Bringing the love of cats to intellectually disabled adults at MINDS

MINDS (Movement for the Intellectually Disabled in Singapore) has a Training and Development Centre at Tampines that offers services for adults with intellectual disability to help them with social integration and mainstream activities. They invited us to bring our therapy cats to their centre for animal-assisted activity sessions.

Their clients loved it!

Teapot getting a hug

Through simple interactive activities with the cats, such as touching them, stroking them, playing wand toys with them, the intellectually disabled adults could practise physical skills and communication with their peers.

Outreach Volunteer Camellia with a group of MINDS clients

We have been invited to bring our therapy cats to MINDS at Tampines twice a month. The centre's staff will assist with every session, and the clients' responses to the cats will be evaluated to help them in improving their personal skills.

More pics from our first trial session with them -

Teapot resting on a client's arm

A client brushes a cat with some assistance

Stroking a cat as a group working together

The therapy cats were really comfortable visiting the centre and interacting with their intellectually disabled clients. They were very gentle towards the cats, and the cats didn't get stressed about working with them. We will update our social feeds when we go again to MINDS next month!

Donate to our cause by making a deposit to our Love Kuching Project DBS Current Account 027-905975-3 or via Credit Card. Donate us food or litter at charity rates with free delivery via Pawfection        

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[Adopt] The Farrer Road condo kittens: Leo, Lennon, Louie and Laney

| Leo |

 | Lennon |

| Louie |

| Laney|

One of our volunteers works at a condo at Farrer Road, where she noticed a litter of 4 kittens with a mother cat. She started to feed them daily. However, the kittens eventually grew to attract a lot of attention, even from the management of the condo - which usually leads to the cats being culled, unfortunately. So we took the kittens in and the mother cat has since been spayed.

Because this group of kittens came to us past the ideal socialisation age (which is at 3 to 7 weeks of age), it took a long time for us to get them adoption-ready. Right on the first day they arrived at our place, they already bit one volunteer really hard, and this turned out not to be the only time thereafter that they showed us such aggression.

They also had a bout of diarrhoea, but fortunately treated early with supplements; there was no need for medication or antibiotics, apart from deworming medication. The kittens improved in health steadily.

It was a long 2-month stay they had with us. They are now close to 4 months old, and totally used to human interaction already. At first, we started out giving them homeopathic supplements to get their aggression and stress levels down, while we got them used to human proximity. We also exposed to them to play time with the friendlier kittens, so they had role models to see how humans and kitties interacted. 

Leo, with Turmeric

Leo was the first to warm up to us. He has a really interesting personality. He is daring and adventurous when it comes to play, exploring everywhere, and making kitty friends. But he also has his reserved side - he is quiet and not attention seeking.

A shy but adventurous boy

Have toy, will play

His brother Lennon is slightly less boisterous, and is a perfect balance of cuddly and playful. He is the least naughty of his siblings.

"Who, me?"

Prone and get ready to pounce!

"I am kitten. Watch me play!"

Louie was responsible for most of the "expressions of outrage" against humans. Hissing, biting, scratching, he has done it all. But that is his old self now! He has gone through a wondrous transformation. He is still an introverted kitty, but can be a cuddly fur-baby.

Louie doing a Grumpy Cat impression

Innocent pout that fools everyone

The only girl of the lot, Laney, has gotta be the naughtiest of them all! Sure, you can hug and squeeze her, but when she is left to her own devices, she is really spirited. Best to be adopted with another kitty, to temper her mischief, or by a family with a young, playful cat.

Resting in between bouts of play

"I didn't destroy anything, I promise!"

All 4 of them are dewormed, Revolutioned, vaccinated and vet-checked. They are also litter trained and can eat both dry and wet food.

To adopt any of them, see right sidebar under 'How to adopt' or click here. Spread the word!

Donate to our cause by making a deposit to our Love Kuching Project DBS Current Account 027-905975-3 or via Credit Card. Donate us food or litter at charity rates with free delivery via Pawfection        

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Cat Massage Demo Workshop with proceeds going to Love Kuching Project

Update: Session available on 24 May!

Pet services boutique, Petitudo, is organising a cat massage workshop that raises money for us!

To sign up, contact Petitudo at 98476050 or email to hello@petitudo.com

Donate to our cause by making a deposit to our Love Kuching Project DBS Current Account 027-905975-3 or via Credit Card. Donate us food or litter at charity rates with free delivery via Pawfection        

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About a kitty cat named Tiger

Tiger is a stray cat from a colony we did TNR sterilisation in before, in a back alley off Bendemeer.

Tiger when he first came to us

Tiger's feeders only go to his colony to feed them at close to midnight every night. When they noticed Tiger had stopped eating even though he seemed hungry, they brought him to an overnight vet clinic. Tiger had tooth decay and gum disease. Because of off-hour prohibitive costs they managed to only get him injections and skipped any form of blood tests.

