And Primal Freeze-Dried Helps Einder The Cat (a Sharing By Agnes Cheong)

Agnes

Einder’s story was featured in one of my early books, Indy Jones & the Kingdom of the 4 Brahmaviharas (now no longer in print), published in 2008.�

Here is the story:

Agnes Cheong and her friends are the unsung heroines who rescue, foster and rehome stray cats.� Together, they form the Metta Karuna Rescue Team and they have been tirelessly rescuing, fostering and rehoming kittens since April 2006.

Rescued kittens are nursed and toilet-trained at 5 weeks.� Then comes the hardest part � the adoption and rehoming process.� This is where the team used to spend their weekends at adoption booths in shopping malls, trying their best to find caring and genuine adopters to provide a permanent home for the kittens.� Now, it is more by word of mouth.

Female kittens are rehomed only after they are spayed at 6 months. Males can be adopted from as young as 2-3 months but the adopter must allow Agnes and her friends to follow up on the neutering process when they are 7-8 months old.� The team usually bears the cost of the surgery (that is part of the incentive they offer to the adopter) and they also make house visits to ensure that all the kittens are settling in well.

Agnes says that sometimes it is painful to know that people who appear to be genuine and willing initially, turn out to be irresponsible pet-owners later on.� This is inevitable because it is difficult to judge people.� Also, change happens.� There have been cases where Agnes had to take back the kittens and rehome them again.� The team also helps to curb the stray population by sterilising adult cats and returning them to their place of origin.

Of the many cats that have been privileged to be fostered by the Metta Karuna team, perhaps one case stands out.� Little Einder was a stray kitten, barely three months old when she was found in the middle of the road by one of the team members, Savinder, as she was driving through an oil palm plantation somewhere in Pahang.� Savinder brought the little kitten to an Orang Asli settlement but discovered that the poor thing was purging and had a dislocated leg.� Despite being allergic to cats, Savinder drove all the way from Pahang back to Brickfields in Kuala Lumpur to pass the little kitten to Agnes.

Upon being checked by two different vets, it was discovered that little Einder had probably been severely injured but had somehow miraculously survived.� As a result of her injury, her spine is crooked, her tail limp, and she drags her leg when she walks.� The vets also said that she has permanent nerve problems and would not be able to control her bowel movement and urination.

At one stage, Little Einder developed urine burn and had to undergo an operation.� Unfortunately, this happened while Agnes was away on a retreat overseas, and the team had to frantically look for care-givers to nurse Einder after the operation.� It is already a daunting task to look after a post-operative kitten, what more one who has numerous other problems such as Einder.� There were willing care-givers, but their families objected to them bringing a sick cat back to the house.� As a result, Einder ended up being nursed by three different care-givers during Agnes� absence.� At one point, they were literally crying out for care-givers, and even had to resort to paying someone RM10 per day to look after Einder.� Miraculously, on that very day, a stranger came forth (from the heavens?) and offered to nurse Einder at no charge at all.� Einder�s benefactor was truly deva-sent.

Now, Einder lives with Agnes � protected and pampered with an abundance of love.� She still needs daily nursing care due to the problems in her nervous system.� Although she is able to groom herself, Einder still cannot control her urination and bowel movement, and this could easily result in urine burn again.� All in, Einder has had three operations due to urine burn.� Nowadays, Agnes has to clean Einder twice a day to prevent urine burn from recurring.

Agnes says Einder owes her life to all her care-givers and the many volunteers who had gone out of their way just to provide for her.� It must be the blessings of good kamma that this little kitten was rescued, survived against the odds, and now, enjoys a good life despite her life-long medical problems.

To date, the Metta Karuna team has rescued and fostered 50 cats (and 5 dogs!) � an amazing feat, considering the fact that they had only started this work three years ago.� Each animal has its own story, each one special and remarkable in its own way.� Agnes says she would not have been able to do all this work without the teamwork from all her friends.� All the animals are toilet-trained before being sent for adoption and they would eventually be sterilised.� Most importantly, they are nursed with so much love and care before being handed over to their new homes.� Now, Agnes and her friends receive recognition and support from the Good Heart Team of the Aloka Foundation for their work in animal charity.

Note: The numbers (50 cats and 5 dogs) have definitely increased now, after 6 more years of rescue work! Kudos to Agnes and her team!