Monday, November 13, 2006
THE STORY OF TIMBER
[Background: A mother cat who lives near my house gave birth to two kittens. A few days later, one got ran over by a car. In another few days, the other disappeared.]
Early September this year, jiejie brought back a kitten, abandoned and alone, from Chinatown. The plan was to let the poor mother cat adopt this kitten. So we placed her at the pond outside and waited for the mother cat to show up...
[At the pond]
The mother cat did show up. But she showed no interest in the lil' kitten. So jiejie had no choice but to bring home the kitten, to hopefully find a good owner for it. So jiejie named it thumby! Thumby was barely the size of my palm. Jiejie built a house of boxes for her. Later, Thumby became Timber, i don't know why, but you can ask my jiejie.
So this is Timber's land...
Timber, like all babies, had to start drinking from milk bottle. Only a few weeks old, Timber could already hold her own milk bottle.
Timber was quick to learn. Timber became toilet-trained. Timber learnt to be self-entertaining. And Timber was quick to react. When we had to close jiejie's room door with Timber inside, Timber will be next to our feet by the time we got to the door.
[Timber learning to climb the stair]
The search for a prospective owner continues...
Nat loves Timber. But Nat couldnt bring Timber home for several reasons. Nat wished that jiejie won't be able to find an owner so that Timber will always remain here. Everybody loves Timber. Even Meeko and Nike who didnt welcome her at first were beginning to friend her.
Timber was very playful and active, quick and light in movement. When she could climb the stairs. her territory expanded to the whole house. Being downstairs meant that Meeko's territory had been invaded. So Meeko found her new territory in the kitchen.
My tambourine bag in a box -- Timber's throne. Later Timber upgraded her throne -- the massage chair. Then Timber degraded her throne. No one likes to sleep in the pawprint cushion i bought from PLC, but that became Timber's favourite spot. I wondered why and the answer became clear in a couple of days...
By now you might have already notice sth not quite right about Timber. Timber's tummy is not proportionate to the rest of her body. Timber's tummy was extremely bloated. The first time Timber saw the vet, she came back with deworming pills. The second time Timber saw the vet because of some injury Timber had caused herself by chewing her own paws, so she came back with medicine for her wound. The third time Timber saw the vet, the doctor suspected that she might have a tumor, she came back with medicine that helped to get rid of water in her tummy to reduce bloatedness. [Had to monitor her to see if her condition gets any better. Timber is notably less active.] The fourth time [jiejie brought her to the vet because Timber became too weak] Timber saw the vet, she never came back....
Jiejie Nat and myself went to the hospital to visit Timber today. Timber was so cold [33.9 deg C], her temperature was way b the acceptable range [around 38 deg C] and was in critical condition [explained why Timber chose to rest in the cushion]. Timber was so weak, she could only lie helplessly and flat where she's placed. Timber couldnt even support her own head. We were frantically rubbing Timber's body to "heat" her up. I carried Timber for awhile. Her feeble limbs were cold, and it felt as though i was holding a water balloon in my palm.
Timber was diagnosed with an organ failure two nights ago when jiejie brought her there. Timber's liver or kidney is unable to absorb water, so water is stolen from every other part of her body, but remains in her tummy. Doctor said he had to stop giving Timber the medicine that made her pee because Timber's already severely dehydrated. So doctor gave her an injection to help increase her body temperature. They placed a hot water bag in her cage under some towels. Then Timber was left there to hopefully warm up.
Timber was struggling and in pain. But this late afternoon, she would sleep in peace and in comfort forever. Jiejie said "She's a happy kitty." So this is the story of Timber.
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