Looking for human: Foster Care Volunteer needed

We are looking for a new volunteer with the portfolio of foster care! What is that about? Here goes...

In light of expansion plans for our foster space (yes we are going to occupy an entire room in the foster home! More space for rescues!) we will need a volunteer who can commit at least once every week to visiting the foster home in Ubi and doing menial things like cleaning the cages and litterboxes, wiping the walls and floor, packing boarding supplies and grooming the kitties. You will also need to help supervise any new volunteers such as student volunteers or visitors who are helping out in the same duties, whenever there are any.

This once or more weekly commitment will begin in about 5 weeks' time (more will be announced on the blog regarding the move to the new foster space). In 3 weeks, you may also have to help do some shifting as we move the boarding supplies to the new foster space.

It is likely you are looking at a weekend day or night time, and possibly one weekday evening as well if you can, to fulfill this commitment. We hope that you can do this for the rest of the year, so you should not be looking for a short-term volunteering gig but a long-term sustainable one that fits your regular schedule alongside work and family commitments.

You will also get to learn intensive foster care skills such as medication and physical exams, knowledge about beneficial supplements and various feline ailments.

And of course, you will get to hang out with the cats. Something we need too! The foster cats need more attention than two humans alone can give.

Skills you need to be qualified? Just be teachable, available (the more flexible your time is, the better), and hopefully good at cleaning because Andy and Elaine are quite tired of doing that for the past few years! You don't need to have experience in cat care, those skills can be learned on the job!

If you are keen on being our new Foster Care Volunteer, email us and we can discuss this more.

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.

Literally Litter

Last week we heard unfamiliar meowing from below the block where our Ubi foster home is. It was loud enough to attract complaints for sure, so we had to go investigate. The meows came from behind a dustbin that was full, and amongst the overflowing trash on the ground around the bin, were 3 kittens, 6 weeks old, with no mother.

Picked up the three kittens from the trash

Not only were the kittens meowing in distress and dirty, they were absolutely covered in fleas. It is a tight squeeze for us now at the foster home but we had to take the kittens in before they were complained about or abused.

We de-fleaed and dewormed them, showered and groomed all of them and started them on solid food. All the cats had to go on Revolution because of the fleas that came in with this dustbin three.

Had to clean them up (and remove all the fleas)

The kittens are still too young to vaccinate, will have to bring them for their first jabs next week. So, in the meantime, we boosted them with supplements: vitamin B, C, echinecea, colloidal silver, coQ10, probiotics. Their appetite was okay at first, then the second day it went down, and we had to handfeed them with milk using syringes/droppers. After some grooming and cuddles (touch therapy, important for orphan kittens) they started eating again. Their appetite is good now.

Currently on soft food with supplements

There are two red (ginger) boys, from left: Bambi, Gobi, and Cubby is a calico girl whose only red patch is on her nose bridge.

They get along really well with the older foster kitties, and our own kitty staff as well.

Sealy the Kitten IC with (clockwise) Bambi, Cubby and Dobi

More photos when the 3 are ready for adoption (after they are vaccinated and have transitted fully onto dry food).

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.

Foster Space 2.0

If you are a cat lover, you would have probably thought about fostering rescued kitties at least once before. What might have stopped you could be lack of knowledge, or inexperience, time, worry your own cats will not like it.

For us, the challenges we face can be boiled down to one factor - space. Our foster lounge is actually the main humans' living room, and storage space is getting limited and crowding the flat. Our work and rest spaces are hardly separated. We are also limited in the number of rescues we can foster because of this.

Not only is space limited in area, it is also in design. Our pens, three of them, were originally designed for kittens, but our main objective now is in critical care of strays. This means that the rescues will need pens with wider space meant for lounging and less for climbing.

The Suite. Only pen that is suitable for critical care.

Simple plastic table makes it easy to scale, wide enough to function

The Penthouse, for older kittens, for climbing

But each level only comfortable for one small kitty

The ICU, recently decommissioned due to wear and tear

Not suitable for adult cats, look at the squeeze!

