2nd anniversary - Bon Bon

Our dearest Bon Bon,

Today marks the day you have left us for 2 years.

The pain is still there but it has diminished much.

But we still miss you lots.

Grandma Kim Kim has got much older this past year. She has diabetes and CRF but she is coping well like a grand old lady. She'll be 18 soon, you know. 

Your Xin Xin big sister is going strong. She's still mad you know. I think she misses you running after her when she goes crazy daily. Mei Mei does not do as good a job as you.

Your little nephew Chang Chang has got rid of his itchy skin problem. Yay!

Yuan Yuan also has mild diabetes since Jul 17. She has lost some weight and muscle but overall, she is good. Do you know she is now a lot friendlier and receptive to us stroking her? Did you whisper this to her? I think you did. Thank you, BB.

And your little sidekick Mei Mei has slimmed down a bit this last 12 months. She's doing well on her new diet. She remains your little spunky niece.

We miss you. Come back from time to time to visit, ok? We are having your favorite KFC tonight. We'll leave some for you.

2016 reflections

2016 has not been kind to us.

Bon Bon and Mei Mei

We started 2016 with Bon Bon diagnosed with oral cancer on 27 Dec 2015. We fought the disease valiantly together with her for 2½ months, hoping for a miracle. It was not meant to be and we had to ease her pain and let her go in mid Mar.

In that same quarter, we noticed the Mei Mei had some blood in her pee. The vet found a bladder stone and had to operate to remove the stone. Luckily for us, a combination of early detection, Mei Mei’s relatively young age and the skill of the vet meant that she bounced back to health within 2 weeks.

We grieved the passing of Bon Bon in the next few months as the remaining 5 of them re-positioned their ranking within the family. Some routines changed. Mei Mei replaced Bon Bon and started to shadow Xin Xin around the house. Yuan Yuan became slightly more vocal. And every night when we reach home from work, we will find the 3 of them right at the door, welcoming us without Bon Bon tagging behind Xin Xin.

Kim Kim, Xin Xin and Chang Chang

In the middle of the year, we sent Kim Kim, Xin Xin and Chang Chang for teeth scaling procedures. With them being more advanced in age, especially Kim Kim, we were worried, not knowing how they will react to the anesthesia given. This was especially so for Xin Xin since she has a known heart and kidney issue and has a higher risk of not waking up from the anesthesia. Luckily for us, all 3 of them came through unscathed.

Chang Chang

Right when we thought things were smooth sailing again, Chang Chang ruptured his anal sac during the night in Nov. In just 6 hours while we slept, he aggravated the injury through aggressive licking of the wound area, creating a massive 2cm wide by 1cm deep wound right beside his anus. We were horrified when we saw his wound in the morning. It was so raw and bloody. We could not imagine the pain he was experiencing.

The vet could only clean the wound area and let the body heal on its own. There was no sufficient skin and flesh to stitch the wound. So in the next 5 weeks, we had to disinfect and clean his wound twice a day. He would sometimes yowled in pain when the disinfectant stunk the wound. With an E-collar though those weeks, he was miserable as it made eating and drinking difficult and grooming impossible. Gradually, the wound did indeed healed on its own, filling up the deep hole with extra tissue growth. It would be difficult to spot the wound area on him today.

Kim Kim

Kim Kim celebrated her 16^th birthday in Apr and is our oldest cat. In human years, she is already close to 80 years old.

We have been keeping a close watch on her health for many months. Her movement have slowed down much and she rests a bit more compared to a year or two ago. Recently, we noticed that she has been drinking and also peeing a lot more. Fearing that she might have contracted kidney issues, we brought her for a blood test in early Dec. Her SDMA test showed her kidneys were still alright though the results were at the high end of the normal range. However, her glucose levels were high. She was diagnosed with a diabetic condition.

But because she was not eating well due to her herpes flare up, we had to get her to eat regularly first before we can have her hospitalized to determine how much insulin to give her. We syringe fed her twice daily. The medicine given did not seem to improve her condition. She was lethargic and spent most of the time under the sofa. As she continued to pee a lot, she became dehydrated and we had to give her daily sub-cuts.

