Skip to main content

Tut, tut, Freddy!


According to the vet, it's most likely that Freddy is the instigator of the fights he's been getting into.  Based on the scratches on his head and chin, that is.

I took him to the vet today to get his FIV vaccine.  He didn't have it when I adopted him, as he was going to be an indoor cat, but now that he's been out a few times - firstly by escaping, and lately by my allowing him out - he needs to have his FIV vax.  As he's already  been in some scrapes, and been scratched and punctured a few times, he was also tested to see if he had already contracted the virus.  Preliminary tests look like he's OK, and I'll find out in about 3 months for sure.

The vet had to check Fred for a fever, but Fred kept clamping down on the themometer whenever the vet tried to insert it!  I really don't blame him; surely they can take a temperature some other way?!?  But no fever, which indicates he doesn't have any infections going on.  I have to keep an eye on his injuries, but the vet tells me that he's probably going to retain his Tom Cat (not TomKat) tendencies, as he was desexed well into adulthood.  He has lost some of his cheek bulk, but still struts his stuff as though he's got all his bits intact!

Funnily enough, after making a fuss about having his temperature taken, Fred sat very quietly while a bit of his chest was shaved in order for the vet to take a blood sample.  Liz the vet nurse also cleaned up some of his scabs, and says he's healing well.

I also have to check his poo (!!) to check his tapeworm medicatation has taken.  He's lost a lot of weight recently.  I put it down to his being out and about, climbing fences and jumping on roofs, but need to just rule out a worm problem.  The vet nurse (Lisa, this time!) says that if he was having a tapeworm problem, he'd start to look ratty, and as he's still glossy and devastatingly handsome, she thinks it's just a result of him being more active.

All the nurses and the vet agree that I just have to let Fred do his thing, and try not to worry about him.  He's vaccinated, microchipped, registered, has an ID tag and does come home of  his own accord.  He's much, much happier and much more relaxed being allowed out, even if it's not every day, so I think it's worth a little bit of my own stress to ensure he has a fulfilling existence.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear Cleaner, please don't wash my dishes.

(Warning: contains swearing. You'll see why, I hope.) Considering that I am constantly fighting with piles of dirty dishes in my little kitchen, you'd think that the first thing I'd want my cleaner to do is wash them. And I used to. But I quickly realised that although the dishes moved from the pile, through the soapy water in the sink and to the drainer, the vast majority of them didn't end up being clean. It turned out to be a great big waste of time - and a huge disappointment - and I had to wash the stupid things myself anyway. Mine aren't as pretty, but I do have a yellow bowl. So now I do them myself, eventually. When my cleaner comes, once a fortnight, I'll sit and do my dishes while he or she is doing the housework tasks I find difficult (rather than just annoying). I have also even been known to do a sink full of dishes in between cleaning visits, often in the middle of the night when I can't sleep, or when I have other pressing things to d
5 comments
Read more

What I learned on prac.

I'm pretty sure that I learned far more on my prac than the students I was teaching. Some of it will stand me in good stead for my next prac, and for when I am a fully-qualified teacher. Some of it was very disappointing and disallusioning. One of the first things I learned was that my supervising teacher no longer wanted to be a teacher, but was sticking with it for a few more years, while her youngest child finishes high school. Another teacher in our staff room was only staying with teaching to boost his superannuation before he retired. Yet another teacher didn't speak to me during my four weeks sitting at the desk next to him, and seemed to dislike all students and the teaching of them. There were frequent discussions in there about students being "not very bright" and "unteachable", including one entire year. No effort was put in to teaching these students, as it was deemed to be a waste of effort. However, imaginative teaching was hampered
4 comments
Read more

Health vs Weight

I unexpectedly ended up at the Sporting Wheelies gym the other day, after avoiding it for about a year. I was going out to breakfast with a friend who also used to work there, and she detoured us on the way to drop in and say Hi to whoever was there. It was pretty early in the morning, so only the gym was open, so we went in and chatted to a few people. It was actually quite painless, despite my fears of humiliation and mortification. The Gym at Sporting Wheelies (that's not me!) The main reason I've been avoiding the gym there is not that I used to work there, but that I've put on so much weight over the past couple of years I'm too embarrassed to show myself there. I've also been avoiding other situations, because of feeling insecure about my weight and how I look.  I've been steadily gaining weight for the past few years, and one of the reasons for that is that I've been trying to work more on my health than my weight.  Since I was about 15, un
3 comments
Read more