Helga's posts with tag: community-cats
Penny took in a sick cat several weeks ago. It's a young tabby (male) called Nick. According to Penny his backside is always wet. sometimes he can't urinate (he was hospitalized and catheterized before). He goes to the litter-box but sometimes the urine just flows out. What is hard on Penny is cleaning the poo very frequently. He has no control. One day about a week ago, Penny asked for advise suspecting blockage. We met and the bladder was easily emptied (no blockage)... however his breathing was not normal so we still brought him to the vet. He was hospitalized one day for observation and the vet suspected FIP. I had been telling Penny to go for acupuncture if it is a spinal cord - nerve injury...but of course with FIP there is no hope. Today Penny called to say "What if the vet is wrong? I want to give this boy another chance. He is eating well and is lively...running about" Penny went to see the vet at Mt. Pleasant Hospital for consultation before being referred to Dr. Oh. The vet said there were no FIP symptoms... most likely to be a spinal cord injury at the lower back (he felt a gap), probably due to a fall from height. So far so good... but unlike my Orange Boy this cat was totally uncooperative... he escaped, pulled out the needles... Dr. Oh tried 3 times then gave up... prescribing Chinese medicine instead. Not much hope of recovery for Panda... his urine is still dark brown.
The large-size cat appeared at Orchid Country Club. Could this be a victim of relocation by pest controllers? The management was going to send him/her to AVA. The cat is all white with orange patches around the ears and an orange bobtail. ---- Today I learned the grisly details about a hoarder. Two caregivers went there several times to clear layers of newspapers covering the floor starting from the flat entrance. I can only imagine the stench, the worms, the thousands of cockroaches... kittens sick, dying...pregnant females. The elderly Chinese woman threatened to kill all the cats and commit suicide if SPCA gets involved.
Good news first...Penny's three-legged kitten Amber is on trial adoption. Bad news... a new abandonees
Earlier during my feeding round a Malay lady (who has 3 "now" sterilised cats herself) brought down a 3 month old tor ty kitten which she found on her 2nd floor corridor. Both me and Penny have reached our limits... no one benefits if we snap and turn into crazy cat women... I noticed that lately I am loosing my temper very easily... so I advised her to try getting it adopted through CWS bulletin board... because at SPCA it would only have a 10% chance.... 
Small cage outside the flat. Was this used to carry the cat downstairs? During the previous feeding I saw a new big greyish cat with collar and bell at blk *26 Area 1. Today I saw a lady and 2 children placing food for the cat. They said it was their cat ...he escaped through the door and he would not let them carry him back. I went up and spoke to the lady's married daughter and husband and offered to trap him tomorrow when he is hungry. The daughter seemed to think that there was nothing wrong with putting her sterilised and micro-chipped cat downstairs. She explained that they just moved from landed property to live with the parents and the cat is used to have his freedom and even mentioned that cats are not allowed in HDB flats. Then she contemplated getting a big cage to keep the cat on the common corridor.... Finally, what I believe to be the real reason came to light... there is a new-born baby! ...cannot have cat fur ...will get asthma. Told her if she really wants to believe such old-wife-tales then keep the cat out of the baby's room....there is still plenty of space for him in this large corner unit. When told about Dirty Harry and other fierce males in the area, she was not worried saying she would bring him to the vet if he gets injured....when they can't even carry him upstairs!
A feeder called me to come quickly.... "cat very sick, ear swollen, blood...lots of flies.. no money to bring to vet, applied powder - no use... have to rush to work". When I saw the cat I scolded her for not telling me earlier...and also for pushing everything to me and keep saying "no money" (her husband drives a big car and her son has his own company and she is working). In the end she gave a $50.- towards vet fees..."but one time only". Will name the cat Panda. I came with a carrier but when I saw the cat (had been feeding him on and off but not seen him lately, he is a shy one) I knew I had to go back to get the trap. He walked right in... The vet says its a big abscess at the side of the face but good chance of recovery.. need GA and to be hospitalized at least one day. Penny just called me that the feeder of the black "Kidney-Failure Cat" that died http://meowies.multiply.com/journal/item/709/_Kidney-failure_cat told her that another one of the strays (a 3 legged cat) is in bad condition... Same story... wait until the cat is in very bad condition and then just simply call and say "no money". I think Penny will bring him to the vet... she got her own trap now :)
Today I saw only the unsterilised female, the sterilised mother cat and one of her kittens. I managed to get the female into the carrier and then waited a while but no sight of any of the other cats. One of the guards said that he saw them yesterday, and that they will come out in the evening. I also asked about the older injured male... he seems to be better. After some time, the young ginger-white male finally appeared and I trapped him and called Damy. Both cats will be sterilised under SPCA vouchers, boarded and returned on Tuesday.
