Happy Mew Year!

Butter

From all of us at Ubi Kuching Project.

Thank you all for contributing to a wonderful 2009. Here's to more love, purrs and woofs in the year ahead!

keeping our home smelling fresh

Our cat litter boxes have an automatic air freshener dispenser above them to keep their toilet areas smelling okay. Combined with our use of baking soda, regular air fresheners and scented candles, this makes our home smell all right even with cat pee and poo from three cats. The dispenser costs about $12.95 with 2 batteries and one can of fragrance, First Choice brand available in Giant, Cold Storage or Shop and Save.

I use two fragrances - one is lavender scented, costs about $4.95 per can, First Choice brand. The other is cotton scented, a hypoallergenic fragrance from Ambi-Pur which costs about $7.40 a can. I stay away from citrus fragrances because cats are allergic or at least refrain from going near citrus smells.

Bubbles today

Update: Bubbles did not survive her illness despite medication.

Just went to visit Bubbles. We tried to feed her the baby food we bought yesterday but she still has no inclination to eat. She did poo and pee yesterday though, but other than that she is still not fully functional. Fed her vitamins, rehydration fluid, Chlorpheniramine and Danzen which should reduce her ENT swelling and tearing and hopefully enable her to start eating. Will put her on antibiotics and mucolytics tomorrow if she still doesn't recover.

She is really cute, despite being sick, we love her pointed facial features - nose, chin, ears - and hopes she really recovers. Here are more pics of her today:

After today's feeding, medication and grooming




Bought her a pink towel to keep her warm

After flushing out her eyes with eye-drops and ointment, she can definitely see through her small slits of eyes, so her vision is not totally impaired. Really hope she gets better soon.

update on Sookie, our Lorong Ah Soo cat

Our Lorong Ah Soo cat, now called Sookie, has some updates to her story.

Randy, a fellow cat-lover who heard about Sookie's story on our Facebook page, has been canvassing around Lorong Ah Soo to see if a carer recognises this cat. He will be placing some posters there tonight.

Our cat-angel rescuer who picked Sookie up from the flooding urban river in Lorong Ah Soo, is actually the same cat-lover that adopted our Tikus. If we do not have any leads on Sookie, Tikus' owner will be picking her up this weekend to return to the Lorong Ah Soo site he found her, at block 132. Or he may even adopt her himself, which sounds like a good idea to us!

Sookie is a very lovable cat. She has been putting on weight at Angels, and she drinks loads of water. Not only is she healthy, she is vocal, often meowing at us in a sing-song voice when we talk to her. She is not used to cuddles yet, which may mean she really was a street cat at Lorong Ah Soo instead of a home cat, but we may never find out for sure. She has already been litter-trained - in fact, she uses the toilet really often because she drinks and eats a lot <3 - and we are already falling in love with her; she will definitely make a nice house cat.

Pepper - lovingly adopted

Yesterday the family that came to view Pepper on Tuesday came by to adopt her and bring her home -They fell in love with Pepper's picture which I posted on Pets Channel because Pepper resembles their previous dog, Poppy, who recently passed on. We could tell the Pepper had fallen in love with them too, she clung on to them when they had to leave on Tuesday without her to discuss with the rest of the family.

Pepper's new family will be taking her for sterilisation at the vet's.

They will be bringing her down for our weekly Tuesday pet-owner gathering at Angels some time, so we will be seeing her again! We are glad that Pepper finally found a responsible, loving home and that she loves them and makes her new mommies really happy once again.

Bubbles, another sick kitty

Tonight a family came by to Angels Pet Shop to drop off a sick orphaned kitten they had rescued. At first, they thought that the kitten was a newborn orphan (she is very tiny) but we estimate her to be about three weeks old. Ivy, Shiro's owner, was willing to hand-rear the kitten to save it when we heard from the family that it was a newborn. But when the kitten was brought to us it turned out that she is much older; her eyes are unable to open fully not because she is a newborn but because she is severely dehydrated, which must have been mistaken by the concerned citizens that brought her to us to be a newborn.

Dehydration causes teary eyes, inelastic skin - unable to fall into place after you pinch the skin between your fingers - and runny nose. Eyes will also be swollen, with third eyelid showing. Rehydration fluid, fed with a syringe, can be mixed with water using some glucose powder and salt.

We fed her vitamins, rehydration fluid, and cleaned her eyes with eye ointments to flush out the discharge so she can see clearly. I also cleaned her with a towel, including her face area, to clear out the dried mucus and discharge, as well as cleaned her large ears. But she still looks very sick, dirty and unhealthy - she must have been orphaned much earlier on and been living in drains or rubbish dumps. :(

She is so dehydrated that not only are her eyes tearing very badly, also, she can barely eat - her throat is probably all inflamed. I will be bringing down medicine for her tomorrow - anti-inflammatory enzyme Danzen which also acts as a pain killer, and standby some more Chlorpheniramine at the shop in case her nose still keeps running. I have bought some baby food - the purees you find in jars sold in the baby food section of supermarkets - to feed her tomorrow if she still doesn't eat her moistened canned food. (The baby food formula I got her was beef, pumpkin and potatoes. Pureed baby food is an option for convalescing or very young animals - cats, dogs, birds.)

