Crazy old meow person after all

[Chuck Bao]

I guess I’m converted. I’ve always prided myself as being a dog person.

So, any help or advice any of you can offer would be very, very good and very much appreciated.

I ran out of Diet Coke to go with whiskey while listening to the internet radio broadcasts of college football last night. At half time of one game (approximately 3am), I take my bike to the neighbourhood 7-Eleven for some more.

Sadly, I see a box with two kittens next to the garbage bin in front of the store.

When I offer to buy the kittens some milk, the clerk at the store says that they’re too young to drink milk and they’ve been thrown away. I know better. So, I put them in my backpack, along with milk, some cans of tuna and the diet coke.

At first, I wanted to name them Boomer and Sooner, but those sound like dog names. My Thai friend named them Laak and Yom. I don’t know what Laak Yom means. Laak is the one who cries a lot and goes wandering about. Yom is the more stay near the milk and sleep type. I like the name Yom anyway. Yom is the Thai word for security guard, so she’s my guardian.

Oh, the Thai word for cat is meow. Strange, isn’t it?

Laak climbing my shirt and unfortunately looking for the nippleage. Yom, meanwhile, was very busy guarding the milk bowl or sleeping.

http://img5.ranchoweb.com/images/kanunu/newestsooner.jpg

So, I need to take them to the vet to get shots and stuff. What sort of shots and what else should I have checked?

[critical_phil]

that one looks plump and juicy enough. why'd they throw him out?

[Chuck Bao]

that one looks plump and juicy enough. why'd they throw him out?

Bite your tongue. Go ahead take a big bite.

[Frozen Sooner]

Don't feed them straight tuna. It's way too much protein for a cat to digest at once. They'll just throw it back up.

Generally, cats will use a litter box if they're just placed in it once or twice. They get the idea-they WANT something to cover up their messes. Don't leave any clothing on the floor until they figure out the cat box though.

Don't stress out if they fight unless they start drawing blood. Cats play fight constantly.

[Flagstaffsooner]

Bless you Chuck. The vet will know what the local cat things that should be checked for. Cats are wonderful pets and you will love them.

[soonerloyal]

God'll bless you a hundredfold for the kindness you've displayed. Bet on it.

Listen though...since they are still very very young, go to Wally World and get some Tiger Milk (I think that's what it's called) - a cat milk formula for this situation. It's in the cat food aisle. If they seem to do well lapping the milk from a dish, fine. But you might also pick up a kitten bottle and nipples - they're located right by the kitten formula. When I foster an abandoned kitten, I hold them and let them snuggle and use the storebought nipples as a pacifier, while they knead and claw. They do better in the long run if they get that personal contact and simulated nursing.

Sorry. Need a shot of testosterone now after reading all that? :eek: :O

[Preservation Parcels]

How sweet!

http://www.ehow.com/how_2049706_care-abandoned-kittens.html

A few suggestions

Line a box with a towel. They'll appreciate having a small, enclosed "nest."

Keep them confined in your bathroom or a small area unless you're with them. Place a litter box on one side of the room and their food and water on the other side. The confined space will give them security. As they get older and litterbox trained, you can let them range more widely.

Feed them kitten formula, not cow's milk. Kitten formula has more nutrients, and they'll grow stronger. Cow's milk will give them diarhea. Until they're old enough for cat food, they'll need to be fed pretty often.

A stick with feathers on the end was always our kittens' favorite toy. They also liked little pinecones or wadded up aluminum foil for floor hockey. Chasing a flashlight beam is great exercise for them and funny to watch.

Check with your local SPCA for discounted shots, spaying, and neutering. Some vets will do it as early as 4 months, and you'll avoid a lot of behavior and territory-marking problems by fixing them as early as possible.

That was really nice of you to take them in and save them.:)

[Chuck Bao]

That was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks to everyone.

So, my new priorities are:

Kitten (cat milk) formula
No tuna, yet
Snuggling
Enclosed safe space
A stick with feathers
Vet visit
Neutering or spaying at four months

[Chuck Bao]

Oh, Soonerloyal, a shot of whiskey or tequila will do just fine. Maybe, I'll buy you one some day. And, I don't think the cats will mind if we do.

[opksooner]

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/skateboarderx24/excuse_me.jpg

[Viking Kitten]

Oh, the Thai word for cat is meow. Strange, isn’t it?



