bluepoint fraternity in her house. After all, he figures he qualifies by all counts.


So, he's joined the fray now and though he is the biggest, he allows himself to be bullied by the rest!

And I guess Honeybear would be the highest-in-command in this bluepoint platoon?


'Tis bluepoint season, folks!  Yup, no doubt about it.

Karuna back at the temple

I was worried that Karuna might not have food to eat back at the temple today since she went back after noon (the temple devotees bring food for dana for the monastics, which is only for lunch), so I called the temple caretaker, Harsha, to ask if there was any food for Karuna.  Harsha, bless him, said he would go out to buy food for Karuna later.


Not wanting to take chances, I decided I might as well buy an 18kg bag of dry kibbles for Karuna as stand-by food, just in case they might not have enough food for her at anytime.

 Hey Karuna...I see you have a brand new collar?

 She is her usual self with her sad face...maybe it's a new environment and she is lonely. Maybe she just looks like this.

 That's the dry kibbles I bought.  Her appetite is GOOD.

Harsha (in yellow) and his friend were the ones (along with Chong) who rescued Karuna the day she was found dying with bite wounds all over her body. 

Harsha relates that fateful day and tells me how she was almost dead that day. She could barely move at all. I know, because when they brought her in, she was lying on her side, near-death. The vet thought she was already paralysed.  

 Harsha has a phobia of dogs (he was chased and bitten when young, back in Sri Lanka), but he is very fond of Karuna because she is very friendly.

I told Harsha to call me if he needs any help with Karuna. 

I've also told Harsha to put Karuna under shelter from the rain. Harsha will give Karuna her antibiotics twice a day. He seems confident of doing that. 

I trust all will be well.


We are still helping the temple look for an adopter for Karuna. If you'd like to give an old dog a new home, please contact me at chankahyein@gmail.com. Karuna was discovered to have been previously spayed, which probably indicates she was a former pet.   


Thank you.

Karuna is discharged and back at the temple

Karuna has been discharged today. Chong went to the clinic to take her back to the temple this morning.  


I'll be visiting her when the traffic clears. On Friday afternoons, the traffic in Subang Jaya is total madness.   

Aww....it's the Sunnies!!

Rozita just sent these photos!!

A beautiful lady already - Fox!

 Rex!!

You can accuse me of favouritism....but Rex was the closest to me!

They both still have their big, big beautiful eyes, don't they?

Whoosh!  Who is this handsome guy?

Why, it's the baby of the family....BEAR!

Rozita is currently also fostering four blue points who are all doing well (and look absolutely alike!) and she says Rex and Bear queue up for milk when they see the blue points getting their milk.  Aww.... Then, the two big boys lick the blue points, hoping to get some remnants of the milk!

It's absolute heaven-sent when your rescues are adopted into safe and loving homes.

I must have done something right....somewhere, sometime....in this lifetime, to deserve this!

Thank you, Rozita!

Don Don, former Lilo Popsicle, now official Mayo Clinic Cat!!

I went to our panel vet to settle our weekly bills and also to visit Don Don.  He is our former Popsicle (mistakenly thought to be female, hence, named Lilo by Nandhini!) who is now adopted by Alex, the vet's assistant and Don Don gets to stay in the clinic. 

 Don Don

 Alex says Don has some defecation problems.

 The vet will look into it, of course, but otherwise, he seems to be fine. He's also been vaccinated.

Alex very proudly says RayRay is looking after Don and has become a mentor of sorts to Don.

 Here's Ray with Don. Apparently, Don follows Ray all over the clinic.

 Aww...

 The Mentor and the Mentee.

 Alex says Mimi has not been friendly to Don. Poor Mimi, she must miss Dodo very much. They were sister and brother and were the original clinic cats when this vet bought over the clinic (they belonged to  the former vet-owner).

 Don, being the youngest, plays his part well....he pays respects to the elders and pledges allegiance.

 Don is also the perfect host. Apparently, he takes any new kitten around the shop!

