Our handsome Stamford. May he Rest In Peace. xxoo
Stamford, our pet of 10 years, has passed away. We’ve lost something special with the passing of our handsome boy… and it’s left a void.
Around 11am yesterday I got a call from the SPCA (Singapore’s equivalent to the RSPCA). They found a cat on Sunday 7th April. I had made a report of a missing cat on the SPCA website but I had dated it as missing on 11th April. Did I get the date mixed up? They had record of a black male – dying with spinal injuries directly in front of our address. The injuries were so bad they had to put him down. The cat in question had a microchip number and they needed me to call back with it. Stamford’s vet gave me the microchip number to confirm, and I called back and they said that that number matched the one that was on the cat they euthanised.
This ad on 9th April was 2 days before the cat sitter reported him missing. He was found on 7th April.
Rick our cat sitter (from Pet Mobile) didn’t notice (or report to us) that he was missing until 11th – 4 days after he was picked up by the SPCA.
Apparently our neighbours saw him under the cars in the basement carpark, but didn’t notify us as we hadn’t known he was missing. Also the SPCA apparently ran an ad in the newspaper asking the owner to come forward. We didn’t know he was missing so no one kept an eye out in the papers.
I’m so mad at the sitter right now. I’m just devastated as the whole situation could have been avoided if he just told us and reported him missing.
Update: The sitter finally called us yesterday (21st April). I just couldn’t talk to him without getting emotional, and that wasn’t going to help right now. DH spoke to him, and he claimed that he visited our place on 6th and a member of staff visited on 8th. He claims that they didn’t check for Stamford as he was probably hiding and he had instructed staff not to look in cupboards. He knew that Tiga hid in cupboards and said as much on the phone. Stamford used to hide under the bed, but he just didn’t check.
We have networked cameras in our place, and I checked the logs. Looks like the same guy (Rick) both times to me (see below). He’s lying about who visited to cover his arse, but I guess it doesn’t matter as Stamford’s dead in any case. 
Network Camera – 6th April visit
Network Camera – 8th April visit
If the sitter had identified he was missing sooner, at the very least when Stamford was in so much pain, I … or Ramesh … or Ray’s sister … or someone could have been there in his final moments so he wasn’t alone.
I had nightmares about it last night… Tiga and Buster take turns comforting me, which is very sweet.
I have some consolation in that he came and found me the night before we left Australia. I wrote this on the plane on the way home:
“The thing I am mentioning last is the reason I opened this journal again – Stammy. I am heading home to find him, and hope that I do - alive. It was so weird last night, and fuels my concerns that he has passed on. Firstly I was on the toilet and out of the corner of my eye I saw a black head look at me from our bedroom. When I turned my head to look directly at him, he was gone. Then, as I was reading myself to sleep, there was a rustle and a pressure on the bed. It felt like him when he comes to get his nightly pat and curl up against my leg. Again, when I lifted my head to look up, the rustling stopped and the pressure was gone. I know I believe in spirits – ghosts if you will - and I think that perhaps he was saying goodbye. Stam and I are connected in a way that is somewhat unbelievable. Even when Ray tries to explain the connection to others he stumbles a bit over it, and I start looking like a crazy cat lady. But there is something there with that cat that is beyond a normal pet bond… Beyond what I have with Buster (who is so very loyal) and Tiga (who is our adorable little girl). Reading back on this, if anyone were to read this I’d probably be certified as crazy, but Stamford is special.”
After this email I’m trying not to talk about it too much more, although I’ll probably have to rehash it again tonight with Ray’s parents. I’ll cry, and I’m tired of crying… but I lost something special in that cat… and it’s left a void.
I’m not angry at the SPCA at all – I don’t think Stammy could have gone through another injury… and as the vet had told me once, he was a ‘jumper’ who was inclined to injure himself. He was a wandering spirit who had my number, and I’ll miss him.
Thanks for the texts and support. I just need to stop crying for a while.
This is the first post from the first few months we had him – back in the first few days of January, 2004. He was likely born in early November or late October 2003. Damn I’m going to miss him.
I feed my cats kibbles and tinned food, however Stamford was always particularly partial to the tinned food, and it had become a habit that around 5-6pm most evenings he would come looking for me to nag me with his low, mellow meow that it was time for dinner. If I put dry kibbles in the bowl instead, I would be bestowed a disdainful look that communicated how disappointed he was with me, and that I’d better open that tin quick smart! This routine became so much a part of the day, that I used to call ‘Stamford!’ when ever it was time for eating tinned food – if I beat him to it, or had to go out – and all three of them would come running.
