MY LITTLE BUDDY

Glenn came out to the cat rooms in the barn last night to see why it was taking me so long to finish the nightly cat care. I didn't realize I'd been out there any longer than usual. I was cuddling cats and giving piggy back rides. Yes, I have cats who love to jump on my back as I make the rounds from feeding bowl to feeding bowl and litter box to litter box. My little crooked cat, Buddy, was especially needy last night for some reason, but I hold and cuddle every cat that will allow it. I think it's good for the cats, and good for me as well.

 

 

The cat in the photo below the text is Buddy. He came to me three years ago from the corn field beside our barn, where I assume he had been abandoned. I had just finished caring for the cats and was about to go back inside the house when I heard chilling cries and turned to see this little tiger cat stumbling toward me as fast as he could run. He would run a few steps and fall, get up and run a few more steps, then fall again - plaintively crying all the while. I had no idea what was wrong with him, but he was definitely begging for my help. When I scooped him up in my arms and examined him, I found no visible wounds nor broken bones, but there was definitely something terribly wrong. I placed him in a clean cage in the barn, but outside the main cat room. I provided him with a blanket, food, water, and litter box. Once inside the house, I emailed my vet and a member of her office staff called the next morning to tell me I could take him in first thing. The poor little guy had a raging inner ear infection, thus the unsteady gait. I was relieved it was something treatable. After two weeks of intense antibiotic therapy, neutering, and vaccinations, he was much better but he now has a permanent head-tilt from favoring the side with the infection. I wonder to this day how long his infection was ignored. It's most likely a chronic problem and will always need to be watched, so adoption is out of the question (in my mind, anyway). He's here for the rest of his life and he shows me every day how grateful he is for having been rescued. He's definitely my little buddy.