Daffi updates: Getting back to normalcy?

This morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find Daffodil on our bed, sleeping next to me. She must have come up in the middle of the night.

Well, good that she has energy to come upstairs, after her return from her roof sojourn of 3 full days. It was literally a case of a “cat on a hot tin roof”, really.  Those 3 days were SO hot. The roof tiles were also burning hot as I tried to walk on them in my attempt to find her.

Not only was Daffodil on the bed, so was Heidi and Vincent and Tabs (as polite as she is) was at the door, always waiting for permission to come in.

I hope things are returning to normalcy now.

I can only hope that this is the case.

As I look back on this ordeal, I try to piece together everything to make sense of it. Let’s just get the facts here, on what we do know so that perhaps, we can make some objective sense from it.

1  There was a function next door. There was a lot of unfamiliar noises. Tents were put up.

2  Daffodil was clearly frazzled and was darting to and fro in the house on Friday night.

3  She escaped through the gopher hole early Saturday morning.

4  I contacted two psychics for help as the hours wore on. Both said to give her “two days” and that she was just nearby. The first psychic asked for photos of our front gate and I provided all, including photos of the ledge where every roof-traveler takes.

5  Shortly after I contacted the psychics, Daffodil appeared to me by sitting on the ledge on the roof and again, for many, many times that evening, right through to late at night on Saturday. I skipped a wedding dinner just to wait for her and she appeared to me, strutted on the roof, but simply refused to come back.

6  I climbed onto the roof with the hope of coaxing her to come back, but she refused to. The tents were still up. The surroundings were still, hence, “unfamiliar”. I left food and water in that spot on the roof. It was untouched on Saturday.

7  On early Sunday morning, the food bowl was empty. I thought Daffodil was the one who ate the food but on Monday, I saw G-Cuz (the neighbour’s cat) right there, so he could have eaten the food.

8  At 9.30am, on Sunday morning, as I reached the top of the ladder, Daffodil was just a metre away from me, sitting on the ledge of the roof. She was so close to me, and she mewed at me. I didn’t have the heart to write this at the time, but she clearly looked dehydrated. Her fur was messy and “spiky”. I quickly came down the ladder to get some food, but when I went up again, she was gone.

9  I didn’t get to see her anymore from 9.30am on Sunday and the whole of Monday. The tents were dismantled by 2pm on Sunday. I hoped Daffodil might return, but she did not. On the whole of Sunday, the food (even wetfood) I left on the roof spot was untouched.

10  The psychic said Daffodil still wanted to “check out her surroundings” and that she will come down from the roof. She also said that Daffodil wanted a break from medication.

11  Since Saturday, we had already opened the wire-netting on two of our windows and left the windows wide open. Daffodil could have easily come back, but she chose not to. We put food there as well. It was untouched and later, eaten up by Heidi or Tabs, who also explored the roof and went to “the spot”.

12  By Monday, the psychic said she could not contact Daffodil anymore. There was no more connection.

13  On Monday night, I placed the scissors on the pot of water on the stove after Lina reminded me about it. A friend did a sembahyang hajat. Of course, I know many readers had also been praying for Daffodil’s safe return.

14  On Tuesday morning, Daffodil finally came back. The whole “return story” in full details is here: https://animalcare.my/2017/06/13/6-40am-the-miracle-happened-daffi-is-back/

Here’s what I think:

Daffodil was clearly frazzled by all the noise and “strange” surroundings, so she had to escape from it. The only “safe” place she knows was the roof. Rosie and Daffodil were both roof dwellers. She stayed on the roof and probably did not come down at all throughout the 3 days. We all know she is a “free spirit” and had lived the first 10-11 years of her life being a free roamer. By Monday, it was time to come back (due to hunger, maybe).

Daffodil must have mustered all her remaining energy to come down from the roof, because on the night of her return, she was so weak that she could not even prop herself up on her legs. She tried to stand up, but her legs were wobbly. She was a little dehydrated too. Her tumour was lacerated (I suspect due to contact with rough concrete).

I was really worried that night. I gave her food every few hours and was relieved that she still had appetite to eat, though she had to eat lying down as she couldn’t stand up.

I only cleaned the tumour yesterday and I consulted the psychic again, if I could start medication. The psychic said Daffodil knows she has to resume medication and that it would be okay to restart it since she already had her break from it.

Throughout Daffodil’s disappearance, I kept sending thought messages to Daffodil, to please come back (my main worry was food and water). All living beings need nutrition to survive. How on earth was she going to find food and water on the hot roof? Even if you do not want medication anymore, at least, please eat food.

So when she finally came back, I didn’t dare do anything as far as treatment was concerned. I only gave her food. I didn’t even clean off that patch of white paint on the tumour until late evening when she was more settled. That’s when I noticed that the tumour had been lacerated. It was bleeding and there were blood stains everywhere.

