jackie visits us!

Jackie's owner Cassandra brought an a-okay Jackie for a visit today!

Jackie on volunteer Tity's shoulder at Angels

Jackie's flu' has completely healed after being on another round of antibiotics and anti-mucolytics. She was completely at ease at Angels, a place she had called home for over a month, hanging out with Mini Sunshine, Feather and Shiro who was also there for a visit. Every one of us loved seeing her and was so glad to see her looking well!

Cassandra is adopting Mini Sunshine as a playmate for Jackie, and will be bringing him home this weekend - they already had their first round of successful introductions earlier. Mini thought he was going home today and went inside Jackie's carrier. Jackie sniffed at Mini a little and gave her nod of approval of him as her younger brother-to-be.

Jackie has also been getting along well with the rabbits in her new home, teasing them to play with her and stealing their pellets and hay to play with. The rabbits have accepted her as part of the family, and so has the human family - Jackie enjoys watching TV together with the family! We are glad that Jackie has a good home and has brought so much joy to her new family.

stray cat guard from daiso

Buy your cat-hating neighbour a cat-guard for gardens from Daiso! Sticky-up ends of the mat keeps stray cats from walking on it.

Pokey

This is Pokey, another rescued kitten from a condo in Geylang. Pokey was rescued by Damy when LY called him to help bring the adults for sterilisation. He had entered the cat-trap that Damy laid for their mother who is no longer nursing them. Damy then helped bring Pokey to LY's house where he is now boarding -




Ready for Adoption.
Male, 8 weeks old.
Rescued from potential culling.

Pokey has really soft fur and is super cute. Even when you are sitting there and staring at him, he can just sit there and dozed off periodically.

He is sweet natured and has good temperament. He is curious and loves to wander around the house looking at things.

Needs a loving home.

cougar, now named ducky

One of Puma's sisters, Cougar, was adopted by Natasha and Michael this month. They named her Ducky.

Ducky and their resident cat, Professor Chaos, immediately bonded and made firm friends and partners-in-crime. Ducky fell sick not long after she went to her new home, and being worried parents, Natasha and Michael brought her to the vet. Her eyes were tearing, and they decided to board Ducky for a couple of days so that she can get better. Professor Chaos really missed Ducky, so as soon as she recovered they took her home, and needless to say the whole family was pleased to have Ducky home!

Dear Aswat and Elaine,

Sorry for not sending pictures sooner, Ducky is doing great and she and our cat are hilarious together. Ducky is completely healthy, no eye problems or any other medical issues since we brought her back home :) She is fantastic, we love watching her fearless kitten ways haha. Thank you for all your help, we are so happy to have her!

Kind Regards,

Natasha & Michael

update from jackie's owner

Hi Elaine,

Jackie went to the vet yesterday, vet confirmed it to be 'cat flu'. She was checked again for mites, as her ears are abit scaly. Good news, no mites but I need to apply iodine for her ear tips to get rid of the scaly problem. Her affected eye is actually confirmed to be healed, no cuts whatsoever except for the blurry patch. Her eye meds have been changed to Terramycin.

She's also been prescribed antibiotics and something for sneezing, vet advised to complete the 10 days meds and review her condition. Today's just the 2nd day but already her sneezing and sniffling are down by half, which is really good! Other than the flu she's really active and affectionate, tearing around the house playing with anything she can find, and also coming up to my bed to groom me when I'm lying down, lol. She is also really a purring machine, my mum calls her "Motorcat" now, hahaha.

Will update again once her meds course is over, but I have a good feeling she's going to be just fine =)

Cheers,
Cass

skin problems

I have been researching quite a bit on skin problems in cats because of Coffee's condition. Skin problems in dogs seem less complex, though some of the ways to identify and treat are the same in both cats and dogs. I have compiled here a summary of what I have gathered on skin problems in animals.

