It has been a busy couple of days. Yesterday afternoon, Gracie Kitty was spayed, Roscoe Chi was neutered, and Hunter, Sophie, and Heidi got check ups. Roscoe and Gracie are recovering well from their surgeries, and Gracies kittens are loving the freedom of romping around the barn. Beth is especily energetic; we may have to permanently rename her Monkey for her climbing and leaping habits. Heidi got a clean bill of health and her first round of shots; she handled it like a trooper. She was fascinated by the vets handlebar mustache, and when he let down his guard for a moment, she grabbed one end of it in her little teefies and yanked! The vet was far less amused than I was, for some strange reason... Sophie has lost a pound, so she is back down to her goal weight, and we just have to work on strengthening her little knees so that she can get back on the trail for her BHA RATO title. Hunters exam results, on the other hand, were less than encouraging. He has been troubled with asthma and allergies for about three years now, that weve been managing well, but when we went to MD last week we left him at a friends house. They gave him his medicine regularly, but apparently they dont use AC, and this exacerbated his coughing and breathing difficulties. The vets examination determined that, while his lung sounds are actually pretty good, considering his history, he has developed an inflamed and partially collasped trachea. Poor Scruffy Muffin is now on lockdown, and not allowed to leave the house (and the AC) for more than a few minutes at a time for potty breaks. Weve added licorice to his regular treatment regimen, and after just two doses I can already see a MAJOR improvement. The kittens, Marianne and Bethany, are thrilled to no end to have free roaming privileges now, but evidently something spooked Marianne last night. She didnt come out to join Bethany and Gracie for their morning mackerel treat, so right away I knew something was wrong. I stepped out of the barn and called her, then listened carefully. Sure enough, there was a distressed kitten mew coming from a patch of shrubs and trees nearby. I walked over and looked around, still calling occasionally, but although I could hear her, I couldnt spot her anywhere...until I looked UP. And there she was, scared and mad, crouched on a branch about 3 in diameter and at least 10 over my head. Crap. I tried to calm her down, but she just crept farther out on the limb, trying to reach me. I ran for the house, grabbed the SO and the keys to the shed with the ladders, and ran back to the tree. Now Marianne had managed to inch out until she was clinging to a branch barely 1 around, and was dangling upside down. As soon as she saw me she started screeching even louder than before. I sent the SO for a ladder, and tried to speak calmly to little Marianne: ME: Just hang on, itll be okay, you can do it, etc, etc MA: MEW! MMMEEEEEWWWW!!!! MROWR! MEW! Oh, yeah, that was working out well... So I jigged around, trying to stay under her, with my head craned back as far as it would go. Where the heck was that dang ladder?! How long could it possibly take to bring ONE ladder across 100 yards? It was clear that Marianne was tiring, as her tiny back paws continued to slip loose of the branch. Eventually, she just couldnt get them back up at all, and was clinging with just her front paws. Still no sign of a ladder. Her cries had increased in frequency, and the note of panic in them was clearer all the time. To be honest, I was starting to panic a little too; 15 is a LONG fall for an 8 week old kitten! Finally, Marianne reached the end of her strength, and with a despairing mmeeeeww! she slipped loose from the branch and fell... Right into my arms. (Hah, gotcha!) She looked at me, purred, rubbed her head on my chin, then turned and hissed at the tree. ME: Well, dont fuss at the tree, silly, youre the one that climbed it! MA: Puuurrrrrrr-mmrrrtt-bbbrrrrrr. ME: *sigh* You need to be more careful, squirt. You only get nine lives, and you just used up one of them!
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 16:22:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015