Took Nessa for her regular checkup today and found out that she might have borderline diabetes

Hope it’s just a bladder infection, which was what the vet confirmed, but will check again in 3 weeks after a course of antibiotics.

Poor Nessa, am praying hard she doesn’t have diabetes coz she’s been through enough. Sigh…

~~~~~

When I was paying for the meds, this man came in with a cat in a cage. He was telling the staff that it’s a stray cat that’s been around the back of his house for a year and he wants her to be put down coz she’s been bothering the neighbors.

According to the man, the cat was abandoned by her owners when they moved.

What’s really sad is that the cat is really pretty, quite similar to Trixie (my sis’ cat) in in color and fur. The man said she couldn’t get along with his cats and also he’s already got a number of cats at his house.

Every so often, I have to keep telling myself I can’t save them all because if I don’t, I’ll get consumed by guilt and probably drive myself insane. But it’s really heartbreaking to see such a pretty and healthy (I’m assuming, from her appearance) cat be put down thru no fault of her own.

I hope her previous owners, whoever and wherever they are, will burn in hell for just abandoning her like that, and now for getting her killed.

One of the SPCA committee members whom I’ve worked with over the years on animal welfare issues is now my colleague.

There are stray dogs in the area around our workplace. I recently found out that she has gotten all 7 of them fixed (i.e. spayed or neutered) and every weeknight, she stays back till dark and feeds them (because she doesn’t want to be noticed by people in case they complain). On weekends, she will also go there specifically to feed them. And she buys freshly cooked rice and meat from one of the restaurants near our workplace to feed them.

The most amazing thing : she’s been doing this for almost the entire time she’s been with the company, which is about 8 years! Everyday.

I so admire her level of dedication and commitment. My work/contribution thus far is pittance compared to hers.

Note : The Trap-Neuter-Release method has been proven to curb the dog and cat stray population and also prevent new strays from entering into an area that already has a colony of strays. Singapore is one of the countries which has successfully implemented this program. I can attest to its effectiveness because this is what I did with the stray cats around my parents’ condo. The number of stray cats there have remained quite stable over the past 6-7 years and a few of the cats have been around for almost that length of time.

When incidents like this happens, I hope people will remember that ultimately, these are wild animals and we may keep them captive and train them all we like but we will never be able to remove the wildness from them.

And we shouldn’t. Because being wild is their nature.

And when things like this happens, it is not the fault of the animal because it is just displaying its natural instincts.

The only reason why I’m not looking forward to going back to work is that I won’t be home to watch Nessa in case the reduction of her meds cause her seizures to recur. According to the vet, it will take about 2 weeks for the meds to stabilize in her system so it might not take effect immediately. This means that the most likely time it might recur is when I’m back at work. Sigh. Am so praying for the best because it would be so difficult to see her go thru the horrifying episode again.

Doesn’t help that now I don’t have my parents around for moral (and sometimes, physical) support.

Sigh.

Got.to.be.strong.to.handle.this.on.my.own.

Now I know how it might feel like if I were to have a kid and had to leave him/her to go back to work. But that situation would be different in that there would be people (read : family) who would be clamoring to volunteer to watch the kid.

The past 2 weeks have been traumatizing.

Nessa developed seizures 3 Fridays ago and it got progressively worse. Dr. Vijay prescribed steroids to see if it would bring any inflammation in the brain down but it didn’t work. It got so bad that she was having fits almost every hour. That night, I couldn’t take it and decided to take her to the 24-hour vet so that they could monitor her and administer Valium intraveneously.

Watching my beloved pet having a seizure is, by far, the most traumatizing thing for me to-date. Because there is nothing I could do except try to hold her down until the fit passed. To watch her writhing and thrashing around, and being unable to control her bowels was just too much to bear.

We’re currently controlling her seizures now with barbiturates. Phenobarbital, it’s called. We still don’t know the cause of her seizures so this medication is purely an anti-convulsant and does not address the underlying problem. I am considering if I should get an MRI done so that we can rule out or know for sure if there’s anything affecting her brain. But what if we do find out that there’s a tumor? There is no neurosurgeon here in Malaysia to operate on it. But the other vet I consulted had a point : If we know what is the problem, we can be prepared to face the upcoming challenges. So, the MRI is something I am considering at the moment but will not rush into doing it because the animal needs to be under anesthetic in order to get the scan done.

I’ve also found out, thru the blood tests that was run to rule out any organ/blood disorders, that Nessa is mildly positive for FIV, the feline equivalent of HIV. Can’t be sure where she caught this from but am suspecting it is from her days as a stray. This might also be the cause of her seizures.

I joined a group called epi-felines, run by people who have cats with seizures. So far, I have gotten a lot of support and information from the group. It seems that seizures are uncommon in cats and most of the time, the underlying cause of the seizures cannot be identified, and most of them are keeping their cats’ seizures under control with pheno.