Also, because the cat intake now will need to be in a less stressful environment, we can no longer manage the cats in clowders but need to allocate one cat to one pen. This means we must have more pens to accomodate more cats.

These sets of challenges made us think about Foster Space 2.0.

We want to move out of our foster lounge and into a new foster space. We don't need much, but one room, and access to a loo, and kitchen for food preparation. Not a full-fledged cattery, just a space only for cats.

The solution to this is simple, but challenging:

We are looking for a cat patron who is willing to sponsor us a room. For free. We will fill it with pens, at least 4 of them, suitable for intensive care kitty patients. Some storage furniture, cat climbing surfaces, and a space for documents. A human or two will come by daily to work, including cleaning. We will need access to a loo for water, cleaning and bathing, a fridge for storing medicines and leftover canned food.

In our foster home in Ubi, that is, the main humans' real home, there is a spare room currently rented out to a human tenant at $500 a month. (We cover the electricity, internet and water). We can 'chase away' this tenant and use this room but it means forking out an additional boarding expense monthly to make rent.

We do not mind either option, because we are mere stewards in the bigger picture of cat rescue. To know which idea is more feasible however, we will need to hear your views!


What we need you to do:

If you are willing to be this pro bono landlord, let us know, and we can share more details with you. If you know someone else who can be this special landlord, hit the email icon below and email this to them. We need an unfurnished room, and some access to a fridge and a bathroom, and for visitors (a volunteer or an adopter) to be able to come by when necessary. You can set a curfew!

If we cannot find this one landlord, we will need to know whether we have the law of large numbers on our side. To make rent, we need cat angels like you to pledge a monthly sum. Enough angels to make rent and we will know if Foster Space 2.0 is feasible. What you need to do: think about whether you can pledge, if yes, then email us your pledge amount, name. ANY amount will do. If the tallies balance, we can will move forward. If they do not, we will maintain the status quo. This will be our sustainability test.

Excited? Apprehensive? We are feeling both. But we want to say 'no' less often to cats that need to stay in an intensive foster care home. We want to make a bigger difference in the climate of cat rescue in Singapore. We really, really love cats, but we want to reduce burnout by segregating our living and working spaces. We want to engage volunteers who are keen on cleaning and feeding duties only (we have a lot of these requests, we just don't have the space to accomodate them, ever!)

Is Foster Space 2.0 a feasible, sustainable endeavour? We want to know the answer. Pledge a room, or a monthly sum, today, and spread the word to someone who can do either of the same.

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.

February 2013 Bank Statement [Easy to view format]

Hey cat angels! Here is our spending and income for the month of February 2013. Thank you to all who gave: the monthly givers, the blogshop customers, those who rallied funds from friends to give to our latest stray cat rescue, Junie. We appreciate you all deeply.

BF: Boarding Fund, SCF: Stray Cat Fund. SF: Sterilisation Fund

Any questions you may have about the cash in bank February 2013 statement, do let us know!

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.

How to give to Love Kuching on a monthly basis via internet banking

Assuming you are a DBS internet banking user, here is how you can set up a standing instruction to give monthly to Love Kuching Project. Log in to your account online and click on the circled links shown in the graphics below -

This will lead you to a page where you can fill in the details such as our bank account - POSB Savings 188-52652-7, and how much you want to give monthly (no amount is too small). When you come to the part which says payee name, we are unsure as to whether the bank means it is for your reference or it requires the actual account holders' names - to be safe, put either Chiam Elaine or Koh Zhen Jian. As long as you have got our Love Kuching account number right, the funds will not be accidentally routed to our personal accounts. Our branch is Kampung Ubi but the branch code is standardised across all POSB branches as 081.

The standing instruction set up is likely available on other banks' internet banking websites as well.

By default all standing instructions i.e. monthly cash gifts are routed to our Boarding Fund. If you wish to make a monthly gift to other funds you can let us know and we will direct according to your preferences.

