Loving the cats in our lives and neighbourhoods

Our New Year Auspicious Wishlist!

‘Gong Xi Fa Cai’ from Gizmo! Photo credits: Nick from Furry Photos
Featuring: Handcrafted crochet oranges and bowtie collar by Yarn over Flowers


We have been touched by many of you cat angels last year, thank you! And since we’ve missed the christmas season, we decided to plan for the CNY festivities instead! For those of you who would like to give in the most practical of ways, here’s our 5 highest ranking chinese new year wishlist items.

If there are any items in this list that you wish to buy for us, let us know! This way there will not be any double orders, and we will also be able to partner donors up if they’d prefer to divide and conquer the costs for a particular item. Those items that you would like to either mail / courier to us or come in person with them, we will also give you our address. (We are a closed-admission shelter and visits are by appointment, so we cannot accept surprise drop offs of these gifts…) Alternatively, you may also sponsor a gift. Our respective Team Managers will then make the purchase on your behalf. When your gift arrives, we’ll snap a picture and mail it to you along with a handwritten thank you note!

FOSNET

Learn more about the humble beginnings of our FosNet team when it was first set up in 2014, and about how our volunteers have made a difference by home fostering sick or very young kittens: https://lovekuchingproject.blogspot.sg/search?q=fosnet
1. KMR KITTEN MILK REPLACER (POWDER FORM)

Early this year, our Rescue Team made a special effort to reignite our FosNet arm, which takes in few-weeks old abandoned kittens that are too sick or weak to be placed with the other cats in the cattery. This came about because of the huge spike in the number of rescue submissions for abandoned kittens in the months of November and December last year. As a small cattery, we do not have the space or resources to take in so many kittens since our primary focus is still on rehabilitating and providing clinical care for the injured and chonically ill cats in our community. As such, we have come to rely increasingly on our FosNet volunteers.
With kittens, obviously the item most in need is… Yes, you guessed it, MILK! KMR Milk costs $40 for a full tin when store bought, and a single kitten (*ahem* Russ!) can polish it off in just a single week!!! Our FosNet Coordinator has come up with the smart solution of ordering KMR Milk online through Amazon, where it’d be much cheaper – approximately $15 SGD per can. If you’d like to donate KMR Milk or sponsor them, we will put you in direct contact with our FosNet Coordinator.

You may also check out the awesome work she is doing with her own LKP fostercare kittens @Ledeuxchats on Instagram!

Foster Kitten Russ gobbling up his milk with two paws
KMR Kitten Milk Replacer (Powder form)

OUTREACH
2. TRANSPORT FUNDS
Our outreach team rarely asks for anything, really. So far, the team has thrifted and saved on its operations cost – so that as much funds go directly towards helping the kittens in Fostercare as possible – essentially by self supplying all therapy related necessities. This includes: mini fans and cooler packs for the therapy cats, a portable speaker to play relaxing music for beneficiaries, cat transport carriers, harnesses, portable food and water bowls etc. etc. You name it and the outreach team has somehow managed to source for it without tapping into the general funds (mainly the volunteers bring items from their own home hahaha! Or we’ve had donors generously donate cat carriers, boxes, beds and treats to us!) So we know that when the outreach team finally ask for something, it really would be a wish-come-true for them!
Curently, most of our outreach volunteers willingly absorb transport costs to and from outreach sessions into their own daily expenses. However, especially for the regular vollies who commit to fortnightly cat therapy sessions and have to grab/uber their way back and forth because of the precious cargo they are carrying (i.e. the VIP therapy cat of course!) OR become they are rushing down for sessions right after work, transport expenses can really become quite steep over time. For a start, we will be appealing for transport sponsors to support just 2 of our core members (without cars/driving license) in the outreach team.

One of the above-mentioned Outreach vollies
during a bedside therapy session at Ren Ci Nursing Home 


At present, a two-way journey to the therapy venue and back costs an average of $20 on Grab. We would be happy to receive sponsors. You may chose either to be put in direct contact with the volunteer you are sponsoring, or to simply contribute any sum to the Outreach Transport Fund. 
Vollie’s home to Ren Ci Nursing Home on Grab
Ren Ci Nursing Home back to vollie’s home on Grab

Also, another special request: Our Outreach Boss drives (usually with at least 3 therapy cats in the boot and as many volunteers as she can squeeze in the car) on a bi-weekly basis from her home -> cattery (pick up therapy kittens) -> therapy venue (sometimes at the other end of Singapore) -> cattery (return therapy kittens and settle them down) -> home sweet home (finally!). She commits to this insane regiment so as to physically be present to oversee and coordinate as many cat therapy sessions as is humanly possible + ensure the welfare and safety of our therapy kittens. As such, any help with Outreach Boss’ petrol costs accrued from therapy cat transportation would also be very gladly welcomed! You will be put in direct contact with Outreach Boss. 