Her condition got worse just before Christmas. She became weaker and was unable to crawl into the litter box. Uncharacteristically of her, she peed outside the box for days in a row. The vet ran another blood test on her on Boxing Day. Her ALT levels were 10X the normal level – it was within the normal range mid Dec. Her liver was not functioning properly and was immediately hospitalized.

Fortunately, she responded well to the aggressive treatment over the next few days and was finally able to eat on her own on 29 Dec. When we brought her back home yesterday, we were delighted that though not as strong as before, she still had the strength to walk around the house. Her appetite returned though we still have to coax her to eat.

Today marks the date we will have to add Kim Kim’s insulin injection to our daily routine of pilling Xin Xin. As I type this entry, she is resting in her bed next to me, grooming after her evening feed.

Our family ends 2016 on an even note, with no more highs and lows. I hope 2017 will be a better year for all 5 of them.

My cats are aging

I was watching TV lounging on the sofa last night when Kim Kim climbed up to sit with me. She gave me a silent meow again as she demanded me to pat her. 

I cannot remember for how long this has been happening on a daily basis. It seems like a long time. She will meow. I will pat her, then maybe stop a while and she will meow louder again as she thinks that it is not long enough. Once she has enough, she will sit with her hind legs in front while she suckles her tummy for a few minutes. And then she will fall asleep on the sofa beside me. Occasionally, she might wake up and give another silent meow before she drifts off to sleep again.

She will be 16 and a half this coming Sep. In this past year, we have noticed that her mobility has slowed down and she is sleeping more. Her aging process has accelerated a little more though she remains bright and alert. 

With Bon Bon's death in Mar, we have become more aware that the rest of the gang are also getting on in years. Kim Kim and Xin Xin  are more than 15 years old which is the average age of a house cat. If all goes smoothly, they might have at most another 5 years with us. By then, Chang Chang and Yuan Yuan would also be around 15 to 16 years old. 

My wife and I have talked about their death candidly on many occasions. We have always known this will happen, that we will mourn each of them when they leave us. But we just cannot estimate the impact it will have on us. 

Bon Bon's passing hit us really hard. We continued on with our daily lives but there is so often this huge hole in our hearts. Time heals but it is such a long process.

I can't imagine them leaving us one by one in the next few years. The house will be so empty then, perhaps only left with May May who is 7 this year.

Till then, we will all follow our daily routines. They will bugger us for food and for pats. We'll continue to love them and care for them. If only this continues indefinitely.

Spayed

MM went for her spaying yesterday. We dropped her off at the vet early in the morning before picking her up again at 4pm. By then, she was already pacing around the carrier. She looked a little dazed then but by the time she was home, she was almost like 100% recovered.

The vet had warned that she may not have any appetite but MM finished 1.5 table spoon of dry food and drank copious amount of water the moment she was let out of her carrier. She was obviously very hungry since she had not had a bite since midnight the night before.

Overall, she is recovering very quickly as she was already jumping around a few hours since she reached home. Her recovery speed is second to that of YY, who was jumping and running almost the moment she reached home from her spay operation almost 5 years ago. Both of them have very strong community cat instincts.

Whenever we send any one of them for any operation, I will feel very uneasy. I will keep thinking about them almost every minute until I receive the call from the vet telling me the operation had went well and they are currently recovering and under observation. This time round however, I did not feel anything at all. The Wife still did but it was not so intense as before. I believe it was because I had not spent much time with MM ever since we took her in 2 weeks ago. I had spent a week overseas during that period and it was the Wife who was managing the gang. But perhaps because we had not yet bonded so much, we don't feel the anxiety as much. Perhaps our bond will take more time to grow then.

Still, who is interested to adopt MM? She is ready to go to a new home in a week or so once we are very sure her stitches are healing well. Anyone?

May May's update

kxbc:

It's been one week since she has been with the household. She has integrated such successfully with the rest of the gang though KK or XX will still hiss, especially if she walks too near them. We know XX is a little jealous of the little thing as MM seeks our attention every chance we've got. XX has always been like this with every new cat who demands more of our attention than that given to her. It happened when we adopted BB and CC, and now, MM. But we know it will subside with time although XX will still smack them once in a while to assert her special place with us.

MM came into heat on the second day with us and was yowling her head (and ours) off every 10 minutes. We were so afraid it will affect our neighbours that we shut all the doors and windows. Luckily, her heat is coming to the end as we speak. Her neutering is due next Sun and hopefully with that done, she will no longer be yowling.