"Thank you for your monthly giving! Am happy!"

January 2013 Bank Statement [Easy to view format]

We had the recent fortune of talking to a cat angel who is an accountant. You may not have noticed this but we haven't been publishing our annual reports as frequently these past two years, nor updating the realtime bank and cash balances on the blog. All our books are here with us, paper trails and all, we just didn't arrange it for publishing.

None of the Love Kuching folks are numbers people really, we are sheepish amobout it, but we tried our best and often we end up having to do other more pressing cat things. Which is not good enough of course, so we are on the prowl for another human (volunteer) who is good at admin and accounts so we can publish the annual reports we missed, retrospectively. In the meantime, you can still access our FY 2010 annual report. And always remember that as donors, no matter when, our books can be perused if you request to see them.

In the meantime, so that the non-numbers-orientated humans here won't lose hair and sleep, we are going to put up our monthly bank balances (cash in bank) with indications of which partition funds the go to or originate from in a simple one-glance format once a month. This statement will not reflect petty cash though, which we use mainly for adoption fees collection and purchase claims.

It is a simple screenshot off the DBS website. Less work for us in the meantime and also easier for you to have a one-glance. Win-win situation! We like!

Here you go, January 2013 Bank statement

Any questions you may have about the cash in bank January statement, do let us know!


To become a monthly giver, here is how.
To give a one time donation, here is how.
To be the human we are looking for, accounting trained and good at adminstration, bookkeeping, email us.

Junie the Aljunied stray cat

A beautiful black cat gets rescued!

Junie, a friendly community cat from Aljunied

On Saturday we got a call about an injured stray cat. She was acting more aggressive, and had weak appetite, likely from pain. She had a wound on her inner foreleg, sustained late last week. The rescuers had financial difficulties paying for her veterinary care fully so we are very grateful that the Stray Cat Fund was available to help!

Junie's wound

We got a cat trapper to get Junie to our vet. Dr Dawn Chong saw her and suspects it is likely a cat bite wound that grew into an abscess which then burst. We have seen such injuries before and it can be fatal if not treated soon enough.

Dr Chong flushed Junie's wound with saline and then applied Panalog ointment. Junie would need stitches for the wound to heal but because the injury site is still inflamed, she would need to go on antibiotics first. Junie is now at our foster home receiving her medication and getting her wound flushed and medicated daily. She will go for surgery on Wednesday and then return to us to recover fully.

We have Panalog and saline at our foster home, save $!

Junie's first vet bill, paid for from Stray Cat Fund

After her surgery, because the wound is near a joint, she will need to stay indoors with restricted movement and continue antibiotics, because otherwise the wound will reopen. Junie is also having pain and we are managing her pain with Tramadol. We also would like her to regain her appetite fully before she returns to the streets.

She initially was quite stressed when she came to our foster home, likely from pain and the introduction to new cats. After some pain meds, massages and aromatherapy, she calmed down. Heh, we found out she likes catnip.

Junie chilling out after pain meds kicked in

We are also giving her supplements of fish oil and turmeric to aid in wound healing. She takes her meds very easily and will eat her supplements when it is in canned food. She only likes canned food though, and we have run out. (Want to help feed Junie while she is here? Here is how.)

So far we have really enjoyed Junie's company! She is easy going, and her temperament is lovely when she isn't in pain. She is so easy to bathe, feed meds too, and will listen to instructions. She is about 5 years old this year and has a super classy temperament to match.

Will update more after her surgery. Look out for her pics on our Instagram / Facebook / Twitter (luvkuching).

If you want to contribute to the Stray Cat Fund, make a deposit to our bank account POSB savings 188-52652-7 and email us so we can appropriate your gift to the fund.

Chinese New Year safety for kitties!

Holiday around the corner! Remember to keep the kitties safe. Here are some pointers you may like to look out for during this festive time.

