Jack Cat and the visit to Rhodes 2
He gave Jack an antibiotic injection which came with the added bonus of calming him down and making him sleepy for the rest of the trip – mind you, he was pretty laid back already. On top of that, he prescribed three times something for gastro-something for two days, a tablet twice a day for other gastric doo-dahs and a syrup antibiotic three times per day for… everything else. Those last two to run for 10 days.

Now, we’ve all seen the video on how to give a cat a tablet. Hm. The thing is, he can’t eat anything for three hours after the first medicine so the days will have to run like this: 6.30 a.m. syringe medicine one by mouth. Wait one hour with cat demanding food and shouting. 7.30, catch cat and add a quarter of a tablet to it without it spitting it out or taking off your hand. Wait two hours with cat still demanding food and wondering why no-one likes him any longer. 9.30, temp cat to his bowl by saying ‘Mmm, lovely new cat biscuits for you, you’ll like these…’ and then hold him still while using a syringe for another syrup. Then let him get to his food although, by this time, he is up on the roof and refusing to come down. Some kind of rooftop protest at being syringed and tableted, all before breakfast.

And the worst part is that we have to repeat that process three time each day for two days and then the first medicine is done and we’re left with only three time one thing and two times another each day, a total of nine dangerous adventures per day for two days and five for the next eight days after that. The cat is already running away from us and won’t come into the kitchen because we have done the medicine combination once today. But, it must be done and it will be done; as long as he comes down from the roof.

After the visit to the vet was concluded (printed blood tests, the instruction manual written out, the prescription dealt with and Jack given a proper medical book and a CD of his X-Ray) and the bill settled, the vet then checked a local pharmacy to make sure they had the right things. They did and so he arranged for his father to come and pick us up and drive us back to the Plaza, via the pharmacy. Now I call that a great service. The vet also comes to Symi once per month and is in content with Michaelis at the pet shop, and other animal carers, and so getting hold of Jack’s new food won’t be a problem. Getting the medicine into him will be.

By this time, it was just on midday and, as we had been up since 3.30, we thought a beer would be in order. We had jack in left luggage again where he was sleeping so we stayed at the hotel and shared one of their mammoth pizzas. The afternoon was spent wandering slowly back towards Akandia harbour, taking it in turns to carry the 6.1 kilo cat in his box, via the Symi café at Mandraki where Jack attracted a lot of attention from the local cats who came to have a sniff. The walk around to the harbour wasn’t so bad and it’s much safer now there is a boardwalk to use rather than a narrow road. We stopped at Mouragio while we waited for the boat to come in and then carried Himself towards embarkation.

Passing, as we did so, the vet’s father and mother who had been sent to drop something off to go over to Symi. We had a pleasant exchange of well wishes and thanked them again and then set up shop on the back deck again, one of three, where it was warm enough to travel without my coat on. Luckily, at Symi, Konstantinos and his taxi were free and so we were driven up to Horio where we were able to get Jack home, out of his box and most of his first syringe-stuff down his screech before he could make a fuss about the whole thing. This he did later, with much use of voice, but he is settling down now (Thursday afternoon) and there has been no more sickness, cross fingers.

There, not particularly funny, but I thought you might be interested. If you want the number for this particular vet, drop me a line, we are happy to recommend.

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Jack Cat and the visit to Rhodes 1
Sorry about the no blog yesterday but, after we got back from our adventure in Rhodes we were slightly to the left of done-in. It’s not particularly funny, I’m too knackered for that, but here’s how it went…

After suffering a few days of up-chucking his lunch (but, strangely, not his other meals), we took Jack over to the vet on Rhodes for a look. His third official vet trip in 13.5 years. The boat on a Wednesday is at 5.00 in the morning and there is only one that day so we secured tickets on Tuesday, a Yialos trip that included lunch at Meraklis, as it’s still open, where we sat outside and enjoyed a couple of chops. After an early night, we were awake at 3.30 on Wednesday and, having stuffed the reluctant cat into his box, left for the harbour. The boat came in, in darkness, and there were quite a few locals on it, heading to Rhodes for various things. We sat outside at the back with the cat now grumpy in his box, but enjoying the vibrations. Luckily, he is deaf, so the strange noises don’t distress him.

There were more people than taxis at the other end and, as it was still before sunrise, we decided to walk. We headed to the Plaza Hotel where we knew we could have a breakfast – buffet style €7.00 each including coffee – and where the staff were happy for us to take the Jack-in-a-box with us, later to put him with ‘left luggage’ where he fell asleep. Neil phoned the vet as arranged at just after eight and – and you don’t find this kind of thing very often – he arranged for us to be collected and taken to his surgery at Kremasti, which is towards the airport. His father arrived dead on the appointed time and drove us there. We arrived before the vet and the surgery was still not open but mother-of-the vet was there and offered us coffee at the table and chairs outside. By this time, I had had three caffeinated coffees and was buzzing a little, so declined.

