Today, I visited my Uncle and Aunty, both of whom are in their eighties. I know my Uncle and Aunty love animals and have been taking care of many stray animals that they have picked up from the street. Their two daughters (my cousins) do the same too.
Both their daughters are very good at photography, and I saw many photos on the wall, depicting some of the animals they have rescued and looked after. Too bad I had not brought my camera along, so these photos are of rather poor quality (taken with my handphone).
Here’s an interesting photo of this little bird that they had rescued and fostered.
This is my Uncle and the little bird is sitting on top of his head!
And here’s my Aunty with the same bird on her palm.
And I saw this cat sitting comfortably on their keyboard. His name is Osim, and one of my cousins rescued him from the street. That was three years ago. Osim had this terrible-looking wound on his body and he was covered with mud and grime when he was picked up from the street.
My cousin and Aunty have brought Osim to many vets (including the ones I would recommend now) but it seems the wound cannot heal.
So Osim has to wear the collar permanently. And he also has to go on a special diet for the rest of his life.
My Aunty would take the collar out every now and then so that Osim can groom himself, but he has to be monitored lest he starts nibbling on the wound, causing it to bleed.
My Aunty also cleans the wound every day to prevent it from deteriorating.
If you look closely at the wound, the hair around it has stopped growing. It has been like this for 3 years now.
Other than the wound, Osim is perfectly alright, and eats very well (you can see that from his size!).
My Aunty gave him the name Osim because he loves to lie on her and use his four limbs to “massage” her. All cat owners know how cats love to do this. And they only do this when they trust and love you!
That’s my Aunty with Osim.
Osim is very “manja” and he “answers” when my Aunty talks to him!
Besides this, my Uncle and Aunty also feeds many strays around their house. Every morning, they go out to buy meat to cook for the dogs and cats. Both of them are pensioners.
Age is certainly no barrier to kindness, folks.
Isn’t this a wonderful way to spend your retirement?
If any old people say to you that they feel useless and there’s nothing more that they can do, please show them these photos.
Even if your children and your grandchildren do not need your help, the animals do. And there are so, so many of them….
Comments
3 responses to “Age is no barrier to kindness”
May I know what has been used to dress the wound. The wound looks clean.
There has been significant changes in human wound care that has not perhaps been caught up in vet medicine esp. in this region.
Some vets still use "toxic" cleaning agents such as hydrogen peroxide and chlorhexidine.
http://www.nsc.gov.sg/showpage.asp?id=149
I dont know, and I doubt if my Aunty can remember. Do you think the wound can heal?
Thank you Kah Yein, for posting these pictures. Currently, the wound is cleaned with a warm saline bath to clear the build-up from the day before. Then a hydrogen peroxide:H2O (1:10) mixture is applied to it. Have to be careful it doesn't get to the "good although now hairless" skin. When Osim is dried off, we apply an anti-fungal cream thinly to the wound.
Prior to this we have tried a tumeric & margosa oil mixture, sulphur & kapur mixture, minyak gamat, aloe vera… And 3 years ago, at the beginning when the vets had made surgery attempts, Osim went through a skin transplant and also a new technique by a graduate student from India using a specially formulated nutrient sheet which was placed immediately over wound to encourage growth & healing. Osim was in the UPM hospital for 2 months. Although UPM did their best and the students would pet him whenever they were there, he was so dis-spirited at the end of it, living in a small cage. My mum & I cried whenever we would visit him. So when the doctors said there wasn't anything else they could do, we were more than ready to bring Osim home and treat him ourselves. For as long as Osim is with us, we will do whatever we can to help him, with God's help and His grace. Apart from all that he is an absolute joy and blessing and free massage too. Come visit