Cat Ladders

This site is fantastic!

It is giving me so many ideas on how to improve our current set up, which is purely 2 staggered planks bought from Ikea. Only XX, CC and YY use it. Not for play but to escape from us when we have to catch them for pilling, bath etc.

I think I will be spending the next few weekends in Ikea. :)

Old men and cats

Bon Bon rests her precious butt in the most unusual locations at home. It is only during one day that I realise that those locations capture the most delightful breeze, even when it is a stuffy day.

And similarly, you will notice that those old men who gather around the void decks, will actually have the best seats as that is the area which is the breeziest.

So old men are similar to cats? :)

This has got to be the cutest kitten video on Youtube!

I like the black one. No. I think I'll take all 4.

Xin Xin's latest photos

Lazy Xin Xin taking a rest on our bed. Something she always does when she has access to our bedroom.

The cat who ruled my roost

I read this article on The Sunday Times, 21 Jun 09. It is an article about a cat's life, reprinted from the Los Angeles Times. I quite enjoyed reading it, the charmed life of this cat which had probably enriched the life of the author and his family. There is no doubt the cat was loved by the family and memories of it will forever be etched in the family's memories.

By Jerry Zezima

“Connecticut – No man who has a cat can ever claim to be king of his castle. No man who has a wife and children can ever make that claim, either, but that’s another story.

I found this out in 1989, when my wife, Sue, and I moved with our young daughters, Katie and Lauren, from an apartment to a condominium in Stamford, Connecticut.

The girls, who longed for a “real pet”, had grown tired of goldfish whose life expectancy was approximately as long as the Super Bowl half-time show.

They wanted something that could return their affection, that had some semblance of intelligence, that would respond to their every command. True, they already had me. Bu they wanted more; they wanted a cat.

So, on an overcast Saturday, we went to the Humane Society and saw lots of cats of every conceivable make and model. Asking not one child but two children, ages nine and seven, to pick out the pet of their dream borders on cruelty, not necessarily to the children, who would gladly devote their lives to such an endeavour, or to the cat, but most definitely to the parents.

Ultimately, the decision was in my hands. Or, more accurately, on my feet. That’s because one little kitten, a black-and-white cutie of almost unimaginable softness, climbed out of her box, scampered over to me and began to rub up against my size 11 sneakers. When I picked her up, she snuggled against my cotton shirt and purred contentedly.

It would be years before she showed me such affection again.

Of course, I wouldn’t have known that. But it was late, the girls were hopelessly confused and I was hooked, so I announced: “This is the one.”

Katie named her Ramona, after Ramona Quimby, the title character in a series of books by children’s author Beverly Cleary. It was a monumental misnomer: Ramona, the fictional eight-year-old girl, was charming, lively and smart; Ramona, the real-life eight-week-old cat, was grumpy, boring and stupid.

But the girls were happy. Sue and I were, too, because, for all her mental deficiencies, Ramona quickly learnt how to use the litter box. I like to think she followed my example because, of course, O already was house-broken.

Ramona’s cushy lifestyle as a pampered princess who rarely deigned to associate with commoners ended in 1995 with the arrival of the newest member of the family, a puppy named Lizzie.

Sensing competition, Ramona finally began warming up to us.

Her miraculous transformation into an affectionate sweetheart continued in 1998, when we moved to Long Island, New York, and got another cat, Kitty, who then had her own kitties, Bernice and Henry, all of whom ignored Ramona, who was only too happy to reciprocate and focus her attention on us.

Just before her Sweet 16th birthday party, Ramona began emitting a series of loud, strange, agonizing cries that sounded a lot like me when I get out of bed in the morning. Sue didn’t help matters when she shook her head sadly and said, “It’s her time.”

I rushed to Jefferson Animal Hospital with Ramona, who sat calmly as Dr Jeff Rose checked her teeth and, at the other end, took her temperature. Then he listened to her heart and began feeling her stomach. “Have you watched her when she uses the litter box?” he asked.

