Dine with cats @ Love Kuching's Foster Space #dwc | a rustic, homely, furry-love enclave

 [1 March 2015: The silent auction for March's #DWC has started. Go to this link to place your bid. 4 places available only.]

Today's blog post comes with a background story. One day years ago, someone planned a surprise birthday for their friend Ami, who at that time was not yet a part of our 32-human-strong volunteer team. Her friend asked us this: Could we allow them the use of our foster home for a birthday party? Ami -really- loves cats. So we said yes and the party happened smoothly. Ami didn't guess where her friends were taking her to for her birthday surprise until they said, "We are going to Ubi."

Ami had a purrfectly wonderful evening, we are happy to report. Hence, now that she is one of our committee members, she proposed giving everyone else who loves cats the chance to have a special lounge-around cafe style at our foster space. Yes, Ami is also a mad cat evangelist! Share the love!

Lounge around in a rustic, homely, furry-love enclave

So we present to you, starting this March, available for all of you: a rustic cat cafe-like experience. Our foster space is located in Elaine and Andy's own home, so it is very laid back in its ambience. (It is... beyond hipster. We actually do have bicycles in our lounge, Which are actually used.) Andy and Elaine will brew coffee and tea for you to enjoy with your dinner, using freshly roasted beans or loose leaf teas, and you will have a vegan meal catered by The Garden Slug. Kitties that are allowed to roam outside their cat suites will hang around in the foster space with you while you dine. Feel free to get distracted by them!

Wanna sign up? Read on!

Dine With Cats
Because we are a nonprofit corporation, DWC is not going to be operated based on cat cafe charges, but by freewill donations starting at $50 per diner via a silent auction.

DWC will take place monthly, on the last Sunday evening of every month, starting in March. On the first of every month, we will start the auction, which is an online form you can fill in that looks like this:

Online silent auction form

You have to bid $50 or higher per person, in order to stand a chance to be one of our 4 guests per month for DWC. We only have 4 places available for reservations each month due to space constraints. The highest 4 bidders will be awarded the reservations for DWC, hence the higher the bid, the more likely you will get the reservation. The winners of the DWC silent auction will be announced on the second Thursday of the month, and will be contacted by our volunteers after announcement, to confirm the reservation and to tell you The Garden Slug specials that will be your main course.

Sample of a vegan meal served by The Garden Slug

The menu catered by The Garden Slug is vegan to suit all dietary needs, and will not contain onions because they are toxic to cats should they accidentally eat a food scrap. If you are already familiar with The Garden Slug menu, you will know they have vegetarian and vegan choices. For our DWC, they will be designing a special menu for us. Thank you Sluggies!

The first DWC is on 29th March 2015, Sunday, from 6:30pm to 8pm. The silent auction will start on 1st March, and the link to the online auction form will be blasted on our social media platforms. So follow us on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook (links below) to keep a lookout for the link! Bidding will close on 12th March 2015 before midnight.

Secretly, although this will help in fundraising, we like that it also raises awareness of the strays in Singapore that we care for, in a happy, cosy setting. We want you to enjoy being cat-evangelised to! Spread the word so that we can have a successful first DWC this March!

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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Come meet the kitties and luvkuching humans at Paws & Furs Carnival! |

| Paws & Furs Carnival |

This pets event is a 2 day happening on the last weekend of November. We will be having a booth there on the 30th and Elaine will be giving short talks on both days at 2:30pm on cat behaviour management.

At our booth, we will be bringing Gurly, our current cat available and still waiting for adoption, and -for the first time - kittens that will not be yet ready for adoption but will be there for a cuddle-preview! You can come down to meet all of them, and if you are interested in adopting, to fill out our adoption checklist. For kitties not ready for adoption that week, we will follow up with you once they are available and you have passed the screening.

Also, for the first time, we will be showcasing our outreach to nursing homes and hospitals with our feline therapy! Meet our therapy cat volunteers (yes, the actual cats!) and learn more about our work helping humans who need the love of cats.

Wanna know more about the event? Go to the Pets and Furs Carnival FB page.

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 Care Talk with Neko no Niwa Cat Cafe | 8 Nov 2014 | Sat 12pm to 2pm | Register now!

Singapore's first cat cafe

What do Neko no Niwa and Love Kuching Project have in common? We believe that rescued cats can be beautiful and affectionate companions too, if only they get a chance. We also believe in giving our cats the best care we can afford with the best knowledge we have. This workshop will be presented by Elaine Chiam, President of Love Kuching Project and Samuel Chua, co-owner of Neko no Niwa - they both have great passion and extensive knowledge in their respective areas. The aim of our cat care workshop is to make the cat-parent journey an easier and happier one!

How to be a better cat parent
Suitable for current cat owners
- Nutrition & Hydration
- Supplements
- Grooming
- Medical causes of behavioural problems
- How to manage cats who are fearful and aggressive
- Alternative therapies for behavioural problems

Fees for this 2-hour workshop, conducted amongst 13 adorable rescued cats, is at $24/pax with a free drink. You will each receive a goody bag of supplement and essential oil samples, cat food, treats, cat-themed art, jewellery and stationery as well as discount vouchers worth more than $77, and a booklet for free cat themed art workshops with Art Social Haus! Capacity is limited so please register and make payment online to secure your seats early.  To register, click here.

Neko no Niwa is located at 54 Boat Quay, Singapore 049843.

Thank you Neko no Niwa and our sponsors for making this possible!

 

 

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    
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Cat Care Talk • 27 Sept, Saturday, 4pm to 6pm

We are finally able to launch our first ever inhouse cat care talk! Took us a lot of planning, getting over scheduling humps and finding the time to labour on designing this event specially for you.

Learn an overview about cat behaviour, use of supplements and essential oils, and feline health. The talk will be conducted by our President, Elaine, and will be participant-led - you ask the questions for the discussion on the given topics.

Event details:

Where: Function Room at Terra Vue, 42 St Patrick's Road

 When: 27th September 2014, Saturday, 4pm to 6pm

Cost per particpant:$18.50

What you will get:

A goody bag containing: holistic supplement samples worth $36, pet supplies from Pawfection, cat-themed accessory from Alfie De Meow, cat-themed phone accessory from Dulcetfig, discount vouchers from Goood Pet Collars, Alfie De Meow and from Furry Photos. Light refreshment will be provided from Dough Empire.

How to sign up:

Make payment to our bank account DBS current 027-905975-3 and note the transaction reference number. 

Go to our registration link to submit your name and details so we can verify payment.

Do it fast because the goody bags are limited to the first 20 sign ups only!

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      
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

Love Kuching Project and The Water Dish are ending our formal corporate sponsorship with effect from today. We will no longer be their adopted charity and our corporate logos will reflect our brand as ‘Love Kuching Project’ instead of ‘Love Kuching Project by The Water Dish’. 

This is due to the fact that The Water Dish is moving away from the retail market and into distributorship and pet community development. Hence, we will no longer receive donations from The Water Dish as they progress in their business development. Adopters will also no longer get their own adopters' discount code to use in The Water Dish store.

They will also no longer be offering discounted bundled rates for donors to donate food and litter to Love Kuching Project online. We have lined up another pet supplier, Pawfection, who is able to fulfil this gap. You can start donating right away.

 

The Water Dish will however still keep the #pawcircle fund going, as this is in line with their new business development into the animal welfare and pet community. All #pawcircle fund donations via The Water Dish link above go towards our Veterinary Fund.

We will be going through a small rebranding to reflect our new status quo. We will also definitely continue to partner with The Water Dish for selected projects in the future.

Donate to our cause by making a deposit to our POSB savings account 188-52652-7.     


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Our Emergency Response Fund #ERfund

Photo credits: Kevin Lee, Cake Images

Our Emergency Rescue Fund or ER Fund was created to help caregivers, rescuers who have no money to pay for veterinary bills, but come across a sick or injured cat that needs help.

