Welcoming Kashew, the Pomeranian

Dear Diary,

My friends are welcoming their new family member and i am so excited for them! I was so excited to help whenever i can and i was being appointed to be their furkid's godmum! *wow!* its like having another furkid that is not staying with me. *haha* He was less than 2 months old and had to stay in the centre till he have his 2rd vaccination. So we had to wait patiently until he can go home.

This is Kashew! 

We met up with friends for dinner and helped them get prepared for the arrival of their puppy. I was glad they asked questions to understand how to be prepared in taking care of the young pup. There were different opinions all over, however there is really no right or wrong methods in taking care of furkids. We grow to learn and accommodate according to our furkids needs. Personally, as long as they are healthy, happy and they love you, you are doing great! My style may differ from other owners as to how they care for their furkids since young but I will not comment on who is wrong or right. Everyone has their own comfort level and point of views thus I will just advise to my best knowledge. After all, no one is perfect and life is a learning journey.

Anyway, finally when Kashew was able to go home on the 28/11/2015. I wasn't there to fetch him as BB and I have to go for 2 therapy services (will blog about that soon). but i was supposed to bring them to sun petgamart the next day to get their puppy supplies. Sun petgamart is known to have a lot of stuffs sold at wholesale prices! If you are a member, there is also additional 20% off selected items. On top of that, they even have a dog pool! Members can bring their dogsThe in to swim for free on Saturday and Sunday. I always go there to stock up bb and clover's supplies. Pee pad, Primal, Treats, shampoo etc are some of the items i usually buy.

The next day, i received a message that Kashew is not feeling well. he seems to be sneezing all the time. and they thought of bringing him back to the pet store for them to check on him, as per advised by another friend. i went down to their house to offer to fetch them over. but when i saw Kashew, i recommended that they bring him to the vet as the pet store people are not doctors and they are only sales person. They might not know what is the cause or what is he suffering from. I brought them to the nearest vet, Amber Vet. Previously i blogged about this vet, i brought clover to have her Vaccination tiler test. I love the vets here as they are patient and detailed.

Kashew at home! Picture sent from his mum.

When we reached Amber vets, the doctor did a full check on Kashew and diagnosed that he is suffering from Kennel cough. Kennel cough is a contagious virus and needs to be cured. if not it will cause pneumonia if left untreated.  After all the test, Kashew is also diagnosed to have ear mites! After knowing all these that happened to Kashew, we were upset about the hygiene conditions in the pet store. Both Kennel cough and ear mites are contagious. Lucky, bb and clover are on Bravecto, an anti-mites/fleas/ticks prevention oral medication. so ear mites will not affect them. i will observe closely and hopefully they will not contact the Kennel cough. They didn't go close to Kashew as he hasn't got his 3rd vaccination, afraid that kashew might catch any bacterial from the outside. The doctor gave Kashew some medications and hopefully Kashew can recover.

After all that has settled down, we went to Sun Petgamart. We were so lucky as the mart was having a lot a lot of sales! most of the items were "buy 2 free 1"! i got carried away and started to "spam" on the items. Anyway, its good to stock up! there were so many people there! i guess they were also buying to stock up because of the offer.

My friends decided to go back to the pet store to inform them about the virus that Kashew had contacted and wanted to see if they can claim the vet bills since they paid the 14 day insurance from the pet store. Hopefully the pet store is responsible enough and account for all that happened. Kashew had kennel cough and ear mites, Im sure there are other pups in their store had also contacted this virus since it is contagious. Hopefully they will check thru all other pups before selling them to other customers. If not, the ones who suffer are those poor furkids. Not all owners will be responsible enough to go thru all the hassle after knowing they are sick. Most of them will rather return the puppy back to the shop and ask for a refund. To those who did that, may think it is nothing. But by doing this action, they are hurting the puppy very badly. who says they have no feelings? they do! they know that they are unwanted but they wouldn't know why! Once you bought/adopt the furkid, he/she is your responsibility for life. Whether he/she is sick or too hard to train, its your responsibility. My Clover was a refunded puppy back in the past and i know what she had been thru was traumatizing for her to go thru all that. I am proud of my friends that they took up the responsibility and was determined to stay with Kashew even though he was sick.