Yesterday, I spoke with her and explained that she probably needs Bioresis as the tumour was still bleeding. And it needs iodine too, since it’s lacerated. I brought her into the kitchen and cleaned her tumour, applied iodine on it and gave her some Bioresis and Danzen. I put her tshirt on.

You are under my care, Daffodil, I think it would be very irresponsible of me not to treat that lacerated tumour, as much as you might not like it.

Yesterday was a very, very trying day for me. I felt under pressure to release Daffodil because I was told I should let her go free again, that I should not hold her against her will. I couldn’t do that – not when she could not even prop herself up after her 3-day sojourn on the hot tin roof. Yes, Daffodil probably likes to be free and yes, she probably doesn’t like being confined within Stargate2. But she has a tumour (suspected to be skin cancer). There are irresponsible speedsters on my road. There is a lady nearby who poisons cats and throws stones at them. What if I let her go and due to extreme hunger, she eats the poisoned food? A neighbour had already distributed the council hotline for catching stray cats to the entire neighbourhood. All it takes is one phonecall and all the cats would be caught. And I’m told, why worry? Didn’t Daffodil escape from the council way back, when she was a kitten? Daffodil was a kitten then, now she is 17 years old. That is the equivalent of 84 years old (in human years).

So no, I am not going to release Daffodil. All morning, I texted friends for support on my decision. It’s already been so hard throughout the 3 days when she was gone. I cried so hard, I was so worried, I pictured her dying alone, without any support and care. And now that we have finally got her back, I’m asked to release her again??

Really?

‘You’re not giving her what she wants”, I’m told.

Well, here’s the truth – I do not know what Daffodil wants.

If anyone can genuinely tell me what she wants, with absolute conviction, if anyone knows, then, please….tell me.

I do not speak Cat. I do not know what ANY of my cats want. I am only doing the best I can, the best I know. It may not be THE best in the eyes of many, but this is the best I can do, so please….give me a little support. Please.

Don’t make me cast Daffodil out again when I’ve just got her back and her tumour is still bleeding and she is still weak. I might never see her again. She might just die alone on the hot roof. Please do not make me do that just because you think that’s what she wants. Are you sure that’s what she wants, in the first place? To go away and die?

So, I spent the whole morning crying and decided that people can call me cruel all they want, for “not giving Daffodil what she wants”, but for now, I am not releasing her.

A little support, please?

When you are already so down and beaten and you get hit further…it’s hard to come back up.

That was yesterday and I’m thankful to Cathy, who came all the way to help me fortify the gopher hole.

And this morning started off well. Daffodil was back on the bed, sleeping next to me.

We came down and everyone had breakfast.

I gave her a mix of home-cooked, sprinkles of Primal, barf and some Monge kibble. See the photo, that’s what is left from her bowl, so that’s pretty good.

She seems to like this new scratching post.

Throughout this entire ordeal, I must give thanks to Mr Zurik too. He was the one who accompanied me on all my “sighting trips” to look for Daffodil. He’s been very loyal.

Like Cow, Mr Zurik is misunderstood. I’ve never doubted that he has a good heart.

Nowadays, with Vincent and Ginger inside, Mr Zurik has to protect the territory all by himself. This morning, I heard him fending off intruders again. Lately, Marcel (the black-and-white) has been approaching our compound. But he has a home down the road. There is also another grey tabby who has been trying to come in. Previously, when our team of Zurik-Vincent-Ginger was in the porch, no other cat could come in.

You see, this is what Neuter-and-Return is all about. We neuter and return, and the neutered cats will prevent new cats from coming in. The numbers will be maintained. It sure worked for 6 years in our old neighbourhood where Cow and Bunny guarded the entire road, from alley to alley. I am sure it works on the roads or areas of many animal caregivers. We keep telling the powers-that-be that it works and they keep telling us it doesn’t. They keep wanting to do their catch-and-kill.

And we keep telling neighbours that it works (a little understanding and kindness, please?) and they keep wanting to call the council for as short-term “solution” which involves killing.

The council knows better, is it? Killing is okay as long as it’s not done by you? You just pick up the phone and get someone else to kill because the law allows that and that makes it okay?

Killing another living being is okay, just because that living being is smaller and helpless and easily bullied?? All he/she has done is just to live on the streets because he/she has no other place to live in. Lots of human criminals out there, why don’t you be a real hero and go catch those trouble-makers instead of picking up the phone and asking someone to kill dogs and cats on your behalf?

Live and let live, please. Please look at the bigger picture. This earth belongs to the animals too.

I was sitting out at the patio just now, with Ginger, and we both watched a little shrew (tupai) prancing about the rocks at the gopher hole. Ginger watched the little shrew and left him alone. The shrew was eating something from the ground.

I turned to Ginger and told him what a good boy he is.

Ginger, you have more wisdom than council animal-catchers and law-makers.

Live and let live. Is that SO hard to do?

Moments are all we have.

Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone.
Kindness in another’s trouble,
Courage in your own.