About a street cat named Balloon

On Sunday night, we received a call from Tiffany and neighbours regarding Balloon, a boy cat in their estate in Jurong West.

Balloon had presented with ascites, fluid retention in the abdomen. He was brought to the vet and given diuretics as well as had the fluids drained twice.

Upon investigation with the vets we believe that the underlying condition leading to Balloon's ascites is heart failure. He fits the profile: above 5 years of age, FIP negative, X-ray showed his heart to look 'fuzzy' - the only other diagnostic test left to confirm this is an ECG.

The boy has ascites (bloating of stomach)

At his old home in Jurong West

Also, research shows that cats with heart failure are very unlikely to show any signs of pain or distress. But when symptoms like his bloated stomach start showing, it means the heart is already beginning to fail. This means that Balloon has to be in a stress-free environment. The medication of his diuretics is very key and should be given 3 times a day. The feeders were not able to commit to feeding him the medication, and also applied well-meant but harmful measures to make Balloon feel better. Hence we decided to take him off the streets and into our foster home.

Now resting in our Suite

He likes the pen. Has bed, pillow, blanket

Spends most of his time resting, which is good

Balloon arrived on Monday night and so far he has been doing well. He is very easy to medicate and allows us to groom him. He hasn't been eating very much but is still eating and drinking definitely.

We have been diffusing essential oils to calm him, alongside the Feliway diffuser that is always on. Lavender for stress relief, and geranium for fluid retention. His pen is also scented with catnip, and his water laced with Rescue Remedy.

We will be starting him on nutraceutical and herbal supplements after his vet visit with Dr Dawn Chong today (which will confirm diagnosis and if so, get him his heart medication alongside diuretics). Supplements are procured under our Boarding Fund. He will need supplements such as L-carnitine, Co-Q10, antioxidants such as selenium, magnesium, potassium, vitamin E, herbal supplements such as hawthornberry, ginger, coleus.

We will update how he does over Twitter espcially after his vet visit today.

Meanwhile, his previous vet visit has already been paid for by Tiffany and rescuers and they need help trying to cover it as they have other animals to rescue in their own group. We are appeal for folks like you to help share with them the costs that have already incurred.

Any amount is appreciated. To help with this bill dated 13 Jan: give to POSB Savings Acct No: 245-49743-1 and contact Nurul at 811399097

You can also find out more on Balloon's FB page.


To 'tompang' a shout out: our Stray Cat Fund is still in the red. Any amount you can give will help alleviate the deficit. Our bank details are below this post. Email us to tell us you have given to the Stray Cat Fund.

Give financially to our cause by depositing to our bank account POSB savings 188-52652-7    
Sponsor a foster kitten's vaccination through our Sponsor-A-LoveKuching-Cat Scheme  
Give food and litter at charity rates through our corporate sponsor The Water Dish 

Be Sociable, Share!

A (big) bit of good news

Braveheart has a forever-home!

Yes, he does! He was adopted by Daniel and Jolene on Friday night! He has since adjusted pretty well to his new home.

Braveheart being his usual lapcat self

Braveheart conquering pillows

We are so happy for Braveheart! Thank you to all who have followed his progress.

Give financially to our cause by depositing to our bank account POSB savings 188-52652-7    
Sponsor a foster kitten's vaccination through our Sponsor-A-LoveKuching-Cat Scheme  
Give food and litter at charity rates through our corporate sponsor The Water Dish 

Be Sociable, Share!

If you come across an injured or sick stray cat

What do you do?

First, do you know the person who takes care of this stray cat, i.e. the cat feeder (caregiver)? If so, you should inform the caregiver first. This is because the cat may already have been taken to the vet and could even be on medication at the moment. Also, the caregiver needs to know that the cat is not well if this is a new observation. If you know the cat caregiver, work in tandem with the caregiver to provide medical attention for the cat. If you don't, or know that there is no fixed caregiver, or that the cat-feeder is not concerned with the health of the cats, then you can proceed to act on your own. Also, if the cat is in severe condition and warrants immediate response, act first and inform the caregiver after.

There are two actions to take. First is to inform SPCA to allow them to trap, transport, and provide medical attention. They can also investigate if the case involves abuse. The SPCA 24 hour hotline is 62875355. Remember to take pictures of the cat if it is really suspected abuse, before moving it.

The second action, is the one also recommended by SPCA itself:

"Should a community animal need medical attention because it is sick or injured, the best thing a caregiver can do is to take the animal to a private veterinarian as soon as possible. Injured or sick animals often run to hide and it may be difficult to find them at a later time.

"We also have an emergency service that attends to injured community animals. However as we are responding to close to 200 emergencies per month involving mainly community animals, it would be impossible to treat every one of them in view of our limited facilities (we do not have hospitalisation facilities) and the prohibitive cost involved."

