Sammy�s Story (a Sharing By Wong Yoke Mei)

Things started to turn out for the worse when one of my calico female TNRM went missing in late March 2014. Then the following week, Sammy was admitted in the middle of the night because he was acting strange. He was suspected to have ingested something that had made him act strangely. Following day at the vet, Sammy nearly passed on when he had a seizure attack and he stopped breathing for a minute. The vet managed to revive him and he came back to life. Maybe it’s not his time yet i guess. The following morning, we found a dead cat near our airwell/rooftop area bloated with blood oozing from the mouth into a pool of blood. I showed some of my rescue friends and they said, it looked like some sort of poisoning. It then dawned upon us that Sammy could possibly ingested some sort of poison that could have caused him acting strange and had the seizure attack.

After being revived, Sammy was very weak and his body temperature was low. He was not responsive at all and had to be given a heating pad and covered in cloth to keep his temperature up. He was then on IV drips as he could not eat and all we had with us is the hope that whatever that he has in his system will be flushed out with the drips on. Every morning, when i wake up, i worry that this morning could the the morning that a call from the vet telling us Sammy has passed on. We hope day after day that we see some progress in him no matter how small. And on the 4th morning, when we went to visit him, Sammy managed to sit up on his own. Though still a little disarray, and now with his head tilted to one side, he could at least manage to meow at us. We were thankful that he was improving but his movement co-ordination was partially lost. He continued to improve and ate on his own. We brought him yummy fish everyday for a bit of encouragement. By the 9th day, he was off the drips and moved to the normal ward for further monitoring. After 2 weeks, he was discharged.

Back home, we monitored his movement and it is evident that he can never be released back to the streets again. He could not manage a 3 ft high jump and could not land well too. He would walk wobbly and fall occasionally. His head was still tilted to the left side. It was then my husband decided that we should adopt Sammy into our family. Plans were then thought out and made to accommodate him in our home.

Between then and the following 1.5 – 2 months, 3 more community cats succumbed to poison. I have tried to talk to the neighbours and printed leaflets to urge the neighbours to practice caution and refrain from using pest poison. The last community cat, Batgirl succumbed to the same fate on the 24th May 2014.

The initial missing female calico have not been found till today, and we suspect that she too could have succumbed to the same fate as the others. May she rest in peace wherever she is.

After 2 years of practising TNRM, i know now the meaning of living a life as a stray. It was never easy from the beginning and the end for them is difficult too. They live each day as if it’s their last because there are always danger lurking at every corner. Ingesting poison, being run over by passing vehicle, contracting illnesses that are fatal, fights that could lead to serious injuries & if left untreated could cause death, unable to fight for food source and many many more. It was my aspiration to practice TNRM, will i continue to practice after the emotional roller coaster that happened in the last 2 months or so? YES, i will continue to practice TNRM, plainly because there are so many more out there that is living on the streets scavanging for scraps to fill their tummy and seeking shelter underneath our cars from the rain and sun. This is all because many do not neuter their pets and they multiply at an alarming rate which creates more strays living a pitiful life on the streets. It is time for us to educate the people around us about neutering our pets and how TNRM can help to control the stray population in our own neighbourhood. Anyone can make a difference. Just start a TNRM on your own street and if everyone does that for their own street, we will achieve much more on stray population control in our community.

As for Sammy, we are still working on assimilating him into the feline pack. It’s a delicate process that will take some time and not to be rushed if we are to achieve a balance and peaceful pack in the home. For the past weekend or so, we have made improvements and will continue to do so. Sammy and I shall update on the progress as we take things one step at a time.

regards,

Sammy & me….

1. Being a stray kitten, they tend to get into mishaps such as this eye injury.

2. Sammy when he was a kitten loitering in the back lanes.

3. This is Sammy with his 1st ever best friend, Blacktail (now adopted and renamed).

4. Sammy and Little Ginny (RIP), his second best friend.

5. Sammy had a near death experience. Dr said he stopped breathing for a minute or two and they managed to revive him.

6. After being brought back to life, his body temperature was very low and had to be given a heating pad and covered with cloth to keep him warm.

7. For the first few days, Sammy did not improve much, and wasn’t eating on his own. He was on IV drips for more than a week.

8. We talked to Sammy and gave him encouragement to fight on and by the 4th day, he manage to sit himself up and meowed at us.

9. By the 9th day, Sammy was already eating on his own and was moved up to the normal ward and taken off the IV drips.

10. He was now able to walk on his own, but occasionally wobbly and would loose his balance.

11. Sammy at home after discharged. He has to be caged while we get his new room ready.

12. This small room is converted and grilled up so that Sammy could have his own personal space.

13. Sniffing all over his new room and making sense of it all.

14. Digging into the card board box that became his new toy.

15. Olie trying to extend his hand in friendship.

16. Sammy still wary of the 2 resident ginger cats (Olie boy & BabyGirl).

17. Olie (the on with his paws extended) is very curious of Sammy, but BabyGirl didn’t really want to anything to do with the boys, she sniff a little and walks off.

18. Trying to create a peaceful friendly moment during feeding where everyone is happily munching away.

19. Relaxing after exploring his new special room.