AND NOT QUITE SUCH A GOOD WEEK

It started out well when I re-homed Polo (who had interest from three people) to a nice young woman who wanted a friend for her young ginger female, but it went downhill after that with no other cats or kittens adopted since then.

I agreed to take in an adult female which had been seen being thrown out of (a non-moving) car and had a stray kitten delivered from Seaham. Andrea took the former and Joanna the latter. Both of them were discovered to have problems with the kitten having a headful of ticks and, after being opened by the vet, to have an inflamed gut. The cat is being sick and has diarrhea. Both are being treated and will hopefully get better soon.

Here's the, lovely natured, kitten.

 On Wednesday lunchtime I got a call from Hill View Infants School (not far from me) about a young ginger-white cat which had come onto the school grounds that morning and refused to leave. As the conservatory was free -Tomas, a white with grey patches and a tabby tail, young male, having graduated to living in the rest of the house and spending time on my knee- I went round and picked it (her, probably) up. After two days she's still not eating much and varies between rubbing up against me and purring to giving me a swipe with her claws and growling at the other cats peering through the glass door. Being a young pretty little thing I put her up on Animal Krackers Facebook page with high expectations of locating her owner. No word, however, so far and I'm beginning to suspect that she's been dumped. I was told when I collected her that a teacher was interested in adopting her so if I haven't heard anything by next Wednesday and a Tuesday checkup at the vets gives her the all clear, the teacher can have her.

There is one nice thing to have happened this week. A few weeks back Adele sent me the link to the Galaxy Hot Chocolate Fund which gives small disbursements to charities which are listed on their webpage. It's designed to raise the profile of charities and encouraged more involvement in them -as well as getting good publicity for their product (and who could begrudge them that?). Anyway, after I put up Animal Krackers' profile on their page, we have been selected as one of this week's winners and we'll be getting our photo taken next week. So a big thank you to Galaxy Hot Chocolate.

Skye, a cat I rescued, fostered, and moved to the re-homing centre suddenly deteriorated and was discovered to be ill with feline leukemia and put to sleep. I had her vaccinated as soon as I got her but it was obviously already inside her. She kept to herself while in my house so I'm hoping she hasn't passed it on to any of mine. Apparently it can be passed on through the use of shared litter trays but this is rare.

EMERGENCY VET TRIP

1. Emergency vet trip.

Since Maisie gave birth to the kittens, her appetite has declined, she's been sick and her previously firm stools have become loose. A new friend who used to be a veterinary nurse called round to check her out and brought a special milky formulation and definitely thought I was doing the right thing by getting her checked out at the emergency surgery on Sunday morning.

Wendy of King's Road Vets had started this a couple of months ago, opening from 10-12 and charging an extra fee (this is standard and expected, please don't think I'm criticising as I'm just glad she was open). Except she wasn't. There just before ten, I waited half an hour before Sue the afternoon receptionist arrived to feed the animals kept in over the weekend. She told me that something had cropped up and Wendy couldn't make it. They had an agreement with a vets at Gateshead and helped me contact them. Of course I had no idea how to get there but I do have satnav. Which I didn't know how to use. Thankfully Sue helped me out with it. To be honest, I was starting get a little frazzled by this time.

Off I set with the directions blaring out. I'm sure at one point it had me going round in circles as I actually knew the route I was going until I got within a half mile of the place as it was a trip I used to make regularly to visit my mother who lived on Gateshead's Low Fell. So I got there and the vet checked out Maisie and the kittens. Apart from Maisie having a high temperature, which she treated with an antibiotic, she couldn't find anything else wrong and the kittens were fine. Maisie herself was very amenable the whole time she was being poked and prodded. The total charge was just over sixty eight pounds and most of that was  emergency fee, so for emergency treatment (one place I know charges over a hundred) that wasn't bad and I felt relieved.

Back at home Maisie's appetite has improved and she hasn't been sick since she got back.

