M's letter to Kola

M:

Less than 6 days have passed since you left me, I still remember the first day I met you.

It was at my grooming instructor's pet shop. You were there for grooming. I still cant forget the way your eyes shone, how you wanted to jump on to me, despite the situation you were in. Did you even understand how much trouble you were in? Or were you still happy because you knew someone would save you.

You could say the reason I opened my heart to you was partly becaused you reminded me of Cocoa. But i knew you were different. You may be the same breed, same color even, but you look worlds apart to me. Your personalities were like chalk and cheese.

Still, I decided that you should not die because of a human. I was determined to rescue you. We tried so hard to find you a nice home. There were so many applications i rejected because I knew they were not the right ones. Just when I thought I got you the best home, you bit their kids. Not once, not twice. Many times. Once you even bit your M at that time. Despite them trying, you just didnt seem to behave.

Auntie J took you back for boarding and wanted your ex-M to pay the bill. Up to this day I still remember her SMSes. She told me to bring you to SPCA and that she will never part with a cent for you. She even scolded me for SMSing as it cost 5cents, as opposed to the FREE email. I couldnt believe it. It was your life we were talking about and she wanted to save 5cents and spend more time emailing?

D took you home again, because Auntie J refused to keep you without being paid. We tried so hard to accomodate you, but obviously D's place wasnt big enough to accomodate two dogs. Chinese New Year was coming... I pleaded to bring you back home.

"Until D comes back", I told your Grand-Mommy.

Days passed since D landed in Sunny Island again, slowly months slipped away. At times Grand-Mommy got angry with you, so did Grand-Daddy. It was because you bit people.. And not to mention, fought with Candy and bullied Apollo. The house was topsy turvy with you.

I pleaded with them, and they relented. Actually, deep down inside, I know that they miss the topsy turvy you turned this house into as well. It is so quiet now Kola...

We really miss you so. People keep telling me, that you are in a better place now. You dont need to suffer. You wouldnt want to see me like this. You would want me to move on.

I know all these, but letting go isn't easy. I know that it wasn't easy for you to let go as well.. Especially since you finally got Home.

I will live on happily, I promise you. I just need time... I will get over the grief, but i will never stop loving you.

More than two years have passed since Cocoa left me, I still think about her everyday. And now, i will think of both of you... And see you in my dreams.

Goodbye Kola, run free. Remember, I love you.

Our All Natural Herbal Remedies

Previously I've mentioned that M ordered some remedies for our Angelic Kola from Far Far Away.

They arrived only today, and since St Kola isnt around to use them, M gives them to us!

She bought quite a few remedies, among them, Life Cell Support and Vibactra.

As Life Cell Support can be used to detox the body and enhance the immune system, M doses us with the recommended feeding, and OH MY DOG! THEY TASTE BITTERRRR!!

And trust me, Vibactra doesnt taste any better! But M insists that we take them because of our skin problems. These are natural remedies made of organic herbs, thus M is happy to use them on us.

It is too early to see any results, but M seems to love these products. In fact she is so happy that she is bringing in many more of these products, for tummy, heart, kidney, blahblahblah. C'mon M! These are borrrrrringgggg.

(M: Apollo is not young anymore, so i hope to have these remedies on standby rather than panic and import them. Most people may not trust these products but i spoke to and trust the person who helped formulate some of them.

Many people prefer to leave illnesses and diseases to the vets, I wish I could too. But I've seen for myself the effectiveness of traditional medicine, when Cocoa passed away, when Kola followed thereafter, when my hamsters and rabbits died one by one. Since the vets cannot save them anyway, I have nothing to lose by trying these remedies.

Apollo's skin problem recovered fully only after going natural by the way.)

Our Grooming Tools

M thinks that grooming is very important, thats why she signed on for a professional grooming course almost three years ago. Now she grooms us herself, and with the help of D.

M & D both think that we should be as close to the breed standard as possible, and do not encourage shaving. We'll talk about that later on, but for now here are our grooming tools.

The Green brush is our Les Poochs Pro Brush with medium bristles and a soft flex. As it is double sided, and can be bent, M loves to use this to brush us as she says that it can dematt easily.

The Yellow brush is our Les Poochs Soft Bristle brush, M thought that this would be good for my delicate coat but she now prefers the Green brush as she says that my coat is so thick so a lil breakage wont hurt =(

The two steel combs you see are the Chris Christensen Buttercombs.

The one on the left is the 7.5inch long tooth comb, M says that it is great because it can reach allll the way down to the skin when she combs me.