“I don’t make a habit of it,” I replied. “Why?”

“Because,” Dr Rose announced, “she’s constipated.”

“You mean I worried myself sick over this stupid animal, thinking she was at death’s door, and the only thing wrong with her is that she can’t have a bowel movement?” I asked incredulously.

“I’m afraid so,” said Dr Rose.

The bill: US$165.10. The prescription: a stool softener.

Our first “real pet” enjoyed good health for four more years, until about three weeks ago, just a few days before the end. She was two months shy of her 20th birthday.

For two decade, Ramona had us all wrapped around her little paw.

She lived on her own terms and was loved unconditionally.

I guess she was pretty smart after all.”

It's been 365 days already

Last time this year, we brought Xin Xin to the vet as she was refusing food and was lethargic. We expected her to just have a simple flu or something similar but instead, the vet told us she had acute renal failure and had to be hospitalised immediately.

The next 10 days were a blur and an emotional roller coaster for us as she was subjected to blood tests, injections and IV drip. Her condition went from bad to worse as she was further diagnosed with cardiomyopathy (heart disease) and the general feeling was that she would not make it.

We spent at least 4 hours a day at the vet with her. Forcing her to eat, singing to her, coaxing her to pee and poop, and generally just be by her side. It was only on the 10th day the vet allowed her to take her home, perhaps feeling that there was not much they could do for her.

She was very weak when she reached home. She was refusing food but needed the nourishment badly. She had to be medicated 3 times a day. I cannot remember how we passed those 2 months after that but it was the Wife waking up extra early in the morning, trying to syringe feed her while I will rush home during lunch to do the same thing. There was no OT for us during that time. When it strikes 6pm, we would rush home to begin the whole process again. Office work had to wait till 9 or 10pm before we would actually settle down for a breather. The worst was actually injecting her everyday to combat her dehydration.

Xin Xin was a fighter though. Time was not up for her. She fought a good fight; she put on weight; she began drinking herself; she started fighting with the gang again.

One year from then, she does not seem to be that sick cat anymore. Not for the past 9 months. She passed her quarterly vet examinations except that her heart is still beating at 180bpm compared to a regular 140bpm.

Everyday now is a routine.7am will be 60 kibbles of renal food gobbled up in 10 min. Then she will lounged around waiting to be stroked while we feed the rest and prepare breakfast. At around 7.50am, she will voluntarily stroll into the kitchen and sit there while I wash the breakfast plates. She knows it's time for her morning pilling. So kitchen door closed and in 2 minutes or less, either the Wife or myself would have succeeded pilling her 7 pills. And finally, the magic tuna and tuna water for her as her reward for being so cooperative.

Back home before 9pm, she will gobble up another 60 kibbles of renal food and then another round of pilling. But no tuna or tuna water this time. She does not really mind if we substitute it with some time devoted to stroking her or playing with her on the bed.

So for the past 9 months, it has been like this day after day. We have all fallen into a routine. No more overseas holiday for us since then as one of us has to be home on any day to feed and pill her.

I wish for many of such days. At least for another 10 years.

I have finally stopped itching. Yay!

Chang Chang:

I gave Mommy and Daddy a scare in August when I started rejecting food and my skin condition had seemed to get worse. They even took me the vet for a battery of tests which turned out negative.

It is a great relief to them now that I have actually stopped itching although my fur is growing back very very slowly. I have also started eating my NB Ducky dry food again and due to Xin Xin's condition, all of us now have at least 1 meal of wet food a day compared to early this year when it was only a twice a week treat. The growth on my outer lip has retreated completely and even my waxy ears are clearing up though it is still rather unsightly compared to Xin Xin's ears.

They think that it could perhaps really be linked to stress. They had removed the Feliway diffuser and with its removal, I started recovering almost immediately. Maybe Feliway really does not agree with me.

I have regained the sparkle in my eyes again. Now I can look big big into Mommy and Daddy’s eyes whenever I lay on their chests.