I am also determined to help them if needed. since i am appointed his godma, i will do my best too! well, Daddy bumver will be home soon to know he had a new godson. hopefully after all these commotion, Kashew will be able to grow up healthy and a cheerful boy, knowing so many people love him even though its just his first day home. He has a good and gentle sister (BB) and a fierce and fiesty sister(clover) that will teach him all he needs to know. *haha!*

Get well soon Kashew! i want to play with you soon! I hope you will not hate me for feeding you your first medicine. *haha*

love,

Bumver mummy.

Bumbie's birthday celebration

Dear Diary,

Bumbie turned 4 on the 22nd November 2015! I arranged 2 days worth of celebrations for her. It was a busy weekend preparing her stuffs and pray real hard that it doesn't rain.

On the eve of her birthday, I brought her to Tanjong Beach to have some fun! she loves the sand and the sea. i thought of celebrating her birthday outdoors as she is happier outdoors. Bumbie and Clover hate being in cafes. Not sure why, maybe they don't like to be confined. Anyway, here are the pictures!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BUMBIE!

The setting

All her friends who came

+ one more friend. haha!

Happily chasing and playing with each other.

Woops... 

The sisters are trying to swim on their own!

Keep rolling rolling rolling~

Chasing the sun!!

See how happy she is. She really loves the outdoors and the sun! I am considering to buy the Sentosa Islander pass so that i can bring them here often!

On the actual day, we celebrated at Changi Beach Park. I wanted to bring her to see aeroplanes on her birthday. It was an interesting place. There are many families having BBQ and all kinds of activities there. here are the photos!

Look at the aeroplane!

Happy bb!

Happy clover!

Here comes minnie and mikey!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BB!

These are their friends!

Wish my bb girl, good health and be happy and sweet always. You are my life and hope we can grow old together. 

Thank you for being in my life.

love,

Bumver mummy

Bumbie's 4th birthday, The Preparations

Dear Diary,

Its BB's 4th Birthday!

I spent lots of time preparing for this occasion. There were a few hiccups along the way as i couldn't find the correct cake pan size for the cake. My imaginary cake is ruined. However, I tried to make do with what I already have. I also tried to look for a cake stand to serve the cake, but I also couldn't find the perfect cake stand. When I did, it was out of stock. What luck... I had to find alternatives to make sure that things still goes according to how I planned. I wanted the best presentation so that BB will look good in the photos. In the end I went to Diaso and got some stuffs and DIY-ed my own.

Now, the cake. The cake pan that I have was too small. I decided to make it a layered cake. BB loves lamb and so the cake is lamb based. I added so many BB's favorite ingredients. I added Carrot, Spinach and rosemary. I had to bake 2 cakes as we are having 2 days worth of celebration. It was a lot of effort and time consuming. But I felt satisfied, mission accomplished. I had to start preparing 2 days before the celebration. This is how my cakes look like!

Cake #1

Cake #2

inside the cake:

Next, the goodie bags.
I wanted everything to be natural and home baked. So i tried my best to use all my home appliances.
I baked Peanut Butter Cinnamon cookies! Peanut butter never goes wrong. But have to be wary on the amount given as it is high in fats. Well, once in a while pampering is good!
Then, i made my dehydrator work! I dehydrated Salmon and lean pork. I had to do a lot of research on that as I never dehydrate salmon and pork before. I on-ed my dehydrated to it's maximum temperature and let it dehydrate for at least 12 hours as pork needs to be real dried. Pork is a very sensitive meat to bacteria. So best to ensure that it is very dry and good.
Look at how crispy!