Previously I wrote about the kinds of skin problems in cats that fall in the spectrum of allergies. I have also written about allergies in dogs for the Angels blog. In both species, treatment priority goes to flea dermatitis first because that is the most common skin problem. Flea dermatitis is a non-localised skin disorder that causes itching, fur loss, hot spots. It is caused by a reaction to flea bites, so treating the flea problem is crucial. Usually it is recommended that you use a regular de-fleaing regime for your pet so that you can not only treat the most likely cause of skin problems, you can also eliminate flea dermatitis as the cause of the itching and fur loss, should the problem not abate despite flea treatment.

Another cause for non-localised skin problems is food allergy, and this is more so for dogs than cats. Chicken has been blamed for many food allergies in dogs. In the past, lamb used to be the alternative protein source of choice for pet owners seeking low-allergen food for their dogs. Partly because a dog can become suddenly allergic to a meat source he's been on for years, many dogs are now also allergic to lamb. The current most trendy low-allergen protein choice for dog owners now is fish. For cats though, fish and seafood is considered one of the high-allergen types of protein. Chicken is relatively safe for cats, and poultry is in fact considered better for cats, especially kittens, because of its digestibility as well. If you have treated your dog for flea dermatitis and the skin problem does not recede, target food allergy next. For cats, it is usually less complicated a problem so for cat owners - cats with food allergies usually show it quite apparently upon eating the incriminating food source so this problem is relatively easy to identify in cats.

For Coffee, his skin disorder is non-localised which means that we ruled out contact allergies. Contact allergies are specifically located at parts of the pet's body which comes into contact with the environmental or indoor allergen. This could be grass, household cleaners, scented litter, fragrances, depending on which part of the pet's skin is affected. For this kind of allergy, it is also not uncommon for your pet to have teary eyes or runny noses as well. You will need to be thorough in inspecting which part of your pet's body is affected. If it is the hind legs, it could be the cat litter or toilet floor cleaner which your cat squats over. If it is the extremities - ears, forehead, paws, tail - it could be a generic household cleaner. If it is only on the paws, it is likely what you are using to clean the floor, or if outdoors, grass itself.

For cats, especially adult cats, some do tend to over-groom themselves in certain spots because of stress factors. For dogs, they do the same especially out of boredom. There may have been sudden changes in yours or your pet's lifestyle that causes fur loss due to over-grooming. If you see that your pet is constantly licking and biting itself at localised spots of its body, this could be a source of the skin problem. Boredom can be counteracted with more interaction, play and toys for your dog, and stressful situations for your cat can be mitigated as well.

Back to Coffee, whose problem we felt was scabies, known as mange. It is a rare occurrence for cats, in fact only one in ten suspected scabies cases in cats are truly due to the mites that cause mange. The only true test of mange is for a vet to do a skin scraping. However, due to Coffee's history and the fact that we had to rule out flea dermatitis as well, we used Revolution Pink on him to kill both fleas and mites, thereby eliminating both potential causes. To date, his skin has not yet been restored to full glory but it has at the very least not gotten worse, for now we reckon that his fur will eventually grow back. I have been applying a herbal antiseptic balm on his bald patches daily now, and have also been using oatmeal shampoo or conditioner for his fortnightly baths. Another kind of parasite-related skin disorders include ringworm, which usually is telltale by its circular-shape patches of fur loss (although that is not an entirely fail-safe way to diagnose the problem). Ringworm is zoonotic - contractable by humans - so we ruled it out in Coffee, slum-vet-style, because none of us got it from him, and even if we did we wouldn't really mind if it helped us identify a problem. Not the best way to diagnose the problem, so if Coffee's fur doesn't grow back in couple of weeks we will definitely have to bring him to the vet again. For now, I monitor his recovery daily when I apply his medication.

To combat fur loss, neem oil is reputedly good as a natural topical treatment especially for dogs. For cats it seems that research shows that neem tea is safer for use instead. Neem tea is quite complicated in that instead of using store-bought oil, you need to soak neem leaves in hot water overnight, strain out the leaves to make a paste to apply topically, and you can use the tea itself as a rinse as well. This is recommended because cats have more of a tendency to lick themselves in their grooming process, and if you are treating skin disorders it is likely they will end up licking a lot of it. That or you can use an e-collar to prevent your cat from self-grooming if you do choose to use neem oil and worry about ingestion. And a tip for using neem - you don't have to buy pet branded neem products, human shops sell them too in pharmacies and health stores, it is much cheaper than pet brands. I will be shopping for neem products for Coffee as soon as I can hit our nearest shopping mall, Parkway.

