For the love of animals

I am writing this blog to document my encounters with animals and to share my experiences with the people I care about! In a previous blog written I had promised to use our rescue cat, Rocky as my inspiration and example of how loving animals can come with great rewards. I wrote that blog expecting that I would not have a cat here with me today. But this (not so little anymore) guy is as happy and healthy as can be! In fact, we are woken up daily between 4-6am by a very playful kitty who desperately needs someone to play with him. My feet have become chew toys and any glass, phone or remote that is left on any surface will quickly be swiped onto the floor. 

Sure we have to take Rocky into Dubai for regular vet appointments, give him meds 3x a day and arrange a babysitter when we want to have a bit of a social life - but when I get home at the end of a stressful day and I get to cuddle with a kitty who adores nuzzling up in my arms - I know it's all worth it. I look at pictures and I see just how much he has grown and how healthy he has become. 

I want to use his story to inspire you all to question your views on buying pets - if you haven't done so already:) Please think of all of these strays/abandoned animals/shelter animals before you go ahead and purchase from breeders, pet shops or sites like kijiji. I know all too well the thinking of "I want a certain breed" or "shelter animals are diseased or have bad behaviour". But this is just misconceptions that we have in our minds - the truth is, these animals often have the most love in their hearts to give us. And when you have that much love, who cares what breed it is??

Now please don't think I will be spending my time lecturing about my viewpoints - I simply want to share my thoughts with you. I recall a time 2 years ago that I was sitting in a circus, waiting anxiously for the the elephant act. Not because I didn't care about the cruelty, but because it was just simply something I didn't think about. I want to share the truths that I know with you - because I know if you are reading this then you care about these truths.

I will leave you with a thought from a man we all seem to love. Let's be part of the movement against animal violence. Your voice does make a difference.

Rocky - our little fighter

I'd like to share with you a blog written over two months ago about our cat Rocky - the inspiration for this blog:

Monday, 17 February 2014

"I love cats because I enjoy my home and little by little, they become it's visible soul."

Rocky has been a little piece of joy in our lives. He added extra humor, laughter and love to our otherwise quiet home. He wasn't expected - or even wanted - he just happened. And he quickly won over our hearts - especially mine.

Here is Rocky's story
We returned home from our Christmas holidays and were moping about, sad at the thought of 3 long months until our next break. Weekdays consisted of: work-gym-sleep-repeat. While walking to the gym that first week back we saw a small ball of white fur curled up on road. After inspection and some prompting we realized he was un-responsive to our sounds or the sight of us - this cat was not moving at all - just sitting there staring straight ahead. Our initial concern was leaving him on the road to get hit by a car so we rounded up the help of our friend Emma and tried to coax him with some cat food. That didn't work. So we stood there in the road, debating if we should leave him or not. After much discussion, Justin was voted to try to pick him up to move him off the road. With two fingers - and scared of the cats reaction - Justin bent down to touch the cat. As he placed two fingers on the cat we watched nervously. That's when we heard the cat begin to purr. Needless to say, from that moment on, the cat was no longer a random stray - he was our Rocky.

We attempted to nurse him back to health but he was skin and bone and was not accepting any food or water. We visited a local Madinat Zayed vet - who spoke no english and made his first impression by jamming a thermometer into Rocky's behind. He handed us medicine proclaiming Laryngitis. After 2 days he was slowly slipping away from us. He refused food, could barely hold his head up and simply layed there.

 With the help of another good soul - Chelsea - we drove late into the night to the Vet Clinic in Abu Dhabi. He stayed until 10:00pm to see us - bless him. Rocky weighed in at 1.1 pound - the weight of his bones alone. He was 4 months old at the time. He was diagnosed with an ear infection that was so deep it was affecting his balance which is why he couldn't keep his head up. We received meds and some high fat food to boost his weight fast. Dr. Fadi encouraged me to be hopefully but said that unfortunately the infection was very deep.

But our Rocky is a fighter (that's why he was given his name, of course). In 1 day he was eating on his own (even though that meant resting his face right in the food as he licked up the food). In 2 days he was attempting to walk around - even though it always resulted in him falling over on his poor head. In 5 days he was walking without falling over. In one week he was scaling the couches, jumping on and off all by himself. In two weeks he was a playful kitten who loved following Justin around and jumping on my dresser while I got myself ready in the mornings.

He loved to cuddle and would nuzzle his way up into your neck if you picked him up - trying to kiss you face. He demanded attention and would climb his way up your body if you were ignoring him. He was most content when he was in the arms of Justin - he adores him. If Justin was walking to the kitchen, that's where Rocky went. If Justin was cooking eggs - Rocky was trying to climb on the stove. I do believe the love was equal both ways.

Sadly, Rocky only had a few normal and happy weeks as a happy little kitty. On Wednesday he started to have seizures. On Thursday he had another. With the kindness and the car of our friend Dan we drove into Abu Dhabi to Dr. Fadi. He was hopefully it was due to Rocky's prior infection and he sent us away with some meds. From Friday to Saturday Rocky had 2 more seizures. On Saturday night he began to have them very frequently - about 15 minutes apart. In total he had more than 10 in 2 hours. We woke up Dr. Fadi at 11pm, called him again at midnight and by 3am we were in his vet office in Abu Dhabi. Rocky was given meds to stop the seizures and was hooked up to an IV - spending the night at the vet. Dr. Fadi began bloodtests on Sunday, saying it was most probably epilepsy which is very treatable. Unfortunately he was wrong. Rocky has now tragically been diagnosed with FIP-the dry form. We picked him up Sunday from Abu Dhabi and he is home with us now. Based on what I have read, FIP is 95%-100% fatal in the first couple months. It can range from weeks to months, usually ending in euthanasia as the quality of life is just not acceptable. 

 Our affectionate, mischievous and affectionate cat is gone. He is not interested in playing. He is not climbing up to sneak kisses. He is not even interested in sitting outside and watching his reflection like he used to. He doesn't seem to want to be alone, clinging to Justin or I. But he is not cuddly, purring or happy. He is lethargic and sleepy. This could be due to his meds or a symptom of the progression of his FIP. Or it could be both.

I'm asking you today for your prayers for this guy. I'll be the first to admit, I haven't been much for prayers - but today I am. I am praying that Rocky has some fight left in him. I am praying that he is one of the rare and miraculous survivors of this virus. I am praying that his rescue wasn't in vain and that he will go on to live a long life - firstly, for my own selfish reasons and then to be an example of how we can help and change animals lives. How love and kindness to a helpless animal can be worth the burdens that come with it. The positives far outweigh the burdens.