Thursday 25 May 2023

My three toms all now neutered and microchipped + Tina R.I.P.

 The last 24 hours have been heavy anxiety, but it's over now  - at least until the next drama. 

Last week getting Bobby chipped wasn't too bad. He'd already been spayed when he arrived here 4.5 years ago, leading me to fear that he might already have been micro-injected, thus having an official owner, but he wasn't. He was good being checked over and didn't react to the injection. However, Sloopy, being still 'intact' when he arrived around the same time must be around 6 years old now, and still had to be done. Rather late-in-the-day for that procedure but no getting round it. Last week when I took him for his first vet check there was a heart-stopping incident when he managed to escape en route from the carrier by widening the zip fastenings and squeezing through (my fault!) and he scarpered off down the road which, luckily, wasn't too far from home so he did find his way back, even if I did dread him not daring to do so. But yesterday was the 'big day', much feared by me - the operation, after the obligatory (so cruel) 12 hours of not allowing him any food or even water. With much loud wailing as I carried him the 3/4 mile to the vet, I had to leave him there for 6 hours before collecting him, a period for which I was continually on edge. When the time came I was so relieved to hear that all had been done and without any problem. Told that if he keeps attending to his 'wound' by licking it I'd have to bring him back and have a collar fitted for, possibly, around a fortnight during which he'd have to be kept inside, which would be logistically v. difficult with a permanently open window for he and the other two to go and come as they please. However, since I brought him home, now 18 hours ago, although he has been licking himself 'there', which is hardly surprising, he hasn't been over-obsessed with doing so, so I'm now dearly hoping that the threatened further remedial action may not be necessary. He seems to be back to his old routine of being out all night - though now without having sired any more kitties to add to the population he's likely already to have done - and sleeping all day through. So, early days yet, but looking good.

Glad that's over with no major mishaps.

I'd like to have posted here new photos of Bobby and Sloopy but, darn it, I'm still unable to load photos onto this laptop. Meantime, here are two early pics of the 'boss', Patchie, who's now reached 18 years - one showing him being wary, the other he contentedly settled in.





Btw:  On this morning of hearing the deeply sad news of Tina's passing (she being a highly major feature of my own 1980s life's soundtrack, both literally and figuratively) I hadn't realised that for more than a few years she'd not only lived in Switzerland, but actually in Kussnacht, just outside of Zurich, a place I'd just happened to visit by boat briefly whilst staying for a few days in Zurich city in around 1985 (though Tina herself only started living there in the mid-1990s). Just by chance I'd happened to get off the boat at Kussnacht, which was doing a tour of Lake Zurich. It could have been anywhere else. I also learnt later that world-famed soprano Gwyneth Jones also lived there - and had probably been there at the time of my couple-of-hours visit, I believe. I only wish I'd taken some photos of Kussnacht, a relatively smallish place, while I was in it, not having fully appreciated just how attractive it was. In walking around for an hour or two, I remember lots of roses and other blooms in gardens and window boxes, perfuming the air, and it all being exceptionally clean and tidy.

'bye Tina, uniquely wonderful - thank you ever so much.  


 

20 comments:

  1. Keeping good thought for the cat family. Tina Turner was one of a kind.

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    1. Thanks, Mitch. Like their owner all my family are celibates now.

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  2. Glad all has gone okay with the cats. I was shocked to hear about Tina. Somehow I had just never imagined her not being here. Definitely one of a kind.

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    1. Me too (re Tina), Carol. It didn't once ever occur to me that she one day would be no more. Not fair.

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  3. Thank heavens every is alright with the pusses. Now it is all over with. And glad to hear they are doing so well too. I can imagine your heart stopped when the puss did his escape route!

    And alas...Tina. She was certainly a joy....and a standout in a sea of all the same artist and sound. Boy... could she command a stage...and without all the pomp and circumstances, set changes, fancy lighting shows, and huge entourage of dancers. SHE lit the stage and a true performer who didn't need to distract with all the bells and whistles. When I first started doing drag one of my first songs I did was Private Dancer. Then many years later when I got into boylesque, I did the number again. But one of my most favorite songs of hers was her James Bond cover of a theme, Golden Eye, which has got no mention in any news article I've seen, and got very little playtime. I was also fond of Nutbush City Limits. But her whole songbook was a real gem and enjoyed. I did know she left the states years, and years ago for Switzerland. Who could blame her?

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    1. 'Nutbush' was one of her very best, and still sounds like it. We know how much it came from her heart.
      'GoldenEye' theme song is one of those Bond over-the-credit songs that's been overlooked - as more than several have been - though in her case it was quite unfair.

      Yes, when Sloopy escaped from the carrier and fled like he did, I genuinely feared that that would be the last I ever saw of him, he not daring to return. But when he did get back home, just two hours later, he'd forgiven me, or had forgotten about it. Huge relief when he came in, tail up and purring.

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  4. Glad you got the cats taken care of, and that Sloopy's escape was just a mad dash home.
    I love sleepy-eyed Patchie!

    And, yes, Tina was an influence on so many people's lives in so many ways.
    RIP

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    1. I hadn't known - or had forgotten - that Tina was a Buddhist, Bob. I should have known, as for several decades I'd had a particular, genuine interest in that philosophy - and still do, to some extent, subscribe to and read on that belief. But there you go.

      Yup, Patchie's a sweetie, but he can really be stern with the other two when they forget he's the one in charge.
      And now coming up to 24 hours later, Sloopy's still doing fine.

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  5. Raybeard....I was just at Squire Johns and I saw the sad new of Albert. Now it's raccoon time again.

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    1. Oh NO!!! Why oh why does this happen?Although we all knew the day must come for our little DearHeart, it still grieves us to the very soul. Sad, sad, sad.

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  6. Hi Ray. I haven't been by this way for a while. Glad I stopped by this morning to check in with your blog and see what you're up to. Good for you getting your kitties fixed. Always a difficult process but you did the right thing. I'll read some of your older posts to bring up up to date with what's going on in your world. I too was saddened to hear the news of Tina's passing yesterday. Like millions of her fans across the world, we all loved her. She will be missed. She was one of a kind.

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  7. Oh, by the way that previous comment was me, Ron of Retired in Delaware. For some reason your website won't let me sign in to my Google account.

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  8. Can you use an uber to take the cats to the vet? Our city has a pet travel option, which only costs slightly more than the average ride and I always feel safe.

    Tina Turner was a talented lady, and her music will live on.

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    1. I'm so out of touch with today's things that I didn't know what an uber is, Poppy. I thought it was something to do with computers. Is it the same as a taxi? I did, in fact, take a taxi to the vet with Bobby for his first check-over, but as it's not that far I decided to walk for the remaining visits with Sloopy so as to save money.

      Yes - Tina, the incomparable!

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  9. Thank you for your kind words about Albert x

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    1. No trouble at all, JayGee. The passing of any animal, domesticated or not, affects me profoundly - and even moreso when it 'belonged' to someone I like immensely and respect.

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  10. Nothing causes more angst than a pet that is sick or suffering, is there.

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    1. Absolutely. It's neither worse nor more bearable than human suffering - just different in nature, still capable of causing immeasurable anguish to ourselves.

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  11. I'm sorry you and the furkids had to go through all this, but I'm glad you are all back home safe and sound.

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    1. When it was all over it turned out that much of the anxiety was needless, S/b, especially for Sloopy who's still showing no sign at all of any discomfort since the op., and thankfully not licking himself unduly 'there'.
      Thanks for dropping by.

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