Background of the ER Fund:
At present in Singapore's cat rescue circle, the only possible ways for rescuers to foot the bill at vet clinics, is to pay first, and then raise funds later, be it through independent means online, or through Cat Welfare Society's Special Appeals.

But what happens if you cannot pay first -at all- to begin with?

Here is where our ER Fund comes in.

Through the generous support of our donors, we have funds already there for a financially incapable cat rescuer who contacts us. This way, these rescuers need not go into huge debts, owe the vet clinics money, or skip essential veterinary procedures because of the costs. The cat will then receive the care it needs at the clinic from the very beginning.


How the ER Fund works:

This infographic lays out how the ER Fund works and how, if you are financial unable to rescue a stray, can apply for the ER Fund.

To prevent any misuse of the funds, we have placed a few terms and conditions required to apply for the ER Fund:

Love Kuching Project Emergency Response Fund Terms and Conditions

 

1.    Love Kuching Project reserves the right to terminate a relationship with a rescuer.

2.    All veterinary consultations have to be made at The Animal Clinic Telok Kurau, 55 Lorong L Telok Kurau, #01-63 Bright Centre, Singapore 425500, during operating hours [Monday to Friday (9:30am to 12:00pm, 2:00pm to 5:00pm, 6:00pm to 8:30pm), Saturday (9:00am to 1:00pm, 2:00pm to 5:00pm), Sunday (Closed)]. 

3.    No off hour consultations are allowed.

4.    When the Love Kuching Project Emergency Rescue Fund is at or below $500, cases will be triaged (i.e. when immediate intervention will make a life/death difference to the cat rescued).

5.    The ER Fund can only be applied once per cat. Subsequent visits to the vet for the same cat will not be funded by the ER Fund except when the cat is reviewed for the same condition for the second time. 

6.    Love Kuching Project reserves the right to terminate funding for a cat's subsequent visits to the vet for the same condition.

7.    Each rescuer who utilises the ER Fund or the Foster Network must register as a rescuer under our database.

8.    All cats must have a foster caregiver before we can initiate the rescue process.

9.    A Love Kuching Project representative must be present during the cat’s veterinary consultation.

10.  A Love Kuching Project representative must be present when Love Kuching Project administers the Emergency Rescue Fund

11.  Love Kuching Project will be the sole decision maker allowing or declining any veterinary procedure, under advisement of the vets at The Animal Clinic.

Contact person for ER Fund application: 

Email: assist@lovekuchingproject.org .

Donate to our cause by making a deposit to our POSB savings account 188-52652-7.     


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Volunteers Holiday Party highlights! And finally, all about #LKP2014

So we had a volunteers party yesterday night, accompanied by 2 members of our soon to be formed Committee for registration purposes. We had loads of fun!

Gathering of likeminded, committed volunteers

We can has presents!

And vegan cake!

General catty madness all round.

We have been much busy preparing for the new year, simply because we want to better love the cats in our lives and neighbourhoods. Andy and Elaine identified gaps in the cat rescue industry and brainstormed how Love Kuching and our corporate sponsor The Water Dish can help fill those gaps. All we are is a group of cat lovers that want to help others be better cat lovers, and create new cat lovers too! Last night, the plans we were going to launch in 2014 was shared to all the Volunteers with portfolios at our holiday party. Executive Assistant Yi Shu has a written a quick summary of what else was shared for #LKP2014:

"Firstly, Love Kuching Project has applied to register under Registry of Societies - with a central executive committee of 10 members who'll hold voting rights on things happening in the organisation. The application hasn't been approved, yet... *crosses fingers* and we hope it goes through soon!

"Secondly, we'll be having two new outreach programmes, one of which will focus on cat therapy for the elderly in 2014 - managed by our outreach people Camellia and Nicole! Further details will be announced shortly - with a call for volunteers, I guess!

"The second outreach programme due to launch in 2014 will be on cat behaviour. We're no Jackson Galaxy - but since many people have come to Love Kuching for tips on cat care and cat behaviour, we thought we'll do proper consultations for people and cats who have problematic cat behaviour. We won't be charging fees, but we'll ask people to donate. This will help stop people from unnecessarily putting down cats or abandoning problem cats on to the streets. Again, further details will be announced!

"Thirdly, we'll be restructuring and instituting process and protocol into our Stray Cat Fund (which will be renamed as well). Cat Welfare's Special Appeals is having not so easy a time garnering funds for many open appeals for cats in need, and there are no funds in Singapore that will help cat rescuers who have the means to foster sick cats but don't have the cash flow to pay, so this will certainly be much needed. I will be in charge of managing the process of dispensing funds as well as liaising with rescuers on a per-case basis. We'll announce further details as soon as we can!

"Finally, we are extending Trap Neuter Release programs to condominium estates by liaising with estate management companies and offering TNR as a humane alternative to culling for control of the cat population. Ash, our Sterilisation Volunteer, will be in charge of this project, as will his counterpart Liyin. Nice."

By Ng Yi Shu, Executive Assistant.

Make a financial gift via a deposit to our POSB savings account 188-52652-7. Find out more.  
Become a monthly giver to help ensure our rescues continue getting their needs met.  
Feed and provide litter to the cats we foster via our corporate sponsor The Water Dish.   
Follow on us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

The full story: Dumpling, another glue trap kitten from Novena Square 2

On Monday, Nova's rescuers called us to tell us they found - another - kitten that was covered in glue, trapped in the ceiling inside Square 2 at Novena. This kitten like Nova probably tore self off the glue trap and ended up covered in the glue and traumatised. Dumpling was rushed over to our foster home.

When Dumpling first arrived

She is likely Nova's sister, but a bit more feral. She also has one eye missing, instead of an eye it is an empty eye socket. The vet agrees that the eye was either born missing or it was lost (maybe eaten by the very rats Square 2 is breeding) at a very early age. Likely cross-Siamese, she has lilac/chocolate markings on her ears and at the tip of her tail.

Still stressed

After many olive oil and shampoo baths, she is more or less clean now, and will need a lot of socialisation to become adoptable, chances of which are already stacked against her because of her missing eye. After which, she will see the vet again for vaccinations and be made available for adoption. She is now about 9 weeks old.

Almost completely free of sticky glue now

We wrote to Far East Organisation, asking them to remove all glue traps on the premises, as well as provide us a written reply. Regardless of what your ethics about killing animals of any kind, the humane option is to opt for the least painful option of pest control, as well as targeted pest control measures for the specific pest problem. Glue traps cause slow and painful deaths, and are indiscriminate as they do not always trap rats in the first place.

They have not responded, but the story has gone onto STOMP already. Feel free to write to any other appropriate channels in order to pressure Square 2's building management to respond swiftly. We will continue to post updates on Dumpling online as she gets better. Likely yet another bath today, and if no longer sticky, she can join Nova and his roommates.

Update 14 Nov 2013:
Have spoken with Square 2 folks and they were truly unaware about the horrors of glue traps as their external NEA approved pest control vendor was the one that proposed them. Have advised them to look at more comprehensive methods of rodent control, that is, looking at food sources and entry points, and looking at cage based traps that do not inflict slow and painful deaths nor leave carcasses in places away from the traps which will cause even more hygiene issues. Also advised them to consult with SPCA for complete list of alternatives as they have been campaigning against glue traps since 2009 and have more info. Security personnel have already been instructed to be vigilant if they hear or see any animals in distress and glue traps have been retracted. We also spoke to them about helping with TNR should they have a sizeable stray cat problem.

