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Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The New Whiteys

Following an appeal on Cat Welfare Society asking for fostering help for 5 abandoned kittens found ill in Woodlands, we got in touch with the kittens' rescuer and took the kittens in on Sunday night.

Their rescuer is Ena, who rescued Ally, Emmy and Nelly late last year. The New Whiteys have the same colouring as Ally and siblings, and also have flu'. They also have diarrhoea, fleas, ear mites (which prompted us to put them and all the other foster cats on Revolution Pink immediately). This time around, they were abandoned much older than Ally and siblings were, which means this batch has a much better chance of survival.

The New Whiteys - 2 boys, 3 girls, and we haven't named them yet because we still can't tell them very well apart - are 10 weeks old. They are currently on medication and we also feed them nutraceutical and herbal supplements for their immunity, gastro-health and flu'. They are now in our Penthouse pen and aren't allowed to roam because the diarrhoea they have is contagious.

Superb appetites despite diarrhoea though!
Very active, can't stay still and pose!
Their flu' is more or less under control - no mucus or fluid in respiratory tract except in one or two of them - which both are already improving in. But they still have inflamed eyes from conjunctivitis, some worse than others -

Eyes on saline and Terramycin

And they all have some grey spots around their heads, some have more grey than others.

This one has centre-parting!
For now we can't tell them apart very well except that one of the boys is bigger and most cooperative with medication time! The rest aren't such great kitty patients, and always kick and scratch us (thankfully we trimmed their nails the night they came, during their grooming) and look oh-so-poor-thing. But they are actually very playful kitties who love to meow at us, bat at, kick their toys, and climb the walls of the pen.

Will update on their progress as we continue their rehabilitation!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Quick snapshots of today's 'kitty road show'!

We were invited to participate in the Paws 'n' Friends event at Bishan today and we are getting our Communications Volunteer, Hannah, to blog and post the pictures she took! Lots of photos, furry-frenzy! Meanwhile, in case you aren't on Twitter, we uploaded some camera-phone pictures during the day, here they are! -

Bran attracted a LOT of photographers by posing all day
Kit and her soon-to-be adopter!
Tango turned out to be quite a hit with kids! Not scared!
Right, more soon!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Adopt Tango!

The boy of the litter rescued from pest control at a Spottiswood office building is now ready for adoption! Meet Tango!

Curious Tango, as taken by Furry Photos few weeks ago
Tango hasn't had it easy, getting the flu' a couple of times and only just recovered a week ago from his second bout of flu' which erupted not long after his sister Winky got it too. He was put on antibiotics and recovered well, then sent for his first vaccination. Now he is vet-certified healthy, very gregarious and playful.

Tango is a human-oriented cat. He likes to follow us humans around, sleep next to humans, and while he is not a purring-machine like his sister Winky, he enjoys strokes and cuddles and hugs.

Tango getting cuddled


He is very easy-going when it comes to grooming, and is very obedient in following house-rules. At the same time he loves playing with his best-mate Bran, or on his own when Bran wants to lounge around on her own.

Tango about to pounce at a toy!


Tango is litter-trained, able to eat dry food on its own, dewormed, vet-checked, vaccinated.


Tango's portrait shot

If you wish to adopt Tango, please see right side bar under 'How to adopt' or click here, to go through our adoption procedure.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Adopt: Bran

Bran is a cream-coloured female kitten who was borne of a stray cat, Bree, that we wanted to neuter at a construction site colony in Bendemeer. She suffered a short bout of the 'flu 2 weeks ago and has since recovered fully, now ready for adoption!

Pictures taken by Furry Photos when she was 10 weeks old
Bran is healthy, vaccinated, vet-checked, litter-trained, receptive to discipline, dewormed, able to eat dry food on its own. She is now 13 weeks old.


Her personality is sweet - she is very quiet, undemanding, and loves to play all kinds of kitten games: toys, catching, running about, exploring.

