Sweet Dee Is Made of This

Tweedledee. About 2 months. Male ♂

Dee was one of about 18 or more babies that his stray-cat mum birthed in the rain-gutter on our roof over the course of about two years (the mum was too street-wise for us to trap and spay). Dee and his two same-litter brothers (pic below) were washed down the drain-pipe when sudden rainstorms flushed out the rain-gutter! Luckily, we managed to fish them out of the drain in the back alley.

Our apartment was a small one in town, and we already had 6 kitties, so we couldn't take them in. They were free-roaming in the daytime, with access to the stairwell that led to the backalley; we gathered them in the evenings and they are locked in our small kitchen for the night. We lost half of them ... to car accidents, and evil nasty cat-haters.

Dee was a victim of some cat-abusers ... not once; but twice!

When he was still less than a year old, he came home with a broken hind leg. It was a bad break that split his thigh bone almost end to end diagonally. The vet put in a surgical steel pin, and the healing was long and painful. He was such a brave boy throughout the ordeal. After a couple of months, he had to undergo surgery again to take out the pin.

A few months later, he came back with a broken arm ... we realized then that the first time was no accident.

We were galvanised into action. We gathered them and locked them indoors permanently, and took away their free-roaming days ... it was heart-breaking to see them suffering cabin-fever, looking longingly at the outdoors. We decided we had to get a place with a garden where they can roam safely...and that's how we ended up in our present place about 15 years ago.

The hind leg healed well, but you could feel the bone protruding a little when you stroke him. The arm healed a little out-of-alignment, but it didn't restrict his movements.

Dee's two same-litter brothers, taken at the same age ...


Update 22nd August 2012, 1:20pm : Dee died moments ago, peacefully and at home. I held his hand and supported his head as he gasped his last breaths. He had lost so much weight in the past months, from old-age kidney problems. He was almost 17 years old. Rest In Peace, Dee.