Chevy and Cate got adopted!

We are so happy that forever homes have been found for all 5 of the Chervois Road kittens! Chevy and Cate are now living in Jurong with Noris and hubby and their daughter! Noris is a friend of Farah who adopted Pony with her hubby over Christmas last year. Chevy and Cate will be their first pets as a family. We are happy for them!

Full Year 2010 Financial Statement

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will be published soon to share how we have performed as a rescue group in the year 2010.

Thank you all for your support in so many ways for the year of 2010! Onward to greater things in the year ahead.

the Dempsey orphans - now slightly over 3 weeks old

Dempsey and his sisters Wine and Curry just got their first shower today! Here they are all blow-dried and being orange -

When they first came to our foster home, they had very poor appetite. They didn't take to the bottle well, and drank very little each feeding. They hardly mewed or moved. We syringe-fed them drop by drop, coupled their milk replacement formula with supplements like Lysinium Max which would boost their appetites to help them along.

We worried that it might be their intestinal worms that were causing their poor appetite, so we dewormed them early this week. When their appetites were poor they also started looking pale, so we added glucose and CoQ10 to their milk.

They were also constipated so we added probiotics to their milk. Sounds like a lot of supplements! But we are trying our best to help them along without the wonders of mother's milk, so a minuscule dose of each of these supplements may make a huge difference in their survival.

Then they started showing flu' symptoms - not a lot of sniffling but teary eyes. We initially tried to see if they could recover on their immune systems boosted with colostrum, Vitamin C and Lysinium Max, but it didn't help the flu' much. We applied Ilium Opticin to their eyes and put them on a herbal flu' remedy of elderberry, licorice, echinecea and mullein. They improved much after that, and their appetites are now great! Greedy as kittens should be.

So we introduced them to solid food again today - they rejected it when they first came, but now their teeth have begun to bud, and they are getting hungrier, so it was timely. They took to their Addiction Brushtail immediately! Of course, weaning is always a messy process! They got themselves totally drenched with food (mixed with milk) and so they had their shower immediately after their swim-in-food.

They are very vocal kittens now that they are much healthier! Wine is the most outgoing, and the greediest. She showed improvement in appetite first amongst them. She also has the darkest red colouring amongst the three of them. Dempsey, the boy with a short tail, has a white chin (inverted mask) and white ankle socks on his forepaws! He is next in line for the greediness award. Curry, the cream version of them (really the colour of curry! Like, northern Thai curry?) is the weakest and smallest of them all. She has the smallest appetite, but is also the most obedient - she mewed the least during their shower. We hope she survives as nature's way usually takes out the weakest of the litter first - survival of the fittest and all that.

As one rescuer said to us before, with kittens that are orphaned without mother's milk, it is always a touch and go scenario. We know that kittens this age die easily, but we won't give up, and we hope all three of them won't either. Keep them in your thoughts!

Our Sealy is growing up!

Our Sealy, the first rescued foster kitten ever we fell in love with and decided to adopt is turning 5 months old in February!

The reason why we love him so is because he is a bit silly, his nickname is Gong-gong which means dumb. He is named Sealy also because of his seal point - his mother is a Burmese cat and his dad a British Shorthair (both his parents were sterilised in our TNRM project at Upper Boon Keng). He's very similar in character thus to our Slinky who is also a cross British Shorthair.

He had a rough patch after his first vaccination. Because he came from Upper Boon Keng, which is flu' ridden, he harboured the flu' virus which came into full force after his vaccination. His flu' persisted for a long time, and he had to go on 2 rounds of antibiotics to get well.

Then he started having diarrhoea that resisted medication. When he went for his second checkup, Dr Hsu told us that Sealy's diarrhoea is probably the chronic kind that will go away on its own after a few months, as long as he is eating fine and active, it will be okay for him. So he is just on probiotics for now.

He is now the new official small-kitten IC in our house, helping to socialise and play with the foster kittens we shelter in our home. Scooter has retired from that post!

He is like our Queen Slinky in so many ways. He hates dirty litter boxes to the core - and both of them retaliate the very idea of a used litterbox very strongly! He had a behavioural problem of pooing on our bed many times, but he no longer does so after much training. He is also extremely greedy. And likes to be alone. Also not very keen on jumping high places. Very Slinky!

He will be going for his sterilisation operation very soon! We can't wait for him to grow up!

Bob's first acupuncture session with Dr Poon

If you have been following Bob's story, you know we are employing alternative healing remedies for Bob's nerve disorder because pharmaceutical options are at a dead end.

So yesterday Bob has his first acupuncture session with Dr Poon, a vet that used to practise at The Animal Clinic and is setting up her own practice. (We know lots of you are hoping to know where it is going to be open and the location, will share when we find out more from her!)

During Bob's consult with Dr Poon we also learned a few more things about his condition. Firstly, the initial prognosis for Bob is that he is suffering from a cerebellar disorder which is likely to be inherited or congenital. If it is truly a congenital defect, Bob may not live for very many years - not the full 14-17 years an average house cat has. However, because Bob previously responded to Clindamycin antibiotics - which treats toxoplasmosis that causes such neuropathic disorders - and got better after that, it is possible that his brain disorder may also not be inherited, and recovery is possible. The truth is, we can't tell for sure if it is congenital or viral in cause or even both, so we can only treat him in the best possible way and monitor his progress (which has been great).

Dr Poon's analysis of Bob's gait, motor control and balance pointed out that while he can walk pretty well now (no more leopard crawl) his head still somewhat tilts a bit here and there. The initial acupuncture points Dr Poon tried, one was below his skull near the cranium. But his muscles are extremely stiff there and the acupuncture point could not be accessed. So we are focusing his aromatherapy massages on his neck now. (With a 'Good Boy!' when he relaxes his muscles.) After massaging him for a while now it is getting easy to identify stiffness and tension and when the tissue massage helps.

So Dr Poon accessed the other acupuncture points, one of them is for the kidneys, where she identified some weakness upon entry. In TCM, weakness of the kidneys is usually inherent in sickies, so I asked Dr Poon if she has any advice on helping his kidneys be better. A TCM herb (apologies for not knowing the name as we are not well versed in TCM ourselves) might help so Dr Poon will give us some of that for Bob. She approved of the supplements of Vit B (including Vit B12) and magnesium, and the herbal remedies of skullcap and St. John's wort, so we are continuing him on that. (Speaking of which, he is beginning to prefer kibbles more over wet food, so today his supplements will be syringe-fed rather than mixed in food.)

By the way, Dr Poon consulted for Bob pro bono too and we are very grateful! She will be seeing him again, possibly at our foster home, to continue his acupuncture sessions.

January's gift from @thewaterdish our sponsor! Azmira Vitamin B complex 50

Vitamin B is an essential vitamin for feline health, and is useful for combatting illness such as flu', and is also helpful for times of increased stress, travelling, allergy season, neurological and other tissue rehabilitation, and with older pets.

Azmira's B Complex 50 comes with 8 B vitamins in capsule form. It contains Thiamin (B1 thiamine) 50 mg, Riboflavin (vitamin B2) 50 mg, Niacin (as niacinamide) 50 mg, Vitamin B6 50 mg, Folic acid 400 mcg, Vitamin B12 50 mcg, Biotin 60 mcg, Pantothenic acid 50 mg. Dosage: 1 capsule dose per day for every 50lb of body weight. Each bottle has 100 capsules.

The types of B vitamins within are important to know because not every Vitamin B supplement contains all the B vitamins. For example, the ones we have in tablet form contain only B1, B2 and B6. Lysinium Max, another staple vitamin and lysine supplement we have in our foster home, contains B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, and B12.

We are concerned mostly, at this point, about Vitamin B12 because of Bob as Vitamin B12 is the main vitamin that aids in neuropathic disorders. At the moment, we are giving him his Vitamin B12 through Solid Gold Seameal - another great supplement - which also contains omega 9, minerals such as magnesium which Bob also needs, and probiotics. We like seameal for the all-roundedness of it as a supplement. But not all cats may enjoy its taste, some of your cats may prefer supplements that are tasteless - and Vitamin B is essentially tasteless. We will be continuing Bob on seameal, as well as magnesium, and now Azmira's Vit B complex 50 as well as he needs the added dose because he is recovering.

Another use, apart from the flu', that you can have Azmira's Vit B on standby if you don't give it daily, is for the days after vaccinations when your cat's immune system is fighting off the virus that the vaccinations introduce your cat's body to to immunise it.

Vitamin B is also useful for increasing appetite, so when your cat is stressed or ill, you can supplement her with Azmira's Vit B complex 50 to make sure she eats.

If you are a stray cat caregiver, pregnant or nursing mothers that are not due for sterilisation yet will also benefit from this Azmira Vitamin B supplement. Also, if the colony of stray cats are fighting off an epidemic of cat flu' or other viruses, adding Vitamin B to their feedings will help their immune system fight it off since it may not be possible for you to medicate every cat if they are feral, or it is simply too costly to bring every stray in for a veterinary visit. That said, Lysinium Max and Seameal can also be used in its stead for the same purposes in caring for your stray cat colony if the strays will incline to eat food added with them - Lysinium Max has a fruity taste, and Seameal is grassy.

We like how Azmira also recommends the Vit B complex 50 for stress. Cats do all kinds of worrying things when they are stressed, apart from not eating. They may over groom themselves. They may get constipated. They may eliminate outside the litter box. They may become aggressive towards others, feline and human alike. Apart from other stress-relieving measures you can use, combatting feline stress with vitamin B is another way you can ensure your cat tides over her stress and resultant behaviours or illnesses. Stress is also a common occurrence as cats tend to mirror their humans' stresses. If you as an owner are undergoing changes in life, or are stressed or feeling under the weather yourself, your cat tends to get stressed too. So it is important to have stress-combatants in your house for your cat.

We are so thankful that The Water Dish is donating this supplement to our cache of kitty supplements, meds and remedies!

Dempsey Road kittens

Yesterday we got a call from one of our previous adopters, Sam, who adopted Zoukie (now Leo) and Sam (now Lenny).

He was at Dempsey Road and he found out that a stray cat there had given birth outside one of the shops.

Because the shops didn't want her and her kittens there, they placed the kittens in a box and left it in a field nearby where there were red ants and such, and separated from their mother. Needless to say, the mother cat not only won't return to nurse her litter after this trauma, even if she could find them.

So the three kittens became needlessly orphaned, and Sam brought the kittens over to ours. They are now 3 weeks old, still needing the bottle and unable to eat on own, are a bit flu'ey, and have intestinal worms and resulting poor appetite with distended bellies.

All three kittens are red tabbies. Two of the kittens are male, and one is female. Dempsey has a bobtail, Wine and Curry have long tails. They are now in a small pen quarantined from the other kittens.

If their appetites don't improve soon will deworm them immediately, something we usually do at 4 weeks old instead of 3 weeks old, though it is veterinary-approved to deworm kittens at 3 weeks old too.

They drink very little each time they are given the bottle every 4 hours or so. We have supplemented their milk with CoQ10, Lysinium Max, probiotics and colostrum, so that whatever little milk they are drinking now, they at least get a system boost to help them tide over the loss of their mom. 

We hope the kittens make it through!

latest update on Bob

Bob has been doing great!

He has already gotten better. Since there is no pharmaceutical medication available, we have been putting him on the alternative remedies we talked about in our previous update on Bob - aromatherapy massages, supplements and herbal remedies. He doesn't really like the taste of skullcap and St John's wort, but we are adjusting him to it. He really enjoys his aromatherapy massages, and after that he gets his hangout time with us which he loves.

He enjoys snuggling with us in bed, but because he doesn't really feel comfortable yet to roam the whole house and access our cats' food water and litter box, we still have to pen him. Here is a pic of him chillin' out on our bed after one of his massages -

This Wednesday, he will be seeing Dr Poon who specialises in acupuncture to see if we can explore that route towards Bob's recovery. She quoted us a discounted rate to see him at about $20+ so we can still afford his care out of our Veterinary Fund.

Meanwhile, we see how Bob has progressed. He no longer walks dragging his hind legs. He enjoys activity a lot more than before. He can climb the second levels of his kitten pen. He can engage in play with our youngest cat Sealy -



Through our correspondence with Dr Poon we learn that if Bob was prescribed Clindamycin at James Tan and responded to that, his neuropathy is likely due to toxoplasmosis. Sort of like food poisoning for the layman term of it. During infection with toxoplasmosis, a cat can spread it to humans as it is a zoonotic infection. But after he no longer harbours the virus it is no longer infectious, as we researched and found out - so he is definitely not at risk of spreading anything to our cats, the foster cats or us humans.

We have hope that Bob will eventually become able to do more and more things and we are so happy to see him recover!

Gin and Mae looking for new homes!

Here are Chevy and Cate's younger pen mates and good friends, all ready for new homes! Gin and Mae the sibling pair rescued from a drain with debris in Guillemard, are now 6 weeks old, healthy and socialised.

They are litter-trained, able to eat kibbles on their own - they are on Solid Gold Indigo Moon just like Chevy and Cate. They play well with one another, have gone through their 4- and 6-week old deworming regime, and have become very sociable towards humans.

Gin is a semi-longhaired i.e. cross-Persian silver tabby with a bob tail. He is very playful, loves attention, is talkative, greedy, and can be a bit stubborn too!

He needs to be groomed more often than his litter mates, since he has Persian bloodline, so we brush him regularly to reduce matts as he tends to get his facial and neck fur wet when he drinks water.

Mae is a double-coated kitten, has huge round eyes (a bit like Ally!) and she is more obedient than her brother. She is a torbie cat with a bob tail.

If you are keen on adopting Gin, Mae, Chevy or Cate, do see right side bar on adoption information, our mini questionnaire and how to contact us.

update on Dusky in her new home!

Hi Elaine,

I didn't get a chance to thank you in appropriate way. Therefore, this email is to show my thanks to you. Once again, I would like to thank you for letting me meet Dusky.

Dusky was shy in the first place but she started to open up to us. She is very very manja, she will always jump into my bed and ask me to "manja" her every time I wake up in the morning. She gets along well with Butter too. She cared for Butter, when Butter was healing from her sterilization operation, Dusky will lick Butter at times. I may not know it means but it shows that Dusky really cares for Butter. They will also chase each other at times and will have "cat fights"! But i'm sure they are just playing! But they can be so playful at times and its just so so so cute to see them that way!

Dusky really changed a lot. From a shy kitten who hid behind the refrigerator when I met her for the first time to a beautiful, adorable and active kitten she is now.

Dusky loves the mini playground that I made in my room too! She loves to play with the hanging mouse! Hehe!

The attachment above are all her pictures I took ever since I adopted her. I hope you could post some of the pictures at your blog to show how Dusky is doing right now. I'm sure your readers would like to know how she's doing as well. Once again, I thank you.

Regards,
Aisha

Tiki Cat review

Last month The Water Dish donated us the range of Tiki Cat canned food, and here are our taste tests!

First off, we find Tiki Cat very suitable for new cats that arrive in our home, as well as for sickies. Because of the seafood formulas, the aroma entices stressed out cats to eat. Ingredients such as sardines are also very good for convalescing cats.

Comparing Tiki Cat to other seafood ranges of canned food such as Fussie Cat premium we like the fact that instead of jelly, it has gravy instead - so the moisture content is not only healthy, but optimal. This also means that the meat within the can is fresh and not dried out.

Tiki Cat also uses ocean caught fish and seafood and not farmed, which means that the meat is organic. If you are feeding Fussie Cat premium, for 10cents more Tiki Cat is definitely much more worth it - and yummy.

The aroma itself for all the Tiki Cat formulas is really good, and because cats base their appetites on smell, we know that aroma is an important factor.

We still prefer to feed fowl and poultry to the foster cats because it is more hypoallergenic and digestible for young kittens, but we always keep some fishy foods on hand for newcomers and sickies. Personally we prefer a few formulas over the others: Hawaiian Grill Ahi Tuna and Tahitian Grill Sardine Cutlets. Because we have had cats (even our own Slinky) that are allergic to seafood! Only a minority of cats are allergic to seafood, or fish, so if you know your cats are fine with it, do go ahead and try the entire range!

Cruiser & Cookie have been adopted!

Here are Leslie and Patricia, proud new parents of Cruiser and Cookie! Leslie and Patricia are both secondary school teachers in a school near their home in the Choa Chu Kang area. Patricia has had a cat before who died of kidney failure in his senior years. Both of them have set aside a room for the kittens to acclimatise to their new house. We are glad that both of them now have a forever home!

Receipts for December's TNRM at Bendemeer Blk 47

This receipt below is for the sterilisation operations for the 9 cats sterilised last month at Bendemeer Blk 47, and is the receipt that we will be using to claim for Cat Welfare Society community cat sterilisation reimbursement. 

This receipt below is inclusive of the trapping, transport and one-night boarding of the 9 cats and is the amount we paid out of our Sterilisation Fund.

Ally's new forever family

This is Yvi and Shaun, who fostered Ally during her recent abandonment and who are now the official adopters of Ally after they signed the Adoption Agreement on Saturday.

Yvi and Shaun, together with Abyss's adopter Chris and his girlfriend Nicole are all getting a house together, so Ally will have new kitty siblings soon! In the meantime she has guinea pigs as siblings already. Here are pics of Ally in her new loving home -

Bob's visit to The Animal Clinic today

We brought Bob to see Dr Hsu today for a consultation.

Dr Hsu's diagnosis is that Bob's inability to walk well probably stems from brain damage that affects his balancing motor skills. The only way to theoretically confirm this is through an MRI. Brain damage could either have been caused by a viral infection in the past or simply a genetic problem in his brain development. Alas, even with a diagnostic test like an MRI, brain damage cannot be cured through medication. Bob also no longer needs to take Neurofort nor another course of antibiotics as this will not help him any further than they already have.

Dr Hsu consulted for Bob pro bono so there was no charge and our Veterinary Fund was not used for his visit today.

As for acupuncture treatment, the only veterinarian at The Animal Clinic that practises acupunture is Dr Poon and she has recently left the clinic to set up on her own. We have contacted her to see if she can do a private consultation for Bob and acupuncture sessions with him if she believes it will help. We are still awaiting her reply as to whether she is available privately and what her rates will be. She is currently out of town and we will update when she replies.

As for other alternative treatments, we will focus on: supplements, herbal remedies and aromatherapy massages.

For supplements: we are going to start Bob on Vitamin B and Magnesium.

For herbal remedies: we will be putting Bob on St John's Wort and Skullcap

The magnesium and herbs will be arriving in a few days, here is a copy of the invoice -

After USD/SGD conversion it costs $61.75 which we paid out of our Boarding Fund.

We will also massage Bob's legs daily with a blend of essential oils of geranium, lavender and frankincense in a carrier oil (cats cannot use essential oils undiluted).

The prognosis is that Bob might never fully regain a normal sense of balance or full motor function in his legs. We will monitor how he improves and when he reaches a stable state where he can function well enough and when we understand his limitations intimately, we will be looking for a forever home for him, one that will accept him for perhaps losing his balance from time to time or not being able to land on his feet. In the meanwhile, we hope to improve his condition as well as we can so that we know that every practical means to rehabilitate him has been tried.

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!

If an adopter breaches our Adoption Agreement

We refer to term 7 of our Adoption Agreement, that

7. Breach. I acknowledge and agree that in the event of any breach of the above terms and conditions, Love Kuching Project by The Water Dish shall have the right, at its discretion, to confiscate the Pet from me, report the breach to the relevant authorities or take further legal action.

Today we are exercising this right to confiscate a pet that has been re-homed, our dearest Ally. Her adopter, Manpreet, breached the terms of animal welfare and transfer of ownership without our knowledge.

What happened was that Abyss's adopter Chris contacted us when he saw that we posted on our blog about Manpreet and Chris being friends, and that Chris had recommended Manpreet to adopt from us. Chris called us to tell us that actually they are merely acquaintances and that Manpreet's previous dog, did not pass away, but was abandoned. He also found out that Manpreet's mother had forced Ally to be abandoned below their block and adamantly refused to allow her back in the house. This constitutes as a breach of the agreement to provide for the animal's welfare - term 2 of our Adoption Agreement. Manpreet then got Chris to help out, and Chris's friend Shawn offered to foster Ally till the disagreement between Manpreet and his mother was ironed out. We did not know about this till Chris informed us. Term 4 of our Adoption Agreement states that transfer of ownership has to be communicated to Love Kuching - so this is another breach. To worsen things, Chris told us that Manpreet has not once called Shawn to enquire about Ally's welfare or to discuss taking her back home.

So we are going to take Ally back into our custody.

It turns out that in the course of fostering Ally, Shawn found out Ally's story through our blog - about how she was abandoned as a 5 day old baby, nursed through her flu', suffered the deaths of her siblings, and grown up to be a healthy, independent kitten she now is. Shawn has become attached to Ally and is hoping to give her the forever home Ally truly deserves. So we are inviting Shawn to bring Ally to our foster home where we will discuss and officiate the adoption of Ally by Shawn. Both of them will be coming over to ours this evening.

Wet Wipes

As a kitten grows up it tends to get itself into messes such as stepping into its own poo, eating till it has 'food-face' or not knowing yet how to clean itself after going to the loo. In between showers, we often use wet wipes to clean the kittens we foster in lieu of a mother cat's licking. 

What do we look for when purchasing wet wipes for daily grooming of kittens in our care? Here are some pointers:

• Fragrance-free. We try to steer away as usually fragrance additives are synthetic and may be harmful when ingested as the kitten grooms itself. 
• No aloe vera. Studies are mixed as to whether aloe vera is safe for cats. To play safe, we stay away from baby wipes that contain aloe vera. 
• Texture. Some wet wipes are rough and harsh on the tender leather areas of kittens - the parts where they have the least fur - and may cause abrasions over a period of time.

So far we have 2 favourite brands of wet wipes - Kodomo and Huggies wet wipes for babies. Both are great to use and most importantly, not too expensive. 

If you would like to play safe, get wet wipes that are intended for pet use, for example Petkin Kitty Wipes.

Apart from using wet wipes to groom kittens, you can also use grooming powder - our favourite is Rudducks - to absorb smells and moisture, and then brushing it out with a bristle brush. You can also use cornstarch as grooming powder, or use baby powders that are made of cornstarch. Grooming and brushing with powder can be done after using a wet wipe to clean the kitten of any soiling.

Adopt Us!

Chevy, Cate, Cruiser and Cookie, rescued from Chervois Road, are ready for new homes! The siblings are now 7 weeks old.

They were nursing a bout of diarrhoea since last week, but are now a-okay after supplementing them with probiotics, medication of loperamide (anti-diarrhoeal) and mylanta (antacid), and herbal remedy of slippery elm bark which aids the digestive system. We had been checking their poo daily to see if they got better, and yesterday nice firm poo has confirmed they are now recovered. They all got a shower today to wash off any anal soiling. Here they are, smelling clean and fresh!

Chevy -

Chevy is a white with black boy with a long tail. We love his cute black nose and chin. He is a kitty that likes to chill out and relax, cuddled next to you, and is very easy-going and quiet. He is closest friends with Cate.

Cate -

Cate has an extremely adorable facial beauty mark, much like our second oldest cat Sayang (shown above on our header banner). She has a mid-length tail and is white with black like her brother and best friend Chevy. She is a confident girl who loves to explore, quiet and easy-going like Chevy, intelligent, and friendly.

Cruiser -

Cruiser is a white with tabby boy who has a long tail. He has the look of adorable mischief, but is actually very sweet. He loves to talk, cuddle, play and relax next to you. We love how he meows at us for attention and then when we talk back to him he continues the conversation like he has lots to say!

Cookie -

Cookie is the leader of her family, always the first to learn new things and to initiate play time. She also likes to talk but is more independent than Cruiser. She is white with tabby, and has a mid-length tail with a kink. She is also obedient, and apart from play time, she enjoys cuddling with humans too.

All of the kittens are now able to eat dry food - Solid Gold Indigo Moon kibbles - and drink water on their own from a bowl. They are also given canned food - Addiction Brushtail - daily.

We would love for wonderful families to give these kittens, either singly or with a sibling, a loving forever home. If you are keen on adopting any of them, please contact us to discuss the adoption and visit. See right side bar for more information.

Gin and Mae from Guillemard

On Sunday evening Liyin brought over 2 kittens she had told us about in the Guillemard stray cat colony where she is one of the caregivers.

Liyin has been diligently sterilising the stray cats there. But one of the female cats escaped being sterilised - another feeder fed this cat before the trapping of the strays in that area despite knowing cats that are not hungry are very difficult to catch for sterilisation. Alas, this cat was also pregnant at the time. Eventually, on 8 Dec last year, this female cat gave birth in a drain conjoining the main monsoon drain. (Pictures taken by Liyin.)

She gave birth to two kittens, who are now 4 weeks of age. During the last month, Liyin fed the mother cat two to three times a day as she was nursing. Having been rainy weather recently, we decided to take them in after this weekend's adoptions. Gin and Mae are now in our foster home.