We would like to take her to the vet if her condition is more than just dehydration, but we will have to raise funds for her first. If you are keen to help subsidise this kitten's veterinary fees it will be very much appreciated, any amount will do. In any case, she will remain under our care for as long as she takes to recover and we sincerely hope she pulls through. We hope we don't have to resort to SPCA's ER service because that will likely mean a certain death for her. If she survives, we will re-home her when she is in good health.

Her pictures - they can be quite unsettling because she looks really ill even after cleaning and eye ointments - are below -

Before medication and grooming and feeding

After medication and cleaning - not much difference :(

She is a three week old tabby, medium length tail, and has very Siamese features - large pointy ears, dainty frame. We are not sure if she will look like a Siamese tabby when she grows older, because her nose is infected from the severe tearing, so if there are any colourpoints we are not able to ascertain it now, but she definitely has Siamese / Oriental genes, colourpoint or not. She is very skinny, weighing possibly about 50gm.

We hope little Bubbles makes it through tonight. Looking at her made all of us rather sad, as one of us commented, 'See already heart-pain'. Thankfully our tear-ducts remained dry as we administered our grooming and first aid, else we would have teary eyes just like our little Bubbles, :'(.

Nutripe for cats

I recently bought a can of Nutripe for cats, chicken formula.

I was a little apprehensive at first before I opened it, because I am not sure how they will take to the smell and taste of tripe, which is basically cow's innards - sounds disgusting even though it is very healthy.

But on opening the can and feeding it to them, I'm hooked. It smells nice, and the cats loved it.

Not only did it pass the taste test, we also realise that because it is so nutritious, the cats actually find it very filling. They ate very little for the rest of the day after their serving of Nutripe.

Definitely buying this again for them.

Pepper the Schnauzer - ready for adoption

Pepper, our Miniature Schnauzer, is ready for adoption. Her skin problem has improved - no more red bald patches - after a change in diet (she is now on Eagle Pro Holistic Salmon), and her fur is now lustrous and thick after adequate grooming at Angels. Her poo was quite soft initially, due to the change in diet, but is now firm.

She is a very well-socialised dog, making friends easily with humans, dogs and cats. She can be a bit clingy as she has been previously attention-deprived, but nothing a good loving home cannot fix - we often see insecure dogs improving in their emotional health after we have re-homed them to good owners. She is not overly vocal but when you talk to her she will respond. If she wants to be with you but is enclosed in her pen, she does a cute howl, like a mini beagle of sorts, really adorable.

We are hoping to re-home her as soon as possible, to start a new chapter for Ubi Kuching Project in 2010. If you are keen to visit and adopt Pepper the Schnauzer, do visit Angels Pet Shop or call Aswat at 9337 8211 / 6748 9810. Adoption fee applies and prospective owners will be screened as we do not want her to be neglected again by a human family.

a boon keng story - 3/11

Read about the Boon Keng story here and here.

We love tri-coloured cats! This girl, who is white blue and red, is a 2 year cat, neutered and healthy and looking for a new home. If you are keen on viewing the Boon Keng cats please contact Kerlyn at kerlyn@live.com.sg or Maggie at 96802243.

charm for cat collars

I love to dress up our cats' collars with charms. They each already have their name tags, and I have been collecting charms for them, they now each have two on their collars.

Here is a picture of Sayang's latest one, a pink cat charm. Bought it from More than Words under the handphone charms section -

Scooter has a scooter charm, but unfortunately he broke the scooter in two and it now only is half a scooter. His S shape charm is still intact. Slinky has a small Persian cat silver charm and another of two fish.

litter boxes - more is always good

Cat writers usually advise that for every cat in the household, there should be one plus one litter boxes in the home. This is because cats are very finicky about cleanliness and refuse to use dirty litter boxes, so more than one per cat is always better.

In reality, space may be an issue and you may not have enough to have more than one litter box per cat. But if you do, placing an additional litter box is definitely a good idea.

In our home we have two litter boxes, even though we have three cats. One was definitely not enough, and our cats are fine with just two. In Aswat has one litter box shared by two cats, and his common bathroom is preferred by his other four cats.

Yes, some cats actually enjoy doing it in the bathroom, something which Slinky also enjoys. There are also plenty of cats who can do it over the toilet itself, hence the invention of products like the Litter Kwitter.

For kittens, because they eliminate more and play a lot, having more litter boxes is also good as they can have a nearby toilet to use to prevent indiscriminate peeing and pooing. Using the bathroom floor might become a hassle for the owner as with the multiple eliminations per day, it can become quite messy for cats and owners to clean up after.

Even with Slinky's own toilet, she still sometimes uses the other one when she finds it clean enough. Which is a good thing because she has the tendency to withhold her pee and poo if she cannot access the toilet because the bathroom door is shut too tight for her to pry open. Also, with our water fountain, we find that our cats pee more, which is a good thing as it means that they are drinking enough water.

And if you have a new cat joining the household, having a spare litter box to set up for the new cat will give it a better sense of security in the household, thus they will integrate better with your resident cat.

