A Cat Story From Mumbai in India

by Rudolph. A. Furtado
(Mumbai)

Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats

Since 1976, when I owned my first dog, a Spitz named "Blondie", I have been a regular visitor to the "Veterinarian", in Mumbai city.

Since 1976, the number of Veterinary clinics have increased tremendously as has the economic income of the average working class and very wealthy Indians.

My present veterinarian Dr Shivani Tandel of Phoenix Veterinary Specialty clinic is an "avian and exotic specialist" with owners of exotic birds seeking her suggestions and treatment for their very expensive pets.

Mumbai's economic progress can be gauged by the rise in pet ownership, and pets are seen as status symbols akin to a fancy car or a costly apartment.

In 1976, when I used to visit the Bai Sakarbai Animal Hospital, Mumbai's largest animal hospital, exotic birds or dogs or cats were a rarity. In 2011, for the first time in my life I saw a beautiful macaw parrot at Dr Shivani Tandel's clinic when I had gone to seek treatment for cat Matahati's mouth ulcer, later cured.

In the clinic I noticed an ordinary cat with a harness, a stray rescued cat, and hence requested permission to write an article on it.

I have copied the article written on this cat by the writer of WIR Mumbai, a local animal welfare organisation that helps in rescuing animals and birds in the city.

Here is the story of "MOUSEEKA":- "A stray cat had badly injured itself as it had tried to gain entry into a lift shaft to access her kitten which she had littered.

The working lift came completely on her back, breaking her spinal chord thus paralyzing her waist down. The cat was brought in for treatment which needed special medical attention and care.

After painstaking efforts by the veterinarian and their team with multiple X-rays and medication the cat that lay lying on the ground for nearly two months showed immense spirit to live.

Her courage to fight back and survive kept the spirits of our team and staff high. After several months of treatment and love this adorable cat has become a member of Phoenix Veterinary Specialty family and it lives with them.

Today with specially made wheels the cat, "MOUSEKAA" rules the clinic and brings joy to all the creatures that come in distress for treatment.

MOUSEKAA with her wheels now has the freedom to roam around and do her things in the clinic. She greets all the patients with her loving meoooow and makes every owner fall in love with her with the sparkle in her eyes.

She has shown immense determination to survive when she was frail and bed ridden for two months. An excellent example to state that if given a chance these animals fight back with immense spirits."

P.S. - The photograph is my own taken in the clinic on Wednesday (20-7-2011) as is also the introduction to the topic.

The Harness wheels attached to assist Mousekaa in walking is imported from either U.S.A or Europe and costs approx $330 (USD or Rs 15000, a huge sum of money.

Phoenix Veterinary Specialty Clinic symbolizes the modern India's growth in pet care and pet welfare with the local pet industry becoming a booming business.

In 1976, the term "dog walkers" did not exist in the city, but, today in 2011 there are numerous professional dog walkers in my own locality, let alone Mumbai city!

Sadly, unlike dogs, the cat enthusiasts have never formed a organization to conduct cat shows and cat ownership is strictly a private pet hobby.

By the way cat declawing is non-existent in India to the present day.

Rudolph

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A Cat Story From Mumbai in India

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Jul 25, 2011 happy cat
by: Kathy W

Im so glad this poor cat was given a second chance at life. It just proves there ared still people in this world with loving hearts where our fellow creatures arew concerned. Over here that cat definitly would have been destroyed and no one would have tried to save her. I guess I shouldnt say no one but most vet clinics would not have made the effort. Most vet clinics here are all about money. A recent ad I got for a new vet opening was giving a discount on declawing.


Jul 22, 2011 Thank you
by: Shiwani Tandel

Dear Mr Furtado,
Thanks so much for writing about my Mousekaa.
Love her to bits.
Cheers
Shiwani


Jul 22, 2011 Mousekaa
by: Ruth

A very touching story which shows what great courage cats have and how they adapt to whatever fate throws at them.
It's very sad that Mousekaa can't do the things that bring cats pleasure any more such as stretching her back legs, running freely, jumping etc but she has settled for the life she has and brings hope to clients with disabled animals that they can still have quality of life.
I'm so glad declawing is non existent there.
What a difference people paying a vet happy to deliberately disable their cat for them in the USA and Canada to that vets clinic going all out to help this cat disabled by accident.
I have never been to India but my late dad was there in the 1940s as a soldier and he often spoke of your country Rudolph.

Kattaddorra signature Ruth


Jul 21, 2011 Hi Rudolph
by: Michael

Nice to hear from you and I loved your story of a brave rescue cat who has become so loved and treasured in a Mumbai clinic.

Your story tells me a lot about the domestic cat in India. I want to know about the domestic cat in India because India is a growing and changing country, becoming ever more strong economically, while the West (Europe and the USA) are becoming weaker and messed up.

Europe and the USA have lived beyond their means and on credit for decades and the time to stop has come. It is going to traumatic for people when and therefore the domestic cat when it all goes wrong.

The future for the domestic cat in India is important because more and more people will keep domestic cats and purebred cats I think.

And the rich will want to keep the exotic wildcat hybrids such as MAGIC.

Thanks for taking the time to write another interesting article from far away India.

You may remember that I have been to India. I traveled by road through the centre of India. I like the country.

Michael Avatar


4 thoughts on “A Cat Story From Mumbai in India”

  1. Sad to inform of the demise of “Mouseka” in April 2016.A obituary was posted by her owner Veterinarian Dr Shiwani.Tandel on “FB” and hence i came to know about the same. Lived a long life since i last photographed “Mouseka” in 2011.

    Reply
  2. Since you wrote this story, have you come across any vets that do declawing? We have an indoor cat that will never have to defend itself. It is, however, killing our furniture. Our regular vet, Happy Tails, doesn’t have the ability to declaw.

    Reply
    • Hi, where do you live? If you live in America, 99.9% of the vets declaw cats. In the UK no one does it and the same will go for almost every other country in the world except for Canada. If you live in India then I would doubt that any veterinarian declaws cats, which I applaud. Please do not de-claw your cat under any circumstances whatsoever. If your cat is scratching your furniture then buy a few large, heavy scratching posts (you can get them on Amazon) and with patience train your cat to use a scratching post. In addition, with more patience you can train yourself to trim your cat’s claws. Or you might try the stick on claw covers. Or you might change your furniture to a type that cats do not like to scratch as much. There are many alternatives to removing the claws of your cat.

      Reply

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