See what see..

Apologies for neglecting my blog for such a long time. Its been a roller coaster ride for me the past two months.. I hope this roller coaster ride is coming to a smooth ride soon.. its a really special and happy period of time for Mr Lim and I now as we anticipate what is to come as months goes by..

Will be updating on Ah sky soon. Been hard to take photos of them nowadays as my handphone's battery is spoilt so unable to use. Currently stuck with an old ancient but useful Nokia handphone which belongs to Mr Lim. Not easy bringing my camera around and taking it out to capture candid shot of them when I want to.. haha I sound as if my camera is very bulky.. Well its not but I just don't find it convenient..

Currently sort of taking another look at Iphone which has been highly recommended by all my fanatic Iphone friend user + Mr Lim. Have to agree with them its really high tech. and the apps seem really cool too bad it fails in the photo megapix (okie I can hear BOO from all Iphone user) anyway another option would be the Samsung jet.. megapix same as my current one and i can be assure i can continue to take wonderful shots.

Managed to upload a few shots of the little rascals looking really busy one of the nights...

When you see a cat standing in a position for quite some time you know they are up to something..

He's so focus on his task that my camera didn't make his lose his concentration!

This staring game got so "fun" and intense that our Lala decided to join in peeking from the corner of the bench...

So what are you staring at Orange?

I got my answer as I follow their gaze and saw the object of desire...Up on one corner of the ceiling is Mr Slimy again who decides to drop in on a visit again..

By now, even Lala had decided to join Orange in the stand.. Both cats looking intensely at Mr Slimy using their cat eye powers hoping to convince him to come down for a "play"

As expected Mr Slimy is not game enough for the "play" that the little rascals had in mind and decided to stay put. Lala gives up trying to convince him to come down with her super biotic eye power. She gave Orange a sniff and walked away.. Leaving Orange the ever hopeful alone..

Eventually when I had taken my shots I asked Mr Lim aka the party spoiler to disperse Mr Slimy away.. hehehe..

End of the day..

Zero casualty

One party spoiler

One disappointed cat

One happy photographer

One new blog entry

The little rascals... missing in action

The little rascals are complaining that too much focus has been given to Ah sky and are giving me the cold shoulders nowadays.. They have been rather well-behave for past few months but I noticed that their behaviour towards me changed a bit thought.. Orange used to enjoy sitting in the middle of my lap whenever im sitting on the sofa watching the TV.. Sometimes he would even rest his chin on my lap which I love it when he does that.. Now he doesn't do that anymore..

I really wonder why? He still does the drop dead to one side on the floor and demand his tummy rub but he just stopped sitting on my lap.. Did he sense a change in me?

Meanwhile Lala remains the same... on auto mode will sit on the cushion whenever I place it on top of my lap still like Orange she too does not stay long like in the past

During the day, they usually keep themselves busy by napping away or watching me from a distance or sitting close to me but always a distance away.. hmmm really wonder what's wrong with them?

Ah sky still has a soft spot for me after all...

I went back to see Ah sky again this tuesday and was not surprise that I couldn't see him as he was hiding from me. Despite coaxing from my parents, he still refuse to move out from his comfort zone..

My mother started telling me that when she told ah sky that I am coming over, she noticed he seems anxious. She started jokingly said that he is able to understand what she was telling him that the mere mention of my name can make him nervous. It's not funny.. at least not when Im the cause of this nervousness.

The green eye monster in me surfaces and I maliciously said: What have you all been telling ah sky! I know that was mean of me to say such a thing. I was hurt and angry with Ah sky's reaction towards me and by the way my mother puts it.. Luckily mother didn't take offend in what I said.

I spent the afternoon on my sister's bed using her laptop and ah sky eventually come out when he realised today its not of his visiting doctor day. Some time later, I heard the sound of his bell and I know he's awaken from his cat nap..

To my surprise, he came cooing towards me and jump onto the bed with me. I thought he must be hungry and wants to be fed.. but no.

