Run Free Minah

Minah the BOSS ...now for sure SUPERBOSS...
Minah loved the sunshine and would roll about on the cool cement floor under it...
She loved her food as well and would cry loudly when we're late with it!
This was her favourite pose- the better to see Bujang and let Bujang see her :)

She was always curious about our carrier and would investigate and sniff it whenever she could...

Run free Minah. Today is the beginning of long days of running and laying under the sun :)

Minah on Sunday

An old picture of Minah under the morning sun :)

I brought Minah to the hospital today so she can get round the clock care and with 24-hr IV and meds. She was quiet the whole morning at home and ate some food, just a teaspoonful of Whiskas as she doesn't want to have anything else, especially not renal wetfood! She drank her water and went back for a nap. I thought if we could get her crea numbers to fall a little, we would have a chance.

She allowed me to clean her up with little fuss, only wanting to sit close. The cat ward was quiet. They put her on the drip and she went back to sleep.Of course when she was at the clinic, she had peed on the vet for daring to fix s catheter on her and giving her laudrabolin. I was very proud of her for fighting back  :)

She has one week at the hospital and I we are taking it slowly. The amigos seemed to know that she was not in the kitchen and came out as usual. They were a lot more relaxed, even Tanaka who had refused to come out all of yesterday. They are now all asleep and I am grateful for each one who is safe tonight.

Bad News Friday

 This is practically one of the last pictures I took of Minah when she was well and fat...

3 weeks ago, she seemed thinner and wanted to eat at strange places. Then last week, we had to look for her to give her dinner quite late at night and she would eat only a few mouthfuls. I was very worried when we saw this week that she would drink a little water and merely lick at her food. She had lost a lot fo weight in a space of one month and so we brought her to the vet. Indeed Minah has acute renal failure and Dr T said her indicators were extremely bad. Although her prognosis was very poor I decided that I should try to save this used to be very feisty kitty. She is as old as Bujang- 8 years old this year. Community cats do not have an easy life and she is well-beloved by everyone. The residents in this block knows her by name. So I am trying sub q fluids which would be the most likely factor that would help her, the azodyl, the alutab and the apo-k. I have to bring her to the vet every day so that they can administer the tablets and the sub q as I am not at all confident that I can do this for Minah as yet.

She is staying with us for 2 weeks (with grandma's blessing). She has been very quiet after the tablets and the sub q. I had given her some water but she didn't drink any. I hope its because of the sub q. She didn't want to eat any kibble either. The vet said her teeth are not in good condition but her gums are ok. Now of course with the renal issues she would not be able to get any work on her teeth at all.

I called M&M to see if they would board her but she needs a vaccination. That would take me all of 6 weeks and I do not know if Minah would survive so long but I would get the vet to vaccinate her anyway as I may not be able to keep her here very long. 

The amigos are very curious but not unduly stressed out so that is good. I do not know what I would do this time round. I think I tried too hard with FatBoy, willing him to live when his system could not take it any longer. But the  of course I do not know if I can do any better with Minah. 

She is asleep and although I allowed her out to walk about in the kitchen, she made a choice of going back into the cage after a few minutes to rest. I had cleaned her up a bit with warm water and salt and so she is comfortable and quite clean.

Her indicators are horrendous and I can feel her spine quite clearly through her skin. But she has a little of her muscle mass. I think I have to do enough to help her. We will be doing a comprehensive blood test after 2 weeks of the regime and then I would have to make some decisions- and I really do not want to make any of it!

 She is severely dehydrated. the vet said her high numbers could be because of her dehydration so her sodium chloride would do her some good, if so.

The BUN and creatinine are off the charts!

Friday Surprise

Bujang quite like Minah I think. He was not stressed out when she comes close or when she meows at him.

Although alert, he was still quite relaxed. he saw Minah investigating his carrier but he just sat and watched her shenanignas:)

Minah: Hmmm..what is inside...hmmm

Minah...there are many things to smell...many cats...

