I was going to publish this blog on Thursday or Friday but it was far too long, shorter and funnier things appeared in Memories, and I was busy.
But as it’s the weekend people may have a little more time.
Most cats slide anonymously out of the world through accident or illness; Matilda involved the whole street.
Contains distressing details
From
Facebook Archive
30
May 2016 at 22:37
Not long after tea there was a
loud rap on the front door.
There was Miss Doozer
"Do you know where
Matilda is?"
“No.”
She pointed at the tree at
the end of the road.
“She’s been up there all afternoon.”
The top of the tree was
lopped off a couple of years ago as it was shading the sensor on top of the
street light causing it to come on in daylight.
There was Matilda at the very
top looking like a furry fineal.
When we'd stopped laughing we went over to try
and persuade her down.
Then a couple of neighbours came out and told us she'd been
attacked by a dog, escaped and shot up the tree.
Since getting an ear infection
in 2012 (that's a summer we won't forget in a hurry) Matilda has been a bit wobbly so getting down was going to be a problem.
Fester, both boys and several neighbours came
out and there was a general discussion about
a) the dog and
b) how to get her
down.
A bowl of mashed pilchard and shaking the biscuit box had no effect so a
ladder was fetched as was a cat box and towel. Doozer Esquire and Huey, Louis
and Dewi from the Ponderosa (or that's what we call them) climbed up and tried
to persuade her into the cat box.
She
went out on a limb.
Came back.
Slipped and was grabbed by Doozer Esquire as
she clung on with her front claws.
He
managed to disentangle her and put her in the box.
The boys' reward?
Matilda pissed on them all from a great height, and she did her best to bite Doozer Esquire.
She had a bloody nose and mouth, her
claws are shredded, her tail isn't right and, after the story of the dog, we
decided the best thing was a trip to Vet999 in Sherriff Hill.
Miss Doozer and Doozer
Esquire came with us. The vet doesn't think it was a dog as she has no bite
wounds or spit marks. But he thinks
she's had a knock (possibly a car) and the dog scared her up the tree.
We feared
she may have damaged her jaw, the vet took out a broken tooth. He doesn't think
she's broken anything. He gave her injections of painkiller, anti-inflammatory
and anti-biotics and offered to keep her in for overnight observation. I've
brought her home and it's off to Strachan & Tyson's open surgery first
thing tomorrow morning.
So that's tonight's ironing and tomorrow's delivery of
Woodlawn Summer Fair begging letters around Monkseaton postponed again.
Mrs Minor Poor Matilda. Hope she's well.
Mrs Leftfoot Hope she's okay...what a drama though. NEVER a dull moment...
Ms Telyn Glad she's safe and well now. Poor Matilda!x
The next day
Bentonbag Matilda is now at Strachan&Tyson
in Heaton. They were very nice and put us in a separate little waiting room as
there were noisy dogs in the main waiting room and "it might upset her if
she was scared by a dog".
The vet
was a little Spanish girl. She fears
Matilda may have broken her tail and wasn't allowed to fully examine her
jaw. So Matilda is to be sedated,
x-rayed at both ends and have bloods taken for kidney function tests. If the tail is really badly broken it will
have to be amputated. If it's not too
bad then we'll leave it a couple of months to see how she copes. One of Henffrind's
farm cats at Brynfedwen lost her tail to the fanbelt of a milking machine so
I'm not too worried about that - and manx cats do ok. So it's all up in the air until they phone me
and I'm having a day at home ironing and recovering.
Mrs Quilt You do a good line in A&E - both feline and human. Good luck
Later
Bentonbag Not good news I'm afraid.
The
vet rang at about 11.
Matilda's
tail was so badly broken and dislocated the vet thought the nerve damage would
also affect her bowel and bladder functions.
Her jaw was so badly broken it could have only been mended with a plate. The operation would have probably been too
much for her. Matilda hated being picked
up so being handled by so many strangers would have been hugely traumatic for
her. So we decided the kindest thing
would be to put her to sleep.
She
went to sleep at noon.
Thunderthighs
came down to the vets with me, said goodbye to her, stayed while the vet did
the injecting and carried the basket with her body in on his lap on the drive
home. He was and is very upset.
We've
brought her home and will bury her later today in the garden with Tiddles, Lisa
and Dominic.
Mr Minor So so sorry. Very sad.
Deepest sympathy. X
Drummerman Very sorry. They leave a
hole in your life when they go.
Fay
Ahh poor girl. So sad to hear this Ben. She did amazingly well to get to the top of
that tree. So difficult to make these
decisions but best not to put them through the suffering.
Cousin Daisy Very sorry to hear this news
of your lovely Matilda and poor Thunderthighs will be very upset, you are the
most compassionate caring girl and bring so much fun and laughter with your
stories a real tonic,🌅❤️🎶xx
Ms Telyn Oh I'm so sorry Ben. Here if you need me.xx
Ms Elswitch Oh. How sad.
She was a lovely cat. Great
company the other weekend when I stayed at yours. Big hugs to you all xxx
Miss Fiddle So sorry to hear this. Thinking of you all. xx
Mrs Melodeon That is sad news. So sorry. It is hard to lose a much loved
pet.
Bess Cavalier So sorry to hear about
Matilda, but when there is that much internal damage the kindest thing is to
let them go
Mr Melodeon
It is very sad. Our cats always took a part of us with them
when they died. Thankfully none were
tragic so it is even harder for you all.
Take care.
Mrs Currynapper It can be such a hard
decision to make. Sorry the story had
such a sad ending.
Squireen Poor puss. Nasty injuries 😥
Mrs Leftfoot
Not nice. Xx
Paganess
So sorry, travel well Matilda
x x x
Dr E RIP Matilda, stories of your
exploits have delighted us over the years.
Such a dear friend
Dulcima I'm so sorry it was far more
serious than it first appeared but I'm sure you did the right thing by her -
she obviously had a long and happy life at Chateau Midden.
More Matilda moments
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment