"I'm a Hokkien Girl?" (II)

After Skoda peed in the litter tray yesterday night, we saw quite a few blood-stained pellets :{ Much worst than what I saw last Tues, 11 Dec. And we thought Skoda is getting better (there was no sighting of blood after Sat, 15 Dec). Her review is on this Sat, 22nd Dec. She isn't lethargic or anything like that or we'd have brought her to the animal hospital. If it isn't a public holiday today, we'd have brought her to the vet. It is another vet, Dr D on duty tomorrow. We prefer Dr K.

Skoda is still not eating much of her Prescription's Hill C/D kibbles. We're very thankful that she doesn't put up a fight when we feed her the tablet. After I pop in the tablet (while Grimlock craddles her in his arms), she would look at us with her big, 'marble' eyes (such a sweet girl!) and I'll smother her with lots of kisses.

God speed Sat and Skoda's full recovery!

Is Christmas Here Yet?

Woooo, the Cove's first Christmas present!!! But hey, what is that sticking out of the shopping bag?

"Gotcha, it is me lah! Sshhhh, don't tell on me!'

"What is this?!? A present for me?"

"Check on the left..."

"...and check on the right."

"Is this a game! I wanna play, I wanna play, I wanna play..."

"Persistence pays! The bag is now all mine."

Cherry Picker

While we were having some cherries after dinner, Braun decided she could do with some sampling. Skoda wasn't one bit tempted. (Note: No animal's health was compromised in the following photos. Cherries is a no-no for cats.)

Braun: "Ok, sniff test cleared!"

"Time to swing into action!"

"Ha, got one out! That was easy."

"Hhmm, what is next?"

"Darn, the man took my cherry away. Looks like I gotta start all over again!"

"Here I go again..."

"Skoda, sure you aren't curious at all?"

"Alright, I give it a sniff. So what?"

"I'm a Hokkien Girl?"

On Tuesday, 11 Dec morning, I saw a brown-coloured drop near one of the litter trays. It looked like blood to me. I checked my feet for cuts and there wasn't any. Skoda and Mikki were nearby. There was another tiny blood-looking stain on the side of the litter tray and a small portion of the dust (the girls are using PeeWee litter) was blood-stained.

I told Grimlock what I saw and we decided to observe the two prime suspects over the next few days. FLTUD ('feline lower tract urinary disease') flashed across my mind. In a multi-cat household, it is difficult to pin-point who is unwell, and we are most of the time at work. We can only play detective work and be extra observant. We didn't see any change in their appetites nor energy level. The No. 1 suspect would be Skoda because she is overweight. I saw her got into the litter tray, passed very little urine and then got out quite quickly. When we're at the kitchen sink, she would come for her water.

This morning, Grimlock saw a blood-looking drop on the floor again. He woke me up, we examined the drop and took some photos of it to show to the vet later. We decided to get Skoda checked first. The appointments for the day were already full. The nurse "squeezed" us in after I explained the urgency to her. I cannot understate the importance of establishing familiarity with the clinic folks, from the vet himself right to the vetinary technician.

The vet did a urinalysis on Skoda. The results revealed there was indeed blood in her urine; the alkaline level was quite high (normal urine PH level for cats should be on the acidic side); the protein and minerals levels were high too; and there were traces of infection and crystals. If her condition is not put under control, the crystals will turn into stones, which will in turn block up the bladder. Her gender was her saving grace. Male cats have narrower urinary tracts and hence are more susceptible to FLUTD.

The vet gave Skoda a Toldeine injection and prescribed Clavamox tablets (to be taken twice daily) for the infection, and a Hill's Prescription C/D feline starter kit (comprising of a small packet of C/D kibbles and one can of C/D wet food - to see which she prefers and put her on this diet). She has to increase her water intake (my only 'regret' is not having brought the drinking fountain earlier because we do see them drinking more water now) so we'll put more drinking bowls in the house. The vet asked if we're giving her a lot of treats (nope, she is not particularly enthusiastic with treats).

Here is a brochure on FLUTD that came with the starter kit:

Come to think of it, Skoda would "sing" at times when she is in one of the bedrooms (the litter trays are placed in one of them). We thought she just wanted some attention so whenever she calls out, we'll "answer" her back. Was she trying to tell us something (she is experiencing some discomfort in passing urine?)?

The last time we brought Skoda to the vet was back in Jan 2007 for her annual review. She meowed away during our trip to the vet today (it started to rain once we got into the taxi). On a lighter note, we suspect she enjoys Hokkien songs. When we got into the taxi for our trip back home, the driver was initially listening to Mandarin songs and Skoda started meowing away again. Then the driver switched to Hokkien songs and Skoda turned and remained quiet for the rest of the journey - ?!?!? (she was wide-awake). Grimlock and I made the same observation :)

We've to bring Skoda back to the vet next week for review. We managed to feed her the tablets today with minimal struggle (she is a good girl!). She seems to be sleeping more (she is beside me now and soundly asleep). I hope the medication is not causing her any discomfort. She is not eating much of the new kibbles (we mixed a little of it with the Royal Canin kibbles as a gradual switchover). Come Monday, I'll have to get up before Grimlock leaves for work (6am!?!?) so that we can feed her one of the daily two tablets.

Skoda, you must get well!!!

All Grown-Up

Looks like Mikki is fast picking up on her psycho-motoring skills. Besides the kitchen counter-top, the late boomer has set her sights far and beyond. Mikki's recent vertical "conquests" include:

Mountain "TV Top"

And higher than that...

And of course, every climber's ultimate challenge - 'Mount Everest' (ie on top of the fridge)!

Where is the Girl?

Any tight spot will make a potentially good snoozing place for them...

Doesn't matter if it is off the ground:

"The smell of clean laundry is simply irresistible!"

"Not forgetting our all-time favourite, the cosy corner!"

Back to Normal

Yay, the photo in my blog masthead has finally been restored to its original display! The photo display was reduced to a strip and this had gone on for about a week. I hadn't make any change to the photo display in the first place. I noticed other blogs also encountered the same problem. I wasn't able to resolve the problem after meddling with the settings yesterday evening so I sent an email to the blogger help desk. I like my existing blog template very much so I'm reluctant to change to another one. Great, my blog masthead has been restored to its former glory!

Title: Sunflower II

P/S: Obtained this image from http://www.wowmelody.com/index.html. Melody Johnson is an artist whose medium is quiltmaking and hey, she has a cat named Popeye. The quilts are beautiful.

Update: Shucks, I spoke too early. The problem has recurred! What's going on :(

A Tale of Two Cities

Oops...I meant to narrate A Tale of Two CATS, my 老大和老二 (no. 1 and no. 2). Skoda and Braun have come to accomodate each other pretty well (they started off on a rocky note). Skoda is more tolerant of Braun and Braun does know a thing or two on fitting into Skoda's space. I love to see them sitting close to each other. They seemed to have established some 共识 (mutual understanding). 一切尽在不言中! This to me is the highest point a relationship can get to, one that stretches beyond words.

(While Skoda and Braun were basking in some peaceful moments - without Monster Mikki in the picture, Grimlock was soundly asleep.)

P/S: Additional information about "A Tale of Two Cities" (1859), the second historical novel by Charles Dickens: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Tale_of_Two_Cities I read it for my Literature subject back in secondary school.

"I Wanna Break Free!"

Something downstairs caught Braun's attention and the next moment, she was doing her balancing act on the window sill. When she was younger, she entertained the fantacies of being a spider girl - she would leap from the floor onto the window. That is why we meshed up our living room windows and keep the windows of the other rooms and kitchen closed at all times.

Whenever I catch Braun doing this, she is not spared from a prolonged round of scolding PLUS a smack on her backside. I've to confess all these have apparently fallen on deaf ears. btw, one needs to be slim to attempt this acrobatic act. Skoda knows her limitations, hee hee (this girl now weighs 6.4kg). As for Mikki, she tends to stay away from unfamiliar grounds.

And Braun didn't need any help at all to "untangle" herself from the tight spot.

"Stop, Paparazzi!"

"Can someone please tell the Mouse to quit snapping my photos?!?! Doesn't she ever get tired of doing this? Come on, I do need some privacy. And nope, I refuse to look at the camera. No way!"

A Sick Mouse

It took three doctors, five consultation visits and having spent close to $300 to find out what is causing my prolonged cough. I went to my regular General Practioner (GP) for three times, dutifully completed the medication but I was still coughing away.

I was gasping for breath when I laid down to sleep on Sunday night and close to midnight, I had to wake Grimlock up to accompany me to a 24-hour clinic. From my wheezy cough, the doctor pronounced my condition as having asthma and that struck me like a thunder bolt. I didn't have any asthma throughout my growing up years (none of it in my family history either) so to be told at a not-that-young-age of 35 that I am asthmatic was really something. I told him of this but he seemed certain of his diagnosis. He put me on a nebuliser and prescribed a course of antibiotics, cough syrup and a Ventolin inhaler (first time I got my hands on one), and told me to consult a lung specialist when I get better. I found out from the clinic nurse that he was not one of the clinic's resident doctors.

I went back to sleep with the word "asthma" hanging over my head. Woke up at 5am and started coughing away, and felt breathless again (even after taking the cough syrup). I stopped trying to sleep and got ready to go to work, earlier than usual. I had a meeting at 11.30am which I needed to attend to. I was gasping for breath and I just felt lousy. I decided to finish up whatever I had to at work and then seek a third opinion. I contemplated checking myself in to A&E (was wondering how soon they can attend to me and if my condition actually warrants this course of action). I prayed for wisdom and decided to look up my childhood GP in my former estate. He has my medical records like from I was seven old till my mid 20's.

Going back to my former childhood GP was like seeing an old friend again (mentally I felt almost instantaneously better). He just came back from a trip and started work yesterday (thank God for the timing!). I showed him all the prescriptions for the two recent consultations and described my symptoms in detail. He diagnosed my condition as bronchitis which resulted in the wheezing, and he dispelled my concerns of being asthmatic (I didn't have any medical history of it). I also checked with him if there was any allergy reaction involved or my ailment had anything to do with my cats. He said that was unlikely. He prescribed a stronger dosage of antibiotics plus five other medication, and recommended I take a chest X-ray (which I did) and put me on home rest for two days.

After the medication kicked into effect, the gasping stopped. I finally could have a good night's sleep, only to be awaken by Skoda's singing at 7am. At 7.30am, I surrendered and let her in to the bedroom, or rather in fairness, let all three in (time to take my medication anyway). Then they couldn't make up their minds if they wanted to be in or out. At 9.30am, I gave up and shooed all of them out. I went back to sleep and woke up at 12.30pm. The cough is not as chokey but I still have quite a bit of phlegm. Feeling quite druggy, otherwise I am better now. Just called up the clinic to check the X-ray result. Nurse said result is normal but to call back again to check with doctor (he is not in yet).

I was hesitant initially to doctor-hop. The gasping was a scary experience. I'm glad I listened to the small inner voice. Thank God for watching over me :)

Found this image from this website: www.nataliedee.com. Check out the cute T-shirt designs.

Roving Eye@mcc: zzzzzzzzz...

Grimlock and I were in the South Bridge Road area last Sunday, 25 Nov. We chanced upon this sweetie who was soundly asleep among the grass patch. A calico sporting the latest community cat fashion (a tipped ear!). Glad to see that he is of a good size (not skinny) and just hope that he is safe from dangers/harms.

"Cats are a tonic, they are a laugh, they are a cuddle, they are at least pretty just about all of the time and beautiful some of the time." - Roger Caras