Kitty Journal 10 - Neko-chan & The Mines MCC Cat Show

I haven't post anything the last few days.. I was busy checking on Neko-chan.. Poor girl was so sick..

I went to the vet on Tuesday to get Neko-chan her vaccination and deworming. Unfortunately, she was running a fever and was denied both. I told the doctor she has been suffering from diarrhea and soft poo, so the doctor gave her 2 injections, told us he'd give antibiotic tablets and liquid medication for the diarrhea. We gave our thanks to the good doctor and settled the bills, went back home.

To my chagrin, Neko-chan's situation got worse.... her stool was so watery, eventually mucus came out.. I was worried, but I decided to wait and see if the medication would help lessen the situation. As day became night.. she was still suffering from diarrhea. I wondered that maybe it will take the meds a few days to cure the diarrhea. As time goes by, she got worse, really watery stool and I spend the time wiping the floor of her cage.... It was worrying, and she looked weak. Her stool has even lost the smell and form of normal cat stool, and it smells bloody. I decided to take her to the vet again today.

I woke up early and gave the vet a call to see if they're open and lucky enough, they're open. I got ready, put Neko-chan in the carrier and took her to the vet for the second time in the week. I was really worried.. Sherbet had had diarrhea before, but never this severe. We went in to see the vet and I told the vet what happened, even brought a sample of her stool. The vet says she probably got a case of viral infection and needed IV drip coz she was dehydrated. I smile, and told the doctor to be careful becoz Neko-chan is much more fierce compared to my two boys. She was growling when the doctor put in the needle and was in pain. Normal I reckon, IV drip is somewhat painful. I tried to hold her but she was moving too much it fell off... *sweat* .. the doctor said it was okay, enough liquid went into her body to ensure she's hydrated. Then the doctor gave her 2 injection, that was quite hard. By now, Neko-chan knows the stranger does something painful on her. She was growling and went quite feral it made the doctor jumped. Luckily nobody was scratched.. *laugh* and the good news is Neko-chan got treated. I asked the doctor about the antibiotics the gave me before and told me to stop the said antibiotics and they will give a new one. I said my thanks and went out of the consultation to settle the bills and take the medicine.
Arrived home 10minutes later and put Neko-chan back into her cage. I monitor her stool, the frequency of her diarrhea and found that it has improved a lot. There was less stool outside the litterbox and the consistency of the stool is much more better. I can see the digested food from her stool and no more mucous. She can eat and drink, although seem a bit lethargy, it is understandable. Even human would feel so weak with such a disease, imagine a small kitten.

Today is Monday, 3 days after the last I went to the vet and Neko-chan has improved a lot. Her diarrhea has reduced massively and her appetite has improved a lot. She was more affectionate, started to play around on her own or with me more and no more stool outside litterbox. With each passing day, I can feel she is less in pain. Her stomach was tender the first day, but by today she has no trouble with me holding and rubbing her stomach. Everyday I would take some time and let her out of her cage and roam the room. I can't let her play around with my two boys since she and Salem aren't neutered yet. I don't want to have births in my home, not ready and don't even want to breed cat. Too many strays roaming around my area makes me sad. Made me wonder how many kittens actually survived..

