A YEAR HAD PASSED BUT YOU STILL LEFT ME WITH A BROKEN HEART

If he were to be here still, he would have been 4 years old today. No matter how hard I tried to forget that Jeremy was no longer by my side, the more the sweet memories of him kept coming back into my mind. It was the closest bond which we had through all his growing up years that caught me in tears occasionally… even now. It still hurts quite badly whenever Christmas approaches. Jeremy has been one such golden boy that had touched the lives of many people out there… not only mine. He had brought peace to those with troubled minds. He had brought smiles to the faces of many in sorrow. Nevertheless, he had brought so much happiness into my life that nothing else in the world matters anymore. Boy… How I wished I could cuddle you to sleep once again. I missed the warmth… I missed your unique expressions… I missed just having you next to me always… Happy Birthday my dear Jeremy~ I’ll never forget you!

Although Jerry was adopted for barely for a few months, this Christmas boy did not even have the fate to celebrate his second birthday this Christmas. I missed him too. Nobody would have known that the severe blow of FLUTD could have taken him away just like that. He was such a handsome and macho buddy I came to know very well.

I guessed Christmas would not be the same anymore without my two December boys but life have to go on. The rest of the J Familiy Kitties would still need my affection and commitment to keep them happy always. Let the spirits of Christmas bring more joy and happiness in the lives of everyone out there. Have a great Christmas and holidays ahead~

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!



With Love,
Criz Lai & the J Family Kitties (Mama Jessica, Janice, Jayson, Jimmy & Jiro)

THE FLUTD FEAR IS BACK!

Have I been destined to be the sole caretaker of the J Family Kitties? There seemed to be a consistent trend that each time I'm down with some sort of illness, one or many of the kitties would follow suit. This time, it's Jiro's turn. Just slightly right into my third day of high fever (prior to being diagnose with dengue fever and admitted into the hospital), Jiro has been real noisy and jumped onto my bed. His first reaction was to stood up with his two front paws on my tummy, gave out a scary loud meow and peed right onto me. This little act of disobedience has never happened before. The stench was unbearable. It was exactly that unforgettable smell that made me recall the day I lost my golden boy, Jeremy. Could it be FLUTD (Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease)? I could not be ascertained but I suspected it is... Even if I could just find the extra energy to send him to the vet, he has gone into hiding again. The monsoon season has started with endless downpour every night. Where's he now? I'm super worried especially with his weird calls each time I was near him. HE HAS TO GO TO THE VET VERY SOON!

I may be home now but I'm not fully recovered from the bone breaking Dengue Fever (or breakbone fever as it's also known for). This is not just a common fever you would encounter. It's a LIFE THREATENING one! You can't recover within days. It would sometimes take weeks to months for a clean record of health. You can check more on the fever in Wikipedia. My platelet count dived from 210 to an all time low of 61 before picking up to 114 yesterday. No doubt the fever has stopped but the after effect of being hit by the fever remained. My whole body is still aching like hell and I'm sweating furiously even though it's raining heavily out there right now. Other than the disorientation in balancing well, you can try to imagine having a long icy spike poking right into every part of your bones. The chill and pain are just impossible for a sane person to bear. What made matter worst is that there's no proper medication available to treat the fever except with two tablets of Paracetamol 500mg every 8 hours. Anything stronger such as Ponstan would cause internal bleeding. With all the side effects popping up now and then, I'm also down with male PMS - Dysthymia. I just hope I can cope with all the mood swings now.

I have to be strong now, no matter what it takes to find the extra boost of energy to stand up properly now. Jiro might just be another member of my newly adopted cat family but I can't bear the sight of him gone just like his brother, Jerry, in May 2011 this year. It may sound like a great move to help another soul to adopt them but more and more complications are beginning to appear. It's all linked on their long usage of wrong feed by their previous owner. I'm all out against cheaper cat food produced by Tesco. The brand guaranteed great nutrition and anti FLUTD but I can confirm that it killed Jeremy with only one month of consumption during my relocation late last year. It almost killed Mama Jessica. Luckily she has a bigger hole to discharge all the toxic blood. It definitely killed Jerry, who had been fed the same brand for more than a year by his previous owner... and now... Jiro is at his worst stage. I'm keeping my finger crossed that Jose's new found love for a mixture of wet and dry food would stop him from being slapped with the same fate as his other siblings. All I can do now is to pray... pray that with my every effort to keep the J Kitties healthy, they would enjoy their lives to the fullest...

MY CHRISTMAS BOY IS GONE

When tomorrow starts without me,
And I'm not there to see;
The sun will rise and find your eyes
All filled with tears for me.
I wish so much you wouldn't cry
The way you did today,
Remembering how I'd lay my head
In your lap that special way.
I know how much you love me,
As much as I love you,
And each time that you think of me,
I know you'll miss me too.

But when tomorrow starts without me.
Please try to understand,
That an angel came and called my name
And petted me with her hand.
She said my place was ready,
In Heaven far above,
And that I'd have to leave behind
All those I dearly love.

But, as I turned to heel away,
A tear fell from my eye,
For all my life I never thought
That I would have to die.
I had so much to live for,
So many purrs and bums to do,
It seemed almost impossible,
That I was leaving you.

I thought about our lives together,
I know you must be sad,
I thought of all the love we shared,
And all the fun we had.
But life is uncertain,
And death is unavoidable.
Stay strong Dad,
I'll be in your memory forever.

I had stayed all night long hoping that I can give him some comfort while waiting for the best possible chance to get him to the vet but he just could not wait. He left under my watchful eyes at 9.00am sharp by giving me the last blink, "Daddy... I love you..."

Note: It's a nightmare that I lost two December boys within 6 months... it hurts badly~

FEAR AND ANGER WOULD NOT MEND YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CAT

Have you ever wondered why at certain time, your pet's characters and behaviors swayed from bad to worst? This is something that most of us would be in a daze as we could not understand their language and there tends to be lots of communication breakdowns. No matter what, there's something quite universal about your pet(s) and you. All of us have feelings and we do get into periodical mood swings as well. On top of that, fear, insecurity, the need of love and affection, understanding, communication are some of the common scenarios we faced each day. I'm going to share with you a touching real-life Japanese video on the relationship between a cat and his owner. I'm sorry that only Chinese subtitle is provided but I did a summary in English just right after the video for a clearer understanding of what really happened as shown below.



Summary:
A 5 years old cat (named Gu La) suddenly turned violent against everyone at home, especially when confronting with the eldest daughter, Mei. Ever since being adopted from the garbage bin as a kitten, both Mei and Gu La were inseparable. Now, both of them cannot even stay in the same room. With the help of a lady (Hai Bo) whom can communicate with animals, they finally knew about Gu La's temperamental problems.

It was amazing how Hai Bo could calm down Gu La in a sitting posture and by the blink of the eyes. Everyone did the same action to gain back Gu La's confidence. From Gu La's body action, it was learned that he had a sad and angry history. He felt the insecurity when Mei moved out from the house to further her studies. The time spent together got lesser and lesser as the days passed. He has lost his mother two weeks from birth and is Mei as his adopted mother discarding him as well?

He missed the hugs Mei gave him ever since small. From sadness, loneliness and fear, it became anger. By showing her endless love commitment to Gu La, Mei finally got his trust to mend the lost relationship. "I never hate Gu La and leave the house. I have to further my studies, thus I have no choice but to leave Gu La for awhile. Even though we are separated, I have always love Gu La. I do really wish I could be with Gu La as before." Mei kept radiate her love from her heart towards Gu La.

Gu La suddenly changed his pose, "Come... scratch my tummy~". Mei has not been showing her affection by stroking Gu La for 3 years. To her surprise, Gu La extended his paw towards Mei as if it was a peace hand shake. Now everyone can stroke Gu La without having the fear of being scratched at. This was indeed a touching moment~ :)

Note: I tried my best to get the information translated as accurately as possible. The names of the cat and human are from direct translation. I hope I got them right~ :P

COULD THIS BE ONE OF THE ABUSED SERDANG KITTENS?

Tati Ambia shared this news regarding the present life of one of the remaining kittens in the Serdang Cat Killer case. According to the news, Victor Fei from the Selangor Times, went to the crime scene located behind KFC at a fruit shop, next to the Seri Kembangan market and saved the dying kitten without any hesitation. The kitten is now back to normal health. Thanks Victor for your compassionate heart to give this kitten a new life.

There was a bit of doubt here too as no one could ascertain if this was one of Chow Xiao Wei's victims. From the date Chow admitted abusing the kittens on 19 February 2011 until the day she held a press conference on on 6 March 2011, it was 15 days apart. Could the kitten suffer such an ordeal for such a long period? My answer would be a "Yes".

I had personally encountered such a case before when I tried to help a black tabby with serious head injury from what I presumed was a badly abused case. Her head was struck with a hard object, most probably with a stick, until you can see her open skull with blood stains. I tried getting her to a vet but she disappeared in fear. Things did not look promising then as I could not trace her at that location ever since. Two months later, I mysteriously spotted her at the same location scavenging for food. At least her head injury was better. The wound had closed up with pinkish colored flesh remained. Again, I failed to capture her for treatment. A month later when I went back to that place, she was there again. This time, her black fur had grown back steadily but slowly. If you are at KFC, Jalan Larut, Penang, you might still bum onto her once in awhile. Unless you have her confidence, it's not that easy to approach her still. From this case, you would know there are possibilities that a cat would live on, even as hardcore case as this one.

You might ask me how confident I am in identifying a cat. I had single handed helped my mother cat, Mama Jessica, in two deliveries. In fact, they had gone through 4 years with me, from a kitten to beautiful ladies and handsome gentlemen. Identifying a kitten would not be hard at all as each kitten has their own markings, just like the fingerprints of a human. If you study closely on the kitten photo in the newspaper, you would notice that there's a "M" marking on the forehead. It's the same as the kitten on the right. Even the little "mold" below the lips is the same. If you compare the lying position of the kitten in the newspaper with that of the kitten, there are similarities too. The fur color of kittens might fade a bit or changed to more orange as they grow up but those markings would remain the same. Let's hope that this lucky kitten would have a better life from now on. Let's pray that those who had gone over to the rainbow bridge would find some peace from the nightmare.