Bran exploring a kitty treat bit


She is also smart - learned where she shouldn't go when disciplined. Her best friend is Tango, who is up next for adoption, her foster brother that Bran's mother helped to nurse (we initially thought Tango was a girl). Bran is very respectful of older kittens and cats and does not disturb them if they want to be left alone. She is also easy to handle and very even-tempered.

"Cooperate for photo shoot? Okays..."


If you wish to adopt Bran, please see right side bar under 'How to adopt' or click here.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Paws 'n' Friends


Sunday 26 June 11 - Love Kuching Project's humans and kitties will be at our very own booth at the Paws 'n' Friends' event! Do join us there if you wanna meet us, or the foster kitties!

Forever home on Fathers' Day!

Barley and Nana got adopted on Sunday by Ghani and family!

Happy family!
Barley and Nana are very good with children. Ghani's wife's family has 5 cats at home (all sterilised and indoors) but they have none of their own as a family. This is their first experience adopting from a rescue group instead of picking up a stray and to quote Ghani, "This adoption experience, very good eh, got vaccinations everything..." Well, sponsors of Nana and Barley - you made it happen!

When they all got home to Sembawang that night, Nana got on straightaway with her two human sisters. But Barley felt a little insecure and hid under the couch all night. Her dad spent the night on the couch to accompany her and we advised him to tempt her with canned food and to sit by the couch talking to her, not to force her out until she is ready. Well, as of today, she is back to her normal crazy self!

We are so happy for the family and for Barley and Nana to have found their 'furever' home. Here's another parting shot of the family of two proud parents and now 4 girls!

Got Nana to look up, and Barley obviously distracted!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Brulee was adopted yesterday!

Brulee went to his forever home with human parents Juliana (@juliegummy) and Yusof.

Brulee and his happy parents
Juliana and Yusof recently adopted a kitten, Belle, from SPCA. But found that she was a bit lonely on her own. So the concerned parents went looking for a playmate for her and liked Brulee's personality for it matched Belle's.

They of course also fell in love with handsome Brulee - here he is in his mommy's lap showing his cute curly tail -

Brulee showing off his cute tail
Both parents are very involved in the care of their (now plural) cats, which is what we like. Oftentimes only one parent is involved in the caretaking and should that parent ever not be available, the cat gets neglected. We like these new parents and are happy for Brulee!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Adopt Winky!

Want a manja kitty that sits in your lap and purrs, loves being cradled? Winky is THE one!

Winky being cradled

Winky is a quiet purring girl kitty who while playful at times, prefers to lounge around and is a lap-cat at heart. She loves to sit and watch us, not overly attention-seeking, yet when we cradle her she purrs. She is a real sweetheart. She loves every human and every cat and is very gentle when it comes to play and affection.



Winky at 10 weeks old

She is dewormed, litter-trained, able to eat dry food on its own, on Revolution, and has received her vet-checks and vaccinations, and is neutered

She was rescued as an orphan kitten at 2 weeks old, subsequently, suffered the flu' a couple of times, and has been treated for it and recovered, hence viable for vaccination. She also had a bout of bronchitis during the heavy air pollution in August but has been treated for it and there has been no recurrence,

Winky with her pen mate Simone when they were babes
She gets along well with other cats, as you can see. She is also very playful even while she loves cuddling and snuggling with humans!

She is also good with children -

At an adoption drive by Cat Welfare Society



She is black with with white socks and underfur, and unique bicoloured markings on her facial area and a short tail. We love Winky because she is so unique in her bicoloured patterns.

Winky's latest portrait taken by Furry Photos

See more pictures of Winky here.

To adopt Winky, see right side-bar under 'How to adopt' or click here. Do spread the word on Winky's need for a forever home!

Saturday, June 11, 2011

About your kitten's booster vaccinations

This year, we have adopted the practice of vaccinating kittens for adoption once they are above 8 weeks of age, with the aid of kind sponsors of the Sponsor-A-LoveKuching-Cat Scheme. Because of this our experience with handling the post-booster effects that vaccinations have on kittens has expanded, we have read up more on the concept of immunisation through booster vaccinations for kittens, and thus - we would like to share our learnings with you so you know more about kitten booster jabs.