This article has Coffee to thank, he got me to reading so much these couple of weeks on skin problems in cats; I am also really grateful for Revolution Pink that helped prevent, eliminate and treat fleas and mites - two of the likely causes of skin problems.

poppy from joo chiat

This is Poppy, who was found after a long search, parked hiding in a drain in Joo Chiat.




She had been meowing non-stop for the longest time, all the neighbours in the next building had heard her. After three days of meow-full investigation, they finally managed to trace her loud meows to a drain behind a terrace house. In about an hour, they rescued Poppy.

She is a beautiful lilac tabby girl, about 4 weeks old, bobtailed, brick-red nose leather, with a vocal personality, enjoys the company of other cats. She is currently boarding with Rain, Feather, Kenny and Puma and is available for adoption, preferably together with either of them for company. If you are keen on visiting Poppy to adopt her, do call Aswat at 67489810 or visit Angels Pet Shop where she is now boarding.

little bun-bun girl

After our little Bundle came to our home last night, I put her on a bottle-feeding schedule. At her age of about 2 weeks old, her feedings can be about 3-4 hourly, but because she had been starving the whole day and was at first unable to drink much, I put her on 2 hourly feedings till about 5 a.m. Now she is on a 4-hourly bottle feeding schedule.

She has finally started moving about more, and I heard her voice for the first time during her 5 p.m. feeding. It was weak. She is also having teary eyes and some sniffles now and then, so I have added one drop of vitamins to her milk, lubricated her eyes, cleaned out the discharge.



She has this really cute coat of wiry fur, with some stray strands of white fur, like Wirehair cats. Her eyes are extremely Oriental. She is so exotic!

I hope she pulls through. She is getting better, but kittens fall ill so easily. Her sniffling seems to have abated, now just need to reduce the inflammation that makes her eyes teary.

preventing cat pee on plants

Many complaints we hear from non-animal lovers are that stray cats pee in their potted plants. This is more true for those who live on first floor apartments and houses, and is even more true for those who unwisely allow their own cats outdoor access.

Apart from the universal citrus scents or citronella plants that can be used to repel cats from approaching said plants, I found an article that has other tips on how to prevent cats from peeing in plants.

Taken from Cats of Australia website:

• Put aluminum foil over the soil . Most cats don't like to walk on it.
• Put pine cones in the pot. The pricklier the better.
• Cover the soil with large irregular shaped pebbles or stones. Not so comfortable for the cat when trying to dig in the soil.
• Use a strong citrus or citronella spray around the top of the pot. Most cats don't like citrus smell. Alternatively you can put orange or lemon peel around the plant.
• Put chicken wire over the earth. Bend it so it is raised off the surface of the soil. The cat will feel insecure if he jumps on it and also it will stop him digging.
• Cut fly screen to fit the size of the top of the pot. Cut a split in it and place it around the stem of the plant and place it so it lies over the soil.
• Put double sided sticky tape around the top of the pot. This may deter the cat from hopping in. They don't like the feel of it on their paws.
• Use a spray bottle containing water to squirt at your cat when you catch him in the act of peeing in the pot plant, or for longer range get a kid's water pistol.

If you have neighbours that complain about this problem, do help them by suggesting and even assist in implementing these suggestions. Neighbourly relations are important and should be maintained as harmoniously as possible! Some people may simply just love plants more than cats, others may hate cats more because of this problem. The next time you hear about neighbours complaining of stray cats in their plants, you know what to do to promote peace in the world for cats and human alike.

bundle

LY went home today to find out that someone had taken one of the newborn kittens in the estate - whereabouts unknown - and dumped her at the guard house. Apparently the kitten had been dumped at the guard house for the whole day, and the security guards had waited for LY to come and claim the cat instead of getting their pest-control to take it away.