Having a pet is a lifelong commitment. Living with a pet with a health condition is even more work. I’ve got to give her her meds on time and monitor her closely to ensure that she doesn’t display any strange behavior. But this is all part and parcel of taking care of a living creature.

Having a pet is not unlike having a child. Except that a child will eventually be able to voice his/her desires and wants and needs, while a pet will never be able to do that. In that sense, it is more difficult to keep a pet because you have no idea what is hurting them or whether they are sick until you see the physical signs.

Many people would say, it’s just a cat. But to me, my pets are living creatures who depend on me for food, shelter and a loving home, while I depend on them for their companionship and unconditional love. My cats have been with me for more than 8 years, longer than any boyfriend ever lasted. They ask nothing of me, save for their twice daily feeds and cleaning of their litter pans.

Me and my pets are a package. Previously, I have often wondered if it is too selfish of me to impose this particular aspect of my life onto others (especially a significant other), but a few of my dear friends have shown me that I must be true to myself and those who can’t accept it, can go look elsewhere. I now realize that people may come and go in my life, but my pets will remain constant. That is, until they pass on.

How many of us stop to check on animals who get hit by vehicles?

Here’s a lesson that we can all learn from Daryl.

What kind of sick individual does something like this?

“…trained pit bulls for death matches in which spectators bet on the outcome…”

“…dogs that didn’t show enough fighting spirit, or that lost matches, were put to death by a variety of methods, including shooting, drowning, hanging and electrocution.”

Full report here.

A letter on this by Best Friends Animal Society co-founder, Francis Battista, in The Philadelphia Enquirer here.

Twenty-two dogs in various states of trauma were rescued.

“Vick personally drowned, electrocuted with jumper cables, and body-slammed dogs to death, when he could have paid a veterinarian to put them down with lethal injections. After all, he paid someone to meticulously remove the teeth – roots and all – of Georgia, one of the dogs now at Best Friends, so she could be bred without endangering her male partner.”

“Would someone who expressed that level of aggression and violence against another person, even without a death involved, ever be considered for immediate readmission to professional sports?”

“Animal cruelty is a proven gateway for violent criminals ranging from the Columbine kids to your run-of-the-mill wife-beater.”

While Michael Vick gets on with his life with a mere slap on the wrist, his victims are either dead or have yet to recover from the trauma he inflicted on them.

And this is in the States. Here in Malaysia, the perpetrator gets off scot-free or at most, slapped with a RM200 fine.

Makes my blood boil.

Taken from Mkini :

Wesak Day releasing of birds actually cruel
SM Mohd Idris | May 22, 09 5:33pm

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) echos the call by the Buddhist Chief High Priest of Malaysia, Venerable Reverend K Sri Dhammaratana against the cruel practice of releasing birds during Wesak.

SAM shares the concern expressed by the Ven Reverend that such act of ‘kindness is actually perpetuating trade and capture of such birds.

Despite an appeal of a similar nature in the past, the Buddhist fraternity remain oblivious to it as they continue with the traditional practice of releasing animals as a gesture of compassion and a repentance for one’s sins.

Little do they know that their compassionate intentions are often lost in the act resulting in unintentional cruelty to the animals.

This is because most of the birds brought from the pet shops are caught days earlier and kept in cages for sale on Wesak day. It is an illusion that by releasing these birds they are returning them to their original habitat.

Released birds and animals when hungry, frightened and fatigued would not be able to find shelter and food, the consequences of which is death. When released at crowded temples, they become absolutely disorientated and are unable to fly and fall prey to predators.

On the other hand, by buying animals from pet shops, the people are actually encouraging the catching of more of these birds and animals. Birds from the wild often die when caught or during the journey to the shops.

Since these are cheap birds, they are treated like dirt. Overcrowding in dirty cages and standing in their own excrement, there is no proper care food or even water.

Similarly, non-native animals released into reservoirs will cause an ecological balance as in the case of the luohans or the red eared slider which prey upon the native species. Either they cannot survive in their new environment or they may affect the well-being of the original inhabitants.

The traditional liberation of animals needs to be reviewed in the light of knowing that released animals can result in suffering for them because of their ecological incompatibility. There is also the danger of introducing virus and bacteria from animal releases.

Compassion needs to be balanced with wisdom and one can ‘liberate’ animals by adopting rescued pets from animal shelters instead of from pet shops, by supporting animal welfare activities, advocating humane methods of animal control, caring for an injured bird or fishes trapped in pond and so forth.

SAM reiterates its stand that the practice should be stopped. NGOs and religious institutions should play a part in educating the public to help animals by not releasing them into reservoirs, nature reserves and during religious festivities.

The writer is president Sahabat Alam Malaysia

… if a person genuinely cares about animals when :

1. S/he asks about my cats whenever s/he meets me (after finding out that I have cats), and

2. S/he asks what my cats’ names are, remembers them, and uses them in proceeding conversations instead of just “your cats”.