Good morning!

It is 6.21am now, and I've just finished feeding my colony and cleaning up Joanie's poo! Yes, she poo-ed a lot last night in her litter box, and it was well-formed. And wonders of wonders, Vixey poo-ed as well (she uses the bathroom). Again, I wonder if it's the coconut water... The fact that Vixey poos is an occasion to celebrate because she suffers from life-long constipation (due to a brain trauma and spinal chord injury about two years ago).

Miss FW left a lovely comment in my previous posting - thank you! It is so nice to know that there are people out there who are following Joanie-Suki's progress.

So I thought it might be nice to show you some photos of one part of my colony. The rest have eaten and gone out for their morning walk by now.

The first photo shows Joanie grooming Suki in their cage. Both had a feast of AD today. I should switch them over to dry food soon, or I'll be milked dry (AD is RM8.20 per can, but I get it for RM7.50 now)! They practically eat one can per meal now. That's a good sign, of course. AD is very good for Joanie, so I'll keep her on it for some time still. The surgeon did say her recovery might take months.

The second photo shows Bobby, my 13-year old "mongrel poodle". He's mixed, and we got him because my children were young at that time and were afraid of the bigger dogs at PAWS (I had wanted to adopt), so we had to get really small dogs. Hence, we ended up with Bobby (we were told his mother was a toy poodle, and the adult size would be 10 inches - Bobby must have taken after his father instead!) and Mac (a Pomeranian returned by his owner). Poodles, I just learned, are the most jealous dogs in the world, and it's true. Try living with one, and you'll see. But...Bobby has been super magnanimous, sharing his house with all the cats. Not only that, he also looks after every rescued kitten I bring back. Bless his kind heart.

The third photo shows our landlady, Vixey. Vixey is sitting on her router. Due to her brain trauma about two years ago, doctors aren't too sure how much damage is in her now. But, one vet suspects she has hypothyroidism, which means, she will always feel cold. That is why she always sleeps on the router. She doesn't want a hot water bottle, though. Even before the brain trauma, she would look for plugs to sit on (when she was smaller). One vet suspects her problem is congenital, and not a result of the brain trauma.

The fourth photo shows Little Chief (now renamed Wii, by my son). Little Chief is Vixey's brother. Both were found abandoned in a rubbish heap at the playground behind my house. Wii is at least three times the size of little Vixey now. Read Pawprints, please ("The Miracle of Vixey"), it's a very touching story of how Vixey survived the brain trauma and how Wii looked after her. The photo, by the way, shows Wii having descended into the kitchen sink, licking every bit of the can (a treat, to bribe them into accepting Joanie and Suki into the fold). Yes, the bribery is still on. I don't take chances.

The fifth photos shows Bunny. Bunny is one of the first kittens I rescued. He has just passed his 3rd birthday now. Bunny is our biggest cat, and one of the gentlest now. I volunteered him for a blood donation for a kitten more than a year ago, and a blood test revealed that he has FIV (that's like HIV in humans). He probably got it from birth since he too was rescued together with Cow and Polar. They were found abandoned by the roadside and were only 2 days old when I picked them up. Bobby helped me nurse them.

When Bunny was diagnosed with FIV, the vet almost insisted that I should have him put down. I couldn't understand this. Why should you put down a cat just because he has FIV? Do you put down a human who has HIV? I understand that FIV can spread through fighting (scratching) and mating. Bunny is neutered. But he used to fight (he owned an alley near my house) though it was the stand-off kind of "fighting".

So I came back and had a long talk with Bunny, and told him he must not fight anymore, and that he should stay home most of the time. He listened, and he stayed home! The vet told me the lifespan of FIV-positive cats is about 3 years (based on his experience), but I've seen one who is 7 years old at the clinic.

One day at a time...

We live each day, doing the best we can, for those around us. Life is not a bed roses, believe me. We accept this fact, and we do our best and be thankful for the good things that come our way.

That's all that matters, isn't it?

Now, let me prepare for my interfaith dialogue tonight at the International Islamic University. Can I talk about kindness to animals? I actually did mention a little, in my previous interfaith forum at the Pure Life Society, and many ladies were delighted that I did! They said it was the first time they had heard animals being giving their due rights in a religious forum.

"I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it." - Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States.

"The deeper minds of all ages have had pity for animals." - Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher.