Dina had an operation

I came home from my Australian Outback 4x4 trip on  Friday 25 October. It was an exhausting trip, the most exciting part being the one week 1200+ km dune driving from Kulgera to Birdsville. It was... 

Whoa, this posting is not going to be about that trip. You can read all about it in my other blog Datomus Travel.

This posting is about the surprise that awaited me when I arrived home that Friday morning. I was told that Dina had an operation to remove both her ears because the cancer on one ear had spread to the other ear. Dina was no where around because I think she was feeling self conscious. Usually she would be there to greet me in her proud but manja way; but not this time. It was only late in the evening when I was leaving for Mama’s house that she made a silent appearance.
Upon seeing her I thought she looked a fright. And she kept her distance knowing that my reactions upon seeing her "new" look was rather unusual.  Of course I reconciled myself soon enough and accepted the fact that the operation was the best thing for her.  At least she is not an invalid with amputated arms or legs or anything like that.  And our love for her has not diminished. Really.

Dina is our cat.

Dina has been with us since 2004 when Becky, Zaki's Alice Smith schoolmate, had to uproot herself and didn't want Dina to go to SPCA. Dina have been spoilt by Becky's father quite a bit; and Becky thought we would be just right to take over. Dina was five years old then. Oh yes, Mek loved her and spoilt her further with extremely frequent brushings of her fur, monthly bath, shampoo, medical checks and healthy cat foods. 

Sure enough she took to living in a house with a garden being a lot more pleasant than the apartment she was used to. So she established her territory quite quickly and would survey her "realm" from the upstairs balcony every so often. The neighbourhood tomcats would also come a- calling quite often and on these visits there would be fierce fights. Being neutered she was not interested in procreation and fended off any attempts by the amorous tomcats that came around. After these fights she would suffer some scratches. I think it must have been on one of these fights that her ears got infected. In spite of medication, it got worse because of Dina's dislike to wearing the funnel collar that could have saved her from scratching her ears. How it became cancerous, I don't know. Suffice to say that this was the result of the biopsy tests of samples of her infection that was sent to Canada for analysis. So the Vet had to operate on her ears. All that cost Mek about RM 5,000.  

Afternote:  Since the operation, she had to go back and forth to the Vet hospital. Her condition deteriorated and finally Mek agreed for Dina to be put to sleep.