Friday, March 4, 2011

Bob - A Street Cat that glued a community together.

Bob - A street cat that glued a community together.
This is a story about a seemingly common street cat that has an extraordinary ability to bring a community together!

Bob was reported missing around the end of January 2011 and emails and FaceBook messages were flying around cyberspace, appealing to everyone to keep a lookout for Bob.

Within four days, Bob was found badly injured along Eng Hoon Street by resident Jerelyn.

Initially, Bob was thought to be scalded by hot water by some cat abuser lurking within the estate. But to everyone's relief, that turned out to be false.

However, the fact remained that Bob needed immediate treatment as the wound has become gangrenous.

The 1st vet at Mt Pleasant Animal Hospital gave a very hasty diagnosis despite having X-rayed Bob and opined that Bob was involved in some cat fight and a 2 weeks rest would do the trick.

A few days after, Bob did not seems to be getting better as he was still bleeding and pus was already forming at the wound. Bob also cannot pee and that was very unusual.

Bob's foster parents, Terence and Bella, quickly brought Bob to another Vet at the Namly Animal Clinic for a second opinion.

A surgery was done to remove the urine but Bob still wasn't getting any better.

The residents in Tiong Bahru, including those who are overseas, agonized over the Vet's recommendation to euthanize Bob to avoid prolonging his suffering.

Despite a seemingly hopeless situation, some suggestions came in through Facebook about getting in touch with a miracle Vet, Dr Lye, from the Balestier Animal Recovery.

Since Bob was running out of options, he was brought there in a last ditch effort to save him.

Dr Lye was quick to diagnose that Bob was most probably ran over by a car and his bladder has been displaced from the urethra.

And Dr Lye was very assuring as well. He promised that Bob will not be put to sleep.

So with the right diagnosis, the correct treatment could be administered.

Bob has to go through a few more gruelling surgery that also involves changing his penis to a vagina. (Read more about it in the dedicated FaceBook Page).

Besides human intervention, his fellow feline friend had to chip in by donating some blood to Bob.

Till today, Bob is not really up and about just yet but the vet says he should recover much faster in a familiar environment and the much needed love and care from everyone will aid the healing process.

If nothing goes wrong, Bob, the street cat who glued a community together for the past one month, will be back tomorrow in Tiong Bahru!

The residents at Eng Hoon Street has unselfishly given their time, effort, rest and sleep to rescue this street cat. It is now up to the rest of us to chip in whatever we can to help defray the $12,000 medical fees.

If you want to be part of this in a meaningful way, please check out the details at this facebook website : The Story of Bob - a very special cat or hop on down to Books Actually.

If you prefer to transfer money via the internet, an account has been set up.

Here's the details : DBS SAVINGS 008-5-051623

Please email to thestoryofbob@gmail.com after you have transferred and do indicate the amount.

For cheque donations, please email to that email for details.

Your generosity will go a long way here and the residents at Eng Hoon Street will be grateful for making this rescue possible and meaningful.

This community effort to get Bob back on his feet will go a long way in making this close knitted community even closer.

1 comment:

SGalf said...

The Mount Pleasant Veterinary Centre has written in to give their version of the sequence of event and to clarify how much their charges are in relation to the seemingly exorbitant charges that was incurred while treating Bob.

This is their email :

Bob presented to Mount Pleasant Veterinary Centre (MPVC) on 26/1/2011 for a wound on the right inguinal region (lower abdomen).

He seemed otherwise well and there was no other medical complaint brought up by the care takers.

The care takers couldn’t give us accurate history regarding possible trauma.

The wound was clipped and cleaned. Carers were counselled on possible seriousness of the wound and treatment discussed.

Bob was discharged after administration of long acting antibiotics.

Topical wound care medication and painkiller medication was given to be taken after discharge from the clinic.

The carers were given instructions on wound management.

Bob presented again on 4/2/2011 at After hours Emergency Centre (AEC) for passing bloody urine, not eating well and straining to urinate.

Bobs bladder was very large and he could not urinate.

X-ray and ultrasound were performed and treatment was commenced to relieve the blockage.

Bob was transferred to MPVC from AEC on 5/2/2011 for further treatment.

The carer felt Bob could not urinate properly due to stress of the hospitalisation and requested for discharge on 7/2/2011.

The carer wanted to try outpatient treatment to give him more freedom.

We agreed to the carer's request and the Bob was discharged with instruction of very close monitoring and warning of possibly severe consequences if he could not urinate well.

Bob was presented again on 9/2/2011 for being unable to urinate.

The carer reported that Bob was eating ok until the day of presentation.

The carer also noted Bob was straining hard but was unable to produce any urine.

Further examinations lead us to the diagnosis of ruptured urethra in the region of the neck of the bladder.

The severity of the condition and treatment options was discussed in depth with the carer twice and the senior surgeon also spoke to the carer regarding the various treatment options.

The carer declined all the treatment options and requested discharge to seek second opinion at Namly Animal Clinic where surgery was performed.

Bob was discharged on 11/02/2011.

As the original article was not clear on where the exorbitant charges were incurred, the cost of treatment is summarised below:

26/01/2011 MPVC $152 for skin wound.

4/02/2011 (during the CNY holiday period) AEC $1327.40 for urinating blood.

5/02/2011-7/02/2011 MPVC $ 584.80 for subsequent management.

9/02/2011-11/02/2011 MPVC $284.65 for revisit when the diagnosis of ruptured urethra was made.

Total amount $2348.85

Regards,
Mount Pleasant Veterinary Centre