Feral Fables

We watched Jingle throughout the day yesterday and he seems to be OK-------maybe a little beat-up and sore, but OK. Actually, I do think Jingle inflicted more harm than he received, but I'll let the other cat be the judge of that. The puncture on his forehead appears dry and scabbed over and there does not seem to be any sign of a wound on the cheek, other than he does not want to be touched there right now. That's understandable. He's eating and drinking fine and was even somewhat playful last evening. It cooled down significantly yesterday and actually the cats love this 60 degree weather, especially Jingle. With his coat, anything warmer is just not that comfy I imagine.

So Jingle dodged a bullet this time-------again! He has had several emergency room visits in the past and over the course of the past couple of years has been to the vet more than any other cat. Part of this is because he is fully vaccinated-------the other part is because he does seem to be somewhat-------shall we say----------daring??? He walks across the top of the 6 foot fence, climbs half way up the large box-elder tree in back, crawls up onto the roof of the garage.......and so on. You get the picture. A year ago Marty and I visited family in NY city. We had a great nephew we had not met yet. We arranged for the neighbor girls Tess and Janey to take care of the cats which they have done before. (They have watched the cats grow-up through their windows and over the fence.) I came home after a week because I did not feel I could leave the cats for longer------too much can happen. And after all------if something did happen, I am the only one who can get the cats into a carrier.

Getting out of NY was a hassle and I was delayed several hours (of course). When I got home it was 9:30 at night. I was excited to see the cats. I began calling them and within minutes they all started showing up, but when I saw Jingle, I knew immediately that something was wrong. He had some sort of wound above and very close to his left eye. I absolutely panicked! I called Marty and started loosing it over the phone------hysteria, big time! Marty finally said, "Debra! If you don't calm down you are not going to be able to help him!" Of course he was right. I did calm down. I got the carrier and somehow, I think with God's help, I managed to get him in it.

Now, no cat likes a carrier, but you'd think I was killing Jingle the way he howls from the carrier. So---picture this------I was driving down the street as fast as legally possible, at 10 at night with a howling, injured cat in the front seat next to me. Thank God (once again, that night)------that the ER was quiet. No other pet was there that night at that time. They took Jingle for an assessment right away. The wound was a couple of days old the vet thought and infection was beginning to set in. (Unfortunately, since Jingle does not get very close to the girls when they come to feed the cats, they were not able to see the injury.)The vet also said, "This cat is extraordinarily lucky. First----he has you for an owner. Second-------his eye is not injured." She went on to say that it was difficult to tell what caused the laceration on the eyelid above the eye, but she did not think it was a bite because there was no other wound representing the other "half" of the bite wound pattern.

The good news was of course that his eye was not affected. The bad news was he needed surgery, stitches, pain medication and antibiotics. Oh-------and he would have to wear a color for 10 days. And, also, forget about him going outside for those 10 days of course. So I had to ready a room at my house for Jingle to recover in. I could not give him free range in the house (unfortunately) because he has "marked" in the house on occasion. So he was confined to the laundry room for 10 days. I think that was one of the worst 10 days of my life and probably his too! Jingle is such an outdoor cat, that it was very hard for him to be inside during that time. Of course the first few days he was medicated for pain, but he cried at night. I would wake and hear him and go down to comfort him. Then when he started to feel better, he was so crazy to get out of the laundry room that I thought he would injure something else. I was emotionally drained and exhausted after those ten days. But, in the end when the stitches were removed, Jingle healed and he healed well. The vet was very proud of the job she did and I was so glad I had come home when I did.