Our first fostering experience failed which everyone predicted so. We have been talking about fostering fur kids in the future and that we have to be firm that we won’t end up adopting them instead. I guess, most times, it didn’t go as planned.
A friend approached me, asking if we could foster an injured cat. She showed me a video of the cat limping and said her estate community neighbors would be trapping the cat for medical care. After discussing with the wife, we said sure. Let’s get her well again after her hospital stay.
We knew how soft our hearts were and kept reminding ourselves not to name the cat. And no, we’re not keeping her. We were both determined to make the fostering a success. Sadly, we failed. She needed a home and we gave her one. It was a long hoo-ha between the rescuers and her previous owner. Eventually, he relinquished his ownership and we adopted her.
The first thing on our agenda was to get her better. Borrowed a soft playpen from our friend, but it didn’t last long as this little girl jailbreak her enclosure. We were supposed to prevent her from moving too much as she just had surgery for her injured paw and sterilization. This active girl thinks she’s all good and ready to conquer her new home. Sadly, the first week was a nightmare. The boys and her didn’t get along well. Weirdly, the boys were aggressive towards one another instead of towards the new pawmily member. Somehow, eventually they started to get better mingling. And today, they’re getting along really well. Thankful there’s no crazy cat fights and injuries during the introduction period. It was tiring for us both physically and mentally, but the end results were worth it.
Initially, we named her Dew, after her eye color. However, when she did something wrong and we were shouting her name out, we realized it sounded wrong. In Cantonese, it was a vulgar word and we knew we had to change her name. And it was another round of scrolling through Google for name inspiration.
We ended up renaming her as Dione, after a Greek goddess. Dione is the wife of Zeus. So yes, our feisty little one is named Dione Mimi. And we’re happy to announce that she’s eating well and on a full raw diet. She’s gaining weight and her coat is getting better too. And hopefully, for now, she’s the last kid we bring into our pawmily till we’re ready for the next one. Things don’t always go as planned, but we’re glad that we’re able to provide a home for the kids that we’ve adopted so far.
After staying with Grandma for almost a month, we finally brought Toby home. Everything went well until we woke up to a diarrhea mess on Sunday morning. It all started when Dear jumped up from sleep and heard Toby vomiting. We cleaned up the mess and Dear said to bring Toby to the vet. Sadly, our usual vet doesn’t work on a Sunday though the clinic was opened and she’s on leave. We had to look for alternative vet.
The Animal Doctor was busy and couldn’t see our son, so we had to look for the next available nearest vet. We ended up with United Vet and are really thankful they are able to slot us in on their earliest available slot. Thankful it’s near home as well, it’s about a 10-minute drive away including finding a parking lot at the nearest car park. Usually we would monitor when the kids had diarrhea, however, due to Toby’s age, we decided to seek treatment since he had been having the runs multiple times while we were asleep.
We packed the soiled pee pad thinking they might need some stool samples since we heard of many pawrents mentioning it’s best to bring. However, I was wrong. To have a fecal smear, I was told by Dr Phoebe Ong that it’s better when it’s fresh. I’ve no idea how they’ll be getting a fresh one, but Toby did a fecal smear and thankfully nothing major.
During consultation, Dr. Ong mentioned several tests she thinks we should let Toby do. I am overwhelmed again by the various tests, and I decided to give Dear a call. Even got Dr. Ong to explain everything again and thankful Dear remained calm and we proceeded with the blood test to check on his pancreas. Thank you Dr Ong for being patient and understanding while I’m basically useless at the clinic. Dear was down with covid and only I could leave home since I tested negative.
Toby’s pancreas test results came back not looking good. Suspected pancreas issue, the reading was a little higher than the normal range. Went home with some medication for his diarrhea and a supplement for his pancreas issue. Not to forget, 7 large cans of Science Diet Presciption Diet, which Toby eventually didn’t enjoy from the second day onwards.
We were quite happy that he recovered well around the third day after seeing the vet. We’ve stopped the diarrhea medication as advised by the vet. We continued with the antibiotics and pancreas supplement. Happy to announce that he’s back to normal with lots of energy to chase his cat brothers.
Out of the blue, we asked my ex-customer if there were any kittens up for adoption as we would like to add a new pawmily member when she visited us for emergency help after rescuing Oogway. And lucky us, there are two ginger boys looking for a forever home! Scheduled a meetup before we decide as we don’t want to promise anything without seeing them. Initially, we wanted to adopt one, but was told it’s good to adopt as a pair especially when we do not have cats at home and it’ll be easier for first time cat owners like us.
Kittens teach each other how to behave when playing and interacting. They let each other know when biting, nipping or gnawing is too aggressive, and they learn to establish boundaries. Kittens also learn cat skills like using the litter box and grooming by watching each other.
We said yes to adopting both the ginger boys and preparation to welcome them home starts immediately. Lots of things to do and the first one was to do some measuring. One of the adoption criteria was to mesh up our windows and gate, which we will DIY ourselves.
Ordered everything from Taobao except their food of course. Choosing the cat tower that we both like and some wall mounts for the kittens. Yes, we went all out to get all these necessary things though we were told cats might not even use them after we placed our orders. It’s a little late but it’s OK.
