A Post for Custard

In Loving Memory

Custard

2006 - 15 March, 2011

A song dedicated specially for our baby...

妳並沒有离开我們

是搬到天堂生活

妳永远活在我們记忆中

Broken.

Custard's declination for food has started again after a week of eating.

The week after her stay at the hospital, she was reacting to the food fine. And for the past week when I wasn't working, I continued to accompany and watch her as she feeds to keep her motivated. But just two days before I return to work, she stopped again.

The second day she stopped eating, I hand-fed her. She didn't react to the food despite having food dapped onto her mouth, just like the week before. After a few attempts, she got irritated and spit out the food. Not surprising, since that's exactly what she did previously.

So I thought it'd be good to let her mood settle, and went on to syringe-feeding the same night. Started her off with half a syringe for the two feeds on the first day (yesterday). And she's been ignoring me since then. She doesn't curl up against me when I sit in front of the TV, and she doesn't greet me like she always did. It hurt me a bit, but I knew it was normal, and I had to do it for her well-being.

And because I had to work today, I fed her a single full syringe at night when I got home. She fidgets, she yells, she struggles and protests her reluctance with all means possible. As she had her post-meal drink from her favorite cup, she didn't make a sound, but... I saw a quiet tear in her eye.

It totally broke me.

I wish I never had to do this.

I wish she'd start eating on her own.

I wish I have the strength to keep going on.

But I really wonder if she'll ever get better at all...

And all I can do is pray and hope.

Posing for a peekture despite the pain.

Notice the red patch on her left arm after 3 days of fluids. Another patch on her right arm too.

=((

Week 2 Review

An unhappy Custard. VERY unhappy.

Custard 101

2011.01.30 Guarding the Bedroom Door

Custard: Week 1

These 2 weeks have been terrible for both Custard and ourselves.

Though her diarrhea is gone, she still vomits constantly and then cries for attention afterwards.

When we're around during the day, she's relatively peaceful. But when we she loses sight of us, even for the slightest moment, she starts whining. This is especially bad at night, happening as frequent as every 2 - 3 hours. We can hardly catch a good, continual sleep since we will get up and check on her to see if she puked or poo poo-ed.