They were found to be healthy despite being wet and amongst lots of debris - their drain was littered with construction rubble that spilled over from a dumpster nearby -

- but apart from having worms, they are free of major sicknesses. They are now penned together with Chevy and siblings, learning to use the box, play and eat from them.

Gin is male, has a bobtail, is a silver semi-longhaired mackeral tabby -

Mae is a double-coated shorthaired ticked and mackeral tabby, also with a bobtail -

Gin is more reserved and quiet, still very easily scared - he has this cute habit of hissing and spitting at the towel with which I use to clean their pen, every time. Mae is more outgoing and intelligent, more vocal, and also still easily scared. Understandable that both are still hissy, because they haven't gotten used to human contact yet.

They have just been dewormed and their appetite is slowly picking up. Will be checking their litter to see what worms they were suffering from. They are still a bit slow in learning to eat, and we haven't seen them drinking water on their own yet: this is the first time they are learning to eat and drink like big cats, having been on mother's milk all the way till they arrived on Sunday at our place. They are also not too keen yet on playing with Chevy and siblings but have learned to cuddle with them to sleep together.

Will keep you all updated on their progress! Ideally they should learn to eat and drink well on their own before they are rehomed to ensure easier care for their future owners. They also need to settle down and ease off their stress from being moved and become more sociable with humans to make good pets. Will check if they have post-deworming diarrhoea as well - having thick fur, it be not good if they have poo stuck on their behinds to meet new humans!

update on the C siblings

One of the Chervois Road kittens was adopted today! They are not officially ready for adoption yet; unfortunately they are still having post-deworming diarrhoea. We checked with our vet as it has been a while since they were dewormed on Monday, to make sure it isn't too serious - the kittens are eating well and are on probiotics, so it seems that their digestive systems may just need some time to heal. Today their runny poo is still on, so we gave them loperamide (anti-diarrhoeal) to prevent dehydration.

Chi and James came to our foster home and didn't mind that Cherie and her siblings have soiled bottoms, looked past it and decided to take Cherie home today!

James works from home and has kept cats all his life, and we recommended them our vet, so they can bring Cherie in for a vet check and subsequent deworming. We wrote in Cherie's pet information sheet that this bunch of kittens had hookworms, date they were dewormed, and when to next deworm Cherie so they can refer to it and continue her deworming regime.

We will still continue Chevy, Cate, Cruiser and Cookie on probiotics and now loperamide until they get well. They have already learned to lap water on their own so their hydration level is not too bad. 

They have also learned how to deal with human contact, having had visitors cuddle them all weekend! They really know how to turn on their cute charm when visitors come by! Initially, they were scared of being handled, especially the first two days when they arrived at our place, but now they have learned to cuddle up to humans and purr and play. So socialisation-wise, they are ready for human parents! Will update again when they are well and officially ready for adoption!

Ally has been adopted!

Ally is going to her new home tomorrow with new human parents Manpreet and Priya!

They were introduced to us by Chris, who adopted Abyss in November. Manpreet is a first time cat owner, having grown up with other pets, and grieved the loss of a beloved dog as well. So we spent a lot of time talking with Manpreet and Priya about the care of a kitten and shared lots of how-tos, including talk on vaccines, cat-proofing the house, feeding and behaviour. We are glad to make new cat owners!

Ally was in love with her new daddy too, alternating bouts of play time with sitting on his lap and purring. We are glad that Ally approves.

The Chervois litter of kittens

All the 5 kittens when they first arrived were stressed out and unable to eat on their own. After some bottle- and syringe-feeding, they finally started to eat! They have also been dewormed; some of them are still having post-deworming diarrhoea.

Here are some pictures of them taken tonight

Chevy, male, long tail

Cate, female, mid-length tail

Cruiser, male, long tail

Cookie, female, mid-length tail

Cherie, female, short tail

Cruiser is one of the more vocal of the lot, often meowing for attention or food. They aren't yet used to being cuddled by humans, so they will need some socialisation. Ally has joined them, and they followed her in using the litter box, exploring the third level of the pen, and in learning how to eat and drink.

Will post more pictures of them soon, when they have fully recovered from their runny poo and are more socialised, then they be ready for new homes!