Little White Box

When my brother found Sephy dead he called me to ask me what to do. I told him to put her in a small box for the meantime, so we can bury her when I get back. Well he found a little white box on my table (that used to hold my dad's Hash mug) and that's her tiny coffin. I wrapped the box in a pink plastic bag. Now going shopping at Hua Ho I see tons of these little boxes with cups inside and I'm reminded of her :(

The house feels a little emptier, but Tuffie is more relaxed now. She never got used to Sephy's scent, or maybe Cleo was all she could handle. Anyways Tuffie is energetic and playful today -_- which is good 'cause she is getting her chubb back.

Sephy has taught me to live more, life is short and anything can happen. She had only 4 weeks of life, but I'm glad she spent her last 2 weeks with me. I miss holding her next to my heart. I never regretted bringing her into my life, even knowing that she was too young and might not make it. She was a tenacious little kitten.

Sephy's death also reminded me that Abbie had been gone for almost a year now. Time flies. So live your life to the fullest that you can.


I'm working on a sketch for Sephy. It'll have tiny pandas crawling all over it, to reference her colour :)

Sephy Has Left US

Sephy was very lethargic on Sunday, she couldn't stand much and preferred to slump on the floor. The signs were not good and I rushed her to Anicare at 12 noon. The vet had bad news, Sephy was undernourished and has worms and the flu. The main sign was when she tried to meow and no sound would come out, indicating a sore throat with ulcers. She was given a jab (the needle was huge for that tiny body!) some deworm, amoxicillin and the prognosis that she will probably not make it.

Which came as a shock as she was all chipper and was doing well with the bottle. But she was so tiny and weak that any disease that strikes would be devastating to her developing system. We brought her home and tried the best we could with medications and force-feeding her, as she was too upset to eat.

Sephy got progressively skinnier and we could feel the bones right under her skin. I didn't think she would make it through the night bit she did, and managed to get rid of a HUGE white roundworm. I was a bit more positive with this, but while at work today my brother called at 9:45am to tell me Sephy has moved on.

It was heartbreaking as I had really hoped she would beat the odds and make it, but I guess she was just too young, and the loss of a mother added another stress upon her. Plus the worm and the flu was just too much for her to handle. We buried her out back, beside the house of my landlord, who kindly dug the grave for us. R.I.P. Sephy, you were only 4 weeks old and had to endure such suffering. :(

Still so minuscule...

Side shot of the stumpy kitten.

Her expressions range from wide-eyed bewilderment to curious bewilderment. :P

She was only 4x5 tiles big!

Goggle-eyes

Closeup! I needed macro for this.

She had started to look better...

Those were a great 2 weeks, moving and warming up kitten formula the whole day, bottle feeding her, and cleaning up the mess afterwards.

I won't forget the 2 weeks when she brightened our lives with her squeaky mews and scrabbling on the side of her box to be let out. She will be missed.

Gingero

Gingero was my cousin's cat. He was large of girth, but somewhat lacking in courage. My earliest memory was of him running off (surprisingly fast for a cat his size) and hiding under the bed. It did not help that he had small years set on a small head set on a large body...

Gingero had a full 18 years of life, quite an age for a cat. Even with his advanced age his fur was still a vibrant orange, and his eyes looked sharp. These photos were taken last year when I went back to Malaysia for my cousin's wedding.

The only indication of age was how stiff his joints were.

Getting belly-rubbed.

A hefty sumo cat ;)

End of belly-rub.

Lounging.

Catching sunbeams.

He had the backyard all to himself. A happily retired cat.

My uncle and his family went for 'Qin Min' and left Gingero in the care of a neighbor. The neighbor found him dead with bits of fur all around and some blood, so it was hypothesized that he'd had a heart-attack while defending his territory...

Which prompted my uncle to quip: "He lived a coward, but died a hero." R.I.P. Gingero. He was a whole lotta cat.

In Remembrance

Abigail is Dead.

Abigail died on 19/12/08 at 9:20am after falling 12 floors from the garbage chute. She probably fell around 6am, as I heard the garbage truck rumbling past around 5am, and I could still hear her yowling. She was in heat so it was a constant source of her presence.

When I went to feed her at 7am something seemed odd, she did not come. She was confined to the end room as she and Tuffie did not get along. I was intending to get her spayed and then see the results, and find her a permanent home if Tuffie still rejects her.

