We had enjoyed a lovely evening at Miliou for H's birthday but when we got home things went dramatically pear-shaped. On arriving home we were greeted by Charlie and Chivers who recognise the car - Minnie was waiting for us in the conservatory but initially there was no sign of Boris which isn't too strange as he often goes out on the prowl at night. However, when we got into the lounge there was a very lifeless looking Boris on the settee - he is usually very vocal and very very friendly but he never even looked at us when we entered the room. John went to pick him up and he turned - ressembling a feral - hissing, spitting and growling which was most odd and then when John touched him he screamed the most awful scream and ran away from us outside. Clearly there was something horribly wrong but we didn't know what - my major fear was that he had been bitten by a snake but we couldn't get anywhere near him to take a look. I was heartbroken as he is normally so sweet and gentle.
There wasn't too much we could do at Midnight so we prepared the spare room to keep him in because if we were to take him to the vets in them morning then we needed to know where he was. I managed to capture him but he was clearly in terrible pain and I was so distressed. We put him in the bedroom with a makeshift litter tray and newspaper on the floor and a little food and water. He will always, but always eat but not tonight. He just growled and cried and stared into middle distance and wouldn't come near. I decided to sleep in the bedroom with him because if it was a snake bite and we were too late I didn't want him to die alone. For hours he just stared into space and wouldn't come near me and he was desperate to get out of the room to go to the toilet - he refused the box and missed the newspaper so I had a right old mess to clear up - his tummy was very very upset.
At about 4.00am we had a little breakthrough when I managed to get him to sleep on his favourite blinky but then his breathing became very erratic and shallow and I though he was going to die - at one point I thought he had stopped breathing and I had to check - this time he would at least let me gently stroke his head but that was all. I kept dipping my fingers into the water and dripped onto his mouth - I know that shock and dehydration can be a killer.
At about 5.00am I was desperate for the loo myself so I carefully got up - Boris was on his blinky but breathing rather more normally and he did let me stroke him but cried when I touched his body. When I stroked his head he did begin to purr. As I went to go out of door to the loo he came with me and when I got to the kitchen he sniffed at the biscuits and I gave him a couple of treats and he seemed much calmer - I still could not touch his body without him crying. He did seem out of any immediate danger so at that point I settled him in the conservatory and I went to my own bed - knackered only to be woken a couple of hours later by a raging thunderstorm and realising that I had left the conservatory doors open we had to shoot out of bed and shut them as the rain had already started to come in.
We got up shortly afterwards. Boris was very subdued but a little more like his old self and ate some food - he was still very unhappy about having his body touched and we found a wound on his left-hand side - not entirely sure what it was - there was a little blood and some bruising which we cleaned and treated with the pet iodine treatment we get from the vets and some antibiotic gel over the top. We really don't know what happened - it could have been a scrap with another cat or possibly that he had been kicked - we don't know and we will never know. All we are doing is keeping an eye on the wound and checking his temperature and his demeanour. As the morning went on he became more like his old self thank goodness.
Having decided that there was no immediate need to rush Boris to the vets I felt able to go to Art as I would do normally on a Monday morning. I decided to walk as it was cooler but the storm had passed and the skies were blue. That bloody stallion is still on the loose. I walked past the Steele's house and saw the mare tethered in the far corner but no sign of the stallion until I walked past the first fig tree and there he was and in a foul mood so I had to move rather sharpish when he decided to run at me full pelt!!
I called into the Droushia Heights Hotel hopeful that Kelly was going to be on reception because I needed her services to translate a form for me. Last year Sheila, Kelly and I did a government funded Gourd decorating course and this year the government are offering craft courses again if we apply in time - Kelly needed the forms back by tomorrow at the latest so we needed to pull our fingers out! I wanted to go on whatever course Kelly had chosen because she doubled as our translator last year and we had quite a laugh together! She wanted to do the basket weaving so Sheila, Diana and I have all applied for that as our first choice and ordinary weaving as our second! Last year it was a complete fluke that we managed to get onto the course so I am not holding my breath this time!
When I got to Sheila's Klaus was busy hanging up all the gourds they have managed to grow this summer. I think Sheila said that they had over 90!!! Clearly our gourd-carving master had some magic seeds!!! Dad thought he was growing gourds but had planted luffah seeds instead but I am sure that Sheila will be able to donate me a couple if I want any!!!
The stonework was intimidating to start with but with Sheila's help and the fact that she has so many pastel pencils that I can use I got into the swing quite easily and made some good progress.
Sheila is currently working on a picture of a tiger cub - her subject matter and style are very different to mine and if you are interested in her work then you can either find it displayed and for sale at That Nice Shop in Polis Square or you can follow her work on her own blog - I bet she wont tell you about how much we both huffed this morning trying to get our respective pieces to our liking - apparently a tiger cub's eyes are very difficult to reproduce but I know that she will!
We had an impromptu but very welcome visit from Diana and Rob (our secondary stalkers). I needed Diana to complete the request for the craft course and Rob very very kindly brought us up some more wood and as he takes very great care of his beloved car we were very grateful to him for doing so as it made quite a mess.We sat outside for a lot longer than we had planned and then all of a sudden it got quite chilly so we moved into the conservatory.
I know that Rob is fascinated by the wildlife here on the island - he himself found a chrysalis from an Oleander Hawk Moth and saw it turn into the moth.
He was quick to spot the tell-tale poo from a Oleander Hawk Moth catterpillar and then we spotted this one changing from the normal bright green to brown before becoming a chrysalis. We shall keep an eye on this one if it hasn't disappeared into the depths of the vine which is next door.
Please god I get a decent night's sleep tonight as I am knackered!
Thank you for kind comments. Our art mornings are great fun.x
ReplyDeletemondays wouldnt be the same xx
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