We would be writing this in a layman way because we are ourselves laymen and so are you, so don't worry about having to read a wordy, difficult to understand article! And, disclaimer - we aren't vets, so if after reading this you want to find out more, do ask your vet more about the topic!

Booster jabs are for two critical kinds of diseases. The first is for upper respiratory tract infections, i.e. cat flu'. The second is for what we call feline panleukopenia, or FIE, or parvo (all the same one thing) - basically a diarrhoea type of disease that comes along with vomitting, quite serious. So one injection is meant for both these disease types. Your vaccination booklet would come with a sticker that is removed from the vial that your vet dispenses the vaccine from, and looks somewhat like this - depending on the brand of vaccine they use.

Rhino-etc, Calici, Chlamydia = cat flu'


You would realise if you read our blog regularly that vaccinations often bring pre-existing conditions to the fore and somehow seem to 'make' kittens sick instead. This is because booster vaccinations essentially introduce viruses into the cat to stimulate an immune system response to the diseases it was jabbed with. This pressurises the immune system, so kittens often fall ill before they 'become' better, sometimes with sicknesses that aren't even related to feline panleuk or cat flu'.

This is another reason why we want to do vaccinations for kittens on our end for kittens that are of age - so that new cat owners when they adopt don't also have to deal with the stresses of booster vaccination after-effects, thereby lowering our adoption-rejection rate even further as well.

So, why do kitties need 2 to 3 vaccines in their first year and only one every 3 years after that? Dr Karen Becker who has been interviewing Dr Ronald Schultz on this topic, provides some easy to understand insight. This is our summarised understanding of her interviews and comments.

Kittens obtain antibodies from their mothers, which is why they should not be separated from their mothers in a rescue scenario. When they begin to wean off mother's milk, they start the process of shedding their mother's antibodies and gradually build up their own. Full weaning takes place at 8 weeks old, which is probably one reason why vaccinations are recommended after this age for the first booster. However, this does not mean that they have shed their mother's antibodies completely, hence the second and third booster are needed to indeed immunologise the kitten against the 2 disease classes mentioned earlier. By the age of 4 months and older, the kitten definitely would have shed their mother's antibodies, thus achieving complete immunisation from these 2 disease classes. This also means that if the kitty's second booster jab is done at 4 months and older, there is no need for a third booster until the annual booster when the kitty is one year plus of age.


The first year's booster jabs actually make your kitty immune to these diseases and last a long time. So there really isn't a need for an annual vaccine after the first series of booster jabs. At our foster home, our cats are on a 2-3 year vaccine schedule because we foster a lot of sick kitties, but at your home, you may only need to vaccinate every 3-4 years because vaccines last longer than a year. Speak to your vet about this. Some vets may even prescribe a non-vaccination schedule because of the lifestyle and breed and history of your cat. Regardless, do bring your cat for an annual check-up (semi-annual if your cat is more than 7 years of age) even if you are not doing vaccinations!

We hope this brings some understanding to what kitten booster vaccinations are all about. If you have any questions, ask your vet - vets should be client-relationship oriented and be willing to answer whatever questions you may have about vaccinations. (Which is why we love Dr Dawn Chong of The Animal Clinic).

Back to adoption - we do hope that you will continue to support our Sponsor-A-LoveKuching-Cat Scheme to help boost adoption rates for older kitties, and choose us as your rescue group for adopting a new kitty companion! Do spread the word about us if you haven't already!

Adopt: Brulee

Borne of a stray cat we wanted to neuter at Bendemeer Road's construction site, Bree's son - the only boy of three kittens she gave birth to - is ready for adoption!

He initially suffered a bout of the 'flu after his first vaccination but has since recovered through supplements and a course of Vibravet antibiotics. His second booster vaccination would immunise him completely from the 'flu. He no longer has any flu' symptoms and is thus ready for a forever home!