Make a financial gift via a deposit to our POSB savings account 188-52652-7. Find out more.  
Become a monthly giver to help ensure our rescues continue getting their needs met.  
Feed and provide litter to the cats we foster via our corporate sponsor The Water Dish.   
Follow on us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

The full story: Nova, glue trap kitty from Novena

Last week, we got a call from cat angel Catherine regarding a kitten that got stuck under a generator, and after a harrowing rescue, was found to be covered in glue. This kind of glue is usually the result of kittens being caught on inhumane glue traps for rodents. Nova was sent over to our foster space that same day.

En route to our foster home

Debris stuck to his fur. Thankfully no visible torn skin

Catherine found a suitable adopter for Nova already, but this kitty needed a lot of rehab, and also house training, first. He was a gentle kitty who loves other cats older and younger, even Scotty the puppy. But he was unable to eat on own despite being 6 weeks old. He was also quite traumatised at first, obviously.

Scared at first. Diffused geranium essential oil for him

Penned alone at first, but he sought out his neighbour

Glue needs to be removed with olive oil baths, but his temperature was not stable, so he couldn't be bathed for too long, and needed shorter baths daily at first. We also clipped away fur that was very clumped together, so he has some bedhead fur now.

Bathed with olive oil, shampoo, powder daily

Eventually his fur got much cleaner, and after needing handfeeding at first, he got together with Celine the current foster mom available and suckled on her. He also made friends with Tuna and Timon and even helped groom them like the older brother he found himself to be. (NB: Timon, the runt, later passed away from Fading Kitten Syndrome, something we always feared would happen with him as he was sickly from the get go).

Nova after being nursed by his foster mom

Good friends with Tuna who is younger

Learning to eat solid food already

Fur no longer requires daily baths

Nova will go to his new home once we ascertain he can be independent from his foster mom.

Many kittens that get trapped on these glue traps, which SPCA is routinely advocating hardware stores to stop selling, end up getting skinned, or starve to death on the traps. Also, these traps very rarely actually catch any rodents. Usually kittens and lizards are the ones found on such traps. The glue is also toxic to humans.

How can you help prevent more of such accidents in future? If you live near any hardware stores, advocate for the sale of more effective and humane rodent control traps. Even the older spring operated traps are more humane and successful at pest control. At your workplace or private residential estate, speak to the building manager about stopping the use of glue traps. One of our cat angels Vivienne has shared a sample letter to hardware stores to help you in your advocacy work. Yes, you, an animal welfare advocate! Because we all can do our part.

Make a financial gift via a deposit to our POSB savings account 188-52652-7. Find out more.
Become a monthly giver to help ensure our rescues continue getting their needs met.  
Feed and provide litter to the cats we foster via our corporate sponsor The Water Dish.   
Follow on us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

Behind the scenes of Secrets in the Hood!

Sometime last month there was a crew visiting Love Kuching. Who could it be? Sealy and Sayang look curiously at the people working in their home.

Echo wondered who all these people were and what were those lights for? It's so different than a normal photoshoot by Furry Photos who usually came by to take pictures of the cats that are available to be adopted.

It was Pornsak! He was hosting a new show, Secrets in the Hood, premiering on Channel U, 9pm on 6 August! You can catch it every Tuesday night. We don't know which episode Love Kuching will be in but if you miss it, it'll be on Xinmsn for Catch Up TV too.

Having cats walking around curiously on shoot can be really interesting. If you ever want to see how Love Kuching is run or listen to the volunteers, catch Secrets in the Hood! We'll try to repost or tweet when the episode with us is on if we see the promotional teasers for it.

What you don't get to see on TV is that the cats kept trying to get away more than usual. They would be so nice and huggable  but when the camera is on, they start to walk towards it!

And then other kaypoh cats will want to be in shot or meow when they usually would be quiet.

I don't know what is going on in this interview but we'll know...

Caption by our twitter friends, you can follow us too at @luvkuching

Make a financial gift via a deposit to our POSB savings account 188-52652-7. Find out more. Become a monthly giver to help ensure our rescues continue getting their needs met. Feed and provide litter to the cats we foster via our corporate sponsor The Water Dish.  Follow on us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.