He sat down beside me and did not meow like he usually did when he's hungry.He yawned lazily and then settled down comfortably in front of the laptop. All my anger and hard feelings instantly melt away by his gesture. Its as if he's telling me that he's sorry for hiding away from me everytime I stepped into the house. And that Im still his favourite jie jie after all I've done for him... In fact he sat there with me for quite a long time until I reluctantly stepped out of the bed to have dinner.

Human tends to do thing in the event of hoping to get something back in return. When a person does a charitable act, did he did it out of good will or for the recognition he will get. When a person gives a gift to another friend, did that friend did it because of he value the person as a friend or simply he's expecting to get a gift in return. Chinese have this saying 礼尚往来. I guess in all my years of knowing people, I have encounter a fair share of countless people/acquaintance who make me doubt their gesture that I can't help but having this "Are they doing it because they value me as a friend or they want something in return" echoing at the back of my mind.

I guess only animals are true and Ah sky sure has a way to my heart. For I am certain I will never doubt his gesture. His lack of words and big on gesture sure put us humans to shame. A cat is better and far more reliable than a human friend.

Papa, Ah sky and me

First of all, thanks to all those who had posted encouraging comments. Kudos to Kootoo monster who offered an enlightenment on my blog posting frustration.. currently issue seems to resolve and hopefully stays that way. Oh yeah to answer kwanxy Q, my wall deco stickers are still nicely paste on the wall, little rascals haven't been disturbing them..

Anyway, Ah sky's last review went well. His Crea was 2.6 and is a slight improvement from his previous one. His kidney are still shrink like a prune and pancreas are better and no longer a issue. However, I have officially become the tormentor in the eyes of Ah sky. Went back yesterday with Mr Lim and he ran under his comfort zone the moment he saw me and refused to come out during the 30mins I was in the house! Today Mr Lim asked me: Are you upset with ah sky yesterday. Ya I was sad but it can't be help... since I don't get to see him everyday.. its common sense he will associate me with going to vet...

Nowadays things seems to be holding up for ah sky. There's still some bad days.. he still vomits occasionally. However, I don't get so upset when I hear my sister or father tell me that.. Does it means Im learning to cope better or have I become less sensitive to his condition? Good thing he still has the appetite for food. Like his favourite fruits! Papa didn't forget give ah sky a treat on one of his favourite fruit - the ba lu ku hehe.. By the way the purple figure hovering like a ghost in the background is my sister!

Papa have somehow become the official carer for Ah sky now. Thanks to him, ah sky has adapt to his medications routine well. I was really impressed with the way he fed him with the medications.. He did it so effortlessly.. Its amazing ah sky don't repel papa like what he did with me sigh...

Managed to take a video of papa doing his medication round with ah sky.. Its so fast you can't even see him pop the tablet into Ah sky's mouth! Apparrently he pop the tablet into his mouth while he was yawning!

Ah sky's next appointment will be about 3 more weeks from now. I confident his blood result will be better than before even if its just a decrease by 0.1. For now, I should try to be contented as my role as the tormentor in the eyes of Ah sky.. hey somebody has to be the bad guy rite... 我不入地狱谁入地狱...

What is wrong?

is there something wrong with my computer browser or this website? my create post page can't seems to upload properly for past few weeks! kept having missing icon hence can't update my blog.. sigh.. is anyone else facing the same problem as me? its quite frustrating...

Family is the best..

Ah Sky is still hanging strong coping better than the two-legged when I went back home 1 week ago. It was disheartening to see him scamper away and hid under the bed the moment he saw me. Great he has associate me with going to the vet. He must be thinking I'm coming home to bring him to the vet again. This is really 用心良苦! Luckily he came out from his hiding place a while later after deciding that I'm of no threat to him that day...

Papa complained about the medication regime saying it's even more complicated than the human ones.. and also went on to say we must have been fooled by the vet to buy more medication when he's actually well.. yup he does seem back to his usual self.. clinging onto mama the moment she came back.. and meowing to be feed...

Evening came and its time for his medication round..

Papa coaxed ah sky to the kitchen to feed him the medicationsAh sky had taken a liking to chewing the pandan leaves, vet said it was okie for him to do that hence like a horse or rabbit nowadays there's always a bunch of pandan leaves on the kitchen floor for him to chew at any time... Nobody's complaining about the messPapa feeding ah sky 2 tablets in an efficient and quick way..

