Mary, queen of cats

As posted many times before, we always know Mary is in need of a visit to the vet when we notice changes in her behavior. Lately she has become needy and clingy and when I felt the base of her tail, she had the skin irritation again. Off to the vet we went. She wasn’t particularly amused (she never is!), but she is *such* an incredibly good cat. She didn’t meow once, didn’t struggle, sat quietly in her carrier cage and that was that. I remember there used to be a time where we would take her to the vet without any restraints and she would sit next to us on the chairs in the waiting room. We eventually decided on a carry cage for her own safety in case other animals decided she looked like she was a worthy opponent for a fight.

Mary will be going back to the vet this week, but this time to have her teeth cleaned (which is long overdue). We will report back on how that went.

On a different note though – the one night I was sitting in front of the telly, laptop on my lap, when I heard this unearthly scream. I almost fell of the couch, the laptop almost went flying and my heart rate went through the roof. Turns out Mary was standing at the door, warning everyone within the lair (the flat) of stranger danger by the door! I was so proud of her! It happened a second time and this time I quietly snuck out to check who this “stranger” was. Turns out it was Murphy, her friend from a while back. I have seen her and Murphy around and there has never been any animosity, but clearly Murphy wanting to join us in the lair was a huge no-no which she made clear to just about everybody within the complex!

There is another twist to the story. Another kitty seems to be calling out for Mary (she is mighty popular within her own community it seems). Jasper, a fluffy black and white cat, has been in the vicinity calling out for Mary in gentle cries. Mary would pop her head outside and just sit and stare at Jasper, which I think is kind of rude of her. All he wants is her company and all she does is sit and stare at him.

It seems Jasper has kind of given up because I have not heard him call her in the last two days. But maybe he is more forgiving than she is and will hopefully try and become Mary’s friend again.

Mary’s little Boy Kitten friend has a name! His name is Murphy. Mary and Murphy. We have not seen Murphy for a while, but he made an appearance today when we got back from work. Mary trotted up to him, legs straight and stiff like a pony, tail in the air. Murphy “ran” away, then dropped to the ground and started rolling around for Mary. Mary apparently was not too impressed with the display as she simply just looked at him and went on ignoring him.

Mary and Murphy. Nice ring to it yeah?

Murphy

Mary and Murphy

Mary is so damn unpredictable. You simply never know how she will react when she sees, or is confronted with, another animal. It can be anything from literally soiling herself, to blatantly ignoring the other animal, to absolute fierce aggression! There really is no telling.

Last Saturday we were on our way out to pick up my sister and her boyfriend for a late lunch, when we heard some terrible cat “screams” outside our apartment. Since it sounded nearby Mary’s window, I ran outside in my high-heeled boots to come to Mary’s rescue. My first thought was “oh heavens, she is under attack!!”.

What greeted me outside was not something I expected. Mary was clearly the aggressor in a very serious fight between her and another cat I have not seen before. It was pretty wild and clumps of her fur were all over the parking area. I shouted at her and the other cat took off, with Mary in hot pursuit. I eventually managed to catch up to the two rolling balls of flying fur and separated them. I picked Mary up and took her inside. Madam was all wide-eyed and wired. We immediately inspected her for damage and found two of the other cat’s claws embedded in her skin. But fortunately, there was no real damage that would require a trip to the vet. We locked her inside and went our merry way.

We got home about 5 hours later and Mary was visibly docile and not herself. We have witnessed this behaviour before and knew immediately that she was hurt somewhere. She was shaking her head continuously and there was dried liquid in her ear. Yet, we could not find anything other than a slight swelling on the side of her face.

Sunday morning we noticed the swelling had increased considerably. That meant one thing. A trip to the vet again. I am pretty sure that Mary is the vet’s most regular patient.

Our regular vet was not there and Mary saw a new female vet. The vet concluded that the swelling is an abscess. We briefly hashed it out – this was not an abscess. First off, there were no puncture wounds, secondly, an abscess does not form this quickly and thirdly, she had no fever (a common symptom of an abscess). The vet decided to draw some fluid from the swelling to determine what it was: pus would be indicative of an abscess, where as blood would not. Unfortunately, Mary had to have her beautiful soft ruffle shaven.

The fluid that was drawn from the swelling was just blood. The diagnosis was a ruptured gland. Mary was given a broad spectrum antibiotic, and if the swelling did not abate after a day or two, the gland would need to be removed. This is a tricky and delicate operation as there are many nerves on the side of the face.

The good news is, the swelling was down by Monday evening. Crisis averted. The bad news is, Mary has a bald patch on the side of her face again.

Mommy’s beautiful little scrapper.

Ready for attack (look at those wild eyes!)

Target acquired

ATTACK!

A docile Mary after the fight, when we got home 5 hours later

Waiting for the vet

The vet inspecting the swelling, before Mary being shaven
Back home, one very unimpressed and unhappy kitty (shaven spot on the right)

Bald patch