Day 137 Home 127 - Xin Xin is well; and some thoughts on her

I had sent Xin Xin to the vet for her monthly check up on 20 Oct. Her vitals are okay except that her heartbeat is now approximately 220bpm. That is a concern as it had increased from last month's 180. But there is nothing we can do right now except making sure she gets her heart medication on time (so far all on time without missing a single dose). We had also increased her heart medication dosage as advised by the vet as she has gained another 100g this month. So as not to overstrain her heart, we have been advised not to play with her although she can play on her own if she wants.

She had been happy this past month. She had found herself a new toy, ie, the Wife's cloth hairband, and had been batting it around the room whenever she sees it. Sometimes she will also meow non stop while carrying it in her mouth. We have no idea what that means at all as this is the first time she is exhibiting this type of behavior.

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
(='_'=) (='_'=) (='_'=)

And on the topic of Xin Xin, a close couple friend of ours asked us over dinner the other night why we did not consider putting Xin Xin to sleep. We were quite astounded over the question as we thought they would understand.

They are close friends. We are close enough to go on 3 long overseas trips and 2 sea cruises together in the past decade. We meet at least once or twice a month for chit chat and updates. They are also childless by choice, like us. We knew each other in school, were in the same course and graduated together more than 10 years ago. Even our job scopes are somewhat similar although mine has changed a little 3 years ago.

But what is different is that they do not have any cats or dogs like us. They had wanted to keep a dog a few years ago but the thought of taking it for a walk daily sort of put them off. They do have a tank of tropical fishes though.

On the other hand, our family grew from having Kim Kim as the sole cat to now having the 5 of them with us. We treat them like family, like our kids. Their welfare has on the top of our mind, especially now that Xin Xin has heart and kidney problems.

Our answer to them was that Xin Xin was never in pain all this while and if she had been in constant pain without a cure in sight, we would have considered easing her pain. Even when she was hospitalised, the vet had told us that she was probably feeling a dull ache in her and that she was feeling poorly. Although the chances of her surviving was very poor, we opted to fight with her until it is very apparent to us that she will never make it through another day. We were very fortunate she pulled through without suffering much excpet for the uncomfortable drip and daily sub-Q injection for the first month.

It was a given to us that at least one of us must be at home on any particular day to give her her twice daily medication until she leaves us. That means we have to forgo our annual overseas trip as there is no way we can get help to medicate her twice a day and also coax her to eat her renal food, usually by hand. Both the Wife and myself did not even discuss about Xin Xin. We had the understanding that we will do the best to make sure she is well and does not suffer.

Maybe it is because we treat her and the others like family. We worry when they have poor appetite. We worry when they are sick. We worry when they eat too much and become a walking bowling ball like our Kim Kim. But we are happy when they do well, when they chase each other around the house, when they come to us for chin rubs and head butts, when they clamour around our feet for their food. Yeah, I think it is because they are our family and that's why we have never considered not fighting together with Xin Xin. But we will willingly let her go if she is in constant pain with no chance of recovery.

I guess it is difficult for an outsider to understand the bond and attachment we have with them. To some people, it is difficult to comprehend why we are willing to spend so much money and effort on Xin Xin's treatment. Xin Xin - a cat, a longkang cat picked up from the street. Not our human child. But she is our child nonetheless, though with a little more hair all over her body and who will forever rely on us to provide her love, warmth, food and shelter.

But she gives us so much more in return. More love. Much more love than we could have ever given her.

I am not sure if they understand our reply. We hope they do. Because we will not be able to go for another overseas holiday with them again until Xin Xin moves on. But we are willing to sacrifice those holidays for another year with her.

Day 93 Home 83

This entry is a day late.

Yesterday was the 3rd month since Xin Xin had been diagnosed with CRF and cardiomyopathy.

The first 2 months were very stressful days when we had to keep force feeding her at least 4 times daily to help her gain weight and hydrate her via daily IV injections. She stabilised in the 3rd month and I no longer had to rush home during lunchtime to feed her medicine and food. We had not injected her with fluid since 6 Aug 08.