And followed by the syrup which is easier than the tablets.. After which followed by a sulking ah sky running underneath the bed to hide as usual...

Ah sky refusing to come out despite reassurance from us.. I guess this has become his favourite spot this recent month.

I felt rather emotional after watching my father fed ah sky medication. Ah sky may be just a cat but he's definitely been treated as just like a child by each and everyone of us. I guess the only thing that bond us together is him. Ah sky will be going for his second ultrasound, urine and blood test tomorrow. I'm crossing my fingers the results will be better than the 1st round... Ah sky is going to hide underneath the bed again tomorrow...

On a lighter note, things are still the same with the little rascals... I saw a wall deco sticker design on the internet however couldn't afford it some time ago. To my delight, I found it in a shop in novena square.. Mr Lim and I decided to put the stickers in the living room...

A draft look on how it will look like... with Lala giving the cats a sniff...

She decided its a waste of her time getting acquaintance with the cats and walks away..

It too didn't catch Orange's attention and I only managed to take a picture of his hind legs and tail..

And whoa la... the stickers are pasted onto the wall... we decided to paste only 3 cats instead of the 4 cats u saw in the above pictures.. felt it was too cramp. That left me with one more cat sticker and a new spot to decide on.. For now I really love this piece of wall...

Ah Sky has fallen sick...

It all started with Ah sky started vomiting out yellowish fluid abt 2 weeks ago. We all thought he must have drank some water from the bathroom and should be fine in a day's time. However things did not turn out what we expect... He started losing his appetite and became lethargy..

Was brought to the vet that week and was told by vet he's having stomach upset. Medications were given to stop vomiting and to enhance his appetite. When I went back to see ah sky few days later after his 1st consultation, he seems to have lose a couple of pounds. Gone were his puffy round figure and replaced with sunken drooping tummy and lethargy ah sky.
It was even more heartwrenching to carry him to realise what i see before me is true. He weighted so much lighter even though my sister reassured me that he did not lose much weight.

Fast forward to 1 week later and he's still not better, still vomiting and hardly eating. Had to coax him to eat by placing on our palm only then he reluctantly ate a bit. This time, I decided to accompany my sister to bring him to the vet for 2nd time.

I managed to take some picture of sky while waiting for the vet to take his blood..

Sky trying to look brave while my sister is coaxing him...

Sky had lose some weight and his cheek seems to have sunken in unlike the puffy round face in the past...
Doc decided to do a bld test and abd xray. As usual it was a torture for ah sky as well as my sister and I. Results weren't good.
The vet said his kidneys were smaller than the average size (circled in red) and his Crea was slightly elevated - 2.8. which means he could be having either kidney inflammation/infection or worse scenario kidney failure.. in order to find out the exact cause, he will have to go for ultrasound at the hospital as the clinic does not have such facilities. Then he would require an follow up to repeat blood test to check on his Crea level again

Two days ago, we brought sky to the hospital. We were told by the tech that the fur over his tummy region will be shaved for the ultrasound. She said it wasn't necessary for us to go in unless they have problem holding on to him. When he was brought out in the carrier.. nothing prepared us for what we saw. Sky was sitting dazed and stone in the carrier. I guess he must be really traumatized by the process. The tech told us we have to go back to see the doc in the clinic on the same day as the result is not good.

We were very reluctant to have to bring him out again in the evening as we knew it will be extremely stressful for him. However we have no choice as he was due to repeat his blood test as well..

That evening, we brought him back to the clinic vet who told us about the result. Ultrasound shows he has mild pancrestitis and decreased blood supply to his kidney hence the shrunken kidneys.. the decrease blood supply could be caused by an previous inflammation of the blood vessels which could had gone un-noticed or happened recently hence causing the the blood vessels to get constricted.

Ah sky will eventually get kidney failure and he will require lifelong medication.

Repeat blood test shows his Crea had decrease to 2.7 as compared to the 1st one 2.8. Urine test has some white blood cell (indicate urine tract infection) but still concentrated which shows that his kidney is still functioning.

