Pancake

It was like any other day that my brother and I had a snack and were walking home when he said he wanted to buy something in a small store on the way. I decided to wait outside and noticed this small, dirty kitten sitting beside the tire of one of the cars parked. It was a busy road with a lot of jeepneys passing by. At first, the kitten didn't want to come out of her hiding place but after a few coaxing she shyly came forward and seemed like she was asking for food. We picked her up and walked home, with her meowing loudly all the way.

Her eyes looked infected but other than that she was fine and was soon given a clean bill of health by her doctor. We named her Pancake and she quickly answered to her name. After her quarantine period in my brother's room, we introduced her to the rest of the kitty family. She didn't let the others boss her around and it was quite an easy transition for her.

Cats have different personalities, I soon found out that Pancake was the sweet and very sociable people loving kitty. She always jumps on my lap and likes to be carried around like a little child. She would always come to me when I call her. On days that I am very tired I look forward to going home and sure enough Pancake would be there to give me that much needed hug and purrs.

Will You Take Me?

This little kitten wandered into our garage one day and never left. I saw him  the evening I got back from a trip out of town. My brother told me that he would just sleep by his doorstep and eat with the other street cats during meal times. He had an infection in one eye and the next day we noticed that the bulge had erupted and there was pus all over his face. We were going to have him checked at the hospital but at that time he was nowhere to be found. We kept looking for him in the streets, but with no results. It turned out he was hiding in my brother's room all this time. I guess he decided that he wanted to be adopted whether we wanted to or not. So on that day, Blueberry found a home. How can we turn away such a determined ball of fluff?

He was a very well behaved cat during his check up. He is still segregated from the others, staying at my brother's room/nursery for orphaned kitties. He's affectionate but can entertain himself while we're doing something else. He 's also quiet, his meows are seldom and very soft. He has grown a lot in the month that he's been with us. His colors are bright and he's put on weight. His eye is getting better, but it looks like it was too late to save it.

Sometimes, I can't help but think that Blue is still proving that he's a good kitty. In time, he will be secure enough to know that he will never go back to the streets.

Been Away For Awhile

Right now at 12:30 in the morning with several of my cats beside me, I have been thinking of the things that have happened since the start of the year. A number of my kitties have been sick, from different ailments. I also lost a little puppy we were trying to save due to distemper. But I also am very thankful that Potato is able to walk now, though he is still limping. He has been neutered and his vaccination shots are complete. Now, I am thinking of how to slowly introduce him to the rest of the clan.

Lychee has made a full recovery from her surgery to address her pyometra problem and her skin condition has improved tremendously. She is a diva with an attitude and we love her dearly.

My precious Tangerine is fighting for his life. He has been diagnosed with FIP. Every day that he is eating and doing his normal litter activity is a miracle. My dear friends, please include him in your prayers. Tomorrow, he is scheduled to have fluids removed from his abdomen. I am so glad that my boy is a fighter. 

Tangerine when he was a kitten 

I Wish I Could Have Known You More

How sad it is to see homeless animals everywhere. It is even worse to see them dying right before your eyes. Lychee, my very own puss in boots look alike is home and doing well now. But just yesterday, there was another casualty at the side of the road. As I was going home, there was a cat lying on the side of the road, and it looked lifeless. But from past experience that is not always the case. The animal could be hurt but still alive. I watched for some sign of life and it looked like it was breathing. And upon closer inspection I could see it was, although it was so shallow you'd barely notice. His location was very dangerous, he could get run over at any time. He was near our house, so I asked my Mom to look after him while I got some gloves and a carrier. He had scabies from head to tail. He even had red ants crawling on his body. He looked like he could go any time but how can one just leave him there? I was thinking, if there was nothing more that can be done, at least he will not die a slow and painful death on the street.

We brought him to the hospital and the doctors said they will try to do everything to try and save him. We named him Meatball. I have been playing around with this name in my mind and we needed to give him a name right away. He was severely dehydrated, had respiratory infection, his eyes were shut, had scabies and was skin and bones. At some point in his life, he may have been run over or hit as his jaw was askew. But I was starting to feel hope for the little guy. I was giving updates to my good friend, Marvie. I knew she understood how I felt. She told me that when Meatball gets better, we would look for a good family for him. So he was cleaned up a bit and first thing was to have him hydrated.

Very early this morning, the hospital called us to let us know that Meatball had passed away. I really didn't know him but it hurt just the same. And as I looked as his photo today, I shed tears for this little guy, who tried to hang on but was too weak to make it. So to you Meatball, I want to say, I wish I could have known you more...