What you will need to do is to move the cat into a cat carrier which you will need to get from home if you are nearby. A cardboard box will do if it is sturdy and will not allow the cat to jump out (cover or tape the top tightly). Please be aware that cats when ill or injured, might be aggressive even if usually tame. Handling the cat should be by the scruff.

If you are not confident that you can handle the cat and put it in the carrier by yourself without scaring the cat off, you will need to call a cat trapping service provider. Our go-to service provider is Acodia (Damy, 93390481) and if he is not able to meet you and the cat soonest possible he can refer you to other trappers. You will need to wait until the trapper arrives at the time you and he both agree on. This means making sure the cat does not run off and hide. If the cat runs away without your knowledge, or dies while you are waiting for the trapper, inform the trapper so he does not have to make the trip down anymore. The trapping service costs $80-120. Please arrange to have cash on hand.

You can also call SPCA's 24 hour service, but ask them to pass you the cat upon rescue and trapping, instead of them bringing the cat back to the SPCA veterinary clinic.

If you are unable to bring the cat to the vet, you can email us and we will meet the cat at the vet to make the veterinary decisions necessary as well as use our Stray Cat Fund to pay for the veterinary expenses. This however depends on 2 factors:

1. We have sufficient funds in the Stray Cat Fund at the time the cat is rescued by you.
2. The cat is rescued at a time where our vet The Animal Clinic Telok Kurau is open. We are unable to afford veterinary fees at off hours (the consultation for regular clinic times 10am to 8pm weekdays is $37.45 before discount at The Animal Clinic, and $214.00 before discount at Mt Pleasant off hours clinic at night or on public holidays). 

Should we be unable to help because of these 2 factors not being met, you can still bring the cat to the vet (any one you choose) on your own, and pay for the cat's vet bill.

If you are unable to shoulder the cat's entire veterinary expense, you can thereafter submit the bills and case details to Cat Welfare's Special Appeals so that the public can help chip in to share the costs. This includes the trapping costs, the transport costs (even if by cab). Therefore you need to keep all the receipts pertaining to the rescue case. Please note that Cat Welfare Society is unable to shoulder the costs on the cat's behalf. Their role is to publicise the rescue case and the costs so that various donors can help. You will still be required to pay the veterinary bill at the clinic for the cat first. Love Kuching will also help you to publicise the special appeal you submit by directing our followers to the post put up by Cat Welfare.

If the cat needs intensive care after being treated, including but not limited to dressing of wounds, application/feeding of medication, if our foster home has space we will take care of the cat, limited to cats without airborne contagious diseases. This will eliminate the per-day hospitalisation costs at the vet. What we cannot do at the foster home includes oxygen therapy and IV drips. That will still need to be done at the clinic.

If the cat's condition is treatable and it gets well, we will return it to the site the cat is originally from when it is assessed to be able to go about its daily functions without pain. If the cat was unfortunately assessed to have a condition it will not survive from, such as cancer, kidney failure, diabetes that requires daily pain management among other intensive care, we can also take the cat in if there is space and the illness is not contagious. This is to still provide quality of life for the cat even in its last days. When the cat is nearing the end of its life and treatment no longer eases its suffering we will euthanise it if the option is available. We will also arrange for its cremation.


We hope this knowledge helps you so that you know what to do when you see a sick or injured cat. Do spread this information so that the people in your social circle also know what to do to save lives.

How can you help if you don't come across any sick or injured cats that need rescue? Give to our Stray Cat Fund. This makes rescue more of a possibility, for more cats. Many stray cats are not treated when sick or injured because of cost, eventually go through more pain and suffering than is necessary before they die. You can change this. Make a deposit to our Stray Cat Fund by crediting our account POSB savings 188-52652-7 and email us to inform us your contribution is toward the Stray Cat Fund. 

Questions? Leave a comment or email us.

Give financially to our cause by depositing to our bank account POSB savings 188-52652-7    
Sponsor a foster kitten's vaccination through our Sponsor-A-LoveKuching-Cat Scheme  
Give food and litter at charity rates through our corporate sponsor The Water Dish 

Be Sociable, Share!

Buy jewellery from Moonfire Charms and help the cats in our care!

Buy earrings, pendants and rings in an endearing kitty motif and benefit our rescue work at the same time!

$5 of each of the jewellery purchased from the Smiley Kitty range at Moonfire Charms will go to us.

Visit Moonfire Charms today to shop!

Earrings

Ring

Pendant

Give financially to our cause by depositing to our bank account POSB savings 188-52652-7    
Sponsor a foster kitten's vaccination through our Sponsor-A-LoveKuching-Cat Scheme    
Give food and litter at charity rates through our corporate sponsor The Water Dish  Be Sociable, Share!