The room was small, a little cluttered, but she was nowhere to be found. I checked high and low, and it only seemed possible that she could have gone down the garbage chute. The chute is set in the wall and has a lid, but she could have pulled the handle, opened the lid, and on jumping in the lid could close immediately. This is one of the times that I hoped my hunch was wrong, but I went downstairs to check anyways. I was relieved to find the dumpsters clean, but then I went out the garbage room and on the other corner there she was.

The workers had pulled her from the room when they heard her, she was bleeding from her nose and mouth, and her hind legs were skewed in odd positions. It was such a shock, and I was shaking badly. I told them to watch her and went to get a box immediately. We then rushed her to the only vet that was open at that time - MAH Veterinary Services. Even though it was in Muara and took half an hour to get there. By that time it was 8:30am. She kept crying and moving around, and I had hoped that she could be saved.

But I guess it was hoping for too much too fast, the vet confirmed that she has no broken bones, but is suffering from massive internal injuries. She said she could give her an IV drip, and when she is stronger give her antibiotics. That's when I knew Abbie could not be saved, but as a last ditch we agreed to the drip. Before the vet could start anything though, Abbie choked to death on her own blood. She stopped breathing and that was it.

It's bad enough that I cry when I lost my Betta fish, my guinea pigs, my hamsters. To see Abbie dying so horribly was traumatizing, and it's very hard to come home, and see the empty room with her food bowl and litterbox still there. We buried her by the riverbank, near to where my bro buried the guinea pig 4 years ago. Abigail, we will miss your raucous voice, your silly antics.

Taken last month, when she was on the road to recovery following near starvation, fleas, worms, runny nose and a fungal attack. She was the dirtiest stray that I have ever taken in.

Confrontation between the Tuff and Abbie. Love how Tuffie is a blob and Abbie is a stick :)

Abbie exploring my room. Tuffie did not approve.

These photos were taken just 2 days before she died:

Sniffing my pants, I had fried chicken for lunch that day :P and both cats found my pants to be exteeeeemely interesting.

A bit washed out by the flash, but I'm amused by Tuffie's laser eyes.

She'd gained her weight back, and was happy and healthy.

Slightly cross-eyed :D

Way to creep people out, cyclops kitty.

She'd put on so much weight, and her colour darkened considerably.

Cleaning her butt on my bed. Great.

And the last 2 shots before she left.

Goodbye Abigail.

Goodbye Mr. Ginger Cat

Moar!

This is Mr. Ginger Cat. He was one of the strays that I have been feeding for over 2 months now. At the beginning he was such a scrawny thing, all legs and tail. His fur was sparse and his colour was pale. I brought him to the vet to be vaccinated, de-wormed and de-fleaed. Also to make sure he wasn't harbouring an illness or something. Well, the vet said he seemed fine other than a bit undernourished, so I would feed him and 2 other strays regularly in the evenings.

One wiry cat and one wiry brother (legs).

He's extremely affectionate. Here he was rubbing snot on my jeans.

Ginger Cat face-off with the Sick Cat. Here was another stray that was in worse shape than he is - he had a perpetual bleeding nose, possibly cancerous in origin. I have yet to be able to feed him or bring him to the vet as he makes himself extremely scarce.

Last Thursday I went down to feed the cats as usual. Later I will have to make a proper introduction for the motley bunch of strays that wander about my apratment. Anyways Ginger Cat is always first in line once he smells food or hears me calling, so I was a bit weirded out when only Tortie and Cute cat appeared. Well, it was heat season, so I thought Ginger had gone off exploring and didn't think too much of it. He had begun to show improvement in that his coat was growing back and his colour was much better. He has also bulked up a bit.

Well, 2 days passed and still no sign of the Ginger cat. We didn't see him until Saturday evening; me and my brother found him in a drain drinking. But when I offered him food he did not seem interested. Then he started coughing and retching. I couldn't help him as the vets were closed until Monday, and he still looked ok despite the dry heaves...

...but come Sunday morning he was dead. :( It must have been something internal, I have no clue. It was so sudden too, as he did not seem sick, but then cats have a way of hiding their discomfort that could be detrimental to getting them swift treament. I miss this guy :(. Every morning if he sees me before I go to work he'll come and get a pet or two. I miss his boisterous presence when I go down to feed him in the evenings. I was planning to get him fixed, then find a permanent home for him (since Tuffie is adamant that she is to be the only cat in our household). I wish I could have hugged and spoilt him more, but at least he is not suffering anymore.

R.I.P. Mr. Ginger Cat.