It is important to comb all the way from the root so that the hair does not matt at the root. Some people only brush the surface. The hair may look ok, but if the root is matted, sooner or later the whole body of fur will be too. And dematting is PAINNNNFULLLLLL.

The comb on the right is the Poodle Comb, M said that she loves to fluff Kola up with this comb.

Join this facebook group!

M decided to login FaceBook today as she rarely did, because there were a few requests.

She found this group that donated $10 to SPCA with every 1000 members. People with facebook, please join! Every cent makes a difference to our poor animal friends in SPCA. Kola-la was once in SPCA and nearly sent back until M took him in by the way.

The group's link is: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=40091005543

Anyway she found a real nice quote there, credited to www.peta.org:

Why we should be vegetarian and save animals...

the question is not, Can they reason?, nor Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?
-Jeremy Bentham

We realise in our lives that there are many who love animals, but even more who do not view them as an equal. M's cousin ever asked M why she bothered spending so much time and money on us. We are afterall, 'just dogs'.

M was unhappy with the comment. (M: They are my kids, my family. We do not treat family as an inferior species.)

Lastly, M hopes that those who dont think that animals are worth a damn, can jump off a bridge and die. She says that if a person does not have compassion for animals, how can he have compassion for humans?

For humans who think they are superior to us dogs, or other species, please reconsider your stand. A life is a life isn't it? Humans have subjected many animals to different kinds of torture - killing cats and dogs, hunting elephants for their ivory tusks, and others for their skin. Is this really necessary?

Remember, dogs have and will continue to help humans in their daily lives, including saving others. One day, our canine brother may save your life.

There are alot of things on our minds, which we wish to blog about but right now we are feeling very tired about all that has happened. We'll continue on this soon!

Kola-la is home again!

M and D brought Kola back home today.

They burnt (M: Cremated!) Kola at Tengoku (www.tengoku.com.sg) instead of at Mount Pleasant as M decided she couldnt wait till Monday.

The people at Mount Pleasant were nice this time, and even wrapped up Kola's body nicely, which M was grateful for.

Sam from Tengoku was very nice and understanding as well when he spoke over the phone with M. When M and D, together with Uncle H, brought Kola to the farm, the Tengoku guy, Ah Teng, recognized D! It turns out that they were staying in the same building block. (M: She means the same block of flats.)

After the ceremony, Uncle Ah Teng even brought the ashes back to D's place because he knew M wanted it by today.

Kola-la is finally home, M seems a little happier although she still cries sometimes. Apollo and I are at a loss. We don't know how to console M. We know how much she loves Kola, and us. We miss Kola too, although we don't really show it.

M: Thank you so much, Ling, Ah Teng and Sam. Special thanks to D for being with me all this awhile too, and H, loving my dogs so much.

A Poem To Kola-la

M wrote this poem for our beloved Kola-la. We really miss him so.

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A Poem To Kola

You came to me, as a homeless.
We tried to find you a home,
Although there were many who were heartless.
We knew you didn't want to be alone.

Thus we brought you back.
In the morning, you would wake me up.
Before you raided the rubbish for your daily snack.
At night, you would lie just like a pup.

There were good times and bad times.
At times, you bit, fought and scratched.
But you would also win hearts with your whines.
I thought you and I were the perfect match!

Everyday you would wake me,
By scratching at the door to go out.
When your antics, no one would see,
You would sit there and just pout.

Christmas Eve, I remember,
You running about greeting guests,
How I wish that moment would last forever,
For now, all i think about is your zest.

When I received the call,
I remember my heart beating faster.
They said you had no chance at all,
because of the dreaded cancer.

I asked to see you again,
I wanted to say goodbye.
But when I saw you in so much pain,
All I could do was cry.

When your time came,
And God took you away,
I cried out your name,
Without you, how could I get through a day?

I was with you till the very end.
Until you breathed your last.
Even though my heart may never mend,
In my life, I am thankful for your cast.

In Heaven, where all dogs go,
You can run with freedom,
Across the green meadows,
Without your joints being a burden.

There you can finally be happy,
You eat without having a price to pay
Past each day without a worry,
As i'm sure we will be reunited one day.

I love you endlessly,
And I know you love me too,
With a heart so pure and plenary
And a love so true.

- M to Kola

Run To The Other Side Of The Rainbow Bridge, Kola

M: This Christmas, Kola woke me up at 0530 with his whines. His stomach was bloated again.

Both of us rushed down to MP Hospital as that was the only vet open, and he was put on drip. Doctor suspected something was wrong with his pancreas although blood tests showed it was ok.

