The "Taming of the Shrew's Boss"! (Mr Zurik's post-op stories)

Shakespeare would roll in his grave!

Sorry, but this title is as apt as it can get!

At 4pm, I decided to give Mr Zurik some food.

The vet had said he might be groggy until tonight, but hey, I could already hear him struggling to escape from the cage. Believe me, he's wide awake already.

Russian, you know...

Timmy follows food.

If that's not wide awake, tell me, what is it?

I wasn't sure if he would eat Natural Balance, so I did not put the Vetri DMG into it.

But good, he ate it up. I thought it would be easier for digestion since it's finely minced. After all, Jojo's Healing Haven promises quality care, right?

Mr Zurik did not finish his wetfood so I thought perhaps he preferred kibbles.

He did. With the kibbles, he finished everything.

As per advised, the twisty tie is more secure and Zurik-proof than the ribbon.

He's a nice cat. See, I can pat him.

At 5.30pm, I thought he should get another snack. After all, the earlier one was also just a snack. I wanted to see if he could hold down the food.

He could, of course. You know, Russian...

But he toppled the whole water bowl so I figured I needed the type that can be screwed onto the cage.

So I hurried out to the petstore to get one. Unfortunately, they did not have any stock of the screw-on type.

Instead, I bought this stainless steel bowl with the hooks.

But it was too high and there was no lower horizontal bar to hook on to. Mr Zurik couldn't really stand up yet. I needed it lower.

I improvised.

With a cat-collar.

McGyver would have been proud of me...

Indy was quite fed-up with everything that has been going on at the patio.

What??? Another cat???

I'm putting in a complaint in writing!

Willy had his dinner in peace.

Peace is bliss.

Oh, Mr Zurik toppled this water bowl as well.

Sorry, McGyver...

Can we be friends?

So, we unscrewed Pole and Cleo's water bowl and screwed it on for Mr Zurik.

Surely he cannot topple this one?

Me wanna be friends! Me wanna be friends!

Always secure, every moment.

Happy Days are Here Again!!

What's for dinner??

Meanwhile, Pole is NOT happy that her green water bowl has been replaced.

Sniff, sniff, sniff....yucks, what smells is that??

I had washed it thoroughly, but guess you cannot fool a cat. They can smell a rat from a mile away.

 Cleo was so angry with the new water bowl, she took one sniff and ran off, and refused to look at me.

Read on for the green water bowl story...

Slight "complications", but Mr Zurik is home and waking up now

I drove to the vet's as I couldn't wait at home anymore. No matter how many you have done, you can't help but feel anxious with every case.

As I entered the vet's, the senior vet said Zurik was being done but there were some complications. Apparently, one of his digits was badly infected and the wound already had pus. Oh my goodness, I didn't know. It was, in a way, a blessing in disguise that I had caught him in time, because given a few more days, it would have been infected with maggots.

Wow...thank you, Universe, for making things fall into place at the right time.

I asked if antibiotics would be needed and the vet said probably not. Also, since he is a TNR case, would I be able to feed him medicine for 10 days? I said I would, if I had to, for his sake.

The vet who was performing the surgery was upstairs cleaning up the infected wound.

Then a phonecall came from upstairs saying Zurik had ear mites as well, and would I want him to be advocated? I said, yes, please, go ahead.

Hmm...looks like Mr Zurik does have some problems. "Luckily", I brought him in...

After a few minutes, I was summoned upstairs by the vet.

The vet wanted to show me the wound. Actually, there are TWO wounds.

The photo up there shows the worse of the two. This one already had green pus and was on the verge of turning maggoty. The whole toe is gone and will not grow back. In fact, the toe was still dangling from the wound when the vet noticed it. Suturing the skin is not possible as there is insufficient skin to cover the wound. The surprising thing is that Mr Zurik had no fever even with a wound this bad. And..he could still walk, run and attack other cats!

Well, Mr Zurik is Russian, you know. He's a tough guy.

The only reason that made the vet suspect he had a wound was the extremely foul smell in the carrier. And the vet called me up because she wanted to let me smell the wound. Oh my goodness....it smelled like rotten fish. REAL foul. The vet said the wound is quite recent.

Poor Mr Zurik....

This is the other wound in the middle toe. The toe is also gone.

The vet suspects he must have got it in a fight, then secondary infection (from the soil, probably) set in and it got infected that way.

Judging from the wound, antibiotics is necessary. 10 days.

For today, an antibiotic jab has been given, so I'm safe for the day. Tomorrow, we start on the oral medication. Clavomox, twice daily, so help me, please. The vet suggested an e-collar for easy feeding. Well, I have three e-collars at home, so since he is groggy, I will put it on him by myself when we reach home.

The vet also said Mr Zurik was extremely nice throughout the examination when she took him out of the cage. No need for the squeeze cage at all. Yes, we know he's a nice guy, just extremely smart.

However, the vet used an IM-sedative instead of IV (IM = Intra-muscular, IV-Intravenous) because he started struggling when she flipped him over to check for the wounds. This also means that he will take a longer time to wake up, which gives me more time to put on the e-collar when we reach home. The vet cautioned that he might be groggy until tonight. Nothing to worry about as he is already waking up now. Just that the grogginess will last longer than those under the IV-sedative.

We drove home.

 Mr Zurik had already turned and curled up by the time we reached home.

The er..."welcoming home" committee?

I swear I saw a worried look on Ginger's face as he turned toward Vincent and I swear I heard Ginger say, "Oh no, he's back??"

Anyway, I brought him into the house.

Oh, he's awake already? I guess I cannot put on the e-collar now, especially when he is in this groggy state. He might attack me.

In you go, Mr Zurik.

The cage door is fortified with a string.

A colourful curtain to help the healing process!