We sent her to the vet for her monthly checkup yesterday. The vet was happy she looked bright and alert. Although her heartbeat was still fast at 192 (vs last month 185 vs a normal rate of 140), it was still manageable and the vet did not recommend a higher dosage of the heart medication. We did however notice that her chest area is still bigger than the rest of the gang which is probably due to her enlarged heart which needs to pump harder and faster to get blood into her system. The consolation is that she still play, jump and run every night. Lately, she has been fighting a little more with Kim Kim, just like when she was 1 to 2 year old.

We are keeping our fingers crossed. We will never know when her condition will start deteriorating again. Hopefully it will be a long time, like 10 years from now. For now, we once again enjoy her company, laugh at her silly antics, marvel at her acrobatic movements, sweet talk to her and snuggle together on the bed before our bedtime every night.

Xin Xin, 加油.

Just when they thought they could relax a little...

Chang Chang:

They say I had been very 倒蛋 because just when Xin Xin's condition had stabilised, I had to present them with another set of problem.

For the whole of last week, I had been rejecting their offer of wet food mixed with crushed dry kibbles. So they had no choice but to just feed me wet food every meal. Hahaha......

Then I got pickier and rejected my usual Natural Balance Ducky wet food and they had no choice but to feed me Fancy Feast Tender Liver. But I deliberately ate less than 2 small cans a day until I started losing weight. And because I had not been seen drinking, I got a little dehydrated.

On top of that, I slept more often though I am still racing around the house every 2 nights.

They became worried as I had just been given my 2nd steroid injection late Jul for my itchy skin, constant licking and a sore on my lips. The 1st injection in late May managed to reduce the sore and reduced my itchiness but it wore off after 1.5 months before the sore erupted again.

Suspecting that there was something wrong with me after the bad experience with Xin Xin, they packed me up and sent me to the vet last night. My 4th visit in 3 months!

The vet stuck something up my butt, looked at my mouth, pressed my tummy, checked my heartbeat but could not find anything wrong. Then he drew some blood from me and ran tests for thyroid, diabetes and renal failure. He told them that at my young age of 4 1/2 years, the chances of contracting these diseases should be low. And he was right. There was nothing wrong with my blood tests at all. Daddy was happy with the test results but the vet was disappointed though. He kept using the phrase "unfortunately, we do not find abnormalies in the test results so we can't be sure what he has contracted and therefore cannot administer the right treatment."

And then he said he wanted my 大便 and 小便. I don't know what he sprayed near my rear region but my 小弟弟 went numb. OMG! Really scared me! And he tried to push something into my bladder to try extracting 小便 but of course I put up a good fight and he gave up after 5 min. Now Daddy and Mummy would have to collect those at home. :)

Before we left, they even injected some fluid under my skin to reduce my dehydration. I had seen them doing it to Xin Xin before but I never expected that I would be on the receiving end one day.

I was a good boy at home and immediately gave Mummy my 大便 sample. The fecal float test was negative. There was no parasite in me. Now it seems that only the 小便 test can confirm if there is anything medically wrong with me.

I have had this itchy skin condition since I was 1 year old. The condition only got worse in the last 3 months. Over the past 3 years, Daddy and Mummy had tested me for fleas and mites, changed my regular food to low allergen formulas, changed my shampoo to a mild hypoallergenic one, washed all my beddings weekly, experimented with different types of litter, experimented with various household detergents thinking those could be the culprit but none worked. The only thing which briefly worked for 6 months or so was the wheatgerm/evening primrose oil they fed me daily. It sped up my fur molding period but after some time, it stopped working again.

Do you have any suggestions how I can actually heal so that I won't cause them anymore worries? They suspect that my skin condition is the main cause of all my problems and if they can find out that main cause, I will never be itchy again. And when I am not itchy, I will have more appetite and therefore gain weight.