Went searching for the injured cat but unsuccessfully. Feeders and cleaners in the area have been informed. It's been many days now and the cat has still not been found. Yesterday night the cleaner told me that his friend saw the injured cat at the playground in front of blk 220 the day before. http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/viewContent.jsp?id=17590 After the search, already close to midnight, I met with Penny to see a Malay family supposed to have 20 cats. They planned to abandon them all because of the new grandchild. We talked to them about getting the cats sterilised and Penny will help to bring the pregnant female to the vet on Monday. The lady counted the cats while we were there and then said that she had only 8 cats. Strange that she didn't know how many cats... we suspect that some have already been abandoned. There was a tiny kitten with signs of flu or could it be eye irritation due to fleas? All I had with me was the antibiotic powder, so we put some on the skin sores. The kitten's mother and some of the other cats also have skin problems... fleas and probably mites too. We told her to get the flea spray but she says she can't afford the $30.-. She is also too busy to bring the cats for sterilization… We were very tired and frustrated when we left... We have to do everything for her and in the end she may still throw the cats downstairs. There is no caregiver in that area so pest control will round them up..sterilised or not. To top it off, someone complained to the MP about cats climbing on top of cars at the multi-storey car park next to the CC. The complainant was not identified !!!
The two sterilised female cats were returned today. Photos courtesy of Damy 
The older male who was already limping now has another injured leg...abused? I didn't see him.today...according to the feeder he only comes out in the evening. The other bad news is that one of the residents, a Swedish lady, complained about the cats and the guard is supposed to call AVA in 2 week times to remove the cats.. She says that she will try to get the 3 kittens adopted by her friends... she will also ask the complainant to call me. Hope I can explain to her what we are doing...and that she will retract her complaint.
Rest in Peace 
He scraped the skin of his nose while in the cage...the mouth ulcers are not healing and he vomited twice today. Penny just brought him to the vet again. She has already spent over $300.- on the medical bills. Update from Penny: Did some tests... kidney and liver okay but dehydrated, need drip.
May you rest in peace, Minnie http://groups.msn.com/SingaporeCats/inmemoryof.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=14992 
Last October during my feeding rounds, a Chinese woman with her 2 teenage kids waited for me with a carrier at one of my feeding spots. Minnie was in her carrier. She told me they could no longer care for the cat & wanted to release Minnie there cos there are feeders. I stopped her from doing it & I asked if the cat was spayed with a tipped ear. She replied yes. A week later, a frightened Minnie appeared at the very spot and I soon found out that her owner told a lie cos she wasn't spayed nor with tipped ear. I sent her for sterilisation and this picture of her was taken at the vet clinic. Early February, Town Council sent me an email to inform that a resident had complaint that Minnie had been resting on top of his car and the Town Council officer instructed for the removal of Minnie from the vicinity, or the pest control will be sent in. We were given a time frame to have Minnie removed. There was NO room for any mediation. We tried to relocate Minnie to few blocks away but somehow, she managed to find her way back within half an hour. Desperate, a feeder suggested to put Minnie at a farm for the time being. Unfortunately, Minnie could have caught virus at the farm and she was ill. Two weeks later, the same feeder decided to release Minnie back onto the street. Throughout, I was being kept in the dark that Minnie had been very ill and wasn't eating. It was only last Saturday afternoon that the feeder called me up to inform that they found Minnie's dead body near their carpark. I told the feeder I could have sent Minnie to the vet for treatment if only she were to tell me earlier that Minnie was sick. She replied it was a deadly virus & there is no point to send to the vet, so she decided to release Minnie so that the cat can eat grass and get cured by itself. As someone has rightly mentioned, - Anger - will not bring Minnie back ... Minnie had been an active and healthy cat ... THANKS, to her heart-LESS owner, the UNreasonable complainant + the Town Council officer and last but not the LEAST, - the Feeder... Minnie's young life was abruptly ended, for all the wrong reasons. I want to believe she is in a better place now, away from this harsh earth ...
The Lady form Shanghai, Ms Lu, had ordered them to be delivered to the Auntie's home. She is probably not aware that we all avoid the "F" and "W" brands as they are really bad for the cats in the long run, as the high salt content can lead to kidney problems. There are already many residents who feed the cats with these two brands. So at least we caregivers must not feed them with unhealthy junk food. An exchange was not possible, so with the approval of the Shanghai Lady, we gave one of the bags to Mohan for some poor feeders. Mohan assured us that as an occasional snack it wont do much harm but not on a regular basis. I will order a bag of APD for the Auntie. Ms Lu even offered to reimburse me. I have also just changed from Prism brand to Advanced Pet Diet and find that the community cats like it better.
The 'very pregnant" cat that Penny passed to me this morning, was not pregnant but had cancer. From what the vet explained (unable to remove all the growth and the belly all filled with pus) we agreed to euthanasia while still under anesthetic...I remembered Fury who had the tumor removed and then started to look unwell soon after and then disappeared. Don't want her to slowly die in a drain somewhere...