Having no idea where the mother cat is nursing her litter, and nowhere to get pet milk replacement from at this time of night, I had LY bring the kitten to Angels where we have our current supply of pet milk.

She is really weak, unable to drink much milk, and having a bit of flu'. She was hardly meowing, had tears around her eyes. I nearly thought she was dead on arrival, but she was alive!

We tried to see if Squirrel could foster-mother her but the kitten was too weak to latch on to Squirrel, and when she had started sneezing a little, we worried for the little ones still being nursed by Squirrel.

So the little bundle of fur is now at our house, where I hope she will eventually take to being bottle-fed and survive the ordeal.

This is Bundle, our little black foster kitten, looking extremely weak


I just fed her again, this time with a teat-ended bottle. She seems more alive now, and drank more than the few drops she did just now, so relieved. Little Bun-bun is probably about 2 weeks old at most, her eyes are opened. Will be staying up late to feed her again in a couple of hours. Here come the sleepless nights...!

ubi zone 2 kitten rescue

One of the cat-feeders in Ubi who sometimes feeds in Ubi Zone 2, noticed that a litter of kittens was born inside a drain near the fringe area of Zone 2. It was worrisome because it was raining recently, so Uncle Johari rescued the four kittens and brought them to Angels for fear they might get washed away in the rain.

They are about 4 weeks old, able to eat moistened kitten food. One has already been adopted. Here's Toast, Bread and Teacup, two boys and a girl.

Bread-boy and Toasty-boy remind us of Butter, another cat we re-homed last year. Both brothers have this cute worried face on them. They are all very friendly towards other cats and humans alike.

Toast has more red colouring; Bread's bicolouring is more cap-and-saddle patterned - his red colouring is around his head and his tail. Teacup, their sister, is a beautiful tricoloured cat. Her tail is torbie at the tip and red at the base, in true mi-ke pattern.

Here are their pictures taken today before we groomed their faces -

Toast

Toast's red tabby marking

Bread

Bread's red 'saddle'

Teacup

Teacup's mi-ke pattern

All three of them are very tame, and the brothers love to play with each other-

Toast (left), Bread (right)

All three are ready for adoption and are looking for good homes! If you are interested in adopting, do visit Angels Pet Shop at Blk 302 Ubi Ave 1 #01-49. See right side-bar for more information on adoption.

kenny's rescue by SPCA

SPCA folks called by Auntie Can in the early hours of Saturday, came by again in the afternoon to get Nico's brother who was still trapped on the ledge:



Kenny is now boarding safely in Angels. Here is a picture of him being cuddled by a volunteer...

"Thank you for saving me from evil air-con and monster kids...Mew."

Well of course, at first he was as feral as his sister Nico. But after settling down in a pen, being groomed and getting to know us, he decided to be friends.

Both Nico and Kenny are now rehabilitating from their trauma and will be available for adoption soon.

puma super-cute

Yesterday Puma was let out of his pen to play around the shop under supervision. Afterward he fell asleep on a volunteer's arm, looking super-cute:

"I is no rabbit, is sleeeeppyyyy..."

Puma is still looking for a loving family to adopt him. If you are interested in visiting and adopting Puma please call Aswat at 93378211 or visit Angels Pet Shop.

"Love me please...?"

kitten rescued last night in Ubi Zone 1

Last night Auntie Can, Ubi Zone 1 cat-patron, found 2 kittens perched on a 3rd floor ledge of a HDB block. They were being disturbed by some children who kept trying to chase them, that they nearly fell off the ledge.

Auntie Can called us and when Andy went to investigate, could no longer find them. SPCA was also called down and after they searched, found one of the kittens hiding behind an air-con compressor. Three hours later, they managed to rescue one of the kittens.

The kitten is now in our house and we will bring her to Angels to board later. She is still extremely feral, possibly has intestinal worms, but is otherwise healthy. She is about 5 weeks old, a beautiful tricoloured cat in true Japanese prosperity cat style. Her red-coloured patches are brownish red, she has a long tail and pink nose-leather.

This is Nico, who has to be penned alone for now because she is still extremely unsociable -

Nico hissing at me

shiro the maltese - adopted!