My mom's paralegal is a native Mandarin speaker, and she recently taught my daughter that "miāo" is also how you say "cat" in Chinese. She told me that a lot of Chinese words are onomatopoeic.

[Newbomb Turk]

you couldn't ask for better advice, the kitten has spoken.

WTF is onomatopoeic? :confused:

[opksooner]

My cat speaks French. She says "miaou".

[Viking Kitten]

you couldn't ask for better advice, the kitten has spoken.

WTF is onomatopoeic? :confused:

You know, words that are an imitation of sound, like snap, crackle, pop, for example. I paid attention in ninth grade English, bro!;)

[Newbomb Turk]

I paid attention in ninth grade English, bro!;)

I guess I didn't. :O

[Newbomb Turk]

I have an urge for Rice Krispie treats.

[M]

awww, you will just adore those babies after a while (if you don't already). I adopted my ball of fluff three years ago from the OKC animal shelter. He is so bipolar - he'll run through the house and strike a "halloween cat" pose, then 10 minutes later he's snuggling with me. Here he is at 7 weeks:

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g258/DixieChickMissy/Baby003smalla-1.jpg

And now:

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g258/DixieChickMissy/sleepysmall.jpg

I spoil him to death. :O

[soonerboomer93]

I have 2 females (same mother, 1 litter apart)

They are crazy, the older one can get cranky real fast.

Right now my parents are watching them while I'm overseas

[Viking Kitten]

awww, you will just adore those babies after a while (if you don't already). I adopted my ball of fluff three years ago from the OKC animal shelter. He is so bipolar - he'll run through the house and strike a "halloween cat" pose, then 10 minutes later he's snuggling with me. Here he is at 7 weeks:

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g258/DixieChickMissy/Baby003smalla-1.jpg

And now:

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g258/DixieChickMissy/sleepysmall.jpg

I spoil him to death. :O

Look at that crazee feeeline from teh barrio, man. He'll cut you if try to takez hiz Whiskas cat treats away.

[M]

Look at that crazee feeeline from teh barrio, man. He'll cut you if try to takez hiz Whiskas cat treats away.

Yeah he'll go loco on yo *** real quick. Si, si...

[Viking Kitten]

Why you frontin' and teasin' me with that yarn ball, esai? Don't you know I'm loco???

[soonerloyal]

How are the furball babies doing?

[Okla-homey]

Good on ya. I was a dog guy my whole life but we got a couple kitties (pretty much under the same circumstances as you) about three years ago, and we love 'em.
We still have the dogs of course. Thus, two dogs, two cats = Happy Family.

[Chuck Bao]

They're cougars or mountain lions or something, at least they think they are during the feeding frenzy with the milk bottle.

Besides that, we're getting along great.

Yom, my guardian, is the one on the left with the white front paw. Laak is the more aggressive of the two.

My 7-Eleven Siamese cats:

http://img5.ranchoweb.com/images/kanunu/yom26laak3.jpg

http://img5.ranchoweb.com/images/kanunu/yom26laak11.jpg

http://img5.ranchoweb.com/images/kanunu/yom26laak12.jpg

[soonerbrat]

that is so precious! you're a good man Charlie Brown...er...Chuck Bao.
If i had to venture a guess, I"d say they are about 5 weeks old now..they can probably start eating some kitten chow mixed with their formula..how's the litter box training going?

the one on the right looks like he has 6 toes...

[Jerk]

We were forced to 'rescue' an abandoned kitten a few years ago. It was the size of a mouse with closed eyes and dipsh*t next door, finding it at a construction site, knew where to take it. My wife got KMR milk from Petsmart and we hand-fed the little runt. You need a box with a heating pad with towels on top. Turn the heating pad on low. Get the KMR milk and a bottle, warm it up, poke a tiny hole in it, make sure the hole in the nipple is not too big...but big enough (words from my wife) after its done eating, you take a cotton ball with warm water, wash their private area, and they will go to the bathroom - keep "washing" their private area with the cotton ball until they go to the bathroom. That's what the mom would do.

AFter looking at the pic, they might be old enough to eat the canned food with KMR milk on top of it. But go ahead and get the bottle.

[Chuck Bao]

I’m afraid that I have bad news – little Yom passed away last night.