For the time being, he had been given a string of medications to reduce the workload on his kidney, increase blood supply to kidney and low dose of antibiotics to combat the urine tract infection as well as changes to his diet.

Meanwhile he will need to go back and have an repeat ultrasound to check on his pancreas as well as blood result in 2 weeks time.

My emotional roller coaster

I decided to put up two different blog as I simply have too much to write:

one - on what is happening to Ah sky

two - my thoughts

Ah sky has been in our household since sept 2005. He's coming to 5 years old this Sept. Still a young cat. He has not been an healthy cat since I adopted him. With inguinal hernia and constant flu.. we thought he had FIV luckily it wasn't. We nursed him back to health to a now healthy fat and flabby cat whom has since won the hearts of each and every member of my family.

These past two weeks had been extremely stressful and emotional for my sister and I. I might had prepared myself for the worst when the vet 1st told us ah sky could have kidney failure but I simply couldn't stop my tears from flowing.

While we were waiting in the clinic during at the clinic. I saw an female owner with a her dog I think its a Maltese.. quite old in age... I couldn't help but overheard her conversation with the receptionist that she's bringing her dog for her routine drip. I could see the dog's record on the PC screen from where I was sitting (okie pardon me for violating the dog's confidentiality). I got to know that the Maltese is blind in the eyes (?both) and got kidney problem hence the need for the routine SC drip. The Maltese seems restless sitting beside me on the bench kept scratching the bench with his paw. When the owner placed him on the floor it was then I understood what the Maltese was trying to do. It's struggling to stand up or walk but simply too weak. It seems the Maltese was trying to use its paw in a futile attempt to bring or drag itself up hence the scratching sound of its paw..

Yes it makes me feel for the dog... however the owner seems relaxed and oblivious to her dog's condition. I am not trying to say that the owner is not caring. I am sure the owner is coping in her own her ways and is giving the best for the dog otherwise she won't have bothered to give it to the vet...

From there, I suddenly ask myself... When is enough, enough? When do you know its time to let go despite giving all treatment. If that Maltese is my dog, would I want to continue to put it through the treatments.. knowing the treatments are not to cure but prolong their lives?

I spent the whole day at my mum's house after the morning ultrasound at the hospital. I took a few more pictures of him.

Perhaps its the dim environment that made ah sky look even sicker. He was hiding under the bed the moment he came back from the ultrasound. My father came in to talk to ah sky.. perhaps to give him some pep talk to get him to come out. It was then my sister asked my father..

Pa, do you like ah sky?

My father smiled and hesitated a few seconds before he answered..

Of course lah, he's our cat and part of the family..

I think it really takes a lot for my father to give such a reply. His affection for Ah sky is as much as each and everyone of us. Nonetheless, my sister and I were tremendously touched.

Later that afternoon, a baby lizard decided to drop a dare stint by crawling across the living room much to the terror of my sister.

My father immediately called for ah sky to come out and catch the baby lizard. Ah sky came out..

U see... my father and Ah sky have this amazing relationship that is unlike the rest of us. My father is the only one in the family who is able to engage in a "conversation" with him. He would always pep talk Ah sky asking him to be on night duty to catch cockroaches or lizard in the kitchen which ah Sky will always response with a meow... On most occasion, if my father were to shout from the kitchen that there are cockroaches, ah sky will really come into the kitchen! If the rest of us were try that with Ah sky, chances are he's sure to ignore us... I guess that's how special Ah Sky is to papa..

Anyway that day.. ah sky almost seems back to his usual selfAh sky looked at what papa was looking

And he decided to give him a helping paw with the baby lizard..Lizard died eventually with the aid of a rolled up paper.. my father threw it away before it became Ah sky's snack..

Ah sky looked on longingly as my father threw the baby lizard away...

The frenzy afternoon lizard event must have tired him out and I found him sleeping on the edge of my parent's bed (father went out) while my mother in the room.

Part of his tummy's fur shaved off..