Brulee, as taken by Furry Photos

Brulee is quite different from his sister Nana who is also available for adoption; Brulee is a kitty who likes being cuddled, and while curious, enjoys lounging about with humans more than crazy play. What we love most about him is that he likes to be carried and cuddled, even though he is a tiny bit of a shy boy.

He is also cream in colour as opposed to red - similar to his mother, and has a curly tail which is super cute. Currently 11 weeks old going on 12.


Light 'orange' colour like his mom

Enjoys human companionship

Curious but not hyperactive
Being a boy he is also bigger in size than his siblings, but he is not overly greedy like some of our other foster kittens! He is also not very vocal and is very patient during feeding times. Meows only when he needs something, and is otherwise a really 'act-cool' boy.

Brulee is litter-traiined, able to eat dry food on its own, dewormed, on Revolution, and has had his first booster vaccination.

To adopt Brulee, see right side bar under 'How to adopt' or click here.

Friday, June 10, 2011

7 week old kitten found at our door step

Bandit

Abandoned at the door step of our foster home in a cardboard box, was this poor little boy, who obviously isn't feeling well.

Sores around his mouth
Upon inspection, we found he has fleas, possible ear mites, sores around his mouth, and probably worms - he just had diarrhoea.

We defleaed him with flea shampoo and cleaned his ears with ear mite solution. We also applied antiseptic lotion and powder to his external mouth sores, and dewormed him. He has no appetite to eat and still doesn't look too well, so we have isolated him for now in our ICU pen - originally reserved for orphan kittens only. (So if you find any orphan kittens, no we no longer have the space for them at the moment - this is what dumping does).

He still doesnt look too well - and in a couple of hours we are going to dose him with Revolution because he isn't completely free of fleas and who-knows-what yet. Revolution needs to be applied 2 hours after a shower.
Just had a flea shower

We inspected his mouth for ulcers - none (a sign of of illness if there are any). He has no appetite to eat and his eyes look a bit weepy.


Appearance of ill health
But all in all Bandit is a handsome boy. We hope we can figure out what is wrong with him - that it is just worms and external sores and nothing serious that we can't treat.

Ivory ticked tabby with white socks
As to where he is originally from - we may never know. Please do not dump cats at rescuers' doors anonymously. What if we didn't have the space? We would have released him back to stray life, or sent him to SPCA? You would never know - you as a human being have to be the active intervening factor in a rescue scenario.

I be adopted!

Rainy has been reunited with her rescuer, Jason, whose family decided to adopt her once she was off rehabilitation.

When Jason first found Rainy, he hand-fed her before bringing her over to us because she would need milk every 4 hours. Thankfully we had foster mother cats with us to help serve that feeding need. Then Rainy came down with suspected toxoplasmosis and had to be on rehabilitation for 3 weeks - even after she was weaned on to solid food, she still wasn't ready to be adopted till she recovered. When her pen-mates came down with flu', she also suffered flu' symptoms, but thankfully recovered and finally was ready for a new home.

She has recovered from her post-vaccination gastro-intestinal bacterial infection, and went to her new home today!

Rainy enjoying Jason's cuddling

A very happy adopter!
Jason's family has always been taking in abandoned pets into their household and Jason's mom who signed the adoption agreement is the sort of adopter who falls in love with the animals that haven't had it easy. She wants to adopt Echo too - because of her bum eye and because she is also from Bukit Panjang! But their dog, Kiki, is a bit of a scaredy-cat and Echo is super over friendly with dogs, wanting to play with them. Echo also isn't ready for adoption yet. Anyway, just for Rainy's family, here is Echo's latest Furry Photos picture.

"My eye still be not okay yet!"

Jason's family also sponsored Nana's vaccination with a donation - Nana says thank you!

We are happy for Rainy and Jason's family!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

We be recovered!

Barley, Kit and Rainy are now a-okay, and have completed their course of antibiotics - ready to go to new homes! Well, Rainy already has an adopter, Jason's family, but not Kit and Barley. Do consider giving them a forever home! See right side-bar under 'How to adopt' to find out what you need to do to adopt Barley or Kit.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Adopt: Nana

Banana, sister of Bran and Brulee, is ready for adoption!