Lean Pork

Salmon

Overall, it was a success and all the other furkids enjoyed the food that I prepared.
Early August, I also prepared Clover's birthday cake. during that time, I wasn't really good at baking the cake. But the cake still manage to look presentable. Well, I will get better and better at this every year. I will bake for every of their birthdays!

I'm a happy and satisfied mama!

Love,
Mummy Bumver

Vaccine Tiler Test @ Amber Vet

Dear Diary,

Today, I brought Clover for a vaccine test. I read a lot of bad things about over vaccinating our furkids and therefore became paranoid. There were reports that mentioned, over vaccine will cause allergic reactions and may even cause death.

What triggered me to have more checks about vaccination? Well, earlier this year, BB had her annual vaccination as usual. She had a very bad reaction this time. She suffered from breathlessness for at least 2 days which was very unusual. Usually when she had her annual vaccination, she will only have fever for a day. I called the vet and the doctor said it was normal. But she was back to her usual self again on the third day. I m a very paranoid fur parent. I have a friend, her furkid had an allergic reaction, same as BB, heavy breathing. But she almost lost her life and now she has permanent breathing issue due the the allergic reaction of the vaccination. I was afraid this might happen to any one of my girls.

I read online, that vaccination for smaller dogs are usually not necessary every year as the vaccine will usually stay in their bodies for more than a year. Most vets will not dare to commit that the furkid doesn't need vaccination for that year as they do not want to be responsible for any backlash. Many people believe that vaccination is not good, whereas others also feels that vaccination annually is a must. There are indefinite answers from vets and different opinion from fur-parents.

Sometime back, there was a vet who told me about this vaccine test. She mentioned that she is not sure which vet does this service but if i wanted to, i can go and find out for more information. And this vet also believes that vaccination for small dogs is not really necessary every year but she doesn't want to commit and mentioned that it was my choice. I  went to do research on the test and I saw my friend did the test on their Chihuahuas at Amber vet. I wanted to try my luck to check on other vets if they provide this service. I called a few other vets and they do not know any of this service. So i assume that only Amber Vet has this service in Singapore.

I made an appointment with Amber Vets for this vaccine test. They will draw a small amount of blood for the test and will have to wait for about half an hour for the results.

The doctor there was really friendly and i can see her passion for every furkid. Dr Jessica was really gentle. The environment was not as stressful as compared to other vets.

BB happily strolling around the place

BB can even doze off while waiting for the test results!

Clover was anxiously waiting for her turn.

The staff there was also very lovable and the environment was really nice. Clover is much more relaxed as well. 

The results came out and it seems that Clover does not need to vaccine for this year! I was so glad that I made this choice to come for this test. If not, Clover will be over vaccinated if i chose to just go ahead with her yearly vaccination. I rather spend this extra cost for assurance and not risk to get any allergic reaction due to over vaccination. 

This is the result. Dr Jessica said Clover is good till next November!

Vaccination has been a headache to some owners who believe that it might be bad in some way or another. For a peace of mind, you may choose to bring your furkids for this Vaccine Titer Test. It will cost about 50 plus bucks excluding consultation. I am glad that i made this choice and i am going to follow this path for the good years to come for my furkids. 

Amber Vet
Address: 50 Burnfoot Terrace, 459837

There are no parking space there. But you can park at the Siglap Centre just right beside only.

Disclaimer: It's up to you to decide if you want to follow your vet's advice. 

Have a great Sunday!

Love,
Mummy Bumver

Lower Seletar Reservoir

Dear Diary,

Today, i had a solo date with the girls. We conquered Lower Seletar Reservoir on our Saturday morning. We woke up at about 8.30am to start our day early as i was afraid that it might rain in the afternoon. Every weekend is quality time with my furkids. its important to bring my girls out every weekend to ensure they enjoy as well.