There are a lot great ideas for litter boxes, some may not even be pet-store products. Hardware store varieties, like Slinky's toilet are economical and easy to set up and obtain. A simple plastic tray will suffice, just make sure it is big enough, and stable enough for the cat. Cat litter boxes are often fortified with additional 'beams' (like pillars of a house) to make sure the plastic withstands the cat's weight. Another option is using the plastic storage boxes we use for our human stuff - Toyogo brand or others - as these are very stable. You can cut a hole for the cat to go in and out of the box, just make sure the edges are not sharp so your cat won't get cut. The Toyogo box idea has been used by cat owners we meet and is also recommended by the Pet Place website.

We love cats because they are so clean in their toilet habits. Even though I love both dogs and cats, having cats in my life now really got me hooked to cats for life because of their cleanliness, among other things. I grew up with dogs, and as an adult now I am a proud cat owner. Isn't it unsurprising that cats are outnumbering dogs as the world's favourite household pet now? Enjoy your litter boxes, kitties.

lorong ah soo rescue

An Ubi resident went jogging today towards the nearby estate of Lorong Ah Soo. As he passed the monsoon drain he witnessed a cat that was nearly drowning in the flooding waters. Unflinching, he went into the river to save the cat.

The poor kitty was totally wet and covered in mud, but she survived. He brought the cat to Aswat, who bathed and dried her, checked her for injuries or trauma. The cat was well, and surprisingly, for someone who just went through a near-death, was emotionally stable.

We realised that the cat's ear is tipped. Which means that there is a cat feeder or carer in Lorong Ah Soo that may know this cat.

We would like to make an appeal to whoever may be the cat carer of the Lorong Ah Soo estate. If this cat belongs to your estate, please contact Aswat at 9337 8211 / 6748 9810 to claim her as soon as possible.

She is a tabby, youngish at about a year old, with a long tail. She has thick fur with banded ticking of cream, black and lilac grey. Her tabby markings are mostly spotted. Her nose leather is brick red. She is quite manja and open to human contact.

If we cannot find the cat carer of the estate we will be releasing her into the Ubi stray territory where we can keep an eye on her, or re-home her if there are interested adopters.

shiro

Our little white orphan now has a name - Shiro, which means white in Japanese.

He is super cute, and is likely to have Persian bloodline in him as his fur is turning out to be long. He is very well taken care of, affectionate, clean and well-fed.

I love this picture I took of him today, eyes opened, smiling away as Ivy held him:

In another week he will be able to start nibbling solid food. He is already learning to climb out of his cosy bag-bed. Ivy is planning on getting him a cat gym on her next shopping trip to Bangkok - big plans ahead for little Shiro!

salem the third now a polish kitten :D

Our little black and white kitten (Salem the third) was adopted today.

He had already been recovering but is still skinny and slightly dehydrated - Aswat had been feeding him water using a syringe, and canned food mixed with moistened kibbles. I also fed him Nutripe and Natural Balance canned food today, mixed with Lysine (Vitamin B) solution. His third eyelid had receded but he still has slightly teary eyes and nose. He also has some ear mites which we discovered today. He was not actually up for adoption yet as we wanted to rehabilitate him first so he would go to a new home in good health.

Then I received this email:

...It has always been our goal to provide a home for a cat that might have lesser chances of being adopted due to age or health problems, as we don't mind the extra effort of caring for such animals...

So I wrote back and linked our black and white kitty's story to them.

The couple that adopted him today are expatriates from Poland that have been living in Singapore for a while now and are making Singapore their permanent home, which is when they went looking for a cat to adopt and stumbled onto our site. Their own cats back in Poland are living with their mom. They love cats so much they even specifically requested in their tenancy agreement when they first moved into their place in Punggol, to include permission to keep one cat at their home.

They absolutely fell in love with the kitten and bought all the necessary supplies. They will also be bringing him to the vet. They have named him Nen.

Little Nen fell in love with his new mommy too. He sat on her lap and became very manja, purring, blinking at her, claiming her lap as his new territory.

The cat feeder who rescued him also came by the shop by coincidence, and she was glad to see he was going to a good home. It was raining the day she rescued him, left all alone under that bridge near the Ubi 'river' i.e. monsoon drain.

I forgot to get a picture of Barbara with Nen on her lap - but we will be seeing them again because we had to loan them a carrier to bring Nen home. (They wanted to buy one but the large ones were out of stock and the small ones won't be useful for when Nen grows up.) We are grateful that Nen has found a new mommy and daddy who will love him for life. :)

the truth about children who abuse animals

Children showing strong psychopathic precursors often appear immune to punishment; nothing seems to modify their undesirable behavior. Consequently parents usually give up, and the behavior worsens.

The following childhood indicators are to be seen not as to the type of behavior, but as to its relentless and unvarying occurrence. Not all must be present concurrently, but at least a number of them need to be present over a period of years:

* An extended period of bedwetting past the preschool years not due to any medical problem.
* Precocious sadism, often expressed as profound animal abuse.
* Pathological firesetting lacking in obvious homicidal intent. Not to be confused with playing with matches, which is not uncommon for preschoolers. This is the deliberate setting of destructive fires with utter disregard for the property and lives of others.
* Lying, often without discernible objectives, extending beyond a child's normal impulse not to be punished. These lies are so extensive it is often impossible to know lies from truth.
* Theft and truancy.
* Aggression to peers, not necessarily physical, which can include getting others into trouble or a campaign of psychological torment.

The lack of empathy, or the neurological inability to feel empathy, is known as psychopathy. This means that children or even adults who abuse animals are in the same class as sadistic murderers (think Adrian Lim), rapists, arsonists, suicide bombers. They have no regard for the feelings of others and are likely to be irresponsible adults.

Animal abuse is a criminal offense in Singapore. If you witness any abuse cases do not let the matter slip by, even if it is 'just children'. Reporting the abuse will save our society from having potential murderers, rapists and arsonists when these children unfortunately grow up.

meat

Cats are meat-eaters - obligate carnivores is the term. From their descendants, the wild cats, they have been hunting for their food. The domesticated wild cats may not hunt as much, but they scavenge remains of bigger predators as their source of food.

While they may be scavengers, cats will not eat decomposing carcasses, or carrion. Unlike other animals like bugs and vultures. Their ability to scavenge, probably explains why they can take to beef and lamb and venison, even though a normal house cat would probably be unable to kill a cow.

What this means is that cats like meat. What sort of meat? If you think back to the kinds of cats there are, all over the world, there really are very little kinds of meat they will not eat. This includes both red and white meat, from poultry to cattle, hooved animals to rodents. In Asia, you will find semi aquatic animals like shrimp and crabs in the padi fields, and you have cats that are able to catch fish from water bodies.

The fact that the meat content in their diet needs to be high means that cat food is more expensive than dog food, which contains more starches or grains.

It is the smell of meat that makes they take to their food. They may enjoy meat even when it is unprocessed, uncooked or without flavouring because the smell of meat appeals to them.

And no, cats cannot be vegetarians. While they enjoy chewing on grass and some may actually like vegetables and fruits (like our Sayang) meat is still the staple ingredient in their diets.

Have a meaty meal with your cat tonight for Christmas!

christmas break

Will be taking a short blog-hiatus over the weekend. It has been an eventful week at Ubi Kuching Project this week:

• Jody adopted
• Kitten rescued
• Kitten buried
• 2 cats sent to SPCA's ER for serious injuries
• Little White Orphan opened his eyes on Wednesday
  
• Angels pet owners' gathering on Tuesday - Christmas barbecue
  
• The Boon Keng Story

And Elaine is extremely tired and sick from work, so she needs a rest!

From all of us at Ubi Kuching Project,

Meowy Christmas!

update on newborn orphan

The orphan that was recently rescued is doing great at Ivy's house. He has been taking to his milk well and has recently begun purring in reaction to Ivy's affection. He has begun the habit of doing his business right after his feeding even without stimulation, and has been putting on weight steadily. He still hasn't opened his eyes, which means that when he was orphaned he was probably only a day or two old as it is about 9 to 10 days past. Kittens' eyes open at around 10-14 days of age.

I think Ivy has already fallen in love with the little baby cat <3 and is going to care for this little one for life.

Hand-rearing a kitten is really a huge commitment, with middle-of-the-night feedings. Ivy has not been sleeping well. As with most pet owners in challenging situations, she has been researching the 'net on newborn kittens, and has been doing a really great job at it even though this is her first time hand-rearing a newborn kitten.

Newborn kittens if surrendered to pet shelters will usually be euthanised as there simply are not enough volunteers to hand-rear newborns round the clock. Unless another nursing queen is available to foster the kitten, putting orphans to sleep may be the most humane measure available.

Thank God for Ivy for a life saved.

Evanger's Holistic Pheasant Dinner for Cats

I bought the cats a can of Evanger's cat food to try. It is a premium canned food, retailing at $4.88 at PLC (after members' 5% discount) for a 156g can. I bought the Holistic Pheasant formula.

On opening the can, my first impression was that there was a lot of moisture, and that it smells different from other kinds of poultry meat such as chicken and turkey. The taste test results were great - all the cats finished their food and even picky Sayang took to it eagerly (she normally approaches her dinner gingerly).

They also have chicken and seafood varieties; I decided against the rest because the cats have never tried pheasant before, and Slinky has a crab allergy so seafood is out. The pheasant formula is the most expensive, but it is the only formula that also has added fruits and vegetables, something which I like in our canned food. Pure meat formulas remind me of homemade food, which I might as well prepare myself. Their mackerel formula has pressure-cooked bones within, additional calcium, but my cats are not used to having bones in their food and I worry about choking, pressure-cooked or not, but it is apparently safe and actually very healthy too.

As I am currently reducing the cats' canned food consumption since they are growing up - now on alternate evenings instead of every dinner - we can afford slightly more premium brands of canned food, so I will probably buy this again some time, especially since Evo seems to have decommissioned its Singapore sales. Little Paws also carries Evanger's, the pheasant formula at $4.80 before discount, and we will probably pick it up from them next time - supporting small businesses is the way to go!

the problem with cheap cat food

We often advise cat owners - new and old - to avoid feeding supermarket brands of dry food to their cats. The main culprits are Whiskas (purple packaging) and Friskies.

The problem is not that you should be spending more on your cats; the price is not the contention. The problem with these two brands is that:

• There is too much corn - it is listed in the top 5 ingredients, the most important ingredients you should look out for. Corn is totally non-nutritional for cats, they have no need for it, and neither can they digest it, so using it as fibre is totally out of point.
  