First stray cat rescue case of 2013 - and we need your help

We recently shared with you our cat rescue goals for 2013. Our first case for the year came in on New Year's eve. We received a call from Nazree of Teban Gardens who spotted a stray cat in the carpark limping and lying in the middle of the road, who seemed to be weak and in pain. The cat was conscious and allowed others to handle her although was more aggressive than she was noted to be usually. We deduced it was an accident and arranged for the cat to be trapped and brought to the vet.

Teban Gardens cat: weak limbs, dehydrated

She was found wet from the rain, and hypothermic

She also presented with anemia and heavy breathing

We decided to give her an x-ray to see if she had any broken bones or fractures. Her X-ray showed up clear. She was also examined to have puncture wounds on her stomach, and there was swelling there. The vets believe the puncture wound is a dog bite. The suspected diagnosis was a septic infection of the dog bite that worsened because the cat was caught in the rain.

Cat was put on drip, oxygen and with a warmer

To ascertain if there was indeed an infection we had to do a blood panel but because it was off-hours, we scheduled it for the daytime so that the costs would be more manageable. Over the night, the clinic adminstered IV drips to treat the cat's dehydration and anemia, oxygen, towels and warming lamp to help bring her temperature up. Blood panel and IV antibiotics drip would be administered if the cat pulled through and improved through the night.

However, Teban Gardens cat did not survive. She took her last breath at about 4 am in the clinic, and we received the call.

We have managed the transport and veterinary costs to a minimum but due to the public holiday and off hours nature of the case, and that our Stray Cat Fund was already in deficit before we took on the case, we need you to help this cat together with us.

Although she passed, she was given the best possible intervention to enhance her survival rate and to minimise her pain and suffering.

We would like you to have been a part of this rescue effort, and to help us bring our Stray Cat Fund back into the black so we can continue our rescue work.

We have so far only paid a deposit of $300 to the veterinary clinic. More expenses need to be charged to our account but we do not yet have the funds to pay the complete bill. We also still owe the transport service provider. Here are the bills.

Treatments the cat was rendered are ticked. Bill unpaid as of today

Trapping and transport bill, also still unpaid

What you can do:
Make a deposit to our Love Kuching account: POSB savings 188-52652-7 of any amount, via internet banking or ATM. Email us to indicate that you have given towards our Stray Cat Fund. You can also opt to pay off both bills to the service providers (clinic, transport vendor) for the cat directly, to do so, contact Elaine at the same number to arrange.


We are thankful to all of you cat angels in advance.

Give financially to our cause by depositing to our bank account POSB savings 188-52652-7  
Sponsor a foster kitten's vaccination through our Sponsor-A-LoveKuching-Cat Scheme  
Give food and litter at charity rates through our corporate sponsor The Water Dish 

Be Sociable, Share!

Feline Founder Slinky

Slinky succumbed to a suspected thromboembulism last night and passed at 8:50pm. We will be holding a memorial service for her in aid of our Stray Cat Fund. Details will be rolled out soon.

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.6

2013: What we at Love Kuching are looking forward to!

Have you ever come across a sick or injured stray kitty, and didn't know what to do? Or did something, but was hindered by financial difficulty? Found it difficult to find a shelter that could provide intensive care for critically ill or end-of-life stray kitties?

If you have been with us through the year thus far, you will know adopters have been few and far between. We do not know the mechanics why, and we know we are not the only ones in the cat rescue industry finding it hard to re-home rescues this year. Because of this trend we have had to freeze on new rescue intakes for the longest time. Perhaps the market is saturated or already mature. Perhaps stray cat populations are skyrocketing above adoption demands. What we know is the consequence of low adoption rates this year.

To wear us out even more, our Feline Founder Slinky has fallen ill. While we are used to having sick cats to care for, this has a morale drain regardless. We suffered from compassion fatigue: motivation was low, cat work felt dreary. For people who love cats, this is a big blow to us.

The downsides of 2012 have been aired above. What this has done is incite us forward for 2013. Without slumps there can be little victory.

We have strategised that for 2013, we will go where the need is greater. If kitten adoptions are down, we shall help other sectors of the cat populations in our lives and neighbourhoods. Which brings us back to the questions at the start of this post. There IS a need for critical intensive care for sick and injured stray and abandoned cats. These cats are either due to be released back into their territories when well, or to be cared for till they leave this world. Not everyone is available to foster cats like these not just due to lack of knowledge or funds, but also because of time.