At 8am, the other vet came in and did the ultrasound for Kola. They suspected telescoping of the intestines (where one part of the intestine sucked the other part in) and found pus in Kola's stomach. That means an infection in the stomach, and also the telescoped part of the intestines will have to be cut off. The stomach has to be opened to be cleaned and drained of the pus and gas as well. Chances of survival were 50/50 with the op, and 0% without the op. He would die today without the op. We gave the go ahead.

1230, the vet called me. Bad news. They found a tumour in Kola's pancreas. It was pressing against the stomach, intestine and liver - which is why he had pus, bloat and liver problems. He had cancer of the pancreas.

The vet said with the most intense antibiotics and medicine, he could last another two days at most. We saw the tumour, 1/4 of it. It was the size of a big meatball, i couldnt imagine such a big lump inside him, he went for tests last week! How come nobody knew?

We all could see his suffering.. It would be selfish to make him hold on for our sake.. We decided to let him go. We decided to let him go to a place where there is no suffering anymore, where he doesnt have to compete with other dogs, get hated by humans. A place without starvation, without hatred and cruelty. Without pain and suffering.

To Kola:

My dear Kola, I'm really sorry. For the past 10months we were together, I tried to give you the best. I know you were jealous of Apollo and Candy, but at least you had a place to call Home. For the past 5 years of your life, you were bounced from place to place because you bit people. You raided rubbish bins and fought with other dogs. But at long last, you were home.

Now, you dont have to suffer anymore. You dont have to endure the pain in your tummy, the pain that no one knew you were going through. You dont have to compete for attention, dont have to get scolded for stealing food.. Just run over the rainbow bridge, look for familiar faces. You can look for your sister Cocoa if you wish.

On Monday, you will be cremated and we will bring your ashes back, to our home. I love you Kola. I always did.

Thank you my dear, for waiting for me. For giving me the chance to say one last goodbye to you.

Yours and Forever,
M

To my Mom: Thank you for giving me your support through this period. I know times are bad, but you willingly forked out the money to go ahead with his treatment although you knew chances are slim because you wanted to save him. I love you Mom.

Our Martingale Collars & Walking Lead

About a month or two ago, M decided that we should use Martingale collars instead of our usual ones, and since the old ones were getting dirty anyway she ordered these very very special collars made just for US!

Martingales are usually used for hounds, whose necks are thicker than the head. The collars are chokers but unlike choke chains which put pressure on the trachea, these martingales put pressure on the entire neck, so they don't damage the throat. It acts as an anti slip collar as well, which is why hounds usually use these. But M thinks we need this too as I loveeee to back out of my collar. Its fun!

Apollo not only has a Martingale, he has a walking lead as well, which is a Martingale collar and lead all into one. It was also custom made for Apollo and M loved the design. It has padding at the collar part as well and Apollo says its much more comfortable than the old collar.

Right in front: Apollo's walking lead. The red collar with stars is Tinker's, the one white and blue is Kola's and the red and white BITCH collar is MINE!

Apollo's martingale collar is not in this picture as M took all the gear from the previous beach trip to take this peekture.

M says that we don't need one because Kola and I share a coupler. She loves using the coupler as she says that we don't get tangled anymore as we did before. And the lead part she holds has a shock absorber as well!

The coupler with the shock absorbing lead.

The part where the coupler extension connects to the lead is made of three rings, so it won't tangle Kola and I up. Thats the main reason why M decided to get a coupler.

Bach Flower Essences

Awhile ago, M ordered some Bach Flower Essences for us. She says it'll help with our emotional well-being whatever that means. Do note that these flower essences are made and can be used for humans.

These are what she bought:

Rescue Remedy: Made from five Flower Essences: Cherry Plum, Clematis, Impatiens, Rock Rose and Star of Bethlehem. Helps relieve stress.

Vine: Allows you to be a leader without being domineering.

Chicory: Allows you to love someone without being possessive.

Holly: Encourages a forgiving and generous nature.


She also bought Olive for D. There is a service in Singapore where they custom blend Flower Essences for you too if you wish, but M imported these directly from Far Far Away so she blends them herself. M thinks that they are good for dogs that are emotionally troubled, so be sure to check this out! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, it worked with us.. At least M thinks it did.

Our Yum Yums

I overheard M chatting with her friend, and she mentioned that she would be changing some of part of our diet into organic because of the Black One's recent liver disease. She thinks that Organic is the way to go, so that Apollo, Tinker and I wouldnt get caught by the Liver Disease Monster. I told her that only Black dogs will get caught by the Monster, since the Black One is well, Black. But she says no, that isnt true.