I noticed Tuesday night that Yom didn’t want to drink her milk and she was a little listless. She seemed to be doing worse on Wednesday morning, so a friend (Khun Nope) took her to a nearby vet clinic. The vet gave her some antibiotics and sent her home.

Wednesday night, I forced feed her a little bit of milk and a little bit water every two hours, but she was still getting progressively weaker. So, I decided that she needed to be under the 24-hour care of a vet.

Thursday morning, I put her in a basket and strapped the basket on the back of my bike and we headed off to Chulalongkorn University veterinarian school clinic.

The doctor at Chulalongkorn said she had a lung disease and needed to be put on antibiotics and put under an oxygen tent.

He said that the clinic has a policy of not admitting pets unless they are accompanied by their owner. Doesn’t that sound weird? In the court yard in front of the building were a lot of pet owners just sitting around with their pets.

I think part of it is that Chulalongkorn University is state-owned and I don’t think, as a teaching clinic, they charge much or can afford to offer much in terms of extended care. They didn’t charge me anything.

I would have been so willing to go home and get my sleeping bag if I had to, but not before looking for an alternative. Luckily, the very helpful doctor provided the alternative.

Across Bangkok, in the rich part of town, there is a pet clinic that does take in pets for 24-hour care. Another friend (Khun Toom) takes Yom on to the rich people’s pet clinic, so I can do my work. They take her in. The bill for medicine, doctor fees and overnight stay would be about $150. I realize that that is probably really cheap compared to the US, but it isn’t here.

The pet hospital called this morning to say that Yom passed away last night.

Yom’s sister, Laak, is still a little tiger. She’s just started to eat Whiskas Kitten and is getting stronger every day.

Oh, I finally know what Laak Yom means – twin ghost kids that do good and help people and stuff. So, that would have been good names for two cats, except there is only one now. I think I’ll change Laak’s name to Luck.

I could have had the pet hospital properly dispose of Yom’s body, of course for a fee. But, my friend, Khun Nope, wanted to have a Buddhist funeral / rite / service / merit-making. Then Khun Nope’s brother got sick and he had to go upcountry, leaving me with a dead cat and no plans for what to do with it.

I live in a condo, so burying Yom is out of the question.

I have decided to go ahead with the Buddhist ceremony. I’ve ordered a little kitten coffin and Yom will be cremated tomorrow afternoon at a Buddhist temple.

The merit-making will have to be later. I think we’ll donate money to a stray cat shelter in the name of Yom.

Edited to add: If any of you were wondering, I ordered the kitten coffin from this website. For an extra $4.50, they have agreed to deliver it to my home.

http://www.dogdiddone.com/

[soonerbrat]

so sorry to hear about your kitty..I'm glad the other is doing so well...she'll make a great pet

[yermom]

:(

good on you for taking them in though

[Chuck Bao]

The cremation service went very well and I’m feeling better about doing the right thing.

The little casket arrived at my house early Saturday morning. It came with a little pillow and a little wreath.

Khun Toom came to help out about mid-day.

Khun Toom and I took a taxi to the Klong Toey Nai Buddhist temple. Klong Toey is the old Bangkok river port and the temple is next to the river, about a 10-minute taxi ride from my home.

The pet crematorium is separate from the human one, so that answered one of my questions.

They offer a simple cremation service for 1,500 baht (or about $44) with the option of a short Buddhist ceremony beforehand.

I wanted to do the merit-making thing, so when they asked if we wanted tamboon, we agreed. They provided the envelope and we put a 1,000 baht note (about $30) in it.

One monk came. They tied a string around Yom’s body and Khun Toom and I held onto the string, while we waied (hands in prayer position). The monk chanted a short prayer in Pali.

Then, they asked us to say something. Khun Toom went first and said something like he’s sorry that things turned out this way and hopes Yom finds peace and gets reborn in a better situation.

I didn’t have anything prepared, either. I think I said something about my life being touched by this sweet little creature and that she taught me how to care…etc.

Then the monk led another Pali chant, I don’t understand this part. We, Khun Toom and I, together slowly poured lustral water into a little bronze vase while the monk chanted. Afterwards, Khun Toom dumped the lustral water from the vase into a nearby potted plant, so I don’t know what that was all about.