Yesterday I went to see a catshow hosted by the Malaysia Cat Club at the MINES Shopping Complex in Seri Kembangan with my bf. We went at 11.30am and toured the display. So many beautiful cats catches my eyes. I saw a familiar face from Petfinders but didn't have the courage to walk up and say hi. I wasn't that familiar with the person anyway, would be embarrassed if I walk up and says hi but the person would not even know me.. hehe.. I am a shy person anyway (roll eyes). I saw a sphinx, beautiful in it's own but I find it odd to see a fur-less cat. I saw a few Maine Coons, some Persians, Exotics but then again.. they could all be Domestic Long Hair, Domestic Semi-Long Hair or Domestic Short Hair for all I know.. (laugh). Still, they were all beautiful. Some were really huge .. I even commented they are like the St. Bernard of cats and some were petite. I hang out quite some time at Argo, a cat owned by Pakcu, a Petfinders member, at the catshow. I recognize him from the picture posted in forum and called his name from outside the cage. He was so affectionate, rolling over in the cage (I assume expecting a belly rub) and rubbing his face and body on the cage. Ohh, how adorable and cute.
Although it was a nice catshow and alot of people came, I was somewhat frowning at the visitors that came to the show. A lot of them poked their fingers in the cage, from one cat to another, some poked in straws, paper and even tissue into the cage. There is a lot of education needed to educate people on the danger of simply stroking one cat and another. The risk of transmitting disease, their oily fingers would rub off oil onto the shiny coat of the cat, and it also made the cats more scared. I fumed secretly inside, I am neither an owner of the cats there nor the committee. So I just stared at these people and wonder if they even listened half ear to the announcement the catshow committee has been saying. My bf pointed out it's human nature to want to touch something beautiful. True, but it is wrong. People should know that all the cats are part of family of the owner, would you be comfortable with strangers poking and stroking your child? I resisted the urge to touch any of the cats there after I read the complaint of a fellow catshow enthusiast. There is a lot of education needed to educate malaysians on the proper behaviour at catshows, or any exhibitions in my opinion. Probably the next time a catshow is held, a restriction walkway have to be created a meter away from the cages so that people won't poke their fingers in. I even saw a guy trying to get a picture of a cat by shoving his mobile inside the cage. Too bad the cat was too well behaved. I wish the cat was like my boys at home, swiped the mobile phone and push it down to the floor from the side of the cage (evil grin). I saw a kid got swiped on the face by a cute kitten. Serves the kids right (I laughed and said to my bf). Parent should educate their children how to behave in public and not poke a finger inside a cage (or your face in front of the cat's..haha ). I later found out the cat belonged to another member of Petfinders, EJ and the cat's name is Ray. Found out the cat has been rather grouchy the past few days, he even swiped the judge (laugh). I guess some guys have bad days (smile). Then again, if I were those cat, I would be grouchy too. It was noisy, strangers poking their head and fingers at me, it smells weird, I can smell so many different cat scent in the air.. I would be a terrified cat or a grouchy one, I tell you.
It was a nice experience for cat owners to put their cats in a catshow. Other than showing off your beautiful cats, you get to meet new people, make friends other cat lovers and get experience how to handle your cat during a catshow. I would probably love to join a catshow, but not till I can handle my cats properly. One is a "easily-terrified" kitten, one is a screaming banshee, and another is still sick and not to mention very grouchy. I can imagine Sherbet mewing frightened (or huddled in a corner shivering), Salem would probably mew from the top of his lung like he was destined for the gallows and Neko-chan would probably swipe and growl at every person that tried to peer into her cage(laugh). I bought some rubber mice for my kittens and a bag of clumping cat litter to test how good it is. I heard from some friends that Katty Cat clumping sand is very good and cheap at some places, so I decided to try. Better to try small amount before I buy a huge bag.
Next in my agenda is Salem's second vaccine and next week, if Neko-chan is healthy enough, it's her turn to get a vaccine. So many things to do everyday, life could never be boring. Never regret the decision I made to adopt a kitten, look where it got me now.. I feel happy everyday, I have plenty of exercise (scooping litterbox is serious business, I practically went into Master Archaeologist mode) and I get to have unconditional love and affection everyday. What else would a girl want? *Smile*

Kitty Journal 9 - Neuter Part I

Saturday, April 11th

5.30am: I woke up early this morning, somewhat anxious for my 1st neutering experience. I've kept Sherbet in a cage without food or water the night before and imagining, how the process goes.

6.45am: I was ready to go and meet June, a forumer from Petfinder who is willing to give me a ride to the neuter clinic.

7.00am: Bf picked me up in front of my block and send us to the gas station not far from June's place. I covered the carrier with a T-shirt so that Sherbet won't be too frightened of the noise and sound while on motorbike.

7.15am: Arrived at the said petrol station and waited for a few minutes. A silver kancil, driven by a petite lady honked at us. Aha! It's June.. I recognize her from pictures I saw in Petfinder forums. I shake hands with her and off we went to the neuter clinic. We chat along the way, telling stories about cats. It shows how much she love cats and rescues them. I admire her dedication. Such effort is not cheap, or easy. It is time consuming and cost quite alot too.

8.00am: We arrived at the neuter clinic. Some workers are loitering around, waiting for their duties and the guard told us the clinic won't be open till 9am, we just nodded. Luckily, June bought some newspapers and we read abit while chatting about cats, experience with cats and such. I love meeting a person who has so much knowledge and experience. A good opportunity to learn. She told stories of a Persian, ran off frightened into a bushes nearby because the owner came without carrier of leash. A few barks from the dogs in the dog pound and the poor thing ran into the bushes. Said to take quite sometime to find it, owner got scolded by the doctor there (I was like.. it's so obvious.. stated in the rules and regulation to bring carrier / leash pets..*rolls eye*) I guess some owner didn't read much *laugh*.

8.30am: The staff there gave us Green colored form to fill in our particular and pet's. It's a neuter form, so I filled it and waited.

9.00am: Dr Krishnan came. We greet him and followed him into the office. By now, around 4, 5 people have arrived, carrying their pets for neutering. I love seeing other cats.. so beautiful. We went into the office, get our numbers and tag and leave the our cat in their respective carrier. We walked to a nearby stall to chat and have breakfast while waiting for the neuter process.

