Closure

Yesterday evening, I had a chance to speak with the new domestic helper of the household that feeds Shiny, Jambala and Humm-Humm. In her limited English, she said that an aunty told her that she (the aunty) had taken Shiny away, and after about a week, Shiny passed away.

At least we now know what had happened to Shiny during her last days, and that she did not die alone, out in the streets.

Sigh...


Shiny, RIP Oct 2008

Where is Shiny?

Shiny, Shiny, where are you?


Not a day goes by without us (L and I) thinking and sms-ing about you.


Are you in someone's home, safe & sound, with plenty to eat and enjoying the comforts of home?


Or has someone taken you away, only to terminate your life, before we could say goodbye?

Wherever you are, I hope you're no longer in pain and that you'll always remember the sweetness and kindness that the nice aunties and uncles have bestowed on you.

He was here

And he's still here, with us...


And always will be with us... on our minds, and in our hearts.


More neighbours have been asking about Jon Jon and of course, about Sugar, as they were once the inseparable pair and THE ICONs of our blocks.


Sad to say, the bad news hasn't yet ended. Someone who saw it informed Ms A (caregiver) that Charlie (aka Thin Tail) has passed on, perhaps one day before Jon Jon did.

Charlie was quite territorial - I'd seen the way he attacked and chased the younger cats away. Yet he's a manja lap cat when it comes to human beans. Charlie once shared the same territory as Sugar and Jackie-O (who now lives at the pet shop). As the Chinese saying goes: 一山不能藏二虎, i.e. a mountain can't have two tigers, so how can there even be three, and worst, all are territorial and male cats? Cat fights and injuries were common in those days.

Our condolences also go to the KSN household, whose dear Lincoln passed away.
Rest in peace, Lincoln. You will be dearly missed by mommy.

Jon Jon is missing

On her way back from the market, Ms A saw Jon Jon and planned to take him to the vet in the late-morning. Later, despite circling the area a couple of times, JJ was nowhere to be found.

JJ was diagnosed with kidney failure more than a year ago (since Dec 2006). He's had repeated episodes of "fasting" or anorexia, whereby he would refused food of any kind for many days on end. If not for the persistence and dedication of caregiver Ms A, JJ would have died last year, or even earlier. It has taken Ms A much time, energy, costs and many tears (I'm sure) that JJ is still living.

We will try to find him this evening. The main thing now is to get him to the vet and see how things go from there.


(Jon Jon, 5 July 2008)

Update at 10pm:
JJ was found early this evening and taken to the vet. As expected, the prognosis was bad. His kidneys had failed and his eyes were glazed. He was put to sleep to relieve him of his suffering. JJ passed on peacefully, after Ms A spent some quiet time alone with him. He will be cremated in a new cat bed that Ms A bought for him.

Rest in peace, Jon Jon. You have been loved. May you be reborn into your next life as a kind human being, who will show the same loving kindness and compassion that Ms A had shown you all these years.


(Jon Jon, RIP 10 September 2008)

Goodbye to an old friend - Oliver

Today, I got news that an old friend and the mascot of MC (a private shelter) passed away yesterday. We first got to know Oliver and the other cats at MC in 2001, when the SO (my then bf) and I would cycle to MC to visit the cats regularly. I loved to be there, to be surrounded by all the cats, whether we were feeding them or doing the usual housekeeping chores, and I would often miss the cats if we hadn't visited for a while.

Oliver was one of the sweetest cats that got along with most cats... well, except for Simbal, the crossed-eyed cat. For some reason, Simbal loved to pick fights with Oliver, until we can literally see fur flying in the air, i.e. mostly Oliver's!



We all remember him as the cat who loved to hug people.


"Liver Boy" clamouring for a hug, with Penny, a rescued Persian by the side.

He would put both his paws on our shoulders, until his face was mere centimetres away from our faces!
That's him giving me a hug. :)



Oliver the fat boy squeezing with the young kittens in the basket - see how much space he'd taken up! :)


(Oliver's photos taken in Sept 2002; RIP April 2008)

He would be about 9 years old this year.

Goodbye Liver Boy. I am glad to have made your acquaintance.
We all loved you and we know you loved us too.

Gentle giant Manson (aka Cougar)

Come to think of it, he wasn't quite a community cat, but after his so-called owner Mdm Ang moved out, Manson was left to the care of Mdm Ang's relatives, who didn't care much for Manson. I recall his water bowl was left dry and dirty at one stage.

It was until caregiver Ms T and her hubby took him in that Manson was in a forever loving home. He would have been with them for 3 years in March 2008.



(Cougar @ March 2004)



(Manson, RIP 11 Feb 2008)


Goodbye Manson

Sadness

I've never mention ex-community cat Cougar (renamed Manson) on my blog before, because by the time I started this blog, he had been taken home by a kind, loving couple. The couple knew Cougar was sick (FIV+ plus hepatitis and other disease), still they took him home to care for him till the time comes (they already have several cats at home then). Yesterday, that "time" came and Cougar was put to sleep.

Manson was discovered to have 2 cancers (pancreas & small intestines), which regular blood tests had failed to detect, until a complete ultra scan was done. I was having lunch when Manson's mom called to tell me about what happened at the hospital yesterday. They were there with Manson during his final hours, and his dad was crying too. I really hope I won't ever have to go through what the couple had gone through. The serviette provided at my lunch wasn't absorbent at all, and I had to quickly take out my tissue to hide my tears.

Rest in peace, Manson. You have been much-loved. We will miss you.

More Goodbyes (non-cat related post)

This may sound rather gloomy, but here's what happened:

11 Mar '07:
Sunday morning about 7am - Ger Ger the community cat passed away

Afternoon - on the way home from cat-litter shopping, we saw a dead blue-coloured bird lying in a corner. We went home to drop off our shopping, took our small gardening spade, came downstairs, wrapped the dead bird with newspapers, dug a hole on the grass and buried it.

12 Mar '07:
Evening - got a call from mom that the uncle who was discovered to have cancer passed away sometime during the night.


These recent events reminded me of my thoughts about facing impending death.

While I wasn't close to this uncle, I did visit him during CNY, together with a cousin, his wife and kids. Although unspoken, it was sort of expected that I might not have a chance to see uncle again after that visit. During the visit, uncle's wife kind of had a look of resignation, and uncle had lost a lot of weight. The mood was a bit tense, or contrived, to say the least. I was very concious of what to say and more importantly, what not to say. While I felt concerned and sympathetic, I didn't know how best to comfort uncle. How does one try to comfort another who is in pain, and facing imminent death?

Cousin's wife was chatting with uncle's wife, and at some point, made uncle's wife cry, which kind of dampened the mood for everybody. I felt uneasy, and so did my cousin, I believe. We just don't know what to say. A while later, the SO and I took our leave.

Reflecting on the incident, I told my SO that if I ever contract some sudden, incurable disease, what I would like to do is to accept the inevitable and continue to live as normally as possible. I would want people around me to live their lives as per normal, and not carry on day-to-day with a hang dog face, or with a constant frown or feeling that they should not joke or have a laugh. I would want to do the necessary, tie up the loose ends, and make sure that when I'm gone, things will be in order and lives will carry on smoothly for others. If my friends visit me, I would want them to not feel uneasy around me, and to be able to talk about it with them and to let them know that I've accepted it, and am making the best of the situation. Most of all, I want the one closest to me - the SO - to be able to do the same. I don't want to have that kind of sob-sob atmosphere around me and my loved ones.

After all, other than taxes, death is the other certainty in life.

Goodbye Gal

Gal Gal (pron. Ger Ger) passed away yesterday morning, 11 March 2007, after the vet's attempts to save her failed.


Gal Gal (RIP 2007)

Bye bye Gal Gal, we will miss your sweet & graceful ways, and your unique high-pitched voice. You have been much loved, especially by Auntie A. Your buddy Baby (aka Kiddy) will miss you too.

Blackie is alone...again

Now that Fatty Blackie is gone, Blackie (original) is alone, yet again. Both have been buddies since they moved to this particular part of the block.


Blackie (Mar '04 photo): Goodbye, my friend, wherever you are.


Fatty Blackie (RIP 2006)


Blackie used to hang out nearer to my block with his other friends, Ginger and Tabby1 (probably siblings), both of whom died one after another in 2004 and 2005.


Tabby (RIP 2004) and Ginger (RIP 2005)


Since then, Blackie didn't really have any close friends (she can't get along with some cats), until she finally settled down cozily with Fatty Blackie. Now, Blackie is all alone again.

Putting things in perspective

I have often thought that in the whole scheme of things, whatever problems that come into our lives, no matter how severe and difficult they seemed at the time -- they are so minicule compared to the problems that are happening in the world. I use this line of thinking as a sort of consolation to myself, especially during frustrating / trying times.

So, as a further reminder to myself, I'm posting this which I'd got from san, who got it from wildrun who got it via nio's blog!


Click on the website's video link (on page 1) to view the astounding video.

In other news, the past few days at work had been very tense. I've had to report early to work, work late and hardly had a moment to relax. Then worse things happened: I found out that an uncle has liver cancer and given about 6 months to live, and slightly more shockingly, Fatty Blackie had been put to sleep a couple of weeks' ago.

A week before my neighbour went on vacation, she'd asked me to look in on Fatty Blackie during her vacation period, and I said ok. This is the dedicated neighbour who had been taking care of the community cats way before I'd moved into the estate. One day before she went away, she'd called me to remind me to look out for Yoda as well, but at that point, she did not tell me that Fatty Blackie had been put to sleep at the vet. So for the past 1.5 weeks, I had been looking for Fatty Blackie to no avail. I'd only found out about it recently from another very upset cat-feeder. Apparently, it was my neighbour who made the decision to euthanise Fatty Blackie.

You know what? All these things and discoveries - I found out on my birthday. After all that discovery, my mind which was almost brain-dead from work, turned totally blank. So you can say that I had an unforgettable birthday, in a way. :-/

I guess... my neighbour must have her own reasons for making that difficult decision...

In memory of...

...four community cats.

Tabby (2004) and Ginger (2005)
















Ginger



















Fuzzy (2005) the lift-taking cat with an attitude


















Dino (2006)

Akan datang...coming soon...

If everything goes well, I expect to have the next foster cat in my home soon. I shall have to get ready some cat supplies like extra scratching post and perhaps a soft cat bed for the gal. Ever since I've re-organised the spare "cat" room, I now sleep in it sometimes, which means the next cat may have to sleep on a lower pull-out bed which can get a bit drafty at night, so the cat bed plus blankets will be useful to keep her warm.

Any suggestion of names for a mid-size grey tabby gal? :)

On a sad note, the cleaning lady from downstairs informed me that Dino, the ginger community cat died suddenly, in her lap. There seemed to be no known symptoms of illness, so she really doesn't know what had killed him. The lady is inconsolably sad, as Dino was her favourite fur kid. As Dino often gets grease onto the back of his neck, the lady would regularly wash Dino and wipe his face with a wet towel. Dino relished the attention showered on him and would thumped at other cats that tried to steal his special moments with the lady.

That's the thing with these community cats. Anything could have killed them. They could have swallowed anything - bleach/detergent left on the void deck floors which they could lick from their paws, other stuff they dig out from the ground, or worse, they could have been poisoned by cat-haters. So, we will never really know what killed them.

Will post a picture of Dino later. Among the community cats that I know of, he is the fourth one to have passed away since I moved into the estate. I just hope that with the love and affection he'd received from us, Dino will be reborn into a better next life.