For such a small little thing, she has a very hearty appetite. She can easily finish 2 big spoonful of dry food in less than 3 minutes in the morning and evening. And in between, she will look out the other plates for untouched food before devouring them as well. We think it is her community cat instinct still very prevalent in her system and hopefully, she will outgrow it when she realises that she will always have sufficient food in our household. We are glad to note that she is slowly putting on weight and muscles from all the food and daily play. She now looks like a well fed house pet than the scrawny thing we picked up 1 week ago.

We have managed to litterbox train her so now we do not have to let her visit the bathroom twice a day to do her big and small business.

She is also less bitey now as we will walk away when she starts biting.

Slowly, she is learning the ground rules we have in the household though she will still break them every now and then. Hopefully in another few weeks, she will be as well behaved as the rest of them.

Any serious cat lovers looking for an active and affectionate 1 year old kitten to adopt?

Hello, my name is ...

妹妹, or you can call me May May.

I am a brown tabby with a shiny lustrous coat. I wear a white tuxedo and white socks on all four legs and have a long full tail. I have big button brown eyes and a matching brown nose.

Mummy saw me on Fri night after her late dinner and somehow, she spent quite a lot of time playing with me. I think she sort of fell in love with me more than Daddy because the next morning, she came looking for me with another packet of food. Hmm... I wonder if that is because I reminded her of Chang Chang.

Luckily I was still sleeping behind the flower pots and upon seeing that pack of food, I rushed out and devoured everything. Before I knew it, I was scooped up and rushed into the lift. And then a metal door opened and closed. A wooden door opened and out peeped a black/white head welcoming Daddy and Mummy home. It will only be later that I realised that the head is that of Xin Xin, Daddy and Mummy's favorite little girl.

I spent the night in the big cage, looking at 5 cats peering and then snarling at me every time they passed by. And in the morning, I was whisked into a small little box before emerging in a big white room with this Caucasian man peering at me, checking my bottom, pressing my tummy before I let all I have accumulated the day before all out. Hahaha... But he got his revenge when he stuck 2 needles into me. Ouch... but I am a brave little girl. I did not cry. Instead I was once again my frisky little self, exploring the stainless steel table before I was bundled back into the small little box.

I spent the rest of the day at home playing and eating, playing and eating. Mummy still would not let me meet the other 5 cats. Maybe tomorrow or the day after next? She said something about some deworming tablet. Sounds yucky!

kxbc:
MM has adjusted rather well into the household though she has yet to officially meet the rest of the gang given that she has not yet been dewormed.

The health check at the vet today was good. Estimated to be around 1 year old, she is in good health. She has been tested negative for FeLV and FIV and had her first vaccination today. No visible ticks, mites or fleas were found and I suspect she does not have any since I have not been scratching even though I have carried her more than a couple of times these 2 days. Anyway, we had bathed her with flea shampoo when we first brought her home.

From the state of her teats, she has probably given birth before or she may be pregnant now. The vet has not been able to confirm it but whatever the case, we have scheduled her neutering 2 weeks from now.

Although she is around 1 year old, her behaviour and sense of curiosity is more like a kitten. She is a frisky little thing with boundless energy and matching vocals. A little bitey during play but we should be able to train her to break the habit. She loves chasing after a string and a toy mouse. She likes nothing more than to snuggle up against your ankles and lay her head on your foot as she purrs like a little motor bike. She can be an angel I think in the future like what Xin Xin had become with the right training. She meows at the very sight of Wife and I as if we are her long lost parents.

Although she has access to a clean litter box all day, she did not use it at all which worried us a little until we realised that she is toilet trained but not litter box trained. We will have to start litter box training tomorrow then.

Given her too human trusting nature, the Wife and I had discussed this even before we cat-napped her and it was decided that May May will be adopted out to a serious/experienced cat lover either in a single/multiple cat household. If left at the neighbourhood common areas where she was found, her human trusting nature will make her too vulnerable a target to cat haters.

If there is any reader who is interested in adopting MM, please leave me a comment and an e-mail address so that I am able to contact you. We will screen you as we want to be sure that you are serious in providing her a loving and good home for the rest of her life which may be for another 15 years.