• High salt content in both brands, not healthy for cats either
• The use of 'flavours' which can be artificial or not, we do not know, which makes it shady.

So, unless you feel comfortable buying corn as food for your cats, please refrain from feeding these to your cat. She will not be full eating these brands, and will have to consume more to be full, and thus the rate of dry food consumption will be very high. To ensure your cat has a healthy life and that you do not need to spend large amounts on veterinary fees in future because of her diet, do switch to other brands.

What if you are on a budget and you would like to get something that is in a similar price range but better than Whiskas and Friskies?

There are two other brands that are economical and slightly better.

Snappy Tom is in the same price range, and has slightly less corn. It also has added supplements that Friskies and Whiskas do not include.

Aristo-cats is also a cheap food brand (blue packaging with white cat in front) but it is regarded as the best of the supermarket brands available in terms of its quality. Also slightly less corn, and no added food colouring.

Cheaper foods can only be cheaper because it includes less meat sources and more fillers. This is another reason why cat food costs more than dog food, because cats need more protein. While cats do need a balanced diet, try to avoid corn as a majority of the top 5 ingredients. Maize is a slightly more digestible form of filler so that is another option you can look at. Meat sources should be in the top 5 ingredients.

If you would like to feed your cats pricier food that is low in quality you would be feeding them Science Diet and Iams. I wouldn't say much on these two brands here, but refer you to this site. These two brands are the anti-thesis of value-for-money.

In the same price range as SD and Iams is Royal Canin, and if you would like to repent from paying good money for mediocre food, you can consider RC. There is lesser by-products and fillers but the same price range.

Converting cats from lousy food to better food is not easy. Food that is high in salt content will be habit-forming for the cats - think of how you can't stop eating those potato chips once you open the bag. They will also seem to be eating less, which is a good sign, because they need to eat less to be full, but may seem alarming to owners who may think their kitty hates the new food. And remember, conversion from any food to another should be gradual, adding a bit of the new food to the old and increasing the proportion slowly each day. Changes in diets usually cause diarrhoea in cats if it is too sudden. Water should always be provided for your cat regardless.

a boon keng story - 2/11

Read about the Boon Keng story in an earlier post here.

This is Xiao Bai, an Oriental cream shaded male cat.

If you are keen on adopting Xiao Bai or visiting any of his family, please contact Kerlyn at kerlyn@live.com.sg or Maggie at 96802243.

a boon keng story - 1/11

There is a cat feeder in Boon Keng who has been rescuing kitties in need in her area. After giving them medical attention and boarding them at her own home, she neutered the mature kittens and cats and is now hoping to re-home them as they can no longer live on the streets.

There are 11 cats in total, all now in good health and sterilised. I have requested for more specific information on the 8 cat-personalities and their histories so you can know their stories better. We are hoping to find good homes for them. Adult cats are extremely hard to re-home, so we'll need all the help we can get in spreading the word.

This is one of the 11 cats, a tabby female 2 year old.


All the cats are living in clean and sanitary condition in their current home, have clean pens and feeding areas.

If you are keen on visiting Xiao Qing and her cat-family, please contact Kerlyn at kerlyn@live.com.sg or Maggie at 96802243.

Misty by Jeffrey Brown

This is the best cat comic ever, Andy and I love it to bits.

See inside the book online, or get it at Borders under the animals section.

another kitty

Yesterday one of the residents in Ubi that feeds near her shop at Blk 301 rescued an orphan kitten from under the bridge adjoining Ubi and Bedok Reservoir. The kitten had been there for the past three days and the feeder auntie had been feeding him since she discovered him alone there. It was raining yesterday so the feeder brought the kitten to the pet shop to rehabilitate.

The kitten is male, black and white, tail of medium length, Oriental breed. He is estimated to be about 5-6 weeks of age. He is a bit sick - weepy eyes and raised haws, symptoms of ill health - so he will be rehabilitating at Angels and will be re-homed when he is better.


He has been groomed and cleaned and is now eating well.


He definitely has Oriental genes - he's lanky, with big ears, vocal and agile, and a skinny tail. Reminds us of our Sayang, with pink-and-black nose leather, a very sweet looking cat.

Jody, now a Balmoral dog

Jody was adopted today by the wonderful family that visited her yesterday. Jody's new mommy works in the medical profession, and her new best friend and sister is a teacher:

It was a teary farewell for Jody's ex-owners but they saw that Jody was going to a good home and they were secure in the knowledge that Jody would be well taken care of. Jody's new mommy will be cooking for her delicious food like brown rice and dory fish - Jody loves fish, and fruits too - and will be taking her for excursions to the Botanic Gardens.

This family lost their dog recently to old age, and had been looking to adopt another. They were still grieving over their beloved senior dog's passing but had stayed firm in their mission to open their loving human home to another canine companion. We believe Jody would definitely give them a lot of joy in her new home.

more ubi stray dogs

There is a growing problem of Ubi stray dogs, their originating point is the industrial estate of Ubi.

There are two main packs of stray dogs. One is near the field where Vietnam Romeo comes from. These dogs are friendly.