The vet arrived by which time there were two other guys there, one with a puppy and one with another cat in a box. The vet asked them if they would mind us going first as we’d come from Symi and our boat back was at five. (How long was this going to take?) They were fine with that and, poor things, had to wait nearly an hour for us to complete the first part of our/Jack’s session with the cheery, humorous, perfectly English spoken vet. We found out later that neither of the waiting animals was in urgent need, so that was okay.

By this time, Jack was a bit fed up with all the movement but he came out of his box nosing with interest. The vet gave him a full check-up and we talked about his recent symptoms and his ears. The ears, apparently, are not bad enough yet to warrant being taken off, but we will struggle and put cream on them, when he will allow. The stomach thing, which had settled down since Tuesday morning, was a bit of a mystery; possibly a worm that a recent tablet got rid of, maybe a few other things, and so the vet took blood.

Jack was amazingly calm about all this now. He watched with interest as his leg was shaved and a needle inserted (local anaesthetic) and then, while we waited for the results, he wandered about the table and finally took himself back to his box. The vet ran the tests there and then and, while they were doing, gave Jack an X-ray. Somehow Neil ended up being the one to hold him while wearing the special vest, and again he was amazingly quiet and didn’t struggle. This saved us €40.00 as we only had to have one X-ray taken. Back in his box we waited outside and let the other animals be seen to.

A little while later, after some more ‘Coffee?’ ‘No, thank you, honestly’ and a sit outside where it was warm, we took Jack back in to get his results. All clear on all front, internal organs fine apart from his heart which, due to age, now has fluid around it. This was a bit of a worry in that the vet wanted to clean his teeth (the cat’s teeth I mean) but there is a risk to him if he goes under anaesthetic (still talking about the cat), which he would need as the vet wants to keep his fingers. So, best to leave that for the moment, and the ears, and treat him with… And this is where it gets interesting…

But that will have to wait for tomorrow, this (unchecked) post is long enough already. Stay tuned.

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Animal welfare, Symi style

Hi. First of all, here’s a heart-warming tale and update from Suzanne who looks after Symi Animal welfare.

“In March, 2016, I received an email re: horses over in Nimborio…

It would not be the first time that SAW has been informed of equines in poor condition on this island. Since I became the team leader of SAW, I have tried to take an interest in all the islanďs animals, and my first equine case involved a very emaciated 6 yr old mare, Niki. At my insistence, the owners did call in the vet to see her, and her owners hopefully are now better informed about equine feed care and well-being.

The horses I saw that day in Nimborio were 2 mares and 2 colts, the mares were very thin, I knew the owner, so could speak to him about the animals. He told me the 2 mares were for sale, for a cheap price, so, I had a good look at the young chestnut mare, about 13.2 hands, and decided I could give her a better home. The rest of the deal I left to my husband and, a few days later, Tara arrived at our farm in the mountains and started her new life with us. Here she would have all the hay and feed she needed, a stable for the winter, and a large enclosure just to walk around in.

The other mare, a 9 yr old grey, was sold to a farmer who has a working team of mules and ponies, her foal went with her. As for Tara, 8 months later, she is in good condition, has a shiny winter coat now, enjoys being groomed, comes to me when I call her, is quite vocal, and is being trained to be a riding horse (with a western saddle), to trot along the mountain trails of Symi, and hopefully she is happy with her new home on the farm.

We love all our animals, they are our life ….
Suzan @Filimonas’ farm, Ayios Dimitrios, Symi.”

You can follow Symi Animal Welfare and help with the cause at http://symianimalwelfare.org/

Back to me: So, it’s more than cats – though Suzanne and her husband have organised us with some more winter cat feed for the local strays that we looks after, so they have a winter of food to look forward to.

Meanwhile, we have our own Symi cat welfare to take care of and, to that end, there will probably be no blog tomorrow, and maybe not on Friday either. Jack, the Alarm Cat has not been well. Neil rang a vet on Rhodes yesterday and told him the symptoms (being sick a lot). The vet said to bring him over ASAP for blood tests – and he needs his ears looking anyway -and so we decided that, as the vet would be away from Thursday, that today, Wednesday, is the soonest time we can take him. There are other vets and they are all just as good and conscientious and speak ‘sick cat English’, as we don’t, and this one, Panayiotis, said to call him at around 8.30 in the morning and he would pick us up from Rhodes Town and drive us, and cat, to Kremasti, where his surgery is. (Talk about going the extra mile! But that’s Greece for you.)

The reason for the early phone call-to be is due to the Blue Star boat coming in and leaving by 5.00 a.m. in the morning. So, as I write this, on Tuesday afternoon, we are now settling down to an early night, a 3.30 a.m. alarm call, and discussing the logistics of getting the noisy, and otherwise quite active and healthy, AC into his box at 4.00 a.m. tomorrow, ready for a long day: boat at 5.00, vet at 8.30-ish, boat back at 17.00 and home around 18.30. That’s about 14 hours for Jack in a box, unless he must stay over.

No doubt there will be some kind of blog post about this is due course. Meanwhile, please excuse me while I go and prepare for a very early start and a long day with a large, vomiting, deaf, heavy cat in a box.

