A Bad Week for Kitties

First story: Emily, of biting fame, has a huge lump on her shoulder. We just discovered it last week, while my parents were visiting, and really couldn't tell if it has been there for a long time or if it just cropped up. I am taking her to the vet tomorrow, and I want them to tell me that it is both non-life-threatening and cheap to fix! She has been my kitty since freshman year of college, and understands me like no one else does (sorry, Jeremy--you're next).

Next story: This lovely, four-month-old, tabby kitten has been hanging around my work, Ink & Paper Group, for about a week. At first we responded to a lost kitten ad regarding him, but it turns out that he lives nearby, had already been found, but is just allowed to go outside. He is completely goofy, with huge paws, ears, and a long tail, which hint that he means to grow into quite a large kee. Everyone became smitten with him, and we let him wander around the I&P house, sleeping under people's desks, etc.

Monday, Linda was walking me out to my car to help me with Selah, and Purrsley (his name. I know.) darted after us. Perhaps this is totally foreseeable, what is coming, but we obviously didn't foresee it. He darted into the street while I was strapping Selah in, and I heard Linda scream, and saw him doing this horrible, sideways run, and he ran away, leaving his mangled collar in the road. Nobody could find him, and I left work feeling sick to my stomach, frowning through the foreboding clouds, and thinking that life sucks.

Thankfully, Linda came back at 8PM, and found him, injured but alive. She took him to the cat emergency room, and they pronounced that his bones, etc., are all intact. He slept all day yesterday, and today seemed more alert, and hungry--but a bad smell seems to be emanating from his injured mouth, which worries all of us. Linda and I passed out fliers for his owners to find yesterday, but they don't seem overly concerned about him, since they didn't even try her home phone number, listed on the flier, but just left a message at the office.

This kitty needs further care, and I am so afraid he will get infected and die or something. It is bad enough that Linda has had to foot his vet bill this far. Linda's preteen daughter has fallen in love with the kitten, and declares passionately that his family doesn't DESERVE to have him! We all discuss this in a distanced tone, pretending to think she is a poor, sensitive child, who may be hurt by loving this cat, when really we all feel exactly the same . . .

Pray for my kitties. Our little furry friends have always held such a soft place in my heart.