Dear researched raw diets and cat litter while I did nothing and just waited for the kittens’ arrival. Yes, I’m that useless. There’s a lot to learn since we’re first-time cat owners and we went all out asking for advice and getting the necessary things. But what surprised us was the fosterer’s sudden call to say the kittens must come home immediately because another cat needs foster care. So we scrambled to purchase some canned food for the time being. We even went to collect giveaway litter box and some scratching post as temporary items before ours arrives. Everything was chaotic a few days before our kittens’ arrival. We were both excited and scared that we’re not fully prepared with the necessary items.
But yes, we managed to get the basic items and we’ve turned our study room into kittengarten for the time being. Stay tuned for the next few posts when they arrived. Might be updating more and abruptly ending this post because they arrived earlier than expected.
On 9 September 2020, my mum called to inform me that Twix had injured herself. Rushed home after my last appointment to see her lying on the bed and unable to greet me like she used to. My first instinct was to check her legs and there’s no visible wound. And so, I touched and give a light squeeze on her legs and she doesn’t seem to be in pain either. But she definitely can’t walk and she was soaked in pee. The bed she was lying on was soaked as well.
Called my mum to enquire what had happened. I was told Twix was trying to get her attention and was jumping on her hind legs as per usual. Suddenly she gave a loud yelped and refused to move thereafter. She even refused to have her breakfast.
Worried, I called up our regular vet to check if it’s OK for me to head down for an emergency check. Because I know she’s in pain somewhere but I have no idea where. Cleaned her up and we head down to the clinic.
Namly Animal Clinic
Twix’s x-ray
Address: 74 Namly Pl, Shamrock Park, Singapore 267223
Went to see Dr Ling who thankfully was on duty. After she checks Twix for any visible wound, she said it’s best to do an x-ray. The results came back to show that Twix had dislocated her right hip. After we’ve seen the x-ray, Dr Ling mentioned that she doesn’t specialise in Orthopaedic and would refer us to a specialist.
Checking with us where we stay, she recommended Dr Landon and Dr Dennis Choi. After consideration, Dear and I decided to go do Dr Dennis Choi. Firstly, we don’t have the budget to see Dr Landon although I’ve read many positive reviews of him. Secondly, Dr Dennis Choi is nearer for us and reviews of him were good as well.
We trust Dr Ling’s recommendation and she went ahead to get us an appointment. Thankful for her help and advise. We were given some pain killers for Twix to ease her pain. And was given instructions to fast her from food before the appointment with Dr Dennis Choi.
Appointment with Dr Dennis Choi
Dr Dennis Choi after reviewing Twix’s x-ray, he gave us a few treatment options and the risks that come with it.
Pop the dislocated hip back. No surgery required. But chances of the hip dislocate again is higher.
Putting a screw to hold the hip in place. Chances of dislocating are still there but lesser compared to popping the dislocated hip back to the original place.
FHO surgery. It is a surgery to remove the femoral head. Scar tissue will be formed and act as a “joint” to hold the hip in place. So there won’t be any chance of hip dislocate in the same area.
Hip replacement surgery. Not very common in dogs but the option is available. If we opt for this surgery, he needs to refer us to Dr Landon as he’s not familiar with this procedure.
We decided to go with FHO surgery after taking her lifestyle and activity level-wise at home. And so Twix got admitted to the hospital. Was told that we can pick her up the next day as they need to monitor her for a day.
After Surgery
After surgery and back home
The day Twix got discharged, we’ve been encouraging her to walk and utilize her leg. And we’ve decided to temporarily put Toby with Dear’s sister while Twix was still recovering. Which was about two to three weeks where we think it’s safe for the siblings to reunite. I’ve also rescheduled most of my appointments to spend time with Twix during her recovery period. I would say I’m a paranoid mother despite me always assuring my customers that their fur kids will be fine.
Daily night walk at the carpark due to rainy day.
Every morning, I would do some home physiotherapy exercises with Twix. This was before Dr Choi teaches me anything. I thought maybe doing a few walking movements might help. Every night, we would bring her out for a short walk. Or maybe longer when we think she’s able to push her limit for the night. We would usually head home when we noticed she started to limp and not utilise the affected leg.
Reviews with Dr Choi
Last review with Dr Choi
After the surgery, there would definitely be a few follow up reviews with Dr Choi. The first review was to make sure the wounds are OK and to check on Twix and see how she’s doing. Subsequent reviews was to make sure that Twix is getting stronger, better and utilizing her legs.
Dr Choi taught me how to do some physiotherapy at home with Twix. The first set was to mimic the walking movement and some stretching. A few weeks later at another review, we were told that Twix is good to go climbing stairs as part of her physiotherapy exercises. And he encouraged us to get Twix to do the sit and stand exercise, dog version of squats.
All in all, we had three reviews with Dr Choi after the surgery. After the third review, he said Twix is doing better and there isn’t a need to see her anymore. We continued with daily night walks and home physiotherapy exercises and we’re glad with the progress Twix made. We were told many were still not utilising the leg after the surgery which led to weak muscles.
Really thankful for Dr Choi for performing the surgery for Twix and giving her the greatest care we could ever ask for. She recovered well and is back to walking on four legs.
If you’re interested where Dr Choi is, he’s at Mount Pleasant Gelenggang.