Poppy hardly took part in the caretaking in the past, but I think upon seeing that it's taking a toll on me, he offers to get up to check on Custard and have me stay in bed.

~~~

And so, after 3 days at work, I'm bushed and she's at it again. She persistently loitered outside the room, wanting to keep me in her sight, and I had to move her basket to my room door so that she can nap comfortably with me in sight instead of sitting on the cold, hard floor. Now, she's finally zonked out (in the basket outside the door) from the fatigue of meowing non-stop since I came home.

Get well soon, Custard.

The Past Week

a one-word summary of my week - BUSY.

work's been mad. likewise, i'm going mad too.

one single day of work with *ahem* is enough to drive one crazy.

for some reason it has just got to be me.

i've got 5 weeks in total - 1 week down, 4 more to go.

been wanting to clear my leave, take a break, but the team's schedule is so messy.

the earliest i can do is end of May, since April i'm on night shift and there's not much point in clearing leave.

there's so many changes going on around here daily.

change in job scopes, increasing expectations, people are leaving, the roster's screwed up...

like what E says, we should be considering our options soon. if not for the tonnes of commitment i have, i would "just do it". oh well...

i met up with the girls after work last Wednesday to discuss on the wedding plans and bridesmaids duties. had a choppity dinner at the hawker centre then headed over to Wala for a drink. work resumed as per normal the next two days with zero time to chat.

had to postpone the collection of our health screening results because Poppy had a last minute press conference for his work.

headed straight for the IT Show in Suntec when he returned. because i already "aimed" the items i needed and compared prices prior to making my way down, it was a pretty zippy affair. within an hour, we paid for and collected our Nikon cammie. i was contemplating between the Nikon Coolpix s8000 vs Canon SX 210 IS (see comparison below). online reviews, already announced the s8000 as a winner, but i just had to see it myself. but alas, they didn't have the SX 210 IS at the IT Show, so i happily bought and paid for my Nikon. initially wanted the black version but it's already sold out, so i got the red one, and realized it matches my phone. hee-haw.

Winner: Nikon Coolpix S8000

Taken from http://snapsort.com/compare/Canon_PowerShot_SX210_IS-vs-Nikon_Coolpix_S8000

we then went off to meet Alex and Michelle at FEP for lunch, shopped a little before fetching my bro and his folks off to Tampines to meet my parents for dinner. everyone was quite blur during the discussion. mostly having no inking what was required. but despite that, i'm glad they all got on along pretty well. dropped his mom and my bro off on our way home, caught some play time with Custard and finally had our Zee-time after doing some work-related stuff.

while Poppy was still Z-ing, i got up earlier to feed Custard and clean up her cage.

she's quite a hippity hoppity cat, and the pellets in her litter tray always gets tossed out when she jumps from the top deck. i've replaced the cardboard in her cage with her favorite old (but clean) floor mat. she loves scratching and stretching on it.

we decided to grab our brunch at Ikea then browse for some furniture and little whatnots for Custard. oh yes, he's getting a 3-feet fish tank (we're turning our house into a neighborhood pet shop) but it doesn't come with a covered cabinet, so we're looking around for sturdy ones.

anyhoos, we bought a rattan basket for Custard, just like the one she had at Mrs Wong's previously, and a separate cushy red pad to go with it. eh, she doesn't seem very keen in the basket when we place the red quilt in it (i'm not sure if the color is too striking, but hey, we didn't have any other choice of colors), so we gave her just the rattan basket for a start. when i did have the quilt in, i'd lure her with her nom noms. i haz a evil.

she totally doesn't like the kitty sushi treats i bought. BUT she loves all the various canned foods and the kibbles i feed her with. she has no qualms wolfing down the mix of Orijen, Indigo Moon, Royal Canin 32 and 33, irregardless of the combination or ratio. and yes, she has zero problems of diarrhea when i switched her feed. she's a hungry cat!

hokays, gotta go concentrate on my work.

picture updates from my new cammie soon, i hope!

Last night...

Poppy complained that i haven't been cooking for too long.
first it was the festives, then i fell sick and afterwards i had to go back to work already.

so yesterday morning, after my night shift, i stopped by the supermarket to grab some veggies, meat and fruits.
dinner was fried rice, stir-stewed veggies and yummy ice blended kiwi-and-strawberry juice.
Custard, wanting attention as usual, mewed nonstop while we ate at the dining table beside her cage. but when i offered her some fresh veggie, she kept quiet. hawhaw.

we met Alex and Michelle, after putting Custard to sleep, to go by the aquariums and pet shops in the neighborhood and Holland V. they were looking for guinea pigs (think G-Force!), and Poppy was looking for his fish tank and other supplies.

we found that hamster ball thingy (see below), and had a good laugh thinking back on the guinea pig who farted in his ball, in the G-Force movie.


a random search on google for "guinea pig farts in ball" showed...

"his hamster ball broke from his extreme farting"

What Others Are Saying
(also taken from this page)

• probably the best waking up experience ever

• halp i iz trapped !!!1!!!1!

• i hope he gives his hamster enaugh food

• this is david he is the last of his kind and must be preserved in cativity until a mate can be found for him expectations of his realise are low

• now that facial expression is worth a prise.

• excuse me. EXCUSE ME! CAN YOU LET ME OUTTA HERRREEE!!

LOL.
anyhoos, i bought nothing as i'm still pretty adamant that the prices i got are much cheaper! sucha cheapo i am.

got up early today, when Poppy was getting off to work.
gave Custard her breakfast of a quarter can of tuna & salmon, before making my own breakfast of fusilli pasta.

hey, she likes the tuna & salmon can too! i am SO going to buy her more cans. although she takes in a lot of water, i still think kibbles are way too dry. mixing in canned meals a few times a week are much better for her (grain-free ones, of coz).

alright, i gotta go take a nap while Custard gets her catnap too.
here's some (very) overdue pictures taken at Loyang Tua Pek Gong Temple on the 4th day of CNY.

Custard ♥ II

Custard's over here for almost a week now.
she's settling in quite well, but she still mews a lot (even when we let her out of the cage).

her stools seem normal and she drinks frequently, and she seems to have quite an appetite for an adult cat. her eye discharge, due to infection at the foster's, has reduced significantly with her tearing less.

she loves the toy mice i bought, together with some random DIY toys i made out of household items. there has been no mischief till she peed in her new bed instead of the litter tray yesterday. and today, she jumped onto my kitchen window and clinged onto the nylon mesh. i'm glad precautions were taken to mesh them up!

and this is her kaypo-ing around and sitting on my paper, while i did my work.

i'm looking to change her diet from Royal Canin 32 and 33, which were fed by her foster.
below's a chart (and a short write-up by another cat owner) of various healthy brands (grain-free and mostly high protein ones), the retailers and the respective prices. many were contributed by helpful forumers on Pets.sg and PetsChannel.com.

(please feel free to contact me for the soft copy if required)

i'll be giving her a mix of Orijen Cat & Kitten (est S$13.66/KG) plus Solid Gold Indigo Moon (est S$8.70/KG), together with her current feed till it runs out. hopefully she adjusts well to both. and at a ratio of 1:2, it'll only cost me less than S$25 per month. whoopie.

and although Mrs Wong says she doesn't eat canned food, she seemed to enjoy the canned tuna & shrimp i fed her these 2 days. i'll try some other brands/flavors over the week, and see if she has problems with them (hopefully not, otherwise the supplies will have to go to the strays).

that's all for now.
time to make dinner, ciaoz.

Custard ♥

Custard came home with us on Saturday

the furkid barf-ed twice and pooped once in the carrier during the ride home
(she must've had motion sickness)

but all's well now
and she's settling very quickly into our home
she's extremely vocal and mews loudly when we put her in the cage at night as if she were crying



we ♥ her to bits

Kohepets

Custard's carrier, treats and toys have been delivered this morning by the very friendly folks from Kohepets.
yays.
but wait, her litter tray (ordered from Korea) is still on the way. yikes.

i guess i can only fetch her home next week.