The Shah Alam cat-family is safe and sound now – a lovely story

Ref: http://animalcare.my/2012/02/03/mother-cat-and-3-more-kittens-left-in-shah-alam-koos/

On Friday, I personally asked Maslinda if she would have the space to take in this mother-cat and her (remaining) 3 kittens. I said we would provide for their medical needs and food (to be fair to Mas, of course).

And, Maslinda (bless her kind heart), said YES! But could someone please bring the family to her in PJ?

So, on Friday evening, Koo (who alerted us all to this family) brought the family to the vet in Subang Jaya for a check-up. The vet was very busy with surgeries that day, and Koo waited for hours before their turn (now, bless Koo for this!). The family was dewormed and frontlined, all at Koo’s own expenses.

Then, Koo ferried the lucky family to Maslinda’s house.

Last check, Maslinda says they family is a-okay!

Now, this is truly a heartwarming tale (don’t we need happy stories?) of our motto, “Working together for the animals”, ie. Koo alerted us to it. I blogged. Someone offered to take, but changed her mind later (it’s ok). Then 2 kittens got taken. I got worried. I asked Maslinda. Maslinda said YES. Koo brought the family and even gave them the necessary medical needs first and transported them from an uncertain street-life to a loving cat-friendly neighbourhood under a responsible caregiver.

Now, if this is not GREAT news that should make the headlines today (on this blog), I don’t know what else to call it!

Thank you, for giving us hope that there is still kindness in this bitter world!!

I have assured Maslinda we will provide the financial needs for medical treatment, spay-neuter and food for this family. Maslinda would just have to holler.  We’ll hear and respond.

Koo’s write-up (just received):

Hi Dr Chan,

As I shared before, last Friday (3 January 2012) morning, I went to visit the cat family and noticed that two were missing and later, the Chinese hardware shopkeeper told me that a Malay lady had took two away. Even though I was glad, the rest of the family was still in danger of any passing deranged animal hater since they were at the shoplot walkway with heavy foot traffic as you can see from the following picture:

01.jpg: The mother was resting in the middle of the walkway and all it takes is just a kick from an evil person and we could have a tragedy to bear with. The remaining three kittens were out of their box and noticed the one at the grill door near the box? Also, notice the yellow shutter door? That would come into play later…

02.jpg: This little one fell asleep (no, not dead but looked as if, isn’t it) right there and it was just such a poignant scene. I didn’t want to share this with you then because I know it can be distressing not knowing their fate later after seeing this.

03.jpg: Moments later, the two kittens went for their mother’s milk but the little one was still blissfully asleep… Then, I got the wonderful news from you that Maslinda was willing to foster and I waited very impatiently for the work day to end before I hurried to the family and it started raining.

04.jpg: When office hours were over, I rushed to the shoplots but the box was empty! I frantically asked the shopkeepers and they all thought they were taken away. I stay for a while comforting the mother cat whom I thought was uncharacteristically nonchalant about their disappearance and contemplated whether I should take her for spaying. Then, I saw a kitten’s head popping out cautiously from behind the shutter door! It turned out that they were hiding from the rain and thunder. No wonder, the mom wasn’t worried. So, the rescue mission was still on!

05.jpg: I scooped up one kitten after another from their hiding spot into my lidded box and was wondering whether the mother cat would scratch and bite me if I tried to hold her. But she solved my problem by voluntarily jumping into the box! Obviously, her mother instinct is very strong and she was willing to share their unknown and uncertain fate together (I could have been someone else with evil intentions) rather than to be separated from them.

06.jpg: We rushed to the vet where we waited for a few hours after which we got them dewormed and Frontline-d. The kittens were made up of two females and one ginger male. The mom was estimated to be 3-4 years old. They were all fine healthwise which was important because as a responsible rescuer, I didn’t want to endanger Maslinda’s own cats if they had problems.

07.jpg: The whole family safe and sound in the isolation room at Maslinda’s place.

Although I arrived at the fosterer’s residential area at about 9pm, I waited for almost half an hour outside because I thought she was still in class as she sms-ed me to wait for her.  But it turned out that I was at the wrong house and mistakenly assumed that Maslinda hasn’t come home yet when she was actually home conducting a class and wondering where I was! I was so exhausted that I fell asleep on the wheel before I woke up and realised that she sms-ed me to ask for my whereabouts.

Sorry that I only took one picture because the isolation room’s light was not working, it was dark at night already and I didn’t want to stress the rescued family with camera flashes. I also didn’t take any pictures of Maslinda’s place because I believe and respect the privacy of others and I wish to keep her place confidential even though I wasn’t ask to do so. I am honored to meet her and her well-kept and friendly adopted/rescued cats including the Petknode ones.

I briefly discussed the plan with Maslinda which is to keep the family until the kittens are old enough to be put up for adoption. The mother will also be put up for adoption by then too although I can always return her to the colony once spayed. I am very grateful to Maslinda and will keep track of their progress and give whatever help I can. I can’t thank you enough too for helping to publicise their case. Please do let me know any amount that was spend for their care (including their food, medical needs, spaying/neutering, etc) and I will pay as a responsible rescuer would and should especially if I can afford to do so. This feline family may be out of my sight now but they will always be on my mind.

Thank you and best regards,

Koo

Many thanks, Koo, for doing the needful and more! Since I was the one who asked Maslinda for this favour, we will definitely pay for the medical costs, spay-neuter needs and food for this family. But since Koo has offered to share – thank you very much, we certainly welcome it.

It’s great to work together this way where there is understanding, initiative and goodwill.

Cheers, everyone! This is still a wonderful world.

P.S. Koo, cats have a sixth sense and the mum-cat KNOWS you have good intentions!  Believe me, they KNOW. Cats are very, very cautious animals. And extremely intelligent, too.