Update on Lychee

It has been a hectic couple of weeks. I have been bringing my cats and dog, Honey, to the vets for their annual check ups. Two weeks after finding Lychee, I brought her to the doctor for her follow up check up. She seemed fine and had her shot of ivermectin for her scabies. She had really good progress in such a short period of time. 

After a few days, she lost her appetite and this got us worried as she really enjoys her meal times. She was taken to the doctor right away and her white blood count showed very high infection. Her doctor said it could be the deadly FIP or pyometra. I felt my heart sink at the mention of FIP, this virus took the lives of several beloved cats. She was confined and was under medication. The doctors would give me updates on how she responded to the antibiotics. Her WBC would go down and after a few days would increase again but not to the initial high levels. With the tests and x rays done on her, it was confirmed she had pyometra, which for me was the lesser of the evils. She had surgery, and being the fighter that she is, she was up about after a few days.

Lychee made a lot of friends in the hospital, from the doctors, the nurses and staff to the visitors of the other furballs there, just by being her lively, adorable self. The nurses would tell me that during mealtimes, nothing can distract her concentration. Yes, sounded like she's doing alright! And her doctor mentioned that she seemed to be enjoying her stay. She's only known the streets, so maybe being in a cage while being served food regularly was heaven for her, poor thing.

Aside from healing from her surgery, we still had her scabies to think of. She seemed better but we wanted to be sure as she will be coming home to a household of cats. So after she was given a clean bill of health 24 days later, Lychee finally came home.

As expected, she was greeted by all her new brothers and sisters, which unfortunately and also expectedly she did not take too well.  She's still adjusting right now but we are patiently waiting and excited for her to enjoy her new life. 

That Special Girl By The Side Of The Road

The day started out as usual, with so many plans for what was going to be a busy day ahead. A lot of things were on my mind. When I left home, I thought to myself, darn I left the carrier again. On my route, as I turned left, lo and behold, a very familiar figure was sitting on the side of the road looking so miserable. Its eyes were shut and my first thought was it was blind, how was it going to survive in the streets. I knew the vet office and pets supplies store in the area. On the way back, with my new carrier, I looked for the white and orange cat. It moved a little nearer the street and was laying down. As I approached I saw that it was a female (she was tricolored) and one of her ears was missing, her eyes were shut and she had scabies. She also had ants walking all over her fur. As I said hello, she looked at my direction and meowed. One lady vendor approached me and asked if I was going to take the cat. I asked if she was the owner. She said no and helped me put her in the carrier. She started to cry and I talked to her as we went along. I noticed that her cries were getting louder. I was so shocked to find her hanging at the back of my head rest, the girl had escaped her carrier! But she seemed frozen on the spot. After a few minutes of maneuvering, scattering my things in the front so she can stay beside me while in the carrier and putting her in the carrier (which was the tricky part), we were on our way. When I woke up this morning, I didn't imagine that I'd be having this adventure. Then she started scratching and all the dander flew all over, thank goodness for my inhaler!

She is now confined at the hospital. She's positive for scabies, ear mites and her blood test showed she has an infection. Good news is that she's not blind. Her blood glucose will also be monitored as results were very high.

She now goes by the name Lychee, she is so sweet and starved for affection. I wanted to hug her but couldn't the way I wanted to at this time as her skin condition is contagious, I have Honey and the cats at home to consider.

She let the doctors examine, poke, clean and extract blood from her without any complaint.

With TLC, she will be a beautiful girl someday (although to me, she is already beautiful and precious). I want her to have a good life and have all the love she wants and needs.

Lychee resting in between tests

Gratitude

Today wasn't such a great day, I was feeling physically ill and tired which led to being emotionally drained and moody. I had meetings from morning until evening and I just wanted to crawl in my bed or maybe just go to the moon.

At the end of the day I passed by a drugstore and got more underpads for Potato. As I carried my bundle, I could picture his sweet face in my mind. He was at home waiting for me and depending on us to take care of him. I could only imagine what he was going through as his life was suddenly disrupted the day he was run over. From running around and doing what he pleased to becoming paralyzed and dependent on humans. He can't even stand up to use a litter box and now he has to wear an e-collar so he wouldn't be able to lick his wounds. And all this time, he was still a very gentle soul, not attempting to scratch or bite us even if we force him to eat (at the start) or give him his long list of medication. He would growl when we clean his wounds and change his underpads but other than that there are no signs of aggression.

Potato's stock of underpads

So, thank you Potato for being such a great example of patience, gentleness and forberance.  We learn a lot from you.