The other pack is from further inside Ubi's industrial estate. These dogs are aggressive and have attacked and killed many cats. They also tend to walk on the main roads instead of staying safely on pavements or inside the factories. They gather as a pack at night to guard, hunt and attack any intruders so driving or walking in that area at night is unsafe.

Both packs are not sterilised. One pack was recently seen chasing after Romeo's sister to mate. The number of dogs is definitely growing.

The dogs are also becoming more daring, venturing to Ubi central and walking on the main roads carelessly.

I wrote in to ASD about whether they can trap and neuter these two packs of dogs. They are unable to help. They provide subsidised sterilisation but no volunteers or sponsors are available to help trap and neuter them. We ourselves are unable to trap the dogs as they are all huge and the aggressive pack is not sociable towards people at all. This plus that we have no crates or transport for the dogs, even if we can find sponsors or volunteers to help. So, ASD was a dead-end.

We fear that very soon, complaints from residents will pour in and the dogs will meet an inevitable death if handled by the town council or pest control, or that they may get injured from road accidents, but we can't come any other solution. We want to make Ubi a great place for animals and humans alike but right now for these poor doggies we really have no idea what else to do.

terrorist-cat

This cat is named by Auntie Rose as 'The Terrorist' because he is a very active entire male stray cat in Zone 2.

He recently got into a car accident. We did not have the funds available to send him to the vet ourselves, so we had to rely on SPCA's emergency rescue service.

His leg was injured but he was still conscious.

The cat is now no longer with us. He was put to sleep.

Ubi Cat-Zones - updated

Ubi is a residential estate as well as a light-industrial estate. For Ubi strays, we have 5 independently managed areas within Ubi, each known as a 'cat-zone' and autonomously managed by different feeders and sponsors. When there are needs such as rescue work, trapping of cats for neutering or sponsorship needs in the various zones, Andy, Aswat and myself will assist the various cat-zones which are otherwise taken care of fully by the cat-patrons.



Zone 1: Central, Blocks 301-306
Cat patron: Auntie Can
Cat feeders: Auntie Can and Auntie Rose

This zone is known as Ubi central, which is where Andy and I live, and where Angels Pet Shop is located - the only pet shop in Ubi. Angels Pet Shop at Blk 302 is the HQ where we board rescued animals for re-homing as well as stray cats recovering from sickness or injuries.

Auntie Can is the cat patron of this zone: she feeds the cats every night even though she is not even an Ubi resident, as well as sponsors the neutering in this zone. She also sponsors medical costs of any strays in this area that fall ill.


Zone 2: Blocks 311-318
No cat patron.
Cat feeder: Auntie Rose and 1 Indian Muslim Auntie.

This zone is opposite Bedok Reservoir Road, along the Ubi river where many cats have dropped in, been thrown in by mad people, and drowned in as well. It has high human traffic, as the main bus stop where most of the buses stop at is at Blk 311 in this zone.

No cat patron. We usually tompang the cats from this zone into other zones where there are cat patrons sponsoring the neutering. This zone is currently the most under-managed.


Zone 3: Blocks 319-335
Cat patrons and feeders: Auntie Shirley and Pakcik Hassan

This zone is large, and has good financial support from the cat patrons who are feeding - high quality food too! (Royal Canin and Innova Evo) - sponsoring and trapping the cats themselves.

There is however a particular group of cats who hide within the power station located in this zone. The patrons can only feed them through a feeding station set up outside this power station. All cats inside are not neutered but all the kittens borne inside this power station also cannot survive long. All other surrounding cats in the zone have been neutered.

This zone also has a lot of abandoned pedigree cats - Persians, Burmese, Siamese - the most 'pedigreed' zone in the estate.


Zone 4: Blocks 336-352
Cat patrons: 2 Chinese Uncles
Cat feeder: Auntie Doreen

This zone is nearest to the industrial estate of Ubi, and furthest away from the central. Auntie Doreen feeds the cats in this area, and the 2 uncles who sponsor and trap for neutering also help to feed the cats in this zone.

This zone's neutering rate is slower than in zones 1 and 3 as the patrons are older and less able, physically and financially.


Zone 5: Ubi Crescent / Ubi Techpark
Cat patrons: Liana and Jolene
Cat feeders: Michelle, Auntie Alice

This zone is one of the industrial parks in Ubi and is managed by two ladies who work in that area. There is a large pack of stray dogs in this area that often attacks the cats. Jolene and Liana are neutering the strays in this area. Pakcik Hassan of Zone 3 also helps to feed the cats in this area during the weekends.


Rescue and Re-homing
For our cat rescue and re-homing work, Aswat, Andy and I work across all Ubi cat-zones to help disadvantaged cats such as the sick and the young. We hear about these cats in need mostly through word-of-mouth, or when we walk around the neighbourhood and spot them. Intervention can take all forms, from informing the cat-zone patrons and feeders to monitor, to first-aid, to fostering the cats at the shop, to re-homing the young.

Donating to Love Kuching Project

You can make your contributions to Love Kuching Project through direct funds transfer via internet banking or ATM to our DBS Current Account 027-905975-3

Hard copy receipts will be issued upon request. Please email Elaine at elaine@lovekuchingproject.org  to request for a donation receipt with your mailing address.