Not long after, Tiger's mouth pain came back and he once again became inappetant. His feeders knew that Tiger would need a more thorough check up and a longer term treatment.

Tiger was in so much pain he was very aggressive and violent towards everyone when he came to us. We brought him to the vet to do the FIV/FeLV test and it turned out poor Tiger has both diseases. In such scenarios, mouth problems will be harder to treat.

Our treatment plan for him was as such: get him painkiller, steroidal and antibiotic jabs that are long acting. Then, book him a surgery date for teeth scaling and extraction. While he stays with us, he will be fed an immunity system booster cocktail of supplements, as well as supplements for pain and inflammation. This will help bolster his compromised immune system. After his surgery, we will have to give him more than usual time to heal up. If the gum diseases thereafter do not recur, the plan is to get him back to his colony. Even though he has FIV and FeLV, keeping him away from his street friends is not the answer, because they likely all already have the same diseases. Making Tiger a shelter cat for life is not in his best interest, especially since he is one of those cats that doesn't like being confined.  The only way of containing the situation is to get any newcomer to the colony tested and vaccinated so that only the original colony is affected.

Tiger's perpetually emo face

Our first priority when Tiger came to stay was to get him eating again. When he arrived, he had already been not eating for a few days. We started with small portions of Addiction Brushtail with his cocktail of supplements. Soon, his appetite got better and better, and he started eating more. We were so glad to see him improve!

Tiger can now eat a lot

Because of the supplements cocktail, so far he hasn't need another steroidal jab or painkillers. A list of his supplements:

For immunity: Arabinogalactan, thymus, maitake, reishi, shiitake, astralagus, cordyceps, colostrum, coQ10, alfalfa, echinacea, aloe vera, boswellia, and the standard vitamin B, C, probiotics and fish oil. For inflammation: curcumin, ashwagandha, colloidal silver. For pain: homeopathic blend painkiller. (We buy our supplements from iherb.com, for humans but feed half the dose. If you wish to buy from iherb.com use our discount code AVA985 to get USD5-10 off your first purchase and we earn credits too!)

Now, Tiger is a chatty, attention-seeking kitty. Like we always tell the cats when we administer injections and such, that this will help them be in less pain. When the pain really subsides, we reaffirm them by saying, "See? The pain is gone right?" We did this to Tiger too. Now every day he is super grateful and happy to eat his food.

At our new cattery space we are moving into this weekend, a partitioned room will be built (target completion on Thursday) as a quarantine area, and Tiger will be the first to christen it. While FeLV is not airborne but transmit through saliva and blood, we want to further protect those who linger near his cat suite, for better containment. We are really looking forward to that aspect of our new cattery, something we couldn't afford to have until now.

Follow Tiger's recovery story on our social media platforms!

Donate to our cause by making a deposit to our Love Kuching Project DBS Current Account 027-905975-3 or via Credit Card. Donate us food or litter at charity rates with free delivery via Pawfection        

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How to set up standing instruction on POSB to become a monthly Boarding Fund donor

Assuming you are POSB customer with online banking account, here is a simple guide on how you can add us as a payee for a monthly donation.

If you have never given to Love Kuching Project before, you will first need to set up a 'new payee'. After you have logged in to your internet banking, click Transfer, the drop-down menu will have the option to Add New DBS or POSB Recipient, shown below.

Clicking on the highlight tab above will bring you to the following page:

Where you can fill in the description of both yours and our account, an example is above.

Once you have added LKP's account as one of your payees, or if you have already added us from long ago, you should now go to the Standing Instructions tab.

Fill in the fields required. After you complete this form, click Next and you will become an LKP monthly Boarding Fund donor!

Donate to our cause by making a deposit to our Love Kuching Project DBS Current Account 027-905975-3 or via Credit Card. Donate us food or litter at charity rates with free delivery via Pawfection      

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[Adopt] Meredith: smoke-tortoiseshell girl kitty found lame, rehabilitated from eye ulcerations

Meredith was found by her rescuer in Bedok, on the ground in the carpark of an industrial area. She was lame in her hindlegs and could not walk properly.

We brought her to the vet and it was found that she had fractures around her hip area. What she needed was cage rest for about 4 weeks. If she was still dragging her leg after that, amputation was the next step.

Cage rest for little Meredith

Thankfully, the cage rest and Meredith's willpower got her through the injury. 4 weeks of cage rest later she was able to walk again, as if there never was any injury.

Subsequently, she came down with cat flu' which made her eye very ulcerated. We used a combination of 2 antibiotic eye drops to get her eye back to normal.

Meredith had eye ulcerations

After her eye ulcerations cleared up, she came down with the flu' again and had to go back on antibiotics for a while. Eventually, the flu' cleared, and we could bring her for her vaccination. She is now almost 4 months of age now, and has had a long journey towards health.

Meredith, today

Meredith has a larger than life personality; very confident, outgoing and loves to make friends, often looking for Scotty the socialisation dog even. Scotty and her have a huge size difference but they are best of friends. She would steal the dog's food while he was eating, and Scotty would not hurt her.

