My four-legged friends

Selamat Jalan Kawan-kawan...

Mimin, Ucrit, Mumun, Kamun, Memet, Boy, Ipin, Unyil, Cuplis, Cimot, Emon, Pepeng, Caplin, Kecil dan mungkin juga Mak Unying....

Mereka hanya kucing-kucing kampung yang terbuang dan kebetulan mampir di kehidupan saya kira-kira setahun terakhir ini. Setiap hari mereka bikin ribut, kotor, dan jengkel tetapi merekalah yang menghibur saya di pagi hari ketika saya belum berangkat kerja dan sendirian dirumah. Mereka pulalah yang menghalau binatang-binatang liar semacam ular dan tikus dari pekarangan rumah kontrakan saya. Beberapa dari mereka tidak sengaja saya temukan di pinggir sawah karena dibuang pemiliknya, ada pula yang tiba-tiba datang sendiri dan ikut makan tidur di rumah. Saya tidak berniat memelihara mereka semua tetapi karena saya pikir mereka akan makan apa dan dimana mereka akan tidur dan berlindung, maka saya buka pintu rumah kontrakan saya untuk mereka. Super duper repot melayani 15 ekor kucing yang semuanya suka makan, manja-manja, dan berisik. Tapi merekalah teman saya.

Sampai suatu siang, seekor kucing liar mampir di pekarangan dan secara tidak sengaja masuk kedalam rumah tanpa sepengatahuan saya. Satu malam ia berada di dalam rumah dan ternyata dalam keadaan sakit. Belum genap dua mampir, hari kucing itu mati mendadak. Saya pikir biasa saja, mungkin luka dalam karena tertabrak motor. Tetap setelah itu, kira-kira satu dua hari setelah kucing asing itu mati, satu persatu kucing-kucing saya sakit. Gejalanya muntah-muntah, tidak mau makan, minum terus, dan tidur-tiduran di tempat lembab karena badannya panas. Dan sejak itulah satu persatu mereka mati mengenaskan, bahkan saya menyaksikan beberapa mengembuskan nafas terakhirnya didepan saya. 11 ekor mati begitu saja dalam waktu kurang dari satu minggu. Saya pikir karena ikan yang saya beli untuk mereka mengandung pengawet yang beracun, tetapi ternyata bukan. Kalau mereka keracunan pastilah mereka akan mati dalam waktu yang bersamaan. Kemudian saya teringat kucing asing yang mati beberapa hari lalu. Mungkinkah ia penyebabnya? Hanya Sang Pencipta para kucing itulah yang tahu. Dan mengapa harus sebanyak itu yang harus mati? Hanya Alloh yang tahu. Dan mengapa mereka harus tinggal bersama saya juga hanya Alloh yang tahu.

Lalu saya coba mencari tahu apa sebenarnya yang terjadi pada mereka. Tibalah saya pada satu kata, Panleukopenia. Kata yang asing bagi saya tetapi inilah kunci dari kematian kucing-kucing saya. Sebuah penyakit menular yang disebabkan virus dengan masa penularan yang sangat cepat dan efek yang sangat mematikan.

Berikut adalah petikan informasi dari http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/57100.htm

Feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) is closely related to mink enteritis virus and the type 2 canine parvoviruses (CPV-2, CPV-2a, CPV-2b). FPV can cause disease in all Felids and some members of related families (eg, raccoon, mink, and coatimundi), but it does not harm Canids. Conversely, CPV-2a and CPV-2b have recently been shown to cause a panleukopenia-like illness in domestic cats and large Felids. In a study of German and American cats with a clinical diagnosis of panleukopenia, CPV-2a or CPV-2b, rather than FPV, was isolated from ~10% of cases. In a Vietnamese study, 80% of parvoviruses isolated from healthy cats were canine rather than feline.

 

Virus particles are abundant in all secretions and excretions during the acute phase of illness and can be shed in the feces of survivors for up to 6 wk after recovery. Parvoviruses are extremely resistant to inactivation; they can survive >1 yr in a suitable environment and can be transported long distances via fomites (eg, shoes, clothing). However, parvoviruses are destroyed by exposure to a 6% solution of household bleach (aqueous sodium hypochlorite) for 10 min at room temperature. Peroxygen disinfectants are also highly effective.

 

Cats are infected oronasally by exposure to infected animals, their secretions, or fomites. Most free-roaming cats are exposed to the virus during their first year of life. Those that develop subclinical infection or survive acute illness mount a robust, long-lasting, protective immune response.

