Suzy Says

Who needs Bonnie when you’re Clyde? He can get into enough trouble on his own, thank you very much!

I had the day off on Saturday, time to hang out with the kitties and catch up on my reading and watching mindless TV. About noon that day, I noticed that I hadn’t seen Clyde in a while. Normally, the cats come in and out during the day, even when it’s sunny. They have a snack, get some pets, and have a nap. Audrey in particular is a notorious daytime sleeper. The other day she meowed in her sleep and woke herself up, then looked around all confused before going back to sleep, thinking it must have been a dream.

About an hour later, I noticed a lot of noise from crows and turkey vultures. The only reason for crows and vultures to be partying is because they are excited about eating. And the only thing they eat is dead animals. You can see where I was going with this.

I put on shoes and ventured to the haul road, where I saw the sad remains of a fawn – nothing but skeleton, head and legs, bless his little heart. The birds took off in horror at my arrival. Roscoe appeared, making his plaintive sounds, but no Clyde. I called Clyde a few more times during the afternoon, but no response. Roscoe followed me inside and napped on the armoire while Audrey dozed on the bed.

Megan came by around 3:00, and I said, “There’s still no sign of Clyde.” She said, “He isn’t that black cat?” pointing into the garden. It was. I picked him up, so happy to see him, and thought, “Wait a minute.”

The fur on one side of his neck was wet and slimy and spiky and smelled weird. Megan investigated and found a big bite on his neck. She went home for Vetericyn, and when she came back, she put him in the sink and washed him down like she did with Audrey when I first moved up here and Audrey pooped and peed in the carrier and then rolled in it.

She toweled him off and sprayed the wound with Vetericyn. He was immediately grounded, so I went and closed the many doors. Clyde hid under the bed, but emerged for treats when Audrey and Roscoe came in for the evening. He sat on me and purred, and slept on the bed that night. He seemed fine in himself, and unconcerned about whatever had happened, but Megan thinks he used up one of his nine lives.

Cats really need to work on their communication skills. I still have no idea what his mystery illness was only three weeks and $200 ago, and then there was the chin abscess. None of us can figure out what would have caused all that foul-smelling goo and slime, which is weirder than the bite itself.

Clyde was still grounded on Sunday. I felt bad that he was trapped inside and also that Audrey and Roscoe were stuck outside, with no access to food or the comfy bed. Megan came by before I left for work on Sunday and washed him off again. The wound was draining into the fur and making it all sticky and gross. It’s good that it’s draining and getting the bad stuff out, though. Megan made a couple of more house calls during the day to hot compress the wound and respray with with Vetericyn. She has done the same thing yesterday and today, and also called the vet, who is prescribing antibiotics for my bitten boy. He still looked pretty sad when I left for work this morning. Think good thoughts for the baby boy to get well soon!