For veterinary donations, you can opt to visit the vet with us when we bring the animal there to make the payment directly to the vet.

We also accept cat food donations-in-kind - find out how here.

Financial contributions towards Love Kuching Project goes towards 6 main funds. You may specify which cause you wish to contribute to, or make a general donation.

• Operations Fund - includes transport, volunteer welfare, administration, publicity and fundraising
• Sterilisation Fund - sterilisation (TNR) projects of stray cat colonies
• Boarding Fund - food, litter, environment and supplements
• Veterinary Fund - veterinary expenses on rescued cats in our care
• Emergency Response Fund - veterinary and transport expenses for the treatment of stray cats by rescuers in financial difficulty
• Outreach Fund - feline therapy in hospitals and nursing homes, events

We thank all of you for your kind support and generosity, without you, Love Kuching Project would not be as successful as it is today.

Jody at our house, and maybe a new home in Newton tomorrow!

Today we had a family that lives in the Newton area come by to visit Jody the Corgi. They will be bringing their dad tomorrow to visit Jody again before deciding whether to take her home and make her a part of the family.

Owning a pet is a lifetime decision and we strongly encourage potential owners to take their time before deciding to adopt a pet so an adoption process should always take time.

In the meanwhile, we know that Jody hates being in a pen so Andy and I are still fostering her in our home. She has so far already kissed Slinky in greeting, and Sayang does not mind being in the same room, on the same bed as her.

Here are some pictures of Jody in our house:

Jody on the bed with Scooter being a scaredy-cat in the background

Jody playing with a toy beagle which she has become her favourite toy

She has been a rather pampered dog and her previous owners were really gentle towards her, so she tends to want to get her way. We have been re-training her to be more obedient - such as allowing us to take her toy away from her, and to discourage her growling. Her previous mommy said that Jody would help her take care of the baby! When baby is crying, Jody will go and check in on the baby and stay there with the baby until mommy arrives to take over. She is a truly protective dog.

If all goes well, tonight is our last night with Jody! We believe she will bring a lot of joy to her new home.

farewell

The abused orange kitten died in surgery this morning.

abuse on orange cat

This is one of the orange cats in the area behind Blk 301 Ubi, a sibling of Hobbes.

His tail is severely injured. High possibility of it being an abuse case but we have no witnesses to prosecute any human suspects.

His surgery costs $1,000+. Auntie Can, cat-patron of Zone 1, is going to sponsor part of it but she cannot afford the whole sum.

We need your help.

Ubi Kuching Project bank account will be set up tomorrow at POSB Ubi. We will post our account details asap.

Every bit will help, however small the sum.

Thank you.

Ubi Techpark strays

After hearing about the Ubi Techpark stray cats we now also have pictures of them. There are four cats that the two cat-patrons of the Techpark want to trap for sterilisation this Sunday.

Sammy and Tommy are the two more regularly sighted adult males.

Tommy

Sammy

Ginger and Blackie are newer kittens mature for sterilisation.

Ginger

Blackie

Pictures taken by Jolene, co-cat-patron for Ubi Techpark cat-zone.

If you are familiar with the Techpark, do contact us if you know of any other strays that need sterilisation, feeding and care, keep the information loop going so that we can continue our work to make Ubi a better place for cats and humans alike. A big thank you to Liana and Jolene for stepping up to sponsor the sterilisation of the strays in Ubi Techpark!

carrying Jody, and socialising her with cats

Today Andy brought Jody to our house to socialise her with cats. The cats are wary, hissing of course, but not overly stressed out by Jody, as little Jojo does seem quite calm in the presence of cats. No herding instinct, no whining, over-friendliness, attacking of our cats. She prones on the floor and makes herself small, allowing the cats to approach her instead of the other way around.


Jody really enjoys being carried; look at her smiling away when she was sitting on my lap -

This did not happen on first sight between me and Jody, only after she got to know me and Andy did she deem us worthy of her teddy-bear hug. She sat on our laps for the whole of the night we were at the pet shop.

Jody will make a very good dog for busy working adults as she hardly wants to go out and play and walk, she would much rather just sit by you or in your lap and simply smile and watch the world go by. She is such a lovely dog.

tabitha has been adopted!

Our beautiful classic Tabitha has been adopted - her new owner will be collecting her tomorrow!

more Pepper

Pepper got her Schnauzer cut yesterday:

Before -


After -


She is still not eating as she should, picky with a small appetite - but her skin problem is reversing towards full recovery. Will post more on her soon when she has fully rehabilitated and ready for her new home.

a rescued newborn kitten

An orphaned newborn kitten about 2 days old was rescued by Vietnam Romeo's family. The kitten was found alone without its mother, in a drain. Ivy, one of Ubi Kuching Project's newest volunteers, has offered to hand-rear the kitten. The kitten is all-white, soft fur and tail of medium-to-long length -


If the kitten manages to survive as an orphan, that would be great; either way, at least we know we tried our best. Orphaned kittens at least need their mother's milk for the first two days of their life to get their antibodies, something we cannot ascertain since this orphan was a stray. Human intervention is necessary and we are thankful for Ivy to have volunteered to help hand-rear the kitten.