I only got itchy after the ginger furball Yuan Yuan joined the gang in Mar/Apr 05. Maybe it's her? Maybe I am allergic to her. Is that even possible?

Kitties for adoption or fostering

There are a few kitties with their mummy up for fostering/adoption. Currently they are straying around the NUS Science canteen.

This is a pic of them. Cute right?
I infer that they should be rather intelligent and will probably in 3 months time, be able to recite the Newton's laws and also e=mc2 to you. In a year or two, they may also in between naps and head butts with you, design a gadget which will make you listen to their every command.

Come to think of it, my kxbc gang should be rather intelligent too since they have already trained us to revolve our lives around all their needs like scratches, head butts, fetch food, refill water bowls, clean blankets, clear litter boxes........

Day 54 Home 54 - To give or not to give?

We last gave her a sub-cut of 150ml last Fri, 1 Aug, early morning. Since then, we have not given her any and it has been 5 full days. She is still quite hydrated and at no point in time was she dehydrated. Perhaps 1 - 3% at times but she will make up for it later by drinking.

The vet mentioned that no sub-cut is necessary as long as she is hydrated.

Should we then give her another sub-cut of 150ml tonight even though she does not seem to need it?

Day 50 Home 40 - She's heavier now

We sent her to the vet for a monthly checkup this afternoon. Her last visit was on 6 Jul.

She weighs 3.95kg now, 400g heavier than when she first came home on 23 Jun. She used to weigh at around 4.2kg before her illness. The vet was surprised by her weight gain though we are not really since we have been weighing her almost daily and have been monitoring her weight gain closely.

We still syringe feed her 4 times a day with the "horrible tasting" Hill's k/d wet food mixed with a bit of Royal Canin Indoor 27 for flavour. And during our sleeping hours, she finally gets what she desire: Natural Balance Ocean Fish formula mixed with a bit of Royal Canin. That's almost like 1 1/2 can of wet food a day. The only bad thing is that both the RC and NB food are not really suitable for renal/heart patients. She hates her Hill's k/d dry formula and we are now left with a big bag of food. It seems like the whole of Singapore has run out of Waltham's Renal dry formula and the next shipment will only arrive mid/late this month. Waltham also has the renal wet formula but it is not available here.

We knew from our experiences of feeding Chang Chang solely wet food that although the cat will feel full, it will not gain bulk and weight. But when we started replacing some of the wet food with grinded dry food, this formula will assist in weight gain. And sometimes this weight gain is necessary as they need some buffer weight to lose when they fall ill, something like us humans.

If you remember the time when Lee Hsien Loong was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo chemo treatment, he actually added some weight first so that his health will not suffer as much when he starts chemo treatment which may cause him to lose his appetite. I am applying the same theory to Xin Xin in case she falls sick again in the future. Too much weight loss will mean a lesser fighting chance for her.

The vet is glad that she has gained weight, her heartbeat has dropped from 240 to 180 though she still has the murmur (normal range is between 110 to 140) and is now able to jump, run and even fight with the rest of the gang. For the past 3 days, she has even gone back to her bad habit of pooing just outside the litter box. But I am glad for that as I take it as a sign that she is back to almost normal doing normal things.

She has also been drinking more on her own and for the past week or so, we only gave her sub-cuts twice every 3 days at 150ml each time. She still remains pretty well hydrated and the vet told us that we only need to give her the sub-cut when we find her dehydrated. Her Frusimide intake can also be slowly reduced from 1/8 tablet twice a day to 1/8 tablet once a day. That was good news for us as it means all 3 of us will suffer less from the stress of the sub-cut operation.

This was taken in Jan 08 when she was super healthy.


This was taken when she was hospitalised. Her breathing was very ragged then. Her heart pumped furiously. She was weak. She was not eating or drinking. We thought we would lose her that day.

This picture was taken when she first came home after the hospitalisation. She was still weak and sickly.

This was taken just an hour ago. She looks and feels better now.

Xin Xin is fighting back

Go away, CRF! Go away, cardiomyopathy! I will win you one.