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| Another TPY Hoarder |
Lynn got a call from a screaming Jaime last week about another hoarder in Toa Payoh with 48 unsterilised cats. The poor lady lives alone, is suffering from leukemia and is currently jobless. She lives in a 1 bedroom rental flat with 48 unsterilised cats and the entire place is filled with cockroaches. Neighbors are complaining about the smell and HDB is now involved.
Jaime and volunteers have done a hell lot in the past one week, trying to clean up the place, dealing with complaining neighbors and reasoning with annoyed HDB officers who came down to the place to follow up on complaints. Jaime updated the Paw Pledge team that Susan has already funded the 1st round of sterilisation and transport costs. The sterilisation count is about 21 so far. Jaime would like us to rally help for this lady. The 1st round of sterilisation costs have already burnt a huge hole in the volunteer’s pockets.
An account from Jaime’s team on the cleaning process “The four-tier shelving was just filled with cat poo that accumulated over God-knows-how-long. While sweeping the crap out of the 4th tier, cat shit was just continuously raining down on us.” Every cat in the flat stank and Jaime hauled every single one of them into the bathroom for a good bath, possibly the 1st for each of them.
Fiona and Lynn went to visit the place yesterday to see how the Paw Pledge team can continue with phase 2. Along the corridors, we see unsterilised cats belonging to 2 neighbors. We found the unit and as soon as we entered the house, the pungent smell of cat urine and cockroaches rides up our nose like Wasabi burning all the way up into our brains. We stayed for a while to chat with the Aunty and take some pictures. When we left the place, our clothes and hair smell like cockroaches have build nests and colonies in them.
The aunty appears to be quite a nice lady. She’s this frail lady with a good heart and a soft voice. She’s been screaming for help for the longest time, but I guess she’s so soft-spoken, no one could hear her pleas. She is grateful to Jaime and volunteers for stepping in to help clean up the place. She’s not stubborn and willing to accept what we proposed.
Here’s what we proposed:
1) Sterilise all the cats.
2) Re-home all the kittens.
3) Get the place into a cleaner state, and keep the smell level down. We suggested placing charcoals and pandan leaves in each room to absorb the stench and the latter to keep away roaches. If you have better suggestions, please share.
Our Appeal for this Aunty:
1) SPCA vouchers – Please donate if you can.
2) Sterilisation funds – If you would like to contribute for sterilisation of the remaining cats (maybe around 20 minus the kittens?), please issue cheques to the vet we nominate. Here are the estimated costs per cat (including GST): Male=$29.96, Female=$44.94.
3) Medical funds – We spotted a few sick kittens. One of them have a really bad head tilt (possible ear mites?). Pictures below but not so clear (sorry). If you would like to contribute for their medical so that we can bring them to the vet, please issue cheques to the vet we’ll nominate.
4) Cages – If you have used cages that you no longer need or willing to part with them at a cheap price, we want them. You can see from the pictures that the Aunty’s cages are so oxidized by cat urine, they are falling apart. Any sick cats quarantined in them will probably get even more sick.
Most importantly, please note that we DO NOT want to handle any cash. All donations should be in cheques payable to the vet or to the transport person we’ll nominate. Any unused cheques will be returned to the donor after the cats are sterilised and the sick cats are taken care of.
If you would like to help, please contact the Paw Pledge team at pawpledge@gmail.com
