What A “bloody” Morning!

Good morning and no, no, I’m not shouting expletives.

It was really a rather bloody morning.

Our day started at 4am with preparation for breakfast.

I would have preferred to push breakfast to about 6am, but the cue for everyone is when I come down the stairs – that signals their stomachs to produce the digestive juices for breakfast.

And even Vincent came to the kitchen to wait, so how can you say “no” to him, right? I had wanted to give him his antacid first, but he seemed hungry, so I thought I should let him eat first. After all, we have a lot of time this morning to give him the antacid.

We started with Cubgrub’s Duck for this morning. Looks like duck is still in season, but not for long, as he didn’t finish it. I gave him some rabbit as well, but no, he didn’t want any of that. Finally, he settled for Cindy’s Tender Chicken (yes, back to one of his all-time favourites).

He ate a moderate amount (that’s good, please don’t over-eat). Vincent then went to the patio. I think he wants to go out but it’s too early and Mr Zurik won’t be around yet. The Russian normally comes from the roof at around 6am.

Since Vincent seemed settled, I decided to give him his antacid (the 5 little granules with a little bit of Complivit). So I prepared that and brought it out in a plate.

I carried him to the chair, but he knew so he struggled a little. And Vincent is very strong. I rubbed the first batch of paste (with the 5 little granules) into his mouth but Vincent pushed my hand away and unfortunately, one of his very sharp claws sank into my finger.

Blood started squirting out like a spring. There was blood everywhere and the pain was excruciating. I quickly rubbed a little more paste onto his mouth before letting him go as there was already blood all over the floor and in the plate as well.

I was calm and luckily didn’t faint at the site of all that blood. I’m completely hopeless when it comes to blood. So I let Vincent go and washed the puncture wound with running water. Blood was still squirting out and I was quite amazed at how much damage that little bit of tip of a claw did. The basin was all red with blood too. That much blood, huh?

I think Vincent felt bad even though I didn’t say a word about it and I know I was as calm as a millpond.

I’m sorry….

It’s okay, Vincent, it was just a normal cat reaction from you. But Vincent felt bad enough so he came into the kitchen to ask for food. I am almost sure he was just asking for food to make me happy because he knows how happy I am whenever he wants to eat. It’s just his way of saying sorry.

He wanted a fresh can of Cindy’s Tuna Chicken and ate about half of it.

Ginger and Tabs helped finish the rest.

After eating, I managed to trim all of Vincent’s claws, front and back legs – all of them!

Then, Vincent wanted to go out.

Ginger wanted to go out too, but it was still too early and Ginger has a very bad habit of going to the neighbour’s house. Then, that will make the neighbour’s poodle bark from inside the house.

So I only let Vincent out. Of course he wanted to go out of the gate. Can’t allow that. So I carried him and we looked out from the gate. I could have taken him to the playground but it was far too early, too dark and also, I think such a trip would make him even more determined to get to the playground. We cannot risk that.

Soon, Mr Zurik came. Yes, from the roof.

Vincent ate kibble with Mr Zurik again. Nothing like eating with an old friend.

See the big V-notch on Mr Zurik’s ear? Now, that’s a sign of hope that one fine day (don’t know when) the authorities will spare the ear-notched street animals. Our senior vet says if you are going to ear-notch for this reason, might as well make it big and visible from a distance.

And what does Mr Zurik think of his ear-notch?

He says it’s real cool, gives him a character, you know.

Vincent has a flat tip on his ear. The vet I sent him to preferred that.

We decided (for now) not to insist on the notching for males because there is no sign or glimmer of hope that our state’s councils will spare ear-notched animals. But if applicants wish to ear-notch their neutered males, please do go ahead. It would also spare neutered males from being targeted to be caught for neutering by well-intentioned rescuers and feeders.  At least, spare them the effort.

Back to today’s stories…

Indy somehow knew something had happened with my finger.

Beneath that tough-looking demeanour is a very, very kind heart.

It’s swollen, but it ought to be okay. I think my last tetanus jab is still within 6 months.

Hello….?

Cleo has been having this balding problem at her flanks since…forever. But somehow, in the last few weeks, I think fur is finally (!!) growing back. Cleo is 11 years old and has had this balding problem for at least 8 years, I think.  It started in the old house, I remember. But it wasn’t itchy nor did it appear to bother her.

Don’t know what went right, but the fur IS growing back now.

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” – Lao Tzu

Vincent is no longer hiding behind the big box now.
He is on sentry duty at the front door.
Our soldier is on guard.

Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2018/12/19/what-a-bloody-morning/

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