I think the only time he expressed impatience was when Minah refused to let us go. She ran after us and stopped us so she could have the last word...meow!meow!meowmoewmeow...But Bujang could not take it any more and said WAROR!

It gave Minah a sudden shock nd she ran off to hide behind a column! I wonder what she thinks of him now.

Wild Bunch Thoughts

Megat, an ex-Wild Bunch kitty, resting at home....

This rather romantic and quiet picture of Minah is what I hope her life would be tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow and indeed if none of them gets adopted and its unrealistic to think anyone would adopt any one of the Wild Bunch, this picture shows perfectly what I hope would be in their future - tranquil days of good food and shelter against the monsoon. They are older cats, with Putih being 4 years old or thereabouts. Nevertheless they seem quite contented and we will do our best.

The Minah Police

This is MY place!

Quietly Saturday

Introducing the usual suspects...

Minah was minding her business under the big scratching post but as soon as she saw me, she started to complain very loudly that she was hungry. Of course this morning her early than usual breakfast was at 8.00 am. Usually she gets some kibble at about 6.30 am when I leave for work. But the boys were taking it easy as usual....

Megat's usual Saturday morning resting place. He would usually nudge me out of bed and very nonchalantly takes my place after the bed is made.

Bujang would sometimes find a seat on the coffee table so that everyone could see how handsome he is. Of course this must be true since so many people had asked me where I had bought him. They seem to think he is some exotic breed as he is much bigger than the local cats. They would also tell me that he is muscular and looks strong too. When I tell them he is a local cat, they seem surprised. So I guess Bujang has some cause for vanity.

Tanaka can always be found near his soft toy. I named the toy Rocket since that is part of Tanaka's own name and the toy seemed like a sidekick more than anything else.

Toro likes sitting here in the mornings to see the birds and feel the breeze. Our new curtains fall very neatly over the cat seat and all the kitties like this new hiding place. The curtains are translucent so they can see the room through them.

So there we are- the usual suspects on Saturday morning. Ms Akira told me she was not much of a morning person and refused to be photographed.

Community Tuesday

Minah in a very relaxed pose this evening...

These days Minah does not protest too much when she sees Bujang downstairs. She would keep watch on us from far away and she does not follow us about much. It is only when we are not in her view that she then walks leisurely to find us. Bujang does not growl when he sees her anymore. Actually he ignores her much of the time unless she puts herself directly in his way :) This means I can bring Bujang to his favourite patch without much worry that Minah would get stressed out.

Minah on Monday

Minah watching calmly...

Showing off...

It was a surprise to me that she actually pooed infront of Bujang's carrier. I gues she is telling us off...

Queen of all she surveys...

Minah sneaked up on us this evening when I brought Bujang down for his walk. It was actually too hot for walking but I remembered reading that I should have some one on one time with all of the kitties everyday and since Bujang loves the downstairs, I felt that it was only right he should get his walk.

I kept an eye out for Minah as I did not want her too stressed out when she sees Bujang but Minah took it all rather well. She sat, relaxed in front of the pillars and watched our progress for a bit and then she decided to greet us. Bujang was quite surprised at her boldness and he was very wary. When he started growling deeply, I decided it was time to take him away from Minah.

Indeed Minah was very confident of her territory and walked up and down the grass patch boldly and without fear. I was very glad to see this as I know from her confidence that she had not been bullied or scared by anyone around here. She deserves a good peaceful life as she has been living in this void deck close to 5 or 6 years already.

I am the BOSS

Minah ran after us when she saw us going to the park. Since I got no paper to put the kibble, she had to eat them off the floor. Bujang was pretty unconcerned in the carrier and waited for me.

When she saw Bujang walking, she rolled around some...

and then watched people passing...

THEN she watched us and with her formidable weight, decided to tell us who is the BOSS here..MINAH of course...