This is timely because we have stored up experience in intensive care for cats over the years. Wound changes, injections, nutraceutical care, medications, handfeeding, dealing with incontinence, and yes, dealing with very feral cats that keep hissing and spitting at us while we try to care. We have also had requests coming in asking for help regarding sick and injured stray cats. There is currently still a low level of support for helping sick and injured cats from the streets and we want to help boost it a bit higher. And yes, Slinky has inspired us to care for more infirmed cats when they are vulnerable, and we are doing this for her.

So, come 2013, we will scale down on our rescue kitten intake, and open our foster home doors wider to the stray cats waiting in veterinary clinics for critical home care. For those we cannot take in, we hope to ease the financial burden for these rescuers by channelling your donations to these cats' vet care via our Stray Cat Fund.

Essentially, we are getting out of the adoption business. But for good reason, and for changes we are eagerly anticipating.

Our mode of operations is not changing much. We will still have the functions of boarding, veterinary care, and general operations costs. We will still be using sterilisation donations and reimbursements for TNR projects that we come across. We will also still be caring for the kitties already in our custody and available for adoption (see right side bar under 'Adoption Alert'). We will constantly be re-evaluating how we go about effectively caring for the welfare of stray cats to ensure mileage for your financial contributions.

To sum up, Love Kuching will continue loving the cats in our lives and neighbourhoods, and partner you to do the same. We are not going anywhere but to keep doing something better for cats' lives. And we would like for you to continue joining us on this mission.

Give financially to our cause by depositing to our bank account POSB savings 188-52652-7  
Sponsor a foster kitten's vaccination through our Sponsor-A-LoveKuching-Cat Scheme  
Give food and litter at charity rates through our corporate sponsor The Water Dish 

Be Sociable, Share!

Update on Chanel in her new home

Here are pics of Chanel with her new parents and new home:

Before Chanel left our foster home

Chanel of course exhibited a bit of new-place stress, did some hiding, but eventually came out. She likes her new home and parents!

Chanel likes her TV. Our foster home had no TV for her!

Was okay and cuddly by her second day

Has a cat tree now too, which she uses!

So happy for Chanel! Let's make more forever homes, spread the word for us to your friends looking for kitty companions for life!

Give financially to our cause by depositing to our bank account POSB savings 188-52652-7    
Sponsor a foster kitten's vaccination through our Sponsor-A-LoveKuching-Cat Scheme    
Give food and litter at charity rates through our corporate sponsor The Water Dish 

Be Sociable, Share!

Updates

We are deliberating on letting Salmon become a stray kitty again, because he is not only not getting any adoption queries, he is too intraverted. He unlikely to bond well with humans which may make him a permanent shelter cat otherwise. Salmon is good at bonding with other cats and with asking humans for food, he is likely to survive as a stray cat. We will be releasing him in Ubi behind our block so we can keep an eye on him.

Chanel got adopted! Will blog her new family's pictures soon. So glad she has found her forever home! Times have been tough with finding adopters. Every cat has been and still is awaiting.

Lenny will be made available for adoption as a special needs cat. He is likely to have chronic flu' / wheezing despite having been on inhaler therapy. He survives well ans does not seem bothered by his occasiona runny nose. We hope some human will be fine with that too.

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.6

Complete report on last month's TNR at Selegie

We finally got all our receipts, got a working computer again, so here is the report on the Selegie TNR we did last month.

On the second round of TNR in that area we trapped a total of 7 cats:

7 cats

These cats were mostly from the areas opposite the HDB flats, at commercial buildings just nearby. We also released the cats neutered from the first round on the same day.

Bills from the second round of neutering were a tad higher than usual because the spay/neuter clinic could not operate on all 7 cats and once and those who had to wait needed extra boarding days which cost.

Bill incl. trapping/transport and boarding

Clinic bill #1

Clinic bill #2

So we spent exactly $810 on this Selegie TNR project. We want to do more. What you can do to help:

1. Look out for uncared for colonies of cats that have no one sterilising or feeders who are unable to sterilise the cats. Then contact us and let us know.
2. Support our Sterilisation Fund. Give to our POSB account (savings) 188-52652-7 and SMS Elaine at 90880675 to indicate you have given towards our Sterilisation Fund.

Our TNR efforts help stem the overpopulation of cats in our nation. Sure we can rescue, rehabilitate and rehome kitties, but sterilisation of stray cats to reduce the kitten population boom helps a lot more, and goes straight to the root of the problem. There are only so many homes kittens can go to. So, if you can do either step 1 or 2 of the above, PLEASE DO!

P.S. Glad to have a working computer again. :)

Give financially to our cause by depositing to our bank account POSB savings 188-52652-7    
Sponsor a foster kitten's vaccination through our Sponsor-A-LoveKuching-Cat Scheme    
Give food and litter at charity rates through our corporate sponsor The Water Dish 

Be Sociable, Share!