This morning, someone had dumped a box with two kittens in front of the clinic. Sigh...again. But never fear, coz Don is here. Don has been taking the kittens round all day, playing the perfect, gracious host!

 Here is a shelf, they put food here...we can get some later, if we're real good...

 These two tabbies were dumped in a box, but Don is acclimatising them to the clinic.

Hey Mimi, cheer up!

We're really thankful to Alex and Dr Khor for letting Don be the new clinic cat!

Unbelievable news on the Popsicles!

And while we are still reeling over Devi's insistence on wanting Stuart back, Nandhini just sent WONDERFUL news!


Do you remember the 5 kittens dumped at my gate more than a month ago? They were placed in a covered styrofoam box (with a big rock on top) and were dying when my husband discovered them. We brought them to the vet. They were dehydrated and all having diarrhoea. Fed them water, kibbles and got them dewormed and Nandhini (bless her kind heart) offered to foster them. 


That time, I had just got the Sunny Kittens adopted and my family and my 6 cats said, "Aduh...give us a break, please....not another five!"  To be fair, yes, they need a break though I didn't need one. My cats get so stressed whenever I bring home any new animal, and of course, Cow and Bunny would just go on a massive spraying (territorial marking) spree and stink up the house. Last year, my house needed a new coat of paint as the territorial marking was....well, out of control (so many fosters last year).


So, dear Nandhini took them home and they had come with diarrhoea. Yes, the NO.1 kitten-killer - diarrhoea. But you see, vets will advise us on what to do, and it's all about managing it with proper diet and care. Nandhini works VERY LONG hours, sometimes till midnight, and yet, she managed.


ALL FIVE survived and thrived.


Then, our vet was so kind, he said once they are well, we could put them in his clinic for adoption. Nandhini brought two gingers and the two tortoiseshells. The two gingers were adopted on the same day. One ginger, Mr Lilo, was still having diarrhoea, so he stayed home with Nandhini.


And what's the good news now?


Mr Lilo has been adopted by Alex, and now Mr Lilo is the clinic cat!!  He's been renamed Don Don (in honour of Dodo, who had just passed away of kidney problems. Dodo had been the oldest clinic cat at Mayo Clinic). Isn't Don Don lucky? He has a vet in attendance 6 1/2 days a week now....what more can a cat want? Even we aren't so lucky.


AND, here's more good news...no, GREAT news!


A family wants to adopt Mulan and another family wants Penny!! Both are tortoiseshells (they don't have the conventionally-accepted "good looks").  

    Penny and Mulan - to be adopted tonight by two separate families!

The adopters might want to know that Penny and Mulan are really, really "hardy". When my husband first found them, the three gingers were like dying, but these two were scaling the box, attempting to escape, and later, when put into the cage, they were scaling the cage! When I saw them at the vets, they were the ones who were very much alive. VERY tough cookies! 

Nandhini and I must have done something good in this life or our previous lives. Somewhere in our youth or childhood, we must have done something good....

We thank all our guardian angels and the families who have adopted the two gingers, Alex for adopting Don Don and these two families for adopting Penny and Mulan!

The FIVE Popsicles - all adopted! From the styrofoam box, to the loving care of Nandhini's home and now, to their forever homes.

And yes, there is rain, but there are also rainbows...

Karuna has been previously spayed

Today was Karuna's scheduled spaying.  


Would you believe it? The vets opened her up and found that she had already been previously spayed. That could only mean two things - either a rescue group had got her spayed and released her OR she is an abandoned pet.  


But, Karuna, being old, did not take the anaesthesia well at all, so the vets quickly removed the gas and brought her out of the sedation. But while they had opened her up, they saw that one kidney does not look very healthy. This is attributed to old age. There was also phlegm in her lungs, which explains why she is coughing slightly. 


Her heartworm test turned out negative, which was good news.    


The vets had planned to remove the lumps during the spaying operation, but this was aborted as they did not want to risk leaving her under anaesthesia.

  Here's our old girl now. On drips, just to be safe. Her ear has been notched to indicate she is a spayed dog.

