What a Mess!

I was going to write another blog tutorial today or post a recipe but I honestly couldn’t be bothered as I am too tired and sleepy so didn’t want to get it wrong.  Here’s why…

Last night our poor tortoiseshell cat had an abscess which we just hadn’t seen, that obviously burst.  She has quite long hair and it was sort of under but at the side of her jaw.  Last night when we were about to go to bed we realised there was a load of bloody mess all around near her bed and all over the floor (isn’t that always the case that these things happen late at night when you are really tired and just want your bed!)   When we tried to look at her she ran into the kitchen and was dripping this foul smelling stuff everywhere – the mess on the floor looked horrific and she was just dripping spots all over the place.  At first we presumed it was her rear end due to the foul smell but then we realised it was coming from what we thought was her mouth which seemed even worse.  It was awful as you imagine the worst, but also can’t quite work out how an otherwise healthy cat seemed to be drooling in this exorcist-like fashion.   On closer inspection we found it was coming from her jaw and not her mouth (we did try her on a bit of her dry food later just to check it wasn’t a tooth abscess). 

Now that is no mean feat with this cat (in fact both of our cats) as they are really loving when they want to be but don’t you try to get near either of them to do anything they don’t want done.  They keep their claws – we don’t cut them, they have injections instead of pills for anything and they have the neck lotion that covers for most worms as well as fleas because there is absolutely no way on this earth will either of them let you get a pill down their throat.  A few vets have ventured to try it but scratches and bites later they have given up too.  They sound like ogres but they are really loving cats – as long as you play by their rules.  This cat is huge as well – she weighs over a stone. 

Anyway, to cut a long story short, half a kitchen roll, much patience on her and our behalf and almost 2 hours later she seemed to be over the worst of the seepage and so we all went to bed after 3 a.m.!  But of course, we had to put the alarm on to be up 1st thing so that we could take her to the vets.  The surgery was great and said to bring her straight down so we got in to see the vet very quickly.  The vet, knowing what she was like (must be on her notes in big bold CAPITAL letters, decided to not even take her out of the cat carrier until they got to the back room where I presume they must have some sort of cat straight-jacket type apparatus they put her in which locks their nasty claws out of the way.  I have visions of an armour-like metal cat shaped stand that they drop them into so that their legs are totally confined in the metal tubes and they can’t get anywhere near the vet.  I suppose she did run the risk of the cats teeth sinking in but I dare say the head is secured in some way as well.  We didn’t hear any screeching or squawking noises from the waiting room (from the cat or the vet) so I should image they have built a soundproof room in their new surgery for all the potentially loud treatments.  She had a student with her on work experience – I wonder if he will change direction in what he wants to do in life after seeing what she had to do with our cat.  The vet already had a cut or scratch under her chin when we arrived – yes I promise it was there before we went in (maybe I should have taken photographic evidence just to cover ourselves).  Well over £60 lighter we took our shaved, antiinflammatoried and anitbioticed cat home and just breathed a sigh of relief that she was going to be ok and she didn’t need a very pricey operation.

Todays little bit of trivia:    

The flea can jump 350 times its body length. It's like a human jumping the length of a football field.   

And to end on a joke:

2 kids in a hospital outside the operating room,

1^st kid asks “What are you in here for?”

2^nd kid says “I’m having my tonsils out.  I’m a little nervous”.

1^st kid says “You’ve got nothing to worry about.  I had that done when I was about 4.  They put you to sleep and then when you wake up they give you jelly and ice cream.  It’s a breeze”.

2^nd kid asks “What are you in here for?”

1^st kid says “Circumcision”.

“Whoa!” the 2^nd kid replies “Good luck with that buddy.  I had that done when I was born.  Couldn’t walk for a year”!