Goodbye Miki

It was a tough night yesterday. I was sad and I slept very late. You'll see why.

At 10.29pm, I received a call from Uncle Y. When the call was connected, he didn't speak till a couple of seconds later. He said in his breaking voice, "Celeste...Miki died.".

I was absolutely stunned. I didn't know how to react for a while. "Where are you Uncle?" I asked with tears welling up already. I rushed to meet him at my void deck.


Miki's still warm but lifeless body

When I got there in a fluster, Uncle Y, M, Z (M's youngest sis) and M's dad were all there, surrounding Miki's body which was lovingly wrapped in a white towel. All of their eyes were wet with tears, esp M and Z, evident of crying just before I arrived. I cried.


Wrapped in love

These were the facts I gathered and shared with Dr. H (whom we called immediately):

1. A neighbour upstairs heard a loud cat cry.
2. Half an hour before, M's dad still saw Miki well and alive.
3. A puddle of what seemed to be urine was spread around Miki's rear.
4. Miki's eyes and mouth were opened when he was found but already lifeless.
5. The only visible wound was something that looked like an abrasion on his thigh.
6. There were no blood.
7. There didn't seemed to be any signs of abuse.
8. He was found at the pavement behind our blk near the road.
9. There was no tyre mark. Even if there was, we can't really tell since Miki was a dark tabby grey boy.
10. 2 primary school boys were cycling at the void deck of 898, which is the blk behind ours. They cycle regularly at the void deck. M's dad has seen them scare the cats before and have scolded them.


The puddle next to Miki


The abrasion

These were what we tried to do to resuscitate Miki:

1. To keep Miki warm.
2. To try to hear if there was any breathing.
3. To put my ear to Miki's nose to feel if there was breath.
4. Tried to see if the chest was rising and falling.
5. To feel for any pulsation by feeling in the armpits on Dr. H's instruction.
6. Tried chest compression on Dr. H's instruction.
7. To do a jaw test on Dr. H's instruction.

After trying our utmost to resuscitate him, we concluded with heavy hearts we've lost Miki.

We brought Miki back to 898 to say goodbye to his buddies, OJ and Mi.




Goodbye my friends


OJ: "Bye Miki"

M brought Miki home to say goodbye to her mum too. I understand her mum cried badly. M's family loved Miki dearly. They had wanted to keep Miki but Miki doesn't want to stay in and prefers the outdoor. Perhaps his buddies were all there.


Miki with his best friends, Mi and OJ

Our initial guess was that Miki may have been run over by the bicycles but after thinking though and discussing with Dr. H, it is not very likely because impact from bicycle injuries should not result in death so quickly. We think Miki died within 10 mins or under. We think it is most likely from a motor vehicle impact while Miki was trying to dash across the road. Upon the knock, he could only manage a few more steps (to the pavement) before he collapsed. He could be running away in fright from the bicycle boys or from other cats or simply from just trying to cross the road.

M's dad found 2 shovels at a construction site so we could bury Miki.





The unexpected twist was, someone saw us digging from a distance and called the police, thinking something suspicious was going on. We returned to the burial ground when we saw the police and explained what transpired. However, they said they will still need to excavate and retrieve the carcass for confirmation and to evaluate to see if there were any elements of abuse. M's dad was naturally upset that Miki couldn't even rest in peace. He told the 2 persons (1 malay lady and her teenage son) they could have just came over and checked what was happening before involving the police (we were not in a very dark corner). It turned out that M's family kind of know the lady (she stays near our blk). I could see the lady was rather apologetic. The police asked M's dad not to blame them as they weren't aware what was going on (just in case we were burying human corpse or planting bombs!). I could understand both sides but it was just so unfortunate this had to happened.


The police

A (M's 2nd sis) rushed over once she arrived at our bus stop and started crying when she saw Miki's body (after excavation). Emotionally charged up again, I started crying and the police woman officer comforted us.


Miki's excavated remains

We were told Miki's carcass will be eventually sent to AVA for proper disposal. I also furnished Dr. H's contact in case they want verification we were trying to save Miki and not kill him (Duh).

Miki was sent his final journey with lots of love - all of us were with him. He was a happy boy with lots of friends.

Though Miki could not be buried near us, he will be buried deep in all our hearts and be fondly remembered.

Till we meet again, goodbye Miki.


Miki - 15 May 07 (last pic of him alive)