One day I noticed that Jack's breath stank with pus coming out from his left jaw.

I immediately brought Jack to the vet and discovered that he was bleeding with two hard objects stuck inside his gum... for the past one month! Both his top and lower gums were infected! I remember crying out in shock at the clinic. The vet reassured me that cats usually hide their illnesses and pain very well, and he taught me to observe subtle changes of behaviors in cats. Jack had his gum surgery, two teeth were pulled out and he was sent home. It appears that Jack had suffered for so long but despite his pain, still carried out his daily routine and activities!

Jack took a while to recover from the anesthesia and we let him loose from the cage to feed him as per the vet's instructions. Immediately Jack being his adventurous nature, despite being in pain and really groggy, dragged himself and jumped over to the neighbour's- his favourite hunting spot! He scaled down the neighbour's wall, as per his usual routine- we panicked and kept on calling him up- Jack tried and tried to reclimb the tall wall but halfway through, he fell down. He still could totter around and we had to go over to the neighbour's to rescue him. 

We didn't know that Jack fractured his pelvic bone that day. He walked drunk, started losing weight and lost his appetite. I brought Jack to the vet's, got an X-ray and blood tests to confirm his hairline fracture: Jack was to be placed on six weeks' of bed rest with no activity and round the clock care. Poor Jack. 

This went on for two weeks with intermittent visits to the vet; Mum, myself and my helper brought Jack to the toilet, handfed him at intervals, comforted him. We became Jack's 24/7 round the clock caregivers. It was an exhausting period for our family but we wanted Jack to be as comfortable as possible. Jack, on his part, was determined to get well and stick to his daily routine; he hobbled around to his favourite spots and dragged himself about using his two front legs. He slowly regained strength and could jump again; he was actually progressing well, according to the vet and to our relief.