Our yum yums will be listed here from now on. (M: This is just what they'll have generally, not specifically for every meal. That will be in a later post.)

Our Main Diet:

1. Raw Meat & Bones - M said that it will cost too much to change our diet entirely into Organic, but she'll try to convert most of it or at least use free range meats if possible.

These are some of the stuff we eat:

Free Range Lamb Kidney

Free Range Lamb Heart

Free Range Lamb Liver

Free Range Veal Liver

Free Range Veal Heart

Free Range Empress Chicken (Whole)

Free Range Chicken Carcass

Organic Beef

Organic Chicken Breast

Lamb

Mutton

Game Hen

Lamb Shanks

Salmon

Cod

Beef Lungs

Beef Liver

Young Organic Chicken, for us and grand-ma!

Free Range Lamb Heart

Free Range Beef Marrow Bones

Free Range Veal Bones

Free Range Veal Heart

Free Range Veal Liver

2. Veggie Blend - M has always bought Organic veggies for us to eat, and they are deeeeeelicious. We eat almost any kind of veggie, RAW. That includes but is not limited to carrots, cabbage, butterheads, xiao bai cai, nai bai, french beans, and many many more!

3. Yogurt - As some of you may know, M makes yogurt for us herself, with the help of some bacteria. All along she used normal cows milk from the supermarket to make our Yoggie, but from now she is only going to use Organic Milk.

Organic Yogurt stored in a glass airtight tupperware

4. Goats Milk - I love this the most as I get the MOST! It is not organic as far as we know, but its fresh from the farm.

5. Organic Thorvin Icelandic Kelp - M bought this from far far away, it is said to be full of trace elements.

Organic Thorvin Icelandic Kelp

6. Organic Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth - M bought this together with the Kelpie, mainly to kill our Tickies, and it worked! She also feeds us some of this white stuff sometimes to kill something inside us. She calls them worms.

Organic Food-grade Diatomaceous Earth

7. Bovine Colostrum - From Newwwww Zealand, it is the first food of all beings! Even you humans! M said that it boosts our immune system and so we must have it with every meal, because our constitution isnt very good. WE LOVE THE TASTE!! YEY!

Our Yummy Bovine Colostrum

As for our Treats, M dehydrates them herself! And occasionally she bakes muffins, cookies or whatever she feels like. Her latest creation was Carob Cookies. The picture will b e up soon!

Dehydrated Omasum (the 3rd stomach of the cow)

Dehydrated Lean Pork

Dehydrated Mutton Sukiyaki

Koka Kola..

Now Apollo and I finally figured out why the Black One is called Kola.. As you know, there is a drink called Koka Kola (M: thats Coca Cola), and its a fizzy drink. About 5 days ago, M and D had to rush Kola to the hospital because he was bloated (read: fizzy drinks!).

Day One
We went to Sentosa with D and Uncle H earlier in the day, even Tinker came, but no photos as Uncle H forgot to bring D's camera along.

(M: We noticed Kola was bloated and he didnt even sniff at his dehydrated treats. It was worrying!)

Kola was put on drip and had an Xray that night at Mount Pleasant Hospital, as M didnt know that our regular vet, Companion Animal Surgery, had a 24 hour facility now. (M: They are on call after hours.) The bill was a whooping $660+, grrrrrrrrr, that amount could feed us for slightly more than two months! Think of all the good food down the drain, cause of the Black One.

Day Two
M & D woke up at 8.30am to bring Kola to CAS for further check up. Dr Chua allowed M to bring Kola home, and was told that as long as he stopped vomitting and started eating normally (bland COOKED food they say), he should be OK, another check up would be scheduled in the next week.

However, after 2 hours of reaching home, Kola vomitted FOUR times! Poor poor Auntie G had to clean the floor FOUR times!! M offered him yogurt and boiled chicken but he didnt even sniff! Thats crazy, whoever heard of the Black One rejecting food?! M was worried and called Dr Chua, who told us to bring him back.

He was put on drip again, and his temperature hit above 40deg C. Blood tests and haematology showed liver enzymes and white blood cell count higher than usual. They suspect a liver infection.

Day Three
Kola kept biting off the drip line, so the doctors gave him injections instead. It was slightly more painful, but he deserved it!!!! HAHAHA! On the bright side, his fever had subsided and he was eating. The nurses said he was playful (read: naughty).

Day Four
Doctor said Kola was looking good, no bloat and eating. No fever as well.

Day Five
Kola came home!! Not that we're extremely overjoyed about this, we wished M could've booked him in longer. (M: Hello! This stay cost us $1.5k!)