I can't find the cat downstairs...

the aunty said, panicked. It seemed she came down twice to look for Minah but she was nowhere to be seen. I asked the aunty if Minah was there the day before and she said yes. Sometimes Minah got held up by something and she would come late to dinner. I was a little worried but asked the aunty to go home as sometimes (but very few) Minah would not come to dinner for a day. After all, it seems she was being fed by more people than us. If not she would not be such a fat kitty.

At 7.30 pm I decided to look for her and lo and behold! There was Minah, large as life waiting for the aunty as she was facing the direction in which the aunty would come. She saw me and started complaining. No doubt she was not pleased at the late dinner but I was relieved and gave her the fussie cat. She ate half a 80g can and strolled out onto the grass to rest :) The aunty would be relieved to hear about this tomorrow. This Minah is such a prima donna!

Did she really?

Minah came up to see us on Saturday morning. When I opened the door at about 6 am, I saw a calico tail running off. I opened the door and caught sight of Minah running towards the staircase. She took one quick look back at me and disappeared. This is the 2nd time that she has come up to see us (that I had witnessed). Our neighbour though told me that she once saw Minah sitting infront of my door :) I wonder if she just smells the amigos and if she does, what the amigos would smell of - probably tuna :)

Thankful Tuesday

Minah rolling about seeming to be without a care in the world...

I was a little anxious when Minah did not eat her usual share of wet food for a whole week. When it was time for dinner, she would still be there but would eat very little and sometimes not at all. However she was not ill or anything. Then a few days ago she was just content to roll about and so I thought she might be getting her food from another caregiver. I think there must be someone else who feeds her as she is not as hungry as before these days. But she has not groen any thinner and she is just as playful as before so I think there is very little for me to be alarmed about. This evening she came to dinner rather late and I could see her running from across our block. I hope she feeds safely wherever she is feeding now. Anyway this evenng, she ate 1/2 a tin from her usual 3/4 but as she has been eating only one mouthful these last few days, i am quite glad for this.

Minah

There is something in my eye...

Cousin R was helping me with the WildBunch yesterday as I had a meeting and hungry cats wait for no one. She came up to tell me that Minah did not want to eat and that she was wiping her eye. Minah just wanted to roll about. So I went to look for her with Cousin R and we saw that someone had given her a small pile of kibble (no the aunty as it was a uniform brown colour).

I asked Cousin R to hold Minah so I can put some eye drops in her eye as Minah is always very frisky. To both our suprise, Minah actually allowed herself to be carried and I succeeded in squirting some eye drops in the vicinity of her eye as she was squirming about. She then decided enough was enough and ran off, but not too far. I think she wanted us to sit for a bit with her which we did. I tried once again to get some eye drops in her eye but she was too smart for the both of us.

Her eye was not too bad as it was not red nor did she have gunk on it. Cousin R's imagination is getting as wild as the old aunty's I'm afraid as she told me that Minah had an inflamed eye with some redness :))

Good Monday Minah

Minah crouching on the wet ground...

I tried to give MInah her morning kibble but she would'nt have any. she just sat there on the wet grass and meowed but was not inetrested to eat or walk away. She did allow me to touch her and neither her ears or nose was hot. When the amigos have fever, the parts that would be hot would be their ears followed by their nose.

She did not protest when I tried to make her sit up but she insisted that she wanted to sit on the wet ground. I am keeping her under observation as per cat_aunty's advice. she said a cold front is coming on :(

Stay safe Minah

Oh dear. Please do not leave me anymore wet food. I don't like it...

I came home early today and saw that someone had left Minah a 400g tin of W. He/she has put all the contents on a small plastic bag and placed the tin beside it. I wonder what the tin was for if all the contents was already on the plastic bag! It was left to decompose under the sun although it was placed in a corner of the void deck.

So I had cleaned up the whole thing and washed the site as I did not want anyone to complain and Minah to get into trouble. I will tell the auntie what had happened and to tell her to lookout for the 'kind' stranger who had done this. I think Minah more than any of the Wild Bunch will get into some trouble as she is visible and very pretty. I notice more people feel that they want to feed her than any of the other cats!