Escape! I must escape!!

Mr Zurik climbed the bars.

I saw him drink water, so that's good.

It will take some time before he is more awake, so I shall reserve the food for then. Putting food now is a waste as he would just topple everything over.

Meanwhile, he has company.

 We have a long day ahead of us...

And 10 days of adventure, eh?

Wish me luck!

In fact, please wish all the patio cats luck as Mr Zurik is staying on longer than intended at Jojo's Healing Haven, your friendly and caring nursing centre for recuperating cats!

Mr Zurik's neutering and treatment today is fully sponsored by Tabs & Associates. So is his stay at Jojo's Healing Haven!

Timmy starts his diet

I woke up early today. I felt like something was amiss...there was no sound of cat aggression!

Last night, I could not find the shrews anywhere. They did not come...sobs.

And as you would have seen what Joy had captured from her satellite dish, the shrews spent the night planning a counter attack on me....sobs. That is why I could not find them anywhere.

Anyway, I got up and served breakfast at the pantry for Bunny & Friends. Bunny and everyone do not each much these days. So I don't think it is necessary to use the 20% diet plan on them yet. Maybe 10% first.

But Timmy....yes, Timmy has to start today itself. I remember the vet saying that all pet owners should take obesity very seriously. He told me about several pets ending up dead because of obesity because the owners refused to listen to advice and insisted that their pets remain "well-fed" and chubby.  If we don't know about it, we can plead ignorance, but since we have already been told and if we still refuse to heed the advice of the professionals, we only have ourselves to blame...and can we live with that guilt?

Everyone was waiting for breakfast, including Mr G.

Normally, after scooping each bowl and making sure everyone has his or her share, I will head outside to feed Willy.

But today, I thought I should stay back to ensure that Timmy doesn't go stealing the other cats' food.

Now...that turned out to be a harder task than expected...

He just eats two mouthfuls from his own bowl, then he starts looking around.

And goes for another bowl.

Two mouthfuls from this second bowl, and off he heads to another bowl.

And everyone else is polite, so they give way to him.

But today I was monitoring, so played the bad guy by stopping him.

And believe me, it isn't easy.

That's stopping Timmy from attacking 5 bowls of food, without the help of any of the cats because they willingly give way to him! I finally allowed to poor fellow to lick just one bowl, and it's only remnants. Of course I could lock him inside the cage and let him dine alone though that would be quite pitiful. But it looks like that would save me a lot of trouble every morning and evening since he is so persistent and....fast!

Willy ate peacefully this morning.

He was waiting at his breakfast spot.

No signs of the shrews.

Shh....I came out earlier than usual and managed to give them the slip.

Shhh...

Anyway, I came out armed with a big jar of kibbles to pacify them in case they showed up.

Vincent was either protecting Willy OR trying to intimidate him, so I had to shoo Vincent away. Willy was already so scared.

Finally, I had to hold on to Vincent so that Willy could finish his food.

Willy gets 1 1/2 helpings because he is so thin. I think he is also quite young so the neutering can wait.

Meanwhile, Timmy is still hungry....!!

The shrews launch a counter attack!!

Oh no....it has started!!

I am steering clear of the shrews' way until I bring Mr Zurik back safely this evening. By the way, I called the clinic and due to an unexpected emergency that came in this morning, Mr Zurik's procedure has not been done yet. So, please help me send healing and positive wishes to him for a safe procedure later today.

Meanwhile, the shrews!!! The shrews have launched an attack on me!!

Below, captured by Joy via satellite:



 

Ladies and gentlemen....Mr Zurik!

Right after coming back from the vet's with Timmy and seeing how Mr Zurik had come in to terrorise Daffodil and Rosie again, I thought I'd try and catch Mr Zurik.

Doesn't hurt to try, right?

The bait...shh, I mean, the food.

The specialty of the day: Assorted mix of kibbles from Pet World 2013 (including Addictions' Salmon Bleu).

Welcome, welcome to Jojo's Feeding Station!

But Mr Zurik was too smart. He wasn't fooled at all. He just stayed inside the drain.

Hmm...okay, not going to work. Oh well, never mind. Then it started drizzling and I'm told this is chemical rain, so I brought the carrier back into the porch.

I'm not giving up, though. No haze, I can afford to wait a bit in the porch.

I sat on the bench and waited patiently, pretending to read some letters that had just come in.

Here he comes...

He hunches. Sensing hostility, Daffodil moves away.

He goes around Jojo's.

Inspection first...

As he was about to go in, suddenly, the gate opened.

My son came back! The concentration is broken.

Never mind, never mind.

He goes away.

Oh well, another day then.

Vincent watches from atop my car.

He goes back outside to the drain.

Wokay....show's over, folks.

I keep the carrier, but left the food inside. Maybe one of our patio cats will eat it later. Or, maybe Mr Zurik will come back and eat it. Not catching him today. Let him feel safe eating inside the carrier first.

He's back! But he keeps a safe distance.

Since he is there, maybe I should put the carrier nearer to him?

Rosie plays with the raffia string.

Daffodil is interested in the food. She goes in cautiously and starts eating. Well okay, but I was really hoping against all hopes (I know this is wishful thinking) that (1) Mr Zurik will watch and "learn" that it is safe to eat inside the carrier, (2) Daffodil leaves some food behind so that maybe, just maybe, Mr Zurik might just go in, and I get to pull the raffia string and WHAM!! Success will be mine!!

Dream on....I know, I know.

Hey, hey....he's coming.

I thought he might terrorise Daffodil into leaving, but...

He just sits and watches.

My, my....we are so patient here, aren't we?

And well-mannered too? This is certainly unlike Mr Quack who would stomp on everything and everyone. And everyone would run helter-skelter when he so much as approach.

Patