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

THE DAY HE LEFT WITH TEARS

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the wishes and comfort during these sad moments. Jeremy was the love of my life… my son… the “man” behind my blog. Without him around, my life had gone crashing down. It happened so quickly and I was totally helpless to help him pull through. Subconsciously, I still filled up his bowl daily… That showed how much I had missed him and not wanting to think that he had left me for good. I’ve no reasons why I’m still so reluctant to put away his food bowl, although the rest of the J Family Kitties enjoyed the extras. Maybe that would be the best way to overlook on that part for some time.

Trudy ('Kaika, Tanith, Midnight, Stella, Blackie and Miss Kitty’s mum) was kind enough to warn me through ML on the possibility of some warfarin (rat poison) presence here, just in case the rest of the kitties had gone wandering around biting on any poisoned rats. Thank you for your concern, Trudy. I appreciate it a lot. From my knowledge, no one I knew was using such toxic substance here. Moreover, Jeremy would rather go dating at Monty’s house than to waste his energy chasing rodents and the rest of the kitties are rather homely. If only Jeremy knew Monty was spayed. Monty indeed loved his presence over the rest of the kitties.

I was really in stormy anger when I went over to my vets for a post mortem of the incident. They were supposed to detect any health problems on my babies but they failed to do so for Jeremy. The act of moving to a new place about a month ago and just 15 minutes’ drive to the vet did not save Jeremy’s life. Only cat fight wounds from a recent brawl with the mafia cat here were treated instead of checking further the cause of him losing some hair at his back. It was only concluded that it could be due to CRF (Chronic Renal Failure) he has been suffering from for awhile, in which none of us were aware of and with no symptoms at all. The illness suddenly took a bad turn into ARF (Acute Renal Failure) during the last two days of his life, as pointed out by Trudy.

I guessed I have to stay strong now and share my bad experiences here so that the rest of you out there would be knowledgeable enough to spot the hidden symptoms to avoid the same life threatening scenarios as in Jeremy’s case. On the other hand, I’ll need to shift my mind not to wander off wildly again as I have been during the past few days. Here are some comparisons as I found from vetinfo.com which I would be using to show on Jeremy’s recent behaviors:

Common symptoms of CFC include:

* Excessive urination and thirst – Normal healthy stools but peed quite often in small puddles.
* Loss of appetite – No signs of this. He was hungry always.
* Fatigue – He had his usual sleeping time. Nothing suspicious found here.
* Weight loss – A bit and I thought it was due to the relocation stress.
* Vomiting – Not that I have known of except for some fur balls throw up.
* Bad breath – None as he’s the cleanest cat in the household.
* Drooling – Not as regular as before I had moved here but extremely during his last 2 days.
* Dehydration – He did drink a lot though from running to and fro Monty’s house.
* A Dull Coat – The normal change of hair seasonally but it could meant he was not well too.

Key signs of ARF include:

* Lack of Coordination – He was still moving around here and there with no such signs.
* Refusal to eat – He ate a lot in the morning but not at night in that fearful state.
* Pain and straining during urination – Not that I was aware of.
* Vomiting – None at all.
* Weakness – A bit which I assumed was from a mild cold from the recent wet weather.
* Disorientation – The night before his missing as he was in “Sphynx” position and not lying down, shaky and in fear, which I assumed was the threat from the mafia cat. It’s a crashing sign for immediate medical attention!
* Bad breath – Not at all.
* Seizures – None at all except during the posture he was in when I found his body :(

Other findings from my personal observation on Jeremy:

* Fur Loss – Only after moving here which I assumed they were from some cat fights.
* Pee Color – Deep yellow and extremely smelly than norm.
* Hide & Seek – During the last few days, Jeremy has been digging and hiding in dark areas in my house. I thought it was the nature of cats to do so... mischievously.
* Constant Seeking Out – I thought he wanted to snuggle with me more without realizing that he was not so well and would like to be as close to me as possible. I should have known that he wanted to tell me that he was sick and wanted my immediate attention and action.
* Unusual Purrs – It could be an indication that he was in discomfort instead of content. If only I could understand cat language to hear him out. :(
* Blood Stain Mucus-like Substance – It could be due to some internal bleeding which my vets and I could not determine the cause of it. If only he stayed and did not run away, he could have been saved. :(
* Unusual Cries – Do not ever ignore such cries from other cats. It could mean that they are seeking help for someone they love. If only Monty could show me where Jeremy has been hiding, I could have had rushed him for emergency treatments.

I’m still in a sad and broken down stage now but I have to brave myself to write this post. It’s not so easy as to write on something you have lost recently without drowning in sorrow. Jeremy would be grateful for what I had written here to share with others. At least, another life would be saved for speedy actions. The picture of his cold body still haunted me nightly. The thought of his last moments on his face and the tears in his sparkling eyes left a deep wound in my heart. For 3 full years, I have been treating Jeremy as if he was my own son but he just left me without allowing me to be by his side during the last moment. Who would have expected that his birthday would become his death day?

The J Family Kitties have been real supportive these few nights by cuddling around me at all times. They somehow could sense my sadness. I hope I can pull through this sudden trauma very soon… it has been the saddest moment in my life…

I WISHED I COULD WIPE THOSE TEARS OFF OUR EYES…



* sorry but this was his last photo and I would like to remember him forever...

PHOTO HUNTERS – ORANGE

This week’s theme is ORANGE.
An ORANGE may have high Vitamin C in them
but overdose of Vitamin C would not be good for the body.
Although non-toxic, it may cause diarrhea, kidney stones,
nausea and tamper with the analysis of blood work results.
Just look at Mrs. Mousey who loves ORANGES a lot…
Something went wrong…

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND VISIT!
HAVE A NICE WEEKEND!

PURINA KITTEN CHOW “KITTEN LOVERS” CONTEST

I hope I’m not too late to inform my American friends about this contest as I only got to find out about it barely a few minutes ago. The good news is that it’s still open for submission but the bad news is that it’s about to end on July 31, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. ET (Eastern Time). Purina Kitten Chow "Kitten Lovers" Contest is open only to legal residents of the forty-eight (48) contiguous United States, and the District of Columbia who are at least eighteen (18) years old at the time of entry and who did not purchase any equipment for purposes of entering this Contest.

The Submission must comply with Photobucket.com Terms of Service, located at http://photobucket.com/terms; and the Submission cannot have been submitted previously in a contest of any kind or exhibited or displayed publicly through any means previously. After the Contest Period, qualified judges selected by Sponsor in its sole discretion (the 'Judges') will select the potential winners based on the following criteria ('Judging Criteria'): 34% originality, 33% creativity, and 33% fit with the theme. Please click here for the full Official Contest Rules & Submission Guidelines.

PRIZES:

ONE (1) GRAND PRIZE: Purina Kitten Chow ultimate prize package. Prize package includes a Canon digital camera; a Marmalade Pet Cheeky Chaise cat bed; Tidy Cats Breeze Litter Box System including a Tidy Cats Litter Box, pads, and refill; the Smart Cat Ultimate Scratch Post; and a six month supply of Purina Kitten Chow or any Purina Cat Chow adult formula awarded in the form of a coupon (terms and conditions of coupon apply). Approximate Retail Value ('ARV'): $609. The ARV of electronic prizes is subject to price fluctuations in the consumer marketplace based on, among other things, any gap in time between the date the ARV is estimated for purposes of these Official Rules and the date the prize is awarded or redeemed.

ONE (1) RUNNER-UP PRIZE: Purina Kitten Chow "Kitten Lovers" prize package. Prize package includes Tidy Cats Breeze Litter Box System including a Tidy Cats Litter Box, pads, and refill; the Smart Cat Ultimate Scratch Post; and a six month supply of Purina Kitten Chow or any Purina Cat Chow adult formula awarded in the form of a coupon (terms and conditions of coupon apply). ARV: $240.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.

A PLACE I WOULD CALL HEAVEN

With a household of nine fast growing up cats, there would always be endless streams of breakages, health issues and vet bills. What more when there are so many innocent strays around my neighborhood which at times would have some emergency issues. I must admit that I have the guilt of not being able to help out all by sending them to the vet for treatments. Most of the time, it would be based on my knowledge and experience handling my J Family Kitties to assist them within my means. It was also lucky for most of them as they were here on God’s will to get a least some comfort in temporary food and lodging. Frankly speaking, not all of them managed to pull through even with my best effort.

If could have been worst if not for the help of a place I would call heaven. Most of you might not have heard about Raising Whiskers, a website that had so far made me a more knowledgeable person to help out all the basic necessity of those kittens and cats that were in need. Initially, I was quite a panicky person when I see blood on any of my cats, especially when a freak accident happened. One such case was when Joey’s collar got caught on her fang and she was desperately trying to free herself, resulting with injuries on her mouth as well as on her paws. It was quite a bloody scene with splatters of blood all over the floor. Again, I would say there’s surely a guardian angel keeping an eye over their ever mischievous activities. Somehow, I was always there when mishaps happened. Why? I won’t know for sure but indeed with my sacrificing of time to read up almost everything in the website did help me handle my pets better. That indeed did save up some vet costs since the cut was minor.

If you are free or deciding to recruit a kitten or a cat into the family, I would advise you to check out the website for more information. You could easily find topics related to cats species, kitten/cat care, cat health, cat behavior, cat symptoms, cat medications to making simple and free games for your cats here. It did help me a lot with so many demanding cats in the family and I hope it will help you too. :)

PHOTO HUNTERS – PROTECTION

This week’s theme is on PROTECT(ION).
There are many ways to interpret the word
PROTECTION and mine this week would on
Global PROTECTION awareness.
I also hope that all the human and animals
would be protected against all harms at all time…
especially Jayson…
Missed you boy…

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND VISIT!

For those PhotoHunt members, please click Mister Linky above and enter your information for easy tracking.
Thank you and have a Nice Weekend!

AWARENESS PROGRAM - THANKSGIVING

With Thanksgiving coming up this week, followed by Christmas then New Year, there would be lots of gatherings, parties not forgetting lots of ongoing drinking events happening before the end of the year. All the J Kitties love parties, especially Jeremy. But! Jeremy has an advice for everyone, “There’s a limit to everything. Do not go too far beyond your limitation. It is better safe than never…” Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends throughout the globe!

SOME THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Taking some time off from the blogging world can sometimes be quite relaxing after so much of pressures I had when I had to ensure the health of all the J Family Kitties. Although I could not get far away from home as the kitties still needed me to be around, a stroll down a little sanctuary was so refreshing. The fresh air in the natural habitat, the chipping of birds, the movements of all the little critters within the environment was so inspirational.

I had never felt so content in life; being aware of the little blessings I had, knowing so many great and kindhearted people around the globe. But would that be enough? No, I do not think so. I’m still greedy… greedy to get more people to shower some of their love towards those little blessings that the world had ignored. I would love to see this become a reality and together we should make it happen. Have some thoughts about this…