We hear the phrase all too often; ‘Adopt, don’t shop.’ Out of all the posts for adoption I encountered, one of them deeply caught my attention. An owner looking in desperation to re-home her cats or they will be handed over to the shelters. Behind that cute fluffy faces and mighty paws, a touching story began to unfold as we got to know the cats better. Because of the circumstances, we weren’t given ample time to let the cats get used to our “scents”. There were not much time to fully prepare for their arrivals but hey, I remembered how excited and nervous we were!
Separation anxiety commonly occurs when a cat is too attached to its owner or a pet buddy during the course of separation. As first time cat owners, my husband and I read some articles to gain knowledge so we can be responsible pawrents to our adopted furbabies. What we didn’t read on was, if separation anxiety is real for such an independently known animal.
Our Experience
On the first night with our furbabies, they were shivering and barely touch the food served. One of them got scared till he peed on the cat carrier and refused to move away from it. Both of our furbabies began to lay on top of one another, as if hugging each other tightly. Occasionally one of them would lick the other’s head, as a form of comforting. We learnt of their close bonding with their former owners, through updates via text messages. With a wishful of happy thoughts and all the information we had on hand, we saw progress. Miraculously, both of them started to show positive behaviours as the third day gone by.
We strongly encourage all keen adopters to do a little research before adopting. Understanding the cats you’re bringing home plays an important factor in their emotional stability later on. The more you understand your furbabies, the higher chances of bridging the gap of bonding they once had with their former owner.
The common signs in cats with separation anxiety include excessive Meow-ing, rejecting food, urinate and even poop outside their designated litter. One of the ways we tried to ensure smooth transition for our furbabies was to use some of their former belongings and place it into our home. We ensured both cats receive plenty of quality time. It seemed to work well for them. Take time to get to know their characteristics, their likes and dislikes. We promise, it just gets better each day! Getting vertical scratching posts and tall cat condo also help to provide a sense of security for cats.
We are no experts in handling separation anxiety but hope that sharing our experiences will help cat owners, especially a greenhorn like us! If you have tried all means to treat your furbabies and the signs persist, it is always recommended to see a vet when in doubt. After all, putting yourself at ease allows you to make the right choices for both you and your new furbabies. Good luck!
“Rescuing one cat won’t change the world, but it will change the world for one cat.” – Unknown
I’m sharing with you guys our journey with Kobe; our 3 legged Mongrel a.k.a Singapore Special. He was found with his left hind leg severed below its knee; and a huge maggot wound behind his back. The cause of his injuries until today is unclear. Rescuers managed to get him to the vet, and it was determined after a specialist’s assessment that amputation of his hindlimb is essential to improve his quality of life.
Maggot Wound
Severed Limb
We apologise for the graphic content!
However, Kobe recovered quickly from the surgery under the loving care of his foster parents. Shortly after, we took him in and adopted Kobe as part of our family. He has always been such a happy go lucky doggo!
Doing tricks!
As this is our first experience loving and caring for a 3-legged dog, there are of course many factors you must consider before adopting a pet that may or may not have any special requirements. We did our own research and was mentally prepared to take up a lifetime challenge/responsibility of providing to the best of our ability to ensure Kobe has an enriched life.
Through the months we had Kobe, like any other dog owners out there, we had our fair share of struggles, trials and errors. But through those tough times were lessons that taught us patience to understand the reasons for Kobe’s behaviours and actions. Through these experiences, these are some of the important highlights to take note of:
Keep tripod doggo slim!
According to the Vet and Therapist; The most common health issue with a three legged pet is that they may develop arthritis earlier than other pets.
Because of his missing hind limb; weight bearing on both his front limbs, can result in increased muscle tension of his biceps and triceps.
Thats because more stress is placed on his remaining joints, hence, more wear and tear in the future. Therefore, it is very important to keep them healthy and slim, so as to not have any additional joint stresses from excess weight. A Balanced diet is the key!
Since maintaining a healthy weight is important, its important to strengthen the core muscles! Using balance discs is one good way of strengthening the stomach’s muscles.
However we should take extra care to not overdo any exercise or prolonged walking. It is important to look out for signs of fatigue – Kobe would suddenly sit halfway during his walks and that meant he had reached his limit for the day.
It is also important to avoid ACL injuries (anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) as it is one of the key ligaments that help stabilise the knee joints) on their remaining limbs!
It is highly recommended to consider consulting a Veterinary rehabilitation therapist for advise on how to protect and strengthen their remaining limbs!
We apply it every night before he sleeps after his night walk.