Wild Bunch news

Minah saying good afternoon...

Yes I am looking well thanks...

I am as flexible as usual...

The sun feels good on my back..

I saw Minah yesterday when I went to buy cat food for the amigos. She greeted me softly and then did not want any biscuits. Rather she wanted me to play for a while. She turned about showing me her new collar. Actually it was an old collar from Ms Akira. I had debated whether I should put a collar on her as the last time she had it, she got into so much trouble. Or rather some @#$% boy had pulled her collar and dragged her along the road (or so the aunty told me). She then had a bloody lip and her leg was hurt. She was so fierce that it was impossible to get her to the hospital. We had put her under close observation and were glad that she recovered in a matter of one week. Looking at her today, no one would have thought she had had such a traumatic episode in her life.

I decided to put the collar because of what had happened to Callie. If something did happen to Minah and someone sees her, then I hope someone would have the kindness to call me. So fatBoy and Putih each has one.

Cousin R and I debated whether we should put one on The Visitor or Billy Boy (as Cousin R had named him) as he has a home somewhere. However as he keeps coming to dinner and we had fed him to the healthy size that he is now, we decided we should. It seemes that his family has abandoned him although he does go 'home' at night. Cousin R had spoken to the boy who used to own Billy and he told her that his father had refused to feed him. I think that was why he was so thin when he found us. He has an ear tip though so I guess he was a community cat before he was 'rescued' by someone who later abandoned him. Billy Boy now spends much of his time in the carpark. The old auntie says we now have 4 cats. Callie used to be one of the four. I'm sure Callie would not mind us having Billy Boy at all :)

Cal and Minah

Cal eating dinner under the lamplight...

Her daughter Minah...

I called the hospital to speak to Dr K about Cal. Dr K told me that her condition has not improved and she is still not eating and not pooping. Dr K told me to expect the worst. I asked her what she meant and she said that I should be prepared to make some hard decisions. I am not prepared to make any decision on Cal at this point and told Dr K to give the antibiotics some time to work or not work. The only thing I can't take is how chirpy Dr K sounds "Hi Parking's owner....your cat is not any better...." in that upbeat way! You don't know what's wrong with my cat dammit! Stop being so chirpy about it.

I saw the old aunty walking Bobby her dog. She said she felt like something' is missing when she takes a walk around the neighbourhood. Usually Cal would walk out and greet her on her rounds or when she feeds Cal, cal would sit with her at the tables in the void deck. I told her that Cal's fate may not be sunny and asked her what she wanted to do. She told me her heart was heavy but she herself would think it not wise for Cal to be about when she cannot even walk straight or could not even protect herself from the neighbourhood cats. (Cal is really one of the most timid cats and would not come out to eat if there were strange cats or even FatBoy around...but only to other cats. She is very fierce with us.)

She told me that I should make the decisions (WHAT!!!) on her behalf. She told me that Cal is an old cat and has been around for ages. She kept giving birth until one of the residents, another caregiver, sent her for spaying. I do not know if I can make any hard decisions without bawling my eyes out :( Sighzz....

Minah Void Deck

Minah eating an early dinner...

She wastes no time polishing up the food...

Her patterns are very dramatic and rich...

Minah Top View...

Minah is supposedly Cal's daughter according to the old aunty who feeds them. I have my reservations as I seem to remember that Minah appeared some time after Cal was sterilised and when I saw Minah, she was as big as Bujang when he was 6 months old. (I had brought Bujang downstairs for his walks when he was 6 months and we used to have to run away from FatBoy and Minah).

Minah saw me coming out of the cab from my visit to Balestier and started to tell me loudly that she was hungry so I fed her some fussiecat tuna and chicken on a piece of Ikea advertisement I got out of my post box :) She ate nearly all of it. After that, she decided to sit out in the open to catch the last rays of Sunday. She is a very pretty cat and most of the residents know her and like her so I was not worried much for her safety today.