 

FPV infects and destroys actively dividing cells in bone marrow, lymphoid tissues, intestinal epithelium, and—in very young animals—cerebellum and retina. In pregnant queens, the virus may spread transplacentally to cause embryonic resorption, fetal mummification, abortion, or stillbirth. Alternatively, infection of kittens in the perinatal period may destroy the germinal epithelium of the cerebellum, leading to cerebellar hypoplasia, incoordination, and tremor. FPV-induced cerebellar ataxia has become a relatively rare diagnosis, because most queens passively transfer sufficient antibodies to their kittens to protect them during the period of susceptibility.   Singkatnya, Panleukopenia disebabkan oleh virus mematikan yang menyerang keluarga kucing. Penularannya bisa melalui apa saja; cairan tubuh, berbagi tempat makan minum, kutu, bahkan sentuhan. Virus ini menyerang hampir semua organ penting, sumsum tulang, jaringan limpa, epitel usus. Tak heran hanya dalam hitungan jam, begitu gejala terlihat nyawa mereka sudah tidak tertolong lagi.   Tak ada lagi Cuplis yang menyambut saya pulang kantor dan membonceng di jok sepeda motor. Tak ada lagi Emon dan Cimot yang suka membuntuti saya kemana-mana. Selamat jalan Kawan-kawan.... Maaf saya tidak bisa menyelamatkan kalian semua. Sampai jumpa di sana.

No Action Talk Talk Talk Only

Have you ever happened to see a late nite commercials on TV from one of cigarette brands? A man was talking on an intercom to call a security officer because the gate was closed. At the same time, nobody was at the post. As a result, there was a long line of vehicles in front of the gate waiting for it to open. Out of the blue, another man at the very back line decided to get out of his car, rode his folding bike, and maneuvered amidst the traffic jam. He could then pass the long queue and open the gate. The long line disappeared as the gate opened. However, the first man kept on talking on the intercom without doing anything. In fact, he was the only man left there. Unfortunately, he is around us, or perhaps there is him in ourselves. No action, talk, talk, talk only.

First thing that comes into my mind when watching that commercial is that how spoiled and dependent we are. We tend to be reluctant in doing simple thing when we have been in certain position. Take the man in the commercial for example. He was a young executive so opening the gate is a low-level activity for him. How about us? Arriving at home, we often just stay in the car and and call the maid to open the gate for us. In fact, getting off the car, walking a few meters, and unlocking the gate are not time and energy consuming though. It really shows how lazy we are. We are so spoiled that we are unable to solve a simple problem independently.

God doesn't try to joke by giving us a set of brain that consists of 2 parts (right and left), 2 eyes, 2 ears, 2 arms, 2 legs and 1 mouth for some reasons. We are supposed to use them to finish our problems. Before solving problems, we are supposed to observe, listen and work our brain to find ways. Next, we can try to fix the problem with our hands. Not everyone can do everything though. So, we can walk to find our friends and ask them to help us when we cannot handle the mess ourselves. However, some of us just sit and grumble and often times bother others who are supposed to be disturbed by our mess.

My late mom who wasn't either a scholar nor a supermom used to say, " Nggoleki barang ilang kui nganggo mata karo tangan, ora nganggo cang***". (When you search a lost item, use your eyes and hands, not mouth). She used to say that whenever I grumbled because I couldn't find my lost belonging. That utterance worked and has still been working well on me despite the simple and rather gross vocabulary she made. Now I just realize why she rarely helped me whenever i got upset on losing things.

Therefore, doing something is better than just grumbling. Other people have their own things to do, not just to help us all the time.

Why should we complain?

Two days ago, I went to buy some "lotek", a kind of vegetable salad, at a stall by the street. It was just 10 in the morning and there weren't many customers yet. Probably I was the first to come. Out of the blue, the seller came up with her complaints all the way from her tiredness to the raised rent fee,. She even told me about her daughter who often gets angry when she asked her to prepare the "warung". Well, I'm just nobody to her, just someone who happened to drop by to buy her food but how could she told me about that? Does she also tell the same things to other people? What I could do was just listening and nodding :D

 

My concern is not how she told me about everything that should be off – the – record but the complaints she made about everything. I just thought how ungrateful this person is. The next hours, I passed her warung again, and there were some people enjoying their lunch. I think she earns more than enough in a day. But she still complains? Since the first time I saw this "lotek" stall until now, I've seen no changes. It even gets messier. If many people keep on coming to her 'warung" , she will be able to get more money and able to improve her "warung". In my opinion, she forgets how to thank.

 

I don't know whether it is just a coincidence. I often see people who complain much and their life is no better than what it's supposed to be. This shows how ungrateful we are towards life. As a result, some of us will never get anywhere in life eventhough we have worked hard. Complaining is normal. Most of us do that even in the smallest form such as complaining about the hot weather. But, have we ever realized the effect towards our lives? We will never feel enough for how much we have. Our life is far from enjoyable. We are so busy to get "something" more and more that we even forget how to feel grateful. Whatever we do will be useless because we always think that what we do is not enough.

 

So, let's learn how to feel grateful for whatever we have.