It helps if you shave off your pet’s excessive paw pad fur so that dirt does not get trapped in between their toes and they don’t slip as easy while walking or running around the house!
Ensure there are not too many slippery surfaces in the house.
If you have slippery surfaces like wood, tiles or marble, covering these surfaces with rugs or baby foam mats helps especially when they are busy happily running or playing! As 3 legged dogs have less balance, extra care is needed to prevent them from slipping, as they are more prone to injuries.
Lucky us, our floor is made of overlay Vinyl instead of regular tiles.
It would also benefit them by providing raised water/food bowls, to avoid prolonged neck bending while drinking or having their meal!
We bring Kobe out on fun walks, swims on beach days and dog parks to allow him to socialise with other people and dog buddies!
Having a 3 legged dog does not stop them from their ability to engage in normal activities a dog would do. Kobe loves to have his daily zoomies around the house with his cat brothers & sisters. He excitedly jumps up and down the sofa whenever he is most happy about something.
Having lost his hind limb a such a young age, he has adapted the use of his remaining hind limb growing up. He behaves like any other normal happy dog would, and probably thinks other dogs are weird for having an extra hind limb.
“How much time is enough time before we decide that this is not going anywhere?”
“I don’t think I can do this. I don’t know how else to help her.”
“Do you think she’ll ever love us?”
“Will she be like this forever? What if this is the real her and she’s going to be permanently this way?”
“What if she likes being a stray more and being at home is not what she wants?”
These are just some of the honest questions that have come up since Mayo came into our lives.
Ever heard of the 3-3-3 rule when it comes to adopting a rescue dog? Do a simple search and google will tell you most rescue dogs follow this 3-3-3 rule.
Credit: rescuedogs101.com
They say the first 3 days the dog would probably be shut down. After 3 weeks the dog more comfortable, and after 3 months the dog is completely comfortable.
We didn’t understand. We watched every Youtube video there was, we even read books, we read 10000001 articles to prepare ourselves but nothing worked. Nothing was relatable and Mayo went against all the rules and training tips we’ve watched/read. Although there was strong support from the Singapore Specials community on Instagram (for which I am so so thankful for), we didn’t come across any account we could really relate with that understood what we went through, or had a dog remotely like Mayo. We felt incredibly lonely in our journey because we had no answers.. There were a ton of doubts and uncertainties, and besides sharing them on Instagram we were pretty helpless and hopeless on most days.
The Lows..
It’s hard to pinpoint an exact lowest because everyday seemed to be an accumulation of the whirlwind of emotions we experienced. The first 2 weeks we barely slept. There were nights Mayo howled and cried (?) for hours straight in the middle of the night. Whenever we got up to walk in her direction in first 1 month, she would literally shiver & cower even though we didn’t give any eye contact or said a word. We..just..walked.. She was probably so stressed out that she had violent seizures in her sleep the first month or so. We were worried it was a neurological problem and that made us sleepless and watched the camera monitor every night but thankfully it went away as she got more comfortable.
We are not proud to say this but in the spirit of sharing, we also actually lost Mayo, TWICE, within the first 2 months. She got spooked by a sudden sound, lodged herself behind one of those things along on the road and the leash flew from my hand. I spent 30 mins looking for her under ditches, construction sites, bushes.. but guess what? I got a text from our neighbourhood chat that Mayo was at our HDB lift lobby. Our regular cleaner uncle took her up and tied her to our gate. When I lost her I heard voices of our volunteers in my head, “If Mayo this kind get lost, confirm cannot find one!” But although she was still frightened of us, she chose to go back home – my guess is she knew it was safe and choose us over living on the streets alone. Still blows me away how she knew the way home especially since there have been so many stories of lost dogs that never find their way home.
Photo sent by neighbour who spotted her downstairs.
Cleaner uncle who recognized her brought her up and tied her to our gate.
She definitely regressed especially on walks after that because her confidence was shaken – mine was too. She was constantly pulling on leash and wanting to go home. I was at my wits end and so highly discouraged because it just seem more and more like she won’t break out of this fear cycle. Then one day… a fellow dog owner told me fearful dogs need a confident leader. They can sense our anxiety and i guess she knew. If I could I would avoid walking her because I was insecure and worried that I would lose her again. That afternoon I picked up the leash, puffed my chest, took a deep breath and said ‘Mayo, come!’. Lo and behold, she came. This time I kept my head up, and when she pulled ahead out of fear, I stopped. I took a step ahead of her, deep breath, and continued walking. Like magic, she calmed down and we had a good walk. Positive reinforcement, pack leader, whatever 100001 other training theories bla bla bla – you do you. Mayo was so scared of me she wouldn’t take treats from me – we barely have a relationship yet, so how to reinforce? How to reduce the threshold when she goes from 0-100 in an instant. I can’t predict what & who we meet on our walks. I could only assure her that you know what, I got this. I know where we are going, and I dont need her to worry about bicycles, traffic, runners incoming. Just follow me, you will be fine. #letthemsniff they say.. I would love to let Mayo sniff. When she is confident to sniff, I let her sniff. But i noticed that when she walks ahead of me, she is more easily triggered and reacts in fear perhaps because she feels like she is defenseless and has no clue how to respond to all these new triggers. Now, even though she is so much more confident on walks and typically walks ahead of me, when she sees something that makes her worry, she still comes back to me and allows me to take over in a particularly unsure situation.
But above all, I found it most challenging to see Mayo not being a dog. Don’t get me wrong, she was a good dog! She didn’t whine, she doesn’t bark (well now she does!!), she doesn’t pee & poo at home, she sleeps, she eats. But, she wasn’t a dog. We were told to give her time. But as the days went by and we saw minimal to no progress, we wondered how much time is enough? How much time does she need? What can we do? What if she is simply just like this?
So what made us press on? What lessons have we learnt?
I mean there were days that our anxiety skyrocketed through the roof and it seemed like every tiny thing sends her into a frenzy and we have to walk on egg shells around her for fear of making her regress and more fearful. Some days maybe we took things too far and she was stressed. Some days maybe she was triggered by an aggressive dog. And as humans we become so consumed by our own human worries. But like everybody says, dogs live in the moment. I used to think ‘oh no, Mayo got scared. she hates me. she’s going to hate me.’ NO SHE’S NOT. The next morning, she’s ok already. Give your dogs some credit, and cut yourself some slack! Don’t be too hard on yourself – it’s something I remind myself everyday. She proves to us day after day how resilient she is.
The Highs!
With every low, we have to remember there will also be highs 🙂
Definitely one of the highs was the first time Mayo left her bed to come to the dining table to sniff. We were having curry chicken. Curry seemed to have a magical effect on Mayo – curry makes mayo brave haha. Came to find out later on that actually her rescuer/feeder fed her packets of curry chicken rice occasionally for 6 months! Now Mayo has an upgrade and has doggy-safe curry made with love filled with greek yogurt, capsicum, turmeric & chicken.
During circuit breaker I (mama) had a lot more time to work with Mayo. Started off by tossing yummy treats around the house to encourage her to move around the house. Little by little, I think maybe 3 months into her adoption in May, she started becoming a little more ‘kaypoh’ and confident to come sniff when there’s food on the table. Little signs of her becoming more like a dog.
mayo with her paws on the table demanding for curry
One of my biggest highs, was the day mayo learnt to sit. It took us a grand total of 6 months and because she was so fearful of me, I couldnt use any treats to lure her into a sit like most people do. Neither could I touch her butt to push her down because she was fearful and usually out of reach anyway haha – this dog observes safe distancing very well. I shared on my Instagram that the ‘Sit’ command is literally one of the first things that people teach their dogs. It seems like a no-brainer thing and ya, we were a bit ‘FOMO’ that mayo doesn’t know a single ‘trick’. But hey!!!!!! we took 5 months, but we still got there eventually. Yea we might take longer, but not about the destination but the journey correct? Hehe as at September 10th 2020, she already knows ‘down’, ‘sit’, ‘paw’, ‘chin’, ‘touch’ and ‘bow’. Again, none of these were learnt through luring with treats, or through simply grabbing their paw/chin etc. We ‘captured’ the behavior! Like a camera! Don’t underestimate your fearful dog! Whenever she did the behavior on her own e.g sit, or lie down – we will use a verbal cue e.g SIT and mark it with a marker. Anyway…. ahahaha ok I won’t go into too much detail about the training – next post ok?
Mayo in a ‘down.’
TLDR;
Hahahaha, in summary…… Don’t sweat it if your dog doesn’t follow the ‘rules’. Even after 7 months, Mayo has yet to fully trust us. She still hides from us when we come home but everyday we are seeing new sides of her. But 7 months ago it seemed like an impossible feat for her to me lying beside us. Yet today we can play with her, and she will occassionally willingly lie next to us. If you have a dog like Mayo, I just want to say you are not alone. You might not feel like your dog loves you yet, but remember that it ends with .. YET. Someday I believe they will. I am still telling myself all these everyday while I encourage others. We are all still work in progress and I look forward to the day I can upload a video of Mayo excitedly wagging her tail when she sees us.
Till the next time, I hope you take comfort and pride in your own adoption journey.