A big thank you to The Rehomers for helping us publicise Shiro's story. He has been adopted today!

His new family fell in love with the wonderful personality that is Shiro-boy, allowing them to cuddle him, and though shy, did not bark or resist affection, actually enjoying the hugs -


The family's previous Maltese had passed away at six years old suddenly from meningitis, they are currently dog-less. They still miss their old dog, but we are glad that they can continue to share the love with Shiro now that he has joined their family!

jackie says thank you

The beautiful tricoloured girl we rescued from Upper Boon Keng, went to her new home today! Here is Jackie with her new mommy, Cassandra.
Cassandra had visited us a few times, learning about kitten care - she is a proud owner of a few adopted pets - and also brought some toys to donate to the animals. Before she had decided on Jackie, who will be her first cat, she bought all the stuff necessary, ordered a kittening pen from Angels so as to integrate Jackie with her free-roaming rabbit at home. Tonight, the pen arrived at the shop, and so Cassandra came to collect the pen and Jackie together. She will be bringing Jackie for another vet visit soon and we shared with her the list of medications that Jackie has been on previously.

We are so happy for Jackie! She has been with us for about one and a half months and we have all fallen in love with her. We all miss her already, I bet especially Coffee who is still in the pen alone now without her. Thank you to all who have supported Jackie by ways of donations, visits and publicising her story. Onward to more rescued kittens...

mew! we is homeless!

Read their stories and ogle more kitty-pictures of Rain and Feather:

• Their rescue from Geylang Lorong 40
• 'Taming' them while fostering them
• Hanging out with our own cats
• Sleeping in their hammock and basket
• Playing with each other
  

"Meow! I is Rain boy-boy! I never knew how to be a happy kitty before, my mother always told me to be careful of humans coz they will trap us and keel us!"



"Mew-yes! But now when our foster mommy comes to feed us and take care of us we is purr and mew back at her! Foster mommy says I has nice long white fluffy fur! Is happy to be pretty. She also says I has exclamation mark on my body.

(Feather does have a black '!' on the right side of her body.)

"We be needing new homes, foster mommy says. She says we will make humans very happy because we are so cute. Please adopt us!"

To visit and adopt Feather and Rain, call Elaine at 90880675.

vietnam-romeo, 'the construction site dog', needs a new home

Vietnam-Romeo the 'construction site dog', as hailed by many of our readers, needs a new home.

His current family has decided to re-home him due to neighbourly relations being strained when he barks.

His age is unknown, possibly about 1 year old or so. He is neutered and recently been groomed and de-fleaed. He is leashed trained and only pees and poos outside the home during his walks.

He is currently still living in Audrey's home. To visit and adopt him, contact Aswat at 93378211 who will arrange for a viewing at Angels Pet Shop.

shiro the maltese-boy

This is Shiro the Maltese, who needs a new home.

His current family's mother is going back to Penang, Malaysia, and will no longer be able to care for him. Shiro's mommy has passed him to us and he is now boarding at Angels.

He is currently 5 years old, male, neutered. He is a quiet boy who doesn't bark unnecessarily, very even-tempered. Does not mind being in a crate too, and is toilet-trained. To find out more, visit him and adopt him, contact Aswat at 93378211 / 67489810 or visit him at Angels Pet Shop.

another 'wild cat'

Leopard and his sister who only arrived yesterday, just got adopted by a family today!

Here is his sister, who we didn't even get to know her and name her before she got adopted today -

She is a beautiful ticked tabby. A bit shy, but really gets along well with his brothers.

Puma is now alone in his pen. He is still available for adoption! If you would like a playful kitten that could entertain you all day playing with his toys, he is the one. Call Aswat at 93378211 or 67489810 to visit and adopt him.

wang wang now a house cat

Our block's one of three resident strays, Wang Wang, has officially become a house cat.

It started when my new room tenants moved in last night. Wang Wang was there to greet them and as usual, he wanted to come inside our house. But we said that Slinky doesn't get along with him and they will fight.

So then the tenants said, "Then let's put him in our room! He can sleep with us. He sleep and eat outside, so poor thing."