Outreach boss at Rainbow Centre in 2015.
To this day, she persists in leading her team with 100% commitment and 200% heart!


FOSTERCARE

Learn more about how we provide quality care for the kitties here: https://lovekuchingproject.blogspot.sg/2011/07/about-our-foster-care.html

3. FISH TANK WITH FILTER – Donation received (21/2/18)

As part of providing holistic care and mental stimulation for the cats during the long hours they spend alone in the cattery, we’ve taken the extra effort to keep a couple of fishes in a clean, (and yes, safe from cats!) enclosed tank environment.
It is our duty to make sure that the fish are safe from harm. As such, one of our volunteers has recently taken the initiative to specially work with a fish guide on this matter. He will be drafting and monitoring the fish situation to ensure that the fishes are continually being well cared for. This initiative will be implemented and overseen by our Operations Team Manager after the CNY holidays.

We are in need of a new fish tank that comes with a filter (if possible also tank lighting that can be set through timer). Our old tank was very kindly donated by the above volunteer but is no longer in optimal working condition due to its dislodged lid. As we don’t have a particular brand or model in mind yet, interested sponsors are welcome to shop for a promising fish tank of their choice! You will also be put in contact with our fish vollie and Operations Team Manager for fish tank related logistical arrangments/communications.

An example of a suitable fish tank with filer and lamp

OPERATIONS

4. CATTERY COMMUNICATION AND TRAINING DEVICE – IPAD MINI 2 – Purchased by LKP (21/2/18)
We did our research and have decided on the iPad mini 2 based on the following arbitrary requirements:
•   Value for money – not cheap, because cheap devices can be slow and unreliable. 
•   Tolerably fast (lag times can be annoying – or worse, delay the search for what could be
life-saving material) 
•   Have enough storage for cattery training videos (at least 32GB)
•   Run Slack, Google Photos, Todoist, Trello, Calendar and Spotify (for the soothing cat music), amongst other things (a game for cats, for instance)
•   Have a keyboard cover for quick and fast message sending, search and note-taking
•   Be less than $700, tops (inclusive of accessories)

iPad Mini 2

 

Our hope is that with a good electronic device in the cattery, vollies can search for training videos and view them while in the cattery, even without mobile data. This will greatly improve the quality and consistency of the clinical care received by our chronically sick cats across ALL volunteers. It is also especially important as there might be medical emergencies requiring a vollie to provide immediate care to a cat, and having a training device readily available on hand could mean the difference between successfully versus sub-optimally carrying out the necessary interventions.
Note: Because this is one of our most expensive wishlist items to date, combined donations/sponsorships are more than welcome! We may also decide to top the amount up with our LKP operations funds (: Interested sponsors will be put in direct contact with our Operations Team Manager who will be doing the actual purchasing, refurbishing and set up of the device!
5. DIGITAL WALL CLOCK – Donation received (24/2/18)
Evidently most useful for telling the time (plus date, day and room temperature)! This would be lovely as we haven’t had a display clock since moving into Joo Chiat. It’s become the norm for vollies to shout out to each other asking for the time on phones, watches etc., especially whilst shovelling litter boxes or juggling the broom with the garbage bag with the paper towels.
The one we’re eyeing is just $14.07 on Lazada and can be purchased through this link:
Lazada digital wall clock
 





On a final note…

If you are pledging to give any of these items on our wishlist, do drop our Fundraising IC an SMS/Whatsapp message at 97701894. She will get in touch with you shortly and link you up with the necessary Team Managers for any logistically arrangments, as well as respond directly to your queries. 


P.S. Since the CNY festivities are upcoming, you may also be interested in checking out our blog post on safety precautions for your own kitties! Enjoy the short read here (: https://lovekuchingproject.blogspot.sg/2013/02/chinese-new-year-safety-for-kitties.html


Donate to our cause by making a deposit to our Love Kuching Project DBS Current Account 027-907655-0 or via credit card.
Donate food or litter to us at charity rates via Polypet
Please email fundraising [at] lovekuchingproject.org after giving.
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