Don’t Say the V Word in Front of the Cat!

Last week Bruno (Cat No.3) seemed a little under the weather, but by Sunday he had cheered up a bit. We just put it down to the sudden change in the weather. However, on Sunday evening Mrs. T-E noticed that his left ear seemed to be weeping and by Monday morning his left eye had joined in as well.


After work Monday we took him to the Vets to have him checked over. We had chosen a different vet as our usual one has become increasingly more expensive over the years and friends of ours recommended another local one. We called them and they told us that they have first come, first served sessions every evening between 6 and 7.

When we arrived the waiting room was packed to the rafters. There were 3 cats and 5 dogs in front of us and others kept arriving as we waited. Two of the dogs were fitted with lamp shades, in various states of disrepair and one of the others had a very nasty looking chest wound. In all it was pretty lively in there and Bruno purred the whole time, occasionally pawing Mrs. T-E through the bars of his box as if to gain some attention. Eventually it was Bruno’s turn to be seen and we were beckoned into one of the side rooms.

The Vet poked, prodded and generally examined the poorly lad. The whole time Bruno wriggled and struggled and flatly refused to let the Vet stick her fancy torch thing in his ear. He even had to be weighted in his box, which told us that he was a tiny bit heavier than he should be. She didn’t seem to worry about this as he’s a large cat anyway. Apparently the average weight for a cat is 4kilos and Bruno is 6Kilos, but he’s not fat. Smudge (Cat No.1) only weighs 2.5kilos, which we know is too low, but due to her age (19 years) is not uncommon.

He has his temperature taken (1 degree high) and received injections of anti-biotics and pain relief. The conclusion of the vet was that he had received an infection, possibly from a wound to his ear and was put on a weeks course of Penicillin tablets. See also recommended using cold Tea (no milk or sugar) to clean up his ears and eyes as required. I always knew that Tea could cure anything except drowning.

With Smudge, tablets have always been an issue. Hiding them in food has never fooled her, so we have got very good at holding her upside down and feeding them in manually, which is a 2 person manoeuvre. I didn’t relish the thought of doing this with Bruno, as 3 of us couldn’t hold him still at the Vets. Fortunately he has fallen for the “Small pieces of ham, wrapped around the tablet” trick and he seems to be making a slow recovery. The cold tea for cleaning his ears and eyes also seems to work. Although on the first attempt he had a sneezing fit and continues to wriggle quite a bit.

Currently we are keeping our fingers crossed that he will make a speedy recovery and can return to his favourite hobby of worrying the birds in the garden very soon.


Regards



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How we became a 2 cat family again

When we first bought our house, number one on our shopping list was a cat. In fact we ended up with two. They grew up together and we didn't have the heart to separate them. One jet black and the other black & white with a white question mark on her back.

Unfortunately the black one, who was the most inquisitive of the pair, met an untimely end due to some form of road vehicle. We were inconsolable at our loss. It was like loosing a close family member, perhaps a child. We made the decision not to replace her for fear of upsetting the remaining cat. That was over 14 years ago.

About 5 years ago my Father-in-Law moved from a 2 bedroom house with his youngest son, Chunky, to a 1 bedroom flat on his own. It soon became apparent that he was lonely living on his own, so we encouraged him to get a cat. After a call to the Cat Protection League and a home visit to check his suitability, he had a new house mate. He was a very friendly black male cat who was about a year old.

When my Father-in-Law passed on last June, his cat went in live with my elder Brother-in-Law, Dopey. That was the logical choice at the time as we were worried about the affect of introducing a new cat to our now elderly moggie. Chunky & Chunkette already had 2 cats of their own and didn't want another.

Dopey has been having a few personnel problems of late. Due to his inappropriate relationship with alcohol he has in the last few years lost his second wife and job. Despite much support from his immediate family he has failed to change his ways. He favours making incomprehensible phone calls at stupid O'clock in the morning, which hasn't won him any friends. Quite the opposite in fact. My wife is about the only person who will talk to him, but never after about 8pm as he will be drunk and just talk utter rubbish.

In one of his now famous phone calls one Saturday in January, he told his Brother Chunky that he couldn't afford to feed the cat. He suggested that he had phoned the RSPCA and they would collect the cat from him the following day. Chunky saw red, dashed round to Dopey's house and repossessed his late Dad's cat. Since then he has been living with us.

Over the past couple of months he has been spoiled rotten, gained weight and discovered our garden, which he really enjoys. As it happens we need not have worried about the effect on our elderly feline. She is not particularly happy about his presence, but grumpily puts up with him. He stays out of her way and can run faster than her when she throws one of her a hissy fits. The only problem we have had is that he occasionally likes to wake me at 2am for a tummy rub. The word "Sucker" springs to mind.

Regards
Chris
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