We filed by, all three of us, and put paper flowers inside the casket.

They slid the casket into the crematorium on a long wooden board.

They fired up the electric fire and we left.

Oh, they also offer the service of releasing the ashes and bones into the river for an extra 300 baht (about $9) charge, which answered my other major question. We opted for that.

They just called me to say that they’d done that. I guess that’s a courtesy in knowing that part is done.

Me in front of the casket.

http://img5.ranchoweb.com/images/kanunu/georgeatyom5C27sfuneralservice.jpg

The monk in front of the crematorium.

http://img5.ranchoweb.com/images/kanunu/monkinfrontofcrematorium.jpg

[Petro-Sooner]

Very interesting!!! If you dont mind me asking, what line of work are you in?

[Chuck Bao]

I'm a stockbroker - head of research.

[soonerbrat]

http://www.londonbuddhistvihara.org/qa/qa_practices.htm#qa_practices8

[Chuck Bao]

Okay, I've learned something here. Thanks Brat!

I've gone to many Thai human funerals and we never did the water overflowing thing before, but this perfectly describes it.


Finally, a jug full of water is gradually emptied into a bowl until it overflows, while reciting a stanza with thoughts of metta towards the departed one. This is a symbolic gesture in which the water in the jug represents the merits aquired by the friends and relatives present by generating thoughts of metta, which are then transferred to the departed by pouring the water into the bowl.

[Frozen Sooner]

Chuck, you're a good person.

[proud gonzo]

totally

[Tailwind]

So sad, I have become so attached to my cats, it will be so hard to part with them when the time comes. Take good care of Luck. She will be a comfort to you.

[soonerbrat]

Okay, I've learned something here. Thanks Brat!

I've gone to many Thai human funerals and we never did the water overflowing thing before, but this perfectly describes it.


ok, this sounds trite, but once on the show "Six Feet Under" they had a Buddhist funeral and they did the bowl with the water and then they poured the bowl of water on a tree...there was an explanation on the show but I couldn't remember exactly what it was so I didn't want to just make something up ;)

[soonerboomer93]

sorry about the kitty, but it sounds like you did everything up right for her. That was really good of you.

and before you revealed what the names meant, I did a search fo laak yom on google

#1 result was this thread...

[OCUDad]

Bless you, Chuck. So sorry about Yom.

[Flagstaffsooner]

Sorry Chuck. What a nice service. Made me cry.

[soonerloyal]

I'm so sorry to hear that little Yom passed away. I'm sorry for your loss. It feels like my loss too. How kind and loving of you to have marked her blessing upon your life in such a heartfelt way.

Do not take lightly your presence here on earth; and understand that the goodness you are doing will be returned to you in ways you'll never expect.

If I may, I will be giving a donation to ASPCA in Yom's memory, for Laam/Luck's future, and in your honor.


I know some terrific Marines that will be spoiling her in Heaven even as we speak...

[soonersweetie]

Bless you Chuck, you are indeed a good man. For the little time you knew Yom (and she you), you both blessed each other and cared for each other. She was very fortunate to be in your care.

And as mentioned above, you will definitely be blessed many times over at times when you least expect it.

Also, thank you for the all the info you posted regarding the Buddhist ceremony. That was very informative and I learned something as well.

[Chuck Bao]

As sort of a quick update. We though Luck (name changed from Luk after Yom passed away) was a she, but he is a he.

Thailand's top vet school did that "fixed" thing and, after cutting into him, found no ovaries. Since he was already under, they went ahead and cut off his balls.

I didn't find out about this under much later but I should have figured something was up when a female cat needed stitches in the hind side as well. Okay, jokes about knowledge of female anatomy are probably well deserved.

This was partially covered in this thread:

http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105544

My apartment building doesn't allow pets so I worked out a deal for me to have time to find Luck a good home and Nope was saying that his mom would like a cat.

So Kitten Cat (Luck) went to live in Nam Bua Lampoo province with Nope's mom in December.

Nope visited his family during the Songran holidays last week and came back with this pic of his mom and Luk, renamed Luck, renamed Kitten Cat, renamed Meow.

I love this pic.

http://img5.ranchoweb.com/images/kanunu/khunmaeandmeow2resized.jpg

[Jerk]

The one we bottle-fed looks a lot like that.

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6039/naulaiq0.jpg