He looked so contentedly asleep like he's not even sick at all. Later that evening when we brought him back to the clinic for repeat blood test the vet said had to do a urine test as well. He did not struggled much during the blood taking. I instinctively hold him after the blood taking to comfort. I can feel his claws clung onto my chest as if he's telling me he's scare or in pain. It brought back memory of how Ah sky had clung onto me the very 1st moment I brought him out from the cage at the Foster's home.

Vet had said he will never recover from his condition. We can only give him medication and modify his diet to prevent his condition from deteriorating. Even if his Crea level shows that its normal it doesn't mean that his kidney function has recover it only simply means that the medication and controlled diet he's having is sufficient to help his kidney to function.

Ah Sky is still young.. and still have many years to go before he will start to deteriorate. But not now so we will fight on with him.. As we struggle to absorb the fact of his condition and my sister struggle to cope with the new medication regime, I know we can find the rhythm of it in time to come.

I don't suppose any of my friends will understand what i am going through now. Only people who have pets will understand the agony and the necessity providing treatment to their pets when they are sick despite the fact that they are only animals. Some friends laughed it off thinking it seems funny when I told them what had happened to Orange in the past. It was hurting but I can't blame them for they do not own a pet. I am fortunate enough to have the support from hubby and family who all love ah sky very much.

Now I know I do not hope that Ah sky will recover from his condition. I only hope that he regain to his normal self soon and get use to his medication regime...

We love you ah sky.. you must be strong okie!

Mysterious feathers...

They looked on with keen interest as their two legged woke up from her afternoon nap and slowly walked towards the corrider into the living room...

Do you think she saw it?

Yeah I think she did.. look at her face..

Sorry no picture taken of my facial expression as to what I saw before me... I swear if the little rascals could use their paw to use the camera, I bet they would take a picture for me...

Bet you can't tell what's that from this shot... same as me... until I decided to take a closer look

And I realised that its a feather.. and it look like it belong to a real bird...

And more feathers... Scattered over the dinning area...

Fearing the worse, my heart goes out to the poor soul of the owner of these feather... Its such a puzzle how the bird flew into my house as windows were not open except for the top part of the window plane. Strangest thing was, I couldn't see any blood and where is the bird?

I frantically went through the house looking at every secret spot I could think of dreading to find a half eaten bird or remains of it...

Coudn't find any... I decided not to touch the "crime" scene and wait for Mr Lim to come back. Mr Lim came back and was as puzzled as me.. He started to vacuum the feather when he noticed something on the floor.. Small streaks of dried blood on the floor.. very faint which explained why i couldn't see it in the first place.. Mr Lim and I concluded that:

Birdie must have somehow flew in from the top window plane and of course was earnestly "welcome" by the little rascals.. After some struggle between Orange and Lala on who should be the perfect host for the birdie, they accidentially tugged out some of birdie's feather... Angry and annoyed with the hospitality, Birdie flew off where he came in..

Yup, that must be how it happened rite? Oh, my Orangie and Lala are such gentle creatures (ignore the previous entry) they wouldn't think of attacking a harmless birdie rite.. and Im not in denial state okie..

Anyway, to give others the benefit of doubt, we still have to carried out some checks. See nails were cleaned no stains of blood or feather stuck there.. So can't be Orangie..

Lala, simply couldn't get near to her... that girl must be guitly of something according to Mr Lim..

Hmmm, I think I smell birdie on Orangie you know...

They can't be trying to eat the birdie rite? Oops that did not come out from my mouth...

Somebody's up to no good...

You know someone's been up to no good last night the moment you see this... Or this...For those of you who still doesn't have a clue what is that.. You are either living in a pampered sterile environment or my camera is really lousy...

Anyway this should give you a clearer picture... Looks like somebody gobble up this poor unfortuate Mr Cockroach and end up not able to digest it... Leaving it for the morning two legged to clear up the mess..

As usual, I have nobody's oweing up.. Leaving me to wonder if its...

Lala who is taking a lot of interest in the plastic bag and claiming it her territory at that moment...
Or Orange lying who is enjoying the coolness of the floor and looking at me lazily as I clear up the mess...

Well, Im betting my dollar its Orange thought.. how about you? Haha looks like my lastest blog and the previous one has a similiarity... Somebody's vomitus..