• If you use ribbons to tie decorations to plants, take care not to leave any stray ones that can be swallowed by kitty. Swallowing a stray string or ribbon may lead to intestinal obstruction requiring surgery. 
• Some snacks are simply too oily for kitty to digest. Like bak kwa. Yes, some cats do like pork. Jerky treats (dehydrated meat) are available for cats that are more suitable.
• Fish is important for many a Chinese new year meal. Unfortunately there are bones and therefore should be kept away from kitty. If you want your cat to share in the fish, pressure cook it to make sure the bones are no longer a choking hazard. Do not add salt or any seasonings to it.
• Kids will come to visit! If they are new to kitty, do take time to teach them how to interact with a cat. No touch areas include kitty's tail, tummy and paws. Do not force kitty to make friends if she doesn't want to, it will create stress for her. 
• Lion dance is a stressor to cats because of its loud noise. Keep kitty in a quiet room when there are lion dance performances around the neighbourhood. Likewise for mahjong. 
• Take care to notice signs of stress in kitty: constipation. overgrooming. peeing outside the litter box, lack of appetite.

Safety first, folks. Have a great holiday!

New Wellness canned food range

Cubed or minced meat in gravy. (Also available sliced.)

Our corporate sponsor @TheWaterDish gave us the new Wellness range of canned foods to try. The kitties love it! The humans weigh in on the pros and cons of this new range of Wellness wet food.

Gravy. A lot of cats like gravy but find that there isn't much choice in the canned food department that comes with a lot of gravy. In fact, some resort to giving Whiskas pouch food from supermarkets because of the gravy, and we know Whiskas contains far too much salt that it is unhealthy. The new Wellness range comes with gravy but is far healthier! Cats that love gravy can eat and be healthy.

Palatability. No the humans didn't actually try it but the foster cats did and they really took to the range. All the formulas, be it tuna, turkey, chicken or salmon. They seem to have no preference over the cubed or minced variety and sometimes we fed it to them mixed. Balloon, who was initially very fussy over his canned food, which we needed him to eat because his meds or supplements were mixed inside, and also because his medication makes him need to consume more water, really liked this range too. Considering he used to eat fried ikan kuning fish, this was testament that the food passed taste testing.

Downside is probably one ingredient that some cat nutrition folks will disapprove of: natural flavour. The argument is that we do not know how this flavour is derived,. Another downside is that for a small can, $2.50 makes it less affordable than our favourite go-to brands for economical reasons: Addiction 185gm and Nutripe. But for those who like not having leftover canned food that needs to be stored in the fridge till the next meal, the new Wellness range is an ideal size. For a single meal a day, one can is just nice, for a smaller meal, half a can per cat.

Our most particular favourites are the cubed turkey and salmon, and minced tuna. and here you go, another new range of cat food to try!

Cooky, construction site injury victim

Cooky is a black and white 6 month old kitten who came to us to recuperate from flesh wounds he sustained as a stray kitty in a construction site.

Cooky

When he first arrived, he was missing the flesh off a toe and had a skinned elbow. He also showed signs of trauma, but did well under intensive care.

Injured hind toe

Skinned elbow

He was on oral antibiotics which he has completed, and now needs only topical medication on his wounds. They have stopped bleeding so much and are enroute to recovery.

Cooky will be returned to his territory at the construction site once his toe and elbow heal, unless a human steps forward wanting to adopt him!

If you are keen, here is more about Cooky.

Cooky likes human affection

Cooky is a very affectionate cat, enjoys talking to us a lot, and is obedient. He likes lounging together with us when we call him, yet is not overly attention-seeking. He is independent and doesn't mind being on his own but always enjoys a hug. He is very suited for being a pet cat because of these personality traits. Oh, and he is very greedy! Seeing him munch away at food reminds us that cats really love simple things in life such as food.

He is a black and white neutered male kitten with a short tail.

Cooky, relaxing

He is on Revolution, and litter trained. When his toe and elbow heal, he will be looked over by the vet one more time to make sure everything is okay.
 
Keen to adopt him? See here or right side bar under 'How to adopt' to find out how.