We reached there at about 10am and surprisingly, the car park was full! Lucky, there was still 1 parking lot left for me. *lucky~* I took my camera and get prepared for some good shots. The park is quite small, but refreshing. The smell of the reservoir and the morning breeze. There are quite a handful of families also started their Saturday early in the park.

We walked on and on and we greeted some people with smiles. What a great way to start my weekend! We also saw school students having their canoeing lessons there. 

i name this picture: Colours of the Reservoir

haha! that was just some random shot and some random name i came up with.

There are 2 jetties in the park. The newer jetty is very beautiful and i heard most people choose there as their wedding photo shoot destination.

this is the new jetty.

We walked all the way till the other end of the park and saw the older jetty where some people do their fishing there. Not sure if they are allowed to fish there though. 

On the old jetty

It seems that this corner of the park have lesser people around so i gave my girls the opportunity to run around off leash. I was keeping a very close watch to make sure no one pass by. if i see someone approaching, i will hold them up first. i m very particular of being a responsible owner. :) 

if you realise that in all these pictures, Clover is always looking at BB.That's because i always remind Clover to follow her sister and i train them to always stick together as 1. 

As we carry on walking, it time to make our way back home. We passed by this mini Water Park where most children will dress in their swimming costume and play. We passed by there to take a few pictures.

watching the kids play and not paying attention to my camera. haha!

Overall it was a very enjoyable walk and we will come back again. The afternoon sun was coming up and we had to make our way home to cool off from the sun.

Lower Seletar Reservoir

Address: Bounded by Yishun Ave 1 and Lentor Avenue Singapore 769130

Carpark: Free!! *i think, i don't see any sign boards and no one pluck coupons so i guess its free?*

You can check the Nparks website for the exact location. :)

Thank you for reading!

Have a great weekend!

Love, 

Bumver Mummy

Sweet Potato Cookie Recipie

Dear Diary,

I baked sweet potato cookies today! Clover had a very bad diarrhea the other day and i thought of preparing some fibre food. I added sweet potato or pumpkin in her meals. I thought adding in some fun! Cookies are the best treat and it is healthy too!

I took more pictures this time for the ingredients. Have fun collecting the recipe for this awesome cookie!

I use 2 Sweet potatoes for these cookies.
Steam the sweet potatoes for at least 30 min till soft. i steamed it with the skin so that peeling off is easier after cooked. Make sure to wash the potatoes clean.

2 fresh sweet purple potatoes!

Next, wait for it to cool, then peel off the skin. Mash the cooked potatoes in a big big mixing bowl. *im just exaggerating on the "big big bowl" lol* 

Mash mash mash!

Then add in 1/2 cup of brown rice flour~

I only use brown rice flour for my girls as it is the healthiest choice. 

Add in 1 large egg~

drizzle of honey~

Handful of shredded cheese~ *optional*

Drizzle of water. not too much as u want it to be a dough.

Healthy serving of chia seeds *optional*

Mix mix mix~! if the texture feels that its a little too wet, add in more flour to stiffen up the dough.

Perfect dough!

Put the dough into a bowl and wrap it. Leave it in the fridge for 1/2 hour.

Choose your favourite cookie cutter!

Once the dough is ready, take the dough out from the fridge. feel the texture of the dough. if it is still moist, add in more flour. Don't worry, just add in more till perfect, non sticky dough.

Roll out the dough. i usually rollout till 5mm thickness? its just an estimation. 

Lay them out! aren't they cute?! :)

Introducing, my toaster oven. I love it and it definitely cooked and baked good food for me.

As you can see from the picture, i set it at 200 degrees and an estimated timing. once they are golden brown, they are ready to be out from the oven! so keep a close look at your cookies and make sure they don't get burnt!

And Voila~ the final product~ Yummy Sweet potato cookies!

The girls definitely enjoyed the cookies and that's satisfaction for me! I really enjoy watching them enjoying the food i prepared. Made me feel so appreciated. 

Hope you enjoy my recipe and happy baking!

Love,

Bumver Mummy