Anna still insists that the groomer release her 3 cats, even after someone offered to sponsor about a third of the boarding charges. The groomer however assured me that she won't do it. We agreed that she would take some nice photos of the 4 cats, including the one that belongs to the Auntie so I can try find adopters. The Auntie's cat happens to be a beautiful Burmese-x, so that one should be easy. I fixed 2 hammocks for Anna's cats today while Mirko was being groomed. The 3 cats were so exited and couldn't wait...at least they are more comfortable now.
The Straits Times, 21-01-2008, STForum Online Story HDB should reconsider replacing ban on cats with ‘motivational’ regulations I READ with amusement the article in The Sunday Times about ‘Getting to know your neighbours” with a cartoon by Miel showing a smiling lady poking her head from her flat and a cat beside her (The Sunday Times, Jan 13). The problem we face nowadays is really ‘not knowing your neighbours”. In my neighbourhood, I am fortunate to share a common concern with a few fellow residents on the plight of the community cats. Cats are pushed to the brink by an increasing human population and decreasing tolerance. They are killed for reasons ranging from noise made during mating, defecation in ‘upstairs” common areas (usually caused by cat owners who let their cats roam out), residents’ phobia of cats, scratches on cars, etc. Incensed by the ineffective killing of about 13,000 cats every year for more than two decades and at the public expense of more than half a million dollars annually, we decided to get our butts out of our flats and spent many evenings trapping the cats in our neighbourhood and brought them to the vet to be sterilised. After about three years, we achieved a near 100 per cent sterilised colony of cats. We also work with the town council to help resolve complaints about cats. Through this community work, we met fellow residents from all walks of life, of all ages and of all races. We also got to meet residents who complained about cats and residents who owned cats but were unaware of responsible pet ownership (that includes sterilisation and keeping them indoors). We were touched by the fact that almost all the residents who complained about cats did not want killing as a solution. This was often not known to some town council property officers who assumed that engaging pest controllers to remove ‘downstairs” community cats was the solution. This naturally resulted in a recurrence of complaints. By identifying the right cause of the complaints, we could offer a solution that costs only a bottle of vinegar and a packet of camphor balls (to clear the smell of cat poo and to repel the cats). However, the lack of HDB regulations on responsible cat ownership is a major setback to the success of a managed colony of cats. Irresponsible owners abandon cats and kittens for reasons ranging from moving house, spring cleaning and unwanted litters from unsterilised home cats. Irresponsible owners let their cats roam freely, resulting in complaints from neighbours. Town Council officers are reluctant to speak to such owners about pet responsibility because they said that ‘HDB does not allow cats”. Referring such recalcitrant cat owners to their HDB colleagues will only result in the abandonment of these cats in the estate instead. This will only transfer the problem to the Town Council which may then blame the expanding population on caregivers like me and my fellow residents. I appeal to the HDB to urgently reconsider replacing the ban on cats with regulations so that such irresponsible owners will be ‘motivated” by fines to keep their cats indoors and to have them sterilised. This is a win-win situation to residents in general, to caregivers and also to the property officers in the town council. Tan Chek Wee
While talking to the groomer, she told me that Anna is again thinking of releasing the 3 cats that have been boarded at her shop for 2 years now. A wrong decision in the first place, she should have left the young and healthy cats at area 3. Anna was planning to release them at her block. This is the block where we had to see the MP and write to the papers to safe 3 community cats from being rounded up! Luckily another caregiver has offered to sponsor $30,- towards the monthly boarding fees after hearing of the cats plight. I feel sad that the 3 cats are caged up in a double-storey cage most of the time. Now there is not even a hammock, they have to squeeze into a small plastic basket to sleep. Anna refused to get them adopted or at least to transfer them to a proper cattery. The groomer is also very worried that the cats would not adapt to life on the streets again. They would probably be terrified! The Auntie also has a cat boarded there. She boarded the cat after it suffered an injury, that was also about 2 years back.
Penny called me today. She told me of a caregiver, a Muslim lady, who is "fed-up with the dumping of cats by Malay families" and she wants to "go to the press"... Penny suggested a meeting of caregivers to discuss this.
First met this lady from Shanghai when she used to feed Pearl and the Little Pearls at Area 2. She still continues to feed the cats in that neighbourhood whenever she visits Singapore, which is quite frequently. Today she asked me what happened to the 4 cats at blk *20, referring to Spicy, Sporty, Bobby and Spot. She told me that she doesn't like the Auntie feeding rice to the cats and said that she would pay for the cat food every month. She gave a total of $300.- to buy cat food for the Auntie. Sylvia will order the food and have it delivered to the Auntie's home. The rice that the Auntie feeds looks quite plain but it is actually rice and fish meat. Some cats prefer the rice, so it can't be all that bad...but I am glad she has a sponsor now to help with the feeding expenses.
This little girl had no place to go after the operation...except back to the street. The long scar has healed well now and she will be going "home" tomorrow. I was told that she was very noisy and could not be confined to a cage. I was relieved to find that she was actually a good girl, easy to handle and not too noisy. Also, Ashley didn't mind her... no spraying .
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