At the time, Coffee and gang was so hard to rescue, he was scared and hiding in a drain. We had to climb into the power station, get a tree-branch to prod him out. When he came out with his siblings, he shat on us too.
Eventually, after medication and care, he improved and recovered! We put him on antibiotics, dewormed him, put him on kaolin solution to stabilise his bowels. Also brought him home to foster, giving him an intense shower-and-conditioner grooming session to make his lovely thick short fur shine.
When he got adopted with Dinah we were so happy for him. Unfortunately, Coffee's diarrhoea came back, and the adopters returned Coffee to us. (We do accept returns as the last-resort alternative to adopters dumping the pets elsewhere, with no refund on adoption fee). He came back to us weak and with bald skin patches on his body.
So we brought him to the vet. Doctor gave him a jab, put him on antibiotics for his diarrhoea, as well as other medications for his stomach. He got better! For his bald patches, we have been putting ointment on them everyday to help him recover and return to his former glossy glory, and had showered him with oatmeal shampoo to calm the skin irritation down.
Then, when we had switched his diet to Science Diet, donated by Coffee's adopter, his diarrhoea returned. We switched him to a grain-free diet, and now... his diarrhoea is all better!
Cats cannot digest corn, a key ingredient in Science Diet. The other cats did well on the SD food, but Coffee with his weak digestion system totally became sicker on SD. If you have a cat that has weak digestion - sensitive stomachs, prone to diarrhoea or vomiting or constipation - please avoid cat foods that have corn as the top 5 ingredients. You can opt for grain-free diets, or choose grain ingredients such as rice and maize instead, which are more digestible. Also note that while cats need fibre, they do not need carbohydrates, and corn also has no nutritional value at all for them, so do keep a look out on your pet food labels.
His skin patches are still recovering, but Coffee is en route to becoming a healthy cat once again. He will be available for adoption soon! We hope to find him an owner that will never reject him for the responsibility he is, and that he will in a good home become a beautiful, well-loved cat. We love him and hope for the best for him.
