Bob

We have a new arrival at our Love Kuching foster home! Meet Bob, who is 4 months old, and is a very special rescue cat.

Bob was rescued by Amizadai, owner of the most awesome ex-stray cat in Singapore, Duke Orange. Bob was found near Duke and Ami's office in town in December. He was cared for with the other cats in that area by their stray cat caregiver. One day, the caregiver shared with Ami that Bob had gone missing. After searching for a couple of days, they realised that Bob was hiding in a drain, frightened, and did not want to move despite the drain being wet. He was brought to the vet and found to have nerve damage in one of his hind legs.

Subsequently, Ami found someone to foster Bob to administer his daily medication and keep him off the streets in the meantime. We decided to take Bob in in the hope of providing for his veterinary care for a longer term, rehabilitate him till he becomes better, and eventually, to find a forever home for him.

Nerve disorders are quite hard to diagnose accurately as to the cause or specific type of neuropathy, and nerve problems tend to cause distress to the cat as it affects their entire central nervous system and thus incite stress, anxiety, depression and aggression. Bob has improved much since he has been given veterinary care. He was initially a very aggressive kitten because of his pain. His demeanour now is so wonderful! He is a manja lap cat that loves to be cuddled.

We hope to provide Bob with rehabilitation through the following means:

• Veterinary visits for his medication. He is currently on Neurofort, and was on Clindamycin antibiotics. His meds have run out, so we will be using our Veterinary Fund to bring him for a visit to our vet this coming week for a more complete diagnostic and to top up his meds or get prescriptions filled for any other medication needed (for instance pain killers).
• Supplements that aid the repair of nerve damage, mainly: vitamin B (which we still have), magnesium, and herbal remedies of skullcap, and St. John's wort, which we will purchase with our Boarding Fund. 
• Acupuncture at the vet: acupuncture is one of the primary remedies prescribed by forerunning veterinary healthcare specialists for treating all kinds of nerve disorders and injuries and is proven very effective. It will speed up Bob's recovery so he can be re-homed before he gets used to being a shelter cat for too long.

We welcome financial contributions towards Bob's veterinary care. If you would like to make a contribution towards Bob's veterinary care, make a deposit to our bank account POSB Savings 188-52652-7 and text/email Elaine at 90880675/elaine@lovekuchingproject.org to inform us about the transfer and that it is for our Veterinary Fund. We will be posting receipts of Bob's veterinary expenses on our blog each time we bring him to the vet.

For expenses already incurred by Bob who was previously treated at James Tan clinic that you may wish to help out in, please contact Amizadai who has been forking out for Bob's veterinary expenses thus far. Ami has set aside a fund for helping out stray cats and has been tapping on that for Bob's veterinary care and fostering expenses. Helping out to reimburse the expenses previously incurred by Bob will top up Ami's fund so that she and Duke can use it to benefit more stray cats in future.

As for now, Bob is quite comfortable with our cats but still needs some time to adjust to his new foster home. We have placed him in a pen, fed him some Tiki Cat donated by The Water Dish last month - fishy foods tempt stressed out cats to eat! He loved it! - and he has already used the litter tray.  We are also diffusing lavender, marjoram and chamomile essential oils which are for easing nerve pain and distress. Eventually we will let him free-roam as he can't climb the levels of the pen, and needs to walk around to play and exercise for nerve regeneration.

Will report more on Bob after his trip to The Animal Clinic and his progress. We love Bob already!