Cat-Trap Boogie!

I know that I have mentioned before (several times I bet), the fact that we have several pre-owned cats living loose and fancy free in the village. I know for a fact that many of them were simply left behind when the owners moved, and others have been especially brought into the village and dumped.
Disgusting behaviour? Yes. But sadly that is what I expect these days from the so called humans who live here.

And of course, these cats roam around until they find somewhere to settle, usually in someone's garden...... we have Blackjack who has lived here for a couple of years and who comes regularly every evening for his plate of Friskies! He is neutered and therefore cannot chase the ladies and leave offspring scattered around! And our three ex-pre-loved cats have accepted him, although he has still not accepted Rob and me. He still hisses and scuttles backwards out of our reach when we put his food down! One day maybe......

Blackjack having supper!

The Boys Are Back!

Reading the title, you would be forgiven in thinking that someone in the family (or someones) had returned from holiday.

Wrong. Read on.

For the last few weeks Morris the cat, (he of the bladder problems), has been going 'bos' (bush) in the evenings. Popping in and out during the day as usual, he suddenly decided that he was going to razzle overnight and pick the odd barney with whoever was around, and we have been waking to the sound of caterwauling! Alfie hates hearing cat fights, so we let him out to referee the fight and chase off the interloper. This can be anytime before dawn!

So, on Saturday night Rob noticed that Morris had a lopsided look about him, and when l had a closer look I noticed that he had a rather large abscess on the side of his head. There was a scabby area, so I fiddled and managed to clear quite a lot out of it. He was very good, but wasn't too happy about me squeezing for very long.

Sunday being Easter, there was no vet around, and Monday was a holiday too. We decided to go and see Aunty Vet on Tuesday morning!

Early on Tuesday morning we set off with Morris in the box (furious and hungry and complaining), and Alfie along for the ride (or so we thought!)

As Normal Service As Possible!

Hello to all my loyal readers!

I am home again, winged safely over the mountains both ways, thanks to Mango airlines! It's the first time I have flown with them and I must say, they were fantastic. We were lined up on time, filed along the walkways in order and on time, people sitting at the back of the plane were shuffled to the right and into the back door (how sensible is that?) and were strapped in and hurtling down the runway at the very minute we should have been! Going to Durban we had an extremely jolly captain, one of those with a smile in his voice and a sort of casual rapport that made me sit back and un-clench my fists! Thank goodness he didn't decide to do a loop-the-loop over the Drakensberg!

Mango! (Pic thanks to Google)

Rob had organised a transfer to my sister's home in Pietermaritzburg and I was met at King Shaka Airport in Durban by a smiling man with a signboard. The journey took over an hour and I was horrified at just how many huge trucks use that freeway, all jiggling, overtaking, going too fast down hills, getting stuck behind slower traffic up the hills, pulling out in front of us.......you suddenly look out of the window and see wheels and tyres! Scary!

King Shaka Airport in Durban. (Pic thanks to Google)

Fingers Crossed For Normal Service To Resume!

Well.

As I write this, Morris is bounding round the garden chasing birds.......... Normally we would yell at him and throw a shoe or whatever comes to hand, but today we are happy just to see him back to normal.

Yesterday morning we had to take him back to the vet. Same problem, dig, squat, get up, nothing. He had had a restless night and we heard him licking himself every time one of us got up to do what it is you do when you get older!

The vet saw immediately that there was a crystal that was causing the problem and she tried to manipulate it by hand.

He was not impressed!

So, a quick injection and he was nodding off as I left him in her capable hands and we picked him up an hour later. He was woozy for the rest of the day and wobbled his way round the house as he followed the sun. Last night he lay on the couch until we went to bed and then he lay the whole night on top of the hot water bottle..... but on top of the blankets. Basil's nose was a little put out of joint as he usually nabs that spot.

And this morning, Morris wee-ed! He was next door at the time, so Emma our neighbour, and I stood and watched him until he had covered up the hole!

A 'eureka' moment!

Normal Service.

And, speaking of normal service, I shall not be writing for a couple of weeks. I am winging (stomach churn there) to the far corner of the country, Pietermaritzburg to be precise, to spent some time with my sister and her husband. I am really looking forward to being with them and catching up, even though we spend an hour every Saturday chatting on the phone and we whatsapp each other daily!! Nice to actually clink wine glasses!

Hopefully their water supply has been fixed by then, hopefully a plumber has been found and even more hopefully, that he actually found the problem!! Usually it is because the reservoir has run dry! They are regularly without water or power.....or both and unlike our little village, nobody there seems to care.

So, let's hope that all the services have returned to normal, sooner rather than later..........

See you soon.

If It's Thursday........!

This morning, Morris proved beyond a doubt that cats have an intelligence that is far superior to any other animal on the planet.

Read on:

Last Thursday was 'Morris To The Vet Day' as he was digging, but not filling, holes in the garden and we were worried that he had a bladder infection or small stones in his bladder. I also mentioned that our regular vet had surgery hours every afternoon except Thursday.......................

Our 8 kg Morris!

So, twice daily for the last week, Rob and I have scruffed (Rob) and shoved antibiotic pills down Morris' throat (me) followed by a special paste to help clear up any lingering infection (me), at great risk to fingers and hands! But he really has been a model patient and has swallowed everything that we shoved at him! He has been eating and playing with Kindle, somewhat roughly though I might add, and he and Basil are 'enjoying' a peaceful truce, mostly.

Morris and Basil doing the laundry. (All pics thanks to Rob)