Scotty accompanying Meredith at the vet

She is also good friends with Turmeric, and both can be seen taking naps together or play-wrestling each other.

Meredith and Turmeric

Apart from playing with other cats, she is also a lap cat that likes to snuggle with humans to sleep, (or use Scotty's leg as a pillow)! Being extraverted, she has cute quirks like greeting visitors at the door, or exploring everywhere and everything.

Meredith has been dewormed, Revoluntion-ed, vet-checked and vaccinated; litter-trained and eats and drinks independently.

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

Donate to our cause by making a deposit to our Love Kuching Project DBS Current Account 027-905975-3 or via Credit Card. Donate us food or litter at charity rates with free delivery via Pawfection        

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Adopt a special kitty: Turmeric, boy kitty found abandoned in a pail at a vegetable farm in Lim Chu Kang

Turmeric, ginger / white kitten, @ 3 months old

Turmeric was found by one of our volunteers who was at Lim Chu Kang, the farm areas. Turmeric was then only 2 months old, and had very severe flu' and conjunctivitis.

Turmeric when first rescued

He underwent treatment here at Love Kuching that included antibiotic eye drops daily. Eventually his eyes became much better. There was much less ulceration of the eyes, and he could see clearly.

After one month of eye treatment

Throughout the entire time he stayed with us, he never lost his zest for play and discovering new things. He is very playful and curious. He also likes to chirrup to himself when examining a new 'game' or toy.

Very responsive to play

He also gets along well with the others in the foster home. He doesn't like Scotty the socialisation dog so much, but he takes care of both older and younger foster siblings, respects his elders especially after he got a scolding from Scooter, Kitten IC Emeritus, about playing too near an older cat's personal space.

He doesn't like Scotty too come to near him

Turmeric with his best friend Meredith

Turmeric's eyes are unlikely to heal any much further than what they are now. His vision is not impaired, but he will have slightly teary eyes. With daily eye cleaning alone he will do fine, and is the same as any normal cat.

Turmeric is now 5 months of age, dewormed, vaccinated and vet checked, and is independent in his litter box usage and with food and water. He has been Revolution-ed (no fleas or mites, and Revo acts as a dewormer too). He enjoys going out on a leash and harness too by the way, because of his outgoing nature.

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

Donate to our cause by making a deposit to our Love Kuching Project DBS Current Account 027-905975-3 or via Credit Card. Donate us food or litter at charity rates with free delivery via Pawfection        

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Update on our new cattery space #IF2015 #TheMove

New LKP Cattery - Lease signing from Love Kuching Project on Vimeo.

Check out the video above to see our new cattery space!

For those of you that have followed our #IF2015 journey from the start, giving for us to be able to place a deposit and first month's rent on a bigger space, thank you for your support! Here is more of the background story on us finding this place.

Initially, we wanted to rent a space for the same price through sharing with one of our merchandise partners, Alfie De Meow, who needed to rent a bigger space by April. But we ran into a lot of obstacles: landlord disapproval of our use of space for cats, or spaces too small or without a lift that could not accommodate Alfie De Meow's jewellery making machinery. Both of us decided that, if along the way of our search for a space to rent together, we found suitable places for either one of us, we would go that route instead. We had almost lost all hope after we kept running into obstacles, but all of a sudden, this space popped up. It fit our budget, was the right size, and the landlord approved of our use. If we didn't stumble upon this place, we probably would have given up the idea of getting a new space. 

Now that we are here, we are still appealing for monthly donors to our Boarding Fund to be able to make rent every beginning of the month. This is an urgent need that we need to fulfill, so that instead of appealing for funds monthly to make rent, we can focus on the work we are doing for the cats, and limit the appeals for donations to urgent, acute situations. A monthly donation from you can be set up over your internet banking platforms, as a standing instruction to our account DBS current 027-905975-3.

One of the greatest differences having a new space will make, is the separation of work and home for Elaine and Andy, who have been fostering cats since 2009. The space of a 3 room flat is not only limiting, it bears a huge weight on both founders mentally as well. We now have have a much more formidable volunteer force, built over the years, and the burden of care for the cats has been decentralised. We not only can increase the number of cats we can take in with a larger space, the care of the cats can be carried out autonomously by the volunteers without Elaine and Andy's presence there all the time (because the current foster space is their home). Not only are we going to finally create a work-life balance for Elaine and Andy, this new space sets the path for greater development of leadership among the volunteers. Leadership development is very critical for any organisation to have continuity - and we are in this for the long haul.

So do help us out by pledging a monthly donation. It will help us stay in this new space, and ease the stress of making rent monthly so we can focus on cats.

Donate to our cause by making a deposit to our Love Kuching Project DBS Current Account 027-905975-3 or via Credit Card. Donate us food or litter at charity rates with free delivery via Pawfection        

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