Dr Lee and Dr Chua both said no more raw food for Kola, only cooked. And that awful Science Diet L/D for two weeks. My gosh! M isnt too happy about that though, she says that she has read some of the books she bought and websites that say raw food is especially important for dogs with liver disease. Of course, these books were written by holistic vets like Dr Pitcairn.

M has ordered some natural antibiotics and liver 'remedy/supplement' to be fed to the Black One. According to Auntie J, the lady in the land of far far away (M: thats the USA), the natural antibiotic can be fed in place of the one Dr Chua prescribed. We arent too sure about that though, we really wish there was a holistic vet in Sunny Island! Anyway by the time the natural stuff come, the medicine from CAS has probably finished. Dr Chua gave the go ahead for the natural liver supplement, after M asked her about it by the way.

Although this is the first time M and Kola has been to Dr Chua and Dr Lee, they are really nice people! Unlike the one at the previous clinic where poor older sis Cocoa passed away in.. I hope IF i get sick, nice people like Dr Chua and Dr Lee will be looking after me too!

M is also revising our diet, the nutritional yeast seemed to have made our skin itchy, so she's stopping that. Colostrum is yum yum by the way, we had it just now. I'll post our diet up after she's done with it, i hope SOOOON. I feel hungry just thinking about it!

Rescuing the Rubber Duckie

M and D brought us out today. Uncle H also came along! It has been sooooooo long since we last saw him!

We all went to the beach, where my dear brother Apollo had to jump in the sea many many times to rescue a rubber duckie. I don't quite understand the logic, if rubber duckie wanted Apollo to rescue him so many times, why wont he stop jumping in?

Apollo watching rubber duckie.
Bravely retrieving rubber duckie from the cold waters. This is what Golden Retrievers are bred for, except they retrieve real game. But we eat some game meats at home already, so I guess Apollo doesnt have to hunt for us!

Having a rest and waiting for rubber duckie to go into the waters again.

Apollo to the rescueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Doesn't he look so cool in this photo?

At the end of the day, a very happy Apollo boy.

We found this Black One wandering around the beach... (M: Yeah right, and at the pink end of the coupler stood the Princess.) Mom!!!! I let it slip when you didnt let me publish any of my photos, but THIS IS TOOOO MUCH!!! GRRRRRRR!

All Hail The Almighty Princess! and.. her underlings.

My name is Candy. I am a Princess. Apart from my full-time job, I am also part time Shih Tzu part time Lhasa Apso, gianted sized but having a great figure at 7kg! (M: Actually she was supposed to be Shih Tzu but no one knows for sure).

This is the beauuutiful Me:

(Dont I look simply smashing?)

I simply love bossing my three brothers around. My family simply lovesss to spoil me. I get ALL the toys in the house. (M: You don't. But you simply like to think so.)

Umm, lets skip the toys. I also have great food to eat everyday! I'll tell you all about that some other day.

But first, let me proudly introduce my three brothers!

This is my sweet Big Brother Apollo the Golden Retriever:

He is simply the gentlest dog you will ever meet. I remember during puphood, I climbed on top of him and chewed on his ears and he simply let me! Oh yeah, not forgetting the times I nipped on his legs, boy, was he angry! But no, he didnt bite me! All he did was let me off after letting me look inside his mouth for three seconds. (M: Apollo actually put her entire head inside his mouth but didnt bite. He just wanted her to stop biting.)

This is my handsome Tinker-boy:

A Miniature Schnauzer who lives with D! Although we dont see him everyday, we get loads of chances to catch up when D brings him over to play! See his black shiny coat? Well, he is Dark Salt and Pepper, and D regularly handstrips him. Okay i know, not too black yet but hey! He is still young! His Kennel name is Joquinn Greatest Wonder, aptly named as D thinks he IS the Greatest Wonder, not ME! I wonder why the rest of us dont have kennel names? (M: Well its because I lost Apollo's and Kola's ex owner didnt pass me his. You dont have a pedigree.)

And well.. thats the end of the intro.

Oh yeah right, there is the Black One as well. His name is Kola and occasionally he forgets his place and tries to challenge me for the Throne! Can you imagine that? But of course, I ALWAYS get the best of him, even though he is slightly bigger!

PS: This ugly peekture is specially chosen by Yours Truly. Doesnt he look so horrible after hydrotherapy? I'll tell you ALL about it another day.

He is a Miniature Poodle M brought home because he was about to be sent to the SPCA to be put to sleep, thanks to his evil ex owner who cruelly abandoned him.

Well, I got to take a Royal Nap now. Catch ya soon!