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New Symi book and other news
A couple of photos today from a brief walk in the village on Sunday, in the sun as you can see. I also had time to start putting together some ideas for another book about life on Symi to go with ‘Symi 85600’ and ‘Carry On Up The Kali Strata‘ (currently available for a free on a special five-day deal) and also ‘Village View’, the three books I’ve compiled with writings about life on the island.

The new one is now titled, ‘Symi, Stuff and Nonsense’ and the comma is very important. I found an old diary I had started, but not kept up, when we were preparing to move here in 2002, and it also had some entries written during the first couple of weeks of our adventure. When we arrived here we were too busy finding a house and jobs, so it runs out but it has given me a good starting place for a new book of travel stories, Symi notes and, well, other stuff, some of which is nonsense (word play and observations about nothing in particular). So, for the next couple of months, that’s what I shall be working on. There are stories from travels other than to Symi or Greece, and that’s the ‘Stuff’ of the tile and there will be other smaller bits and pieces that might be mildly interesting or amusing.

While that’s going on… We have some army doctors on the island for a couple of days, apparently. We saw the navy ship come into the bay yesterday morning and a smaller boat came from it with some passengers, I assume they were the doctors. They are visiting various islands and currently it’s Symi’s turn to benefit. Luckily I don’t need them at the moment. We are also sourcing some worming tablets for the cat to try them on him to see if it stops his regular afternoon up-chuck, and we’re also asking about the next vet visit (via the pet shop) so we can see if he needs to have his ears taken off. If so, I imagine we will be heading to Rhodes for a day, with a Jack in a box (cat box) to have a minor operation. Btw, there’s a Symi Animal Welfare update coming along soon.

Other than that, the week started well, with a clear and sunny day, calm weather, cool but not bad at between 14 and 19 degrees and a new book to start working on while ‘The Saddling’ goes before the editor. I await her marking and it does feel like I am waiting for my exam results this time as I know she is going to be thorough.

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Symi weekend
All quiet on the western front, or rather, the northern Symi front as that’s the way the house faces. This makes for a great view over the harbour, but also for cold days and nights when the wind is from the north. Having said that, yesterday and Saturday were very quiet days weather-wise, with no breeze, calm seas, bright blue skies and a bit of a chill in the air.

We called at the Rainbow bar on our way to a birthday gathering on Saturday night. We sat outside, jackets off, and watched the world go by. There was a large gathering at Georgio’s, either a wedding or baptism party, and the whole taverna was booked out; busier than I have seen it in the summer at times. The birthday party at the Sunrise was good fun, we stayed for a couple of hours and were home by 11.00 for a relatively early night. Sunday dawned bright and clear again and I was at the desk by 7.30 checking up on messages, ordering a few Christmas presents and then preparing this for today.

I know it’s early to talk about Christmas, and I am a firm believer in keeping it in December, calling it ‘Christmas’ and not ‘Holidays’, remembering what it is meant to be about and not putting decorations up until much nearer the time of the celebration. But I am also aware that some folks, like me, like to get gifts arranged and ordered in advance to a) spread the cost out over several weeks or months and b) get organised so there is no last-minute rush. When ordering things online you need to plan a bit further ahead and that’s why we’ve already made our Calendars available – and have been selling them for a while. If you’re looking for something different for someone then there’s a choice of two calendars with Neil’s photos and you can find the links over there on the top of the right column. But you probably already know that…

In other weekend news. The cat has been acting strangely and I think/hope it’s only a tummy bug but if it is it’s a very selective one. Once he sees the bathroom light go on, in the morning, he comes tearing down from the roof, sprints across the courtyard and is at the door before you can say ‘Whiskers.’ He’s then straight into his bowl for his breakfast which he gets down him at a rate of knots. After that he heads to the sofa, makes a fuss about it, telling us that he’s there, rather loudly, and then settles down for the morning. He often gets up and wants to be accompanied to his bowl through the morning where he snacks on biscuits. All fine. But recently, after his lunch (which is usually around 13.00 as he is very consistent), he comes into the sitting room, sits by the fire (if it’s on) for about 15 minutes and then throws his lunch up all over my Turkish rug, or over me if I happen to be having a post-lunch half hour on the sofa. I deal with that (Neil goes gagging to another part of the house a bit like I do when a spider appears) and then the cat settles down again, apparently fine. All very odd.

For those in the know about cats, his other end is fine – I know this as, in his household, I am one of the Grooms of the Royal Stool and so inspect things on a daily basis. No worms, nothing nasty, all as it should be. And the rest of his behaviour is fine too; cleaning, being noisy, eating as regularly/frequently as ever. It’s just the after lunch up-chucking which, for the past few days, has become oddly regular – if you’ll excuse the oxymoron. I am hoping it’s just a bug, but if so, how come it’s only an early afternoon event?

Ah well. While watching the cat and keeping an eye on him health-wise, we shall also, this week, be filling out Neil’s passport application now that everything is here, including things we don’t need. But, as I look down at my diary for the week ahead, that’s all there is in it at the moment, and that’s exactly how winters should be on Symi; blank pages that can be filled with the unexpected day by day. And a bit of cat sick, it seems.

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