Nana is a really sweet girl. We say so because she is very respectful of the older cats in the house and graciously allows them to either hiss at her, or cuddle up with her and groom her. She would make an awesome addition to a family that already has pets.

When it comes to play, she is naturally very curious, as you can see from these photos taken by Furry Photos

Observing a wand-toy

Batting at the toy

She is a little shy and quiet but fond of strange humans, no social anxiety whatsoever. She likes being petted and stroked and enjoys sleeping next to humans in bed - she likes blankets and pillows! She is not crazy about hugs and is not a purring machine but enjoys being physically close to humans. She responds well to discipline too.

She is a red mackerel-spotted tabby female kitten, with a mid-length tail that has a kink at the end. She has beautiful dark red tabby markings, different than her siblings who are a lighter red in colour. She is currently 11 weeks old.


Nana's picture profile!

She is litter-trained, dewormed, on Revolution, had her first vaccination, and free from sickness. She is able to eat dry food on its own.

If you would like to adopt Nana, please see 'How to Adopt' on our right side-bar under Nana's photo, or see here.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Flu' sickies: Simone, Winky and Brulee

Mild kitty flu' but we are not taking any chances.

Simone recovered from a bout of flu' one week ago, after a short course of Vibravet antibiotics which we had to put her on because herbal and nutraceutical supplements alone just weren't able to help her beat the flu' on her own. Then this week, her flu' came back - this time around, no conjunctivitis, just sneezing and sniffling. So she is back on antibiotics for another week.

Simone, photo taken by Furry Photos
Also, last weekend when this photo shoot took place, we heard some wheezing from Tango, and promptly upped their herbal flu' remedy supplements and the usual vitamin B, C, lysine and colostrum nutraceutical supplements. Tango is now clear of wheeziness. But Winky, her brother, came down with flu' yet again.

Winky, winking
Winky is sneezy, and has a bit of eye discharge which goes away with saline irrigation and Terramycin. We will also be keeping an eye on Tango in case she shows symptoms of flu' that just won't go away too.

Brulee went for his vaccination with his sisters, Nana and Bran last Wednesday, and subsequently, developed symptoms of sneezing too. At first, we did hear one of them having some mild sniffling, but it escaped stethoscope-detection by both the vet and by us. Likewise, we upped their supplements in the hope their own immune system can fend itself from the flu' but Brulee started sniffling a lot more instead, and sneezing, with clear mucous and eye discharge showing. So together with Simone and Winky, we started him on Vibravet antibiotics today too.

Brulee, the only boy in the litter
[In the meantime, the other sickies are recovering very well. Kit and Barley have stopped their diarrhoea and Rainy's is clearing up. They are all still on Metrogyl antibiotics. Once they finish their course of antibiotics on Tuesday they can be adoptable again. (We don't allow adopters to bring home sick kittens unless they are willing to cover the veterinary costs and care needed, or unless the condition is irrecoverable, which is why Rainy's adopter is leaving Rainy in our care till she recovers). Echo has no flu' or diarrhoea symptoms anymore too, just needs to continue her eye medication, and has finished her course of Baytril antibiotics. Kit and Echo are now free to roam (not Barley and Rainy because both are extremely difficult to medicate and will run when they see the pill popper / syringe). Yay to recovery of these sickies - now we can focus intensive care of the newly-recurred sickies.]

Thursday, June 2, 2011

lovekuchingproject.org website and emails currently down - update: website and emails back up

Update 8:20pm: Our website and emails are back up! Thanks to Anderson our domain and hosting sponsor. You can now email us on our respective lovekuchingproject.org emails. 

We are experiencing an outage on our domain www.lovekuchingproject.org and our emails elaine@lovekuchingproject.org and andy@lovekuchingproject.org. If you need to contact us for adoption questionnaires or donations please email Elaine at her private email account avalon.apart@gmail.com. Appreciate your understanding on this matter.