10.15am: We went back to the clinic to check on our pet but they haven't come out from the operating room yet. June told me, the vets there usually prefers to neuter male first than spay females because the procedure is much more easier. They just need a small incision, pull out the testicles, sew and cut it. We waited outside and chat.

10.30am: Many cats have been brought out of the operating room including my Sherbet. He looks weak and groggy, but he managed to lift his head and looked around. I heard from the assistant there, they will only let the pet leave operating room after they can lift their head up. My Sherbet looked weak and disoriented, poor kitten. But I know he will feel better soon. June's female stray cat hasn't come out yet. It's probably because there's a lot of male cats today, they do the neutering on male cats first. A man came with 2 cats was denied a neutering on 1 of his cats because it has an eye infection. The assistant explained to him the cat has some watery discharge from it's eye and advice the owner to get the cat to a vet for treatment before neutering. I just listened abit, paid the bill and waited outside.

10.45am: A couple came in with 2 huge carriers, each holding 3 cats. All the cats looked like adult. At a glance, they looked beautiful. I especially love the black one, and another brown colored pointed cat. As I peer into the carriers, I can smell pungent urine coming from the inside of the carriers. Hmm, I thought..that's odd. My Sherbet is a really scaredy cat but he never peed when he's scared. Closer inspection shows the cat's coat was rather dull. June asked the owner if the cats are stray, the guy told us it's theirs and they're giving it away. We went outside the office, sat there and discuss. The cats looks like it's not properly cared for.. they smell and the coat is dull. From the way the owner looks, they are not from a low income family. The car looks expensive, the carriers look sturdy and expensive. Can't help but wonder why they are giving away their cats.. but I dare not ask. Each to each own I guess...

11.15am: June's cat came out of the operation room, looking groggy and weak. She paid her bill and we went out the clinic. It was smoldering hot but we have to rush back. June has to rush for her work and I hate to impose on her. I told her to drop me off where she picked me up before and I'll tell my bf to pick me up there.

11.45am: We arrived at the petrol station and lucky enough, my bf arrived a minute later. I shake June's hand, give my thanks and went back to my place. Sherbet inside the carrier, covered with a T-shirt. I am totally indebted to June for the ride. I would have trouble getting my kitten to the neuter clinic but she has helped me tremendously. From the bottom of my heart, thanks alot June. I can't give you anything much than a thank you for now :-S

12.00am: I arrived at home with Sherbet safely. Put him in the cage and monitor him. Poor thing peed and wet himself. I read up cat after neutering will have trouble controlling their bladder and I understands. I am just glad Sherbet successfully went through the surgery. I am so relieved. The first experience was always the most frightening (for me anyway)..but I'm lucky to go with a fellow cat lover who is more experienced. I will be more ready for my next kitten neuter :)

The first few hour was gruelling for me.. I worry seeing Sherbet try to move around.. sometimes holding his head up.. sometimes falling asleep. I tried giving him kibbles and water..but he kept tilting the plate. I cleaned up the mess and asked fellow forumers about post-neuter care. Luckily BB pointed out it's better to give wet food for easier poo. I take out the kibbles, dump it in Salem's bowl and take out the wet food. It was lucky I kept extra wet food since Petsmore have some wet food promotion. I split a can of wet food for 3 kittens with me. Both Salem and Neko-chan ate fast and finished within minutes. Sherbet took hours to finish his share. Poor boy. I gave him encouragement and called his name. His cage smells of urine but I wasn't sure what to do.
I text June and ask her opinion on wiping Sherbet with wet towel, she gave the green light. Wiping is okay but keep it minimum. I carried Sherbet and locked him in the carrier, mopped the floor of the cage, wipe it dry and then takes Sherbet out, wiped his body with a towel dipped in warm water. I cleaned half his body which was covered with his own urine earlier. He didn't mew, so I'm guessing a wipe is okay for him. I cleaned him up and then put him in the cage again. He can already poo, which means he is getting better.
A few hours later, Sherbet can already sit comfortably and eat with more appetite. I am happy to see the development. I hope he will get stronger and better. He meow slowly when I called his name.. Such an affectionate boy...

On another note, Neko-chan is getting so much better. Her face is less "coarse" and the big crusty ringworm patch on her right abdomen is gone. It's smooth and fur less at the moment but I'm sure the fur there will grow back soon. I am really happy with the development and that she's getting better. I will monitor her more and give update on her soon.

Salem the screaming banshee..? He's happy and active as usual.. nothing bothers him..except if he's locked up somewhere or left behind somewhere (e.g : when I go to the bathroom and locked the door.. ). He mews loudly when Sherbet and I was at the clinic (my bf said).. I'm guessing he was worried about his big bro. As loving as this may sound.. he will still try to steal his brother's food if he can. Such a bad boy Salem... *laugh*