Wang Wang agreed.

Andy bathed him, and I set up a litter box and feeding tray for him to place in their room. They also made some space on the open cabinets for him to climb and snooze in.

This morning, we found out that Wang Wang had shared their bed, sleeping super soundly and happily during the night. When I went to check on him earlier, he was totally at ease in their room, sleeping on their bed, only waking up to eat.

Slinky of course had vehemently objected. She kept going into his room to check him out, and when I tried to intervene, she attacked me. In the middle of the night, clever Slinky clawed open the room door to go in and check on him again, probably sending him 'Get out of my house!' signals to him. Today, she has finally given up, seeing that Wang Wang is in the room and doesn't want to come out and disturb her anyway.

So Wang Wang is now officially in our house.

rain and feather snuggly and kitten-like

Rain and Feather are becoming cuter every day! Today, I brought them out of their pen to let them cuddle with me in bed, and to let them play. Rain snuggled up to me and started purring. Feather started purring too, hers is softer. Then they hid under the blanket with me and Rain kept nose-kissing me.

Here is a video of them playing around the pillows and blanket, as they still are as I am typing this.

the cat situation at Joo Chiat Terrace

After a few visits by the cat-patron and one feeding session there, we realised that a lot of the cats we want to neuter are gone.

We thought it might be AVA. But the cat-patron went to recce the place again, and passed by the chicken-head feeder's house to see that she has been hoarding a lot of cats. She might have taken all the cats off the streets into her own house. Knowing that she doesn't believe in sterilisation, we can only imagine the worst.

Right now sterilising the strays this Friday is not a viable solution anymore since they are all gone. The zone is under Joo Chiat GRC and unless we blow the whistle on her we have no way of sterilising these cats.

Cougar, Puma and Leopard - 3 rescued kittens

Today Aswat's godma brought to Ubi Kuching Project 3 kittens that she had rescued another part of Upper Boon Keng. She brought them to the vet and rehabilitated them, and now have placed them with us for re-homing.

They are about 6 weeks old, probably unrelated but they get along really well with one another. The silver black tabby boy is Leopard, the tortoiseshell female is Cougar, and the other black beauty boy, is Puma. Here they are -
Puma is a really active playful boy who has a super long tail and long single-coated fur. Leopard is a super easy-going cat, you can hold him in any which way and he stays still to let you cuddle him. Cougar is more reserved and shy, but tolerates Puma's crazy antics! She is more of a watch-the-world-go-by kind of cat. She is a really beautiful tortoiseshell and also has a long tail.

All three are healthy and ready for adoption. If you would like to adopt any of these kittens, please call Aswat at 93378211 to view and adopt them.

Update: Cougar has been adopted by Natasha and hubby!

Update: Leopard and Puma will be joined by their 4th sibling later today. The cat rescuer finally managed to trap him to rehabilitate him. Pictures soon.

notecards arrive!

Our first Ubi Kuching Project merchandise for fund-raising is here!

Our notecards will be retailing at Angels Pet Shop and through our volunteers, at a price $2 each, or $16 for a set of 8 different designs as gift-set. If you would like to purchase them, do visit us in Ubi. Stock will be placed at Angels by tomorrow.
If you would like to order online, send me an email and I will have it delivered to you (with additional postal charge). Payment can be via Paypal or direct deposit to our Ubi Kuching Project POSB account. Email me at ubikuchingproject@gmail.com to order.
Each card comes with a photo of an Ubi Kuching on the front in colour, with a white border. The cards are blank inside and come with envelopes.

The designs available -

(Apologies if you submitted a photo but we did not use it. Our printer had chosen the best 8 designs suitable for print.)

Each card comes with a link to our blog on the back. I will be putting up all of the cats in the cards' stories up on the blog so that recipients of your notecards will be able to learn more about each cat.

Do support us in buying the cards to use as your own stationery, helping us spread the word and kitty-cheer! They would also make great gifts for cat-lovers. Come visit us and the animals, in Ubi and help us do more for our rescue and sterilisation work by getting an Ubi Kuching Project notecard set!