All around my cat
I will wear the green ribbon and all around my… And so on. A vague reference there to a Steeleye Span song from 1975 which has nothing to do with today’s blog or its pictures – which, themselves, have nothing to do with the update on the cat.
There was a visiting vet from Rhodes on the island on Sunday, a regularly, monthly visit, when he is able to. So, we got Jack into his box with only a little bit of fuss and carried him down to the pet shop. He was third in the queue but didn’t have to wait long and was vaguely interested in what was going on, though he made a lot of noise about it. The vet gave him a quick check, as detailed as possible considering, and we’ve come to a plan of action about his ears. They are not cancerous yet, but what he has could lead to it and so, here’s the plan: We will take him over to Rhodes, and the vet’s father will pick us up from the Plaza, or wherever, when we are there. He will take us to the surgery at Kremasti, as he kindly did before, and the vet will give Jack a proper check. He will need a course of injections for 14 days to clear up his missing fur issue. Plus, he will need something special for his ears, some cream to go inside and some to go on his damaged ears (not looking forward to doing that), we may also have to give him antibiotics and put one of those collars around his neck so he can’t scratch at his black bits. Also not looking forward to that and I doubt the cat is going to have it, like it or put up with it at all. The vet’s father will then drive us back to wherever – all part of the service. He also offered the service of: we put the cat on the boat, he collects him in Rhodes and sends him back on the boat later that day. But, tempting though that is for us, it doesn’t seem very fair on Jack, who hates travelling at the best of times.
So, the visit done and dusted, for now, we (mainly Neil) carried him in his box back up the kali strata where Jack decided to show his contempt by giving us some extra, rather smelly, weight to carry. We tried to avoid passing anyone in case they thought we had something to do with that, and threw away his travel towel from the box when we got home, deposit included. He wasn’t too upset by that short time in his cage, which is the biggest box we can find without using one suitable for an Alsatian, and settled down for the rest of the day.
Now we have the standard, Symi in winter, issue to consider. The best boat to get is on Wednesday when we can go to Rhodes and back in one day, and where the cat will only have to be in the box for 14 hours. If we went on Friday, it would be about the same and we wouldn’t have to get up and pack him up at 4.30 in the morning for the 5.30 boat as the Friday one is later, so that’s option number two. But, the weather looks foul for Wednesday with force six winds (not a problem) but with rain and storms. We don’t want to be carrying Mr Six-Kilos around in the rain, but the forecast often changes. So, we will decide at 4.00 on Wednesday morning if we are going to go on that day or try again on Friday. It’s not an urgent case, and we could have gone on Sunday night as the vet was more than happy to take him overnight, but we would then have had to stay until Wednesday evening. So… boats and cats, don’t mix much in the winter. But at least, after two weeks of collar, injections, creams and attention, he might be a bit healthier. As for us? Well, ordering some iron foundry gloves and a ‘hazmat’ suit might be in order.