2. Trouble at t'mill.

Sadly it's not just Maisie who needs attention.

The two Fluffy siblings are getting clumpy and smelly fur around their bums and it's too difficult to clean it on my own -I've tried. However they do have an appointment for their second flu jab tomorrow morning so I'll ring before and explain the additional problem as the plan was that after the jab to take them to the re-homing centre.

Fleas are back but I don't have enough Frontline for them all so I dosed the ones I could and had to order more online today. That's just a minor nuisance. A few of them also have the runs which I'll mention at the vets tomorrow.

And then there's Rikki the black and white boy who had an eye operation and I adopted from the re-homing centre. He's very friendly and gets on fine with the other cats but I've just noticed he's getting thin and I've a feeling it isn't because of a lack of food. If I can't get him in with the Fluffys I'll try for a later appointment tomorrow. Given that two weeks ago a cat from the re-homing centre rapidly lost weight, was found to have a massive tumour and had to be put to sleep, you can see which way my thoughts are heading.

Not happy.

WHY I HAD TO BUY A NEW DUVET AND OTHER STORIES

1. I don't like Bank Holidays.  

For overseas readers, a Bank Holiday in the UK is a Monday of which there are about 5 during the year, when the banks shut (or rather don't open after the Sunday, well they didn't used to), most shops are shut (well they used to do) and so do (yes, they still do) public facilities like libraries and swimming baths.

Before I retired I used to love Bank Holidays. Long weekend off work! Great! Fantastic!

Now it seems like just another Sunday and I don't like it. The reason for that is that it confuses me. You see these days I divide the week into weekdays when I can go swimming (which I may or may not do, but I can because I have a membership card for my local sports centre which says so) and days when I can't which means it's either Saturday (the day after I can't go swimming) or Sunday (the day before I can go swimming). Now I know I can't go swimming on a Bank Holiday Monday which then feels like a Sunday and therefore the next day, the first day of the week when I can go, feels like a Monday, even though I rationally know it isn't. So when I wake up the next morning it feels as if Wednesday has sneaked up on me and that it feels like Tuesday. So I'm confused.

2. Why I had to buy a new duvet.

The cat peed on it.

Normally that would be enough of an answer but this being my house you have to ask: firstly, which cat? and, secondly, why?

Well, I'm glad you asked me.

The cat was Gilgamesh the grey spotted ocicat who currently still lives in my large bedroom with windows overlooking the front and back of the house, one overlooking a main road, the other my garden and several neighbours gardens. 

As for the time, it was 22.45, I'd locked everything up, turned off all the lights, and gone upstairs where Gilgamesh was having a spat with Frank the other new arrival. Frank, as I've learned, regards himself as an Alpha male and makes every attempt to make sure all the other cats in the house know this (which is why he's off to the re-homing centre as soon as he's had his second flu jab). I sorted it out, went into my bedroom, undressed (not a pretty sight), put my pajamas on and pushed Gilgamesh out of the way as he was sitting where I lie down. He seemed reluctant but he went and I got into bed right onto a very large wet spot.

I was out of bed a lot faster than I got in feeling considerably more awake than a second earlier. I narrowed my eyes at Gilgamesh, sighed, stripped the bed completely and dried the wet patch as best I could. Then I rotated the mattress so the wet patch was at the bottom on the far side, took down a spare well-worn duvet from the top of the wardrobe, folded it in half and pulled it on top of me. 

Surprisingly I slept quite well.

And next morning I went and bought a new duvet which, from Asda, was cheaper than having the old one cleaned.

3. The unlucky cat.

Some of you may remember me writing about Lucy, a nervous black and white cat. She was a stray being fed by staff at a local school who called me in when her tail got damaged. When she had it amputated, I fostered her for a few months. While not keen on other cats, she liked people and I found her a gentle loving little thing.

Eventually I found her a home with a guy, himself a little on edge due to a serious accident some years ago. But he was experienced with cats and, I thought would suit a nice quiet one. The first cat we tried didn't work out but then, after a gap of several weeks, he approached me again and I brought round Lucy. 

Although I didn't hear anything for a few weeks, it had worked out for them. However, more recently Lucy began to develop what seemed like balance problems, suddenly falling over a few times a day. I took them both to the vets where Lucy was seen by Wendy.  I can't remember what the precise diagnosis was and I've lost the piece of paper I wrote it on but, although serious, it is treatable and Lucy was prescribed two different kinds of pills and a liquid medicine.

Giving cats tablets is hard at the best of times and I offered to take Lucy back if it proved too much. It's over a week now so I'm assuming they're managing. I hope it works out okay because Lucy and her new owner are obviously suited to each other and both have had a pretty rough time. I'd really hate for Lucy to have to find a new home.

4. ...And other stories.

There are some but it's getting late and would involved transferring photos onto the hard disc and editing them in Picasa and it's getting late...

...and Gilgamesh had better not have peed the damn bed again.

LILY

1. Lily.

What does the top photograph have to do with the next three of my 9 year old Lily?

If you're more observant than I am, you've already guessed. The giveaway being the name insulin printed on the side of the syringe. 

When see a person or an animal every day, you often don't notice gradual changes in their appearance until the magic moment when it hits you. With Susan and I it was about the same time. Lily was losing weight. And she's been drinking more water than usual. Susan thought it might be her kidneys and pretty much convinced herself that we were going to lose Lily so it was almost a relief when she was diagnosed as being diabetic -diabetes mellitus, to give it its proper name. 

However, we now have to be careful about her eating habits, keeping her to the same type of food which has to be given at certain times. This isn't easy as our nine cats, while being fed at around the same time, tend not to eat all that's down immediately and prefer to nibble during the day, plus getting odd treats. We also have to keep her isolated in one room overnight so we can test her urine every morning. Which also means a smelly room as she does  more than urinate during the night. 

We've had Lily to the vets every morning this week while Wendy the vet makes sure we both know how to test the urine and safely deliver the injection. We were both nervous about the latter but it turned out easier than we both expected and Lily never reacted to the needle going in. First time solo at home tomorrow morning which will be the real test.

She's a sweet little cat who loves being stroked and likes people. She's not so keen on other cats because some of ours can bully her, though that seems to have eased, but not stopped entirely, in recent months. 

Aside: I like to tease my friends and told Denise, Sylvia (Wednesday coffee morning at Starbucks) and Barry (monthly Tuesday night at Jameson's which was this week) separately that I had to start injecting insulin. Both Barry and Sylvia fell for it, expressing immediate concern. Denise said, in a considered manner, "You, or a cat?" She got me!

2. Two more cats on a bed.

Being cuddled is Bob. Cuddling is Daisy. They're both around two, Daisy being the elder by three months.

3. Scrubbing floors.

Tomorrow we're supposed to being going to our new cat re-homing centre to scrub floors as a result of dirt being tracked in by muddy boots. This suggests that it's not inconceivable it might be finished soon. But after so many disappointments, I'll believe it when I see it.

4. All part of the job.

Got a call from a lady who lives in Washington, Tyne & Wear not DC, who'd been followed home by an injured cat -damaged leg(s), brown discharge from the mouth. She couldn't take it in because of an allergy to cats and didn't know what to do. I suggested she feed it and give it some water to drink to give it an incentive to hang around. I called the RSPCA who will pay for the initial treatment of stray and injured animals, and rang Wendy's to tell the practice I'd be there with the cat the following morning.

So the following morning I drove through to Washington (taking ages because of work and school traffic) only to find no sign of the cat. I had a good look round but in vain. I told the lady that if the cat turned up again and she could get in her shed at the front door I'd come and pick it up.

These things happen and I don't regard it as a waste of time because I'd sooner that happens than a cat suffers when I could do something about it.