Tabitha the classic tabby

This is Tabitha, beautiful kitten who is lilac with black tabby stripes in the classic or marbled shape pattern -





Tabitha was rescued from Aljunied - written about in an earlier post here. She had been adopted, but her new owner is now facing some family problems and Tabitha needs a new home again now. Thus Tabi is back at Angels and looking for a new family.

She is much more open to human contact now having been loved by humans and is now more manja -
She is really beautiful. Not overly vocal and needy, and fully toilet-trained and eating well. If you are keen on providing Tabitha a new loving home, please contact Aswat at 6748 9810 / 9337 8211.

more on Jody the Corgi

Read about Jody in a previous post here.

Went to visit Jody and the other animals boarding at Angels today. She was a bit moody, and didn't want to go outside for her walk. Did manage to get more pictures of her though -


- although couldn't get her full frontal smile, the one she was wearing yesterday when she was hanging out outside the pet shop with us.

If you are interested in viewing and adopting Jody, please set aside some time to visit her at Angels. On first sight, she will be wary and will bark at people she sees as strangers but she is not aggressive at all. After spending time with her she will warm up to you and her true loving personality will come through.

Cali needs help

Remember Calico? Her new owner Pearly needs some help.

Due to a family emergency Pearly needs to go back to Malaysia for a few months. She's worried about little Cali while she's away and needs help in getting someone to foster her for this period. If not a fosterer, Pearly is also willing for a new adopter to take over as Cali's human owner so that she will have a permanent home regardless.

Will you be keen to foster or adopt Calico? Please call Pearly at 92286061 if you will be willing to help. Pearly has to go back to Malaysia very soon so this is an urgent appeal. All of Cali's food and cat litter etc. will be passed to her fosterer/adopter.

Jody the Corgi

This is Jody, a 1-year old Corgi -


She is mainly black-and-white, with tinges of orange on her facial area. She has the thick double-coated fur distinct of the breed.

She needs a new home because her family's newborn baby is extremely allergic to her. The poor baby has been to the doctors and back many times because of the allergy, and so, Jody while being extremely loved by the family, needs a new home instead.

Jody is healthy and well-fed, and is already neutered.

While she is wary of strangers - she makes a great guard dog - barking at people that she is not familiar with, she is very loving once she gets to know you. She is not overly active and definitely not as hyperactive as a terrier breed. In fact, she is quite a pampered lap-dog, enjoying being carried, somewhat like Daschunds, and is content to simply sit beside you. She enjoys being hugged. She gets along with dogs her size but not as well with smaller dogs - she is still a Corgi after all and sees smaller animals as needing to be herded. She would do well in a small household, suitable for busy owners as she is not attention-seeking nor does she want to walk a lot. She is paper-trained and is content to relax at home with you if you do not have the time to bring her out everyday. She also understands basic commands and is all in all a very good house pet.

We love her colouring, and if our camera's battery hadn't died I would have gotten a great picture of her smiling when she was sitting beside us at the pet shop coffee table.
If you would like to view and think about adopting her, put aside some time to visit Angels where she is now boarding. After interacting with her and letting her get to know you, you cannot help but fall in love with this teddy-bear of a dog. Will take more pictures of her again tomorrow.

nap in the hammock

In our cat condo we have 3 main portions for the cats to hang out or nap in: the top, the igloo, and the hammock.

At first the hammock was not very well used but I enhanced it by hanging a small towel filled with catnip over the hammock. Sayang is the only one among our cats who really enjoys sleeping in it. Here she was this afternoon sleeping sweetly:
And you can see the towel filled with catnip that she is leaning on as a pillow.

Catnip is a good way to introduce a bed to a cat: if you get a new bed that you want your cat to sleep on, using catnip will attract your cat to sleep, and sleep better, on her new bed. The material also makes a difference, as does the position. Some cats also enjoy their owners' smell so a piece of clothing or personal item in the bed will help too, same reason why our cats love our bed and chairs.

cat math

Do the math....

By making sure that your pet can’t have puppies or kittens, you’ll have peace of mind that his or her offspring won’t be euthanized in an animal shelter.

Taken from the Humane Society of Valdosta.

pepper the mini-schnauzer

This is Pepper, a sweet 4-year old girl who needs a new home. She is a mini-Schnauzer, salt-and-pepper coloured.

Her previous family has been somewhat irresponsible in her care due to the fact that after introducing Pepper into their family they found that they had no time to groom her often and feed her well. Thus Pepper needs a new home that will ensure that she is well-cared-for for the rest of her life. You will see in the picture that she is skinny.

She also has a bit of a skin problem. Hence, she will not be up for adoption immediately and will be rehabilitating at Angels for a while. Aswat has changed her diet to Acana for its low-allergen qualities and monitoring her diet so that she puts on some weight. We will also groom her as she looks unkempt. She just arrived at Angels today so the onslaught of grooming is minimal; Aswat has trimmed her nails - which were really long - and she needs a new Schnauzer cut and a bath which we will give her over the next few days.

She is paper-trained, and very docile and quiet. She makes friends easily, with humans, other dogs, and even with cats. The ex-owners are bringing down her vaccination etc. papers tomorrow to Aswat so that they can be passed on to her new owner.