The vet says she is doing fine but they'd like to still keep her for a few days to treat her wounds. We have no problem with that, as long as the vet feels she needs treatment. We are in no hurry to discharge her. We just don't want to take up the space once she is fit enough to be discharged. There are other patients who need the boarding space.   

I was just thinking, IF indeed she is an abandoned pet, how sad she must be....to be thrown out like this, and if Chong had not rescued her, she would have died.

I wish there were more animal sanctuaries where rescued animals like Karuna can live freely with lots of people to love them.

How time flies

I just couldn't help taking these photo this morning:

 It is Cow and Tiger.

And now, turning the clock back to five years ago....

That's Cow looking after Tiger when he was first brought to me (supposedly for fostering, but the rescuers never took him back).

Cow was my rescue (along with siblings Bunny and Pole), picked up by the roadside on 8th May 2006.  Tiger was sent to me in August 2006. Bobby looked after Tiger and protected him from the elder cats, but later, Cow became Tiger's mentor and taught him how to be a cat! 

How time flies...

Cherish all you have, you'll never know when it's time to go,
for us and for them.

Make the moments worth living. 

Make them count.

Indy found! Safe and sound.

You tell me if cats have a sixth sense.....


My plan was to take Indy to the vet's for his vaccination after I'm done with Pole and Cleo. I saw him under a car and I thought to myself, "Indy, afterwards, I'll take you."


When I came home, he was no where to be found.  


He had completely disappeared.  


Then I had Weiwen's case so off I went to the vet's again and I told the vet I could not find Indy anywhere.  We even joked that he must have gone into hiding.  


It soon turned out to be true....or worse, I feared.  


I walked up and down the road from about 12noon until now (almost 5pm), getting a good tan in the process as it is a hot day today.  


I called his name, looked inside the drains, the dustbins, and there was no Indy.  


Pole and Tiger helped by following me.  Tiger even mewed along the way.  Cow observed from far.  


Bunny was sound asleep in his washing machine throughout. He didn't know what was going on.   


It was only half and hour ago that I raised the alarm and started texting my friends - Indy's missing.  Please pray that he'll come home soon.  


I called the local shelter and asked if MPSJ had brought in any cat.  The local shelter (which is MPSJ's cattery) said the shelter is closed today, so no delivery.  It would have to be tomorrow.  Oh dear...but MPSJ has not come to my area before, but you'll never know, right?  


So I finally decided to blog and make a public promise to Indy that I will NOT take him to the vet (see previous posting).  Just come home, Indy, I won't take you to the vet's.


After writing, I went out again, and walked up the road.


And there he was....right there.


He was in front of a neighbour's driveway, rolling on the cement, having such a nice time....

 Can you believe this?  There he is...

I approached slowly, in case he's suspicious that I might want to take him to the vet's.  I can't afford to lose him again. Please, no...

 I called him lovingly, and he came!

Hi Indy...Hi!!

Let's go home, okay?

I picked him up and he let me take him home.

 Reward, reward, reward...anything you want...Fussie Cat? Royal Canin? Eagle?  You name it, anything you want.

 Have to take more photos, just to celebrate and convince myself it's really Indy.

 Yes, it sure is Indy.

Am not dreaming...no, no.  This IS Indy.

 Yes, it's Indy alright.  He's safe and sound.

And I'm keeping my promise.  No trips to the vet's.  

 And Tiger deserves a good rest in his baby basket after having helped me all afternoon.

The one who didn't know what was going on all afternoon...Bunny.  Still asleep inside the washing machine.

 My most loyal furry friends who is always with me.  

Tiger and Bobby.

Cow, too....but he always watches from a distance.

And the mind-reader...the one and only Indy Jones.

NO more trips to the vet's.  I promise you.

(unless you're real sick, of course)

P.S.  Lest I be accused of dramatising events, it could also just have been a case of Indy having a long nap at the neighbour's porch!  But that nap sure caused me a near heart-attack....and five hours of searching.  And now, I only have 48 hours more to finish my marking...oh boy!