A night of cat fights
Good morning, happy Caturday and happy Holy Saturday – I hope you’re all doing well. A few days ago, we woke up at home bruised and scratched; it seems my cat Hermosú had his first fight, which I didn’t expect so soon, as he’s still just a kitten.
Overnight, his health deteriorated to such an extent that he couldn’t walk; he was limping so badly on one of his front paws that I thought it might be broken and that he’d fallen from the big tree we have at home, which he tries to climb. Although he still had a good appetite—and because of that, my mum told me he’d get better—I was still worried about his limp.
As the hours passed, I decided to have a proper look at him; he wasn’t crying, but he’d spent the whole day lying down, which is very unusual for him. When I examined him, I noticed two large scratches – you could see the bloodstain on his body 😭 – and a bite mark, which confirms that he did have a fight with another animal; I suspect it was other cats or a reptile that’s always hunting.
The only thing I could think of was to apply alcohol, and you can imagine his reaction. I’ve learnt my lesson: next time it’s better to use hydrogen peroxide. After disinfecting the wounds, he spent that day and part of the next in a terrible state; he struggled to use one of his legs and couldn’t even dig holes in the ground to do his business, let alone cover them up. I had to help him dig his holes on several occasions; that’s just what mums do 😆🥲.
The next day I remembered that my neighbour across the street has always had cats; perhaps they were the cause of Hermosú’s discomfort 🤔, but I asked her for help and she came to my aid. She weighed my cat, but as he’s so small, the scales didn’t register his weight, so we estimated his weight at half a kilo and, based on that, my neighbour prepared a solution of anti-inflammatory painkiller. She crushed a meloxicam tablet, pulverised it and gave him 1 cc. She told me to give him the next dose the following day and gave me a small piece of the tablet in case he still needed it.
He improved a lot after the first dose, but I gave him the remaining one the next day anyway. With that, he started walking better, running and being a happy cat; however, I couldn’t shake the worry or the thought that he might have a fracture or a sprain. He improved for two days and then relapsed with lameness and pain, so I prepared the medicine for him again, praying that his problem would finally be resolved.
If the problem persists, I’ll have to take him to the vet, which is why I’ve activated a Power Down. God willing, I won’t need to use it for Hermosú, but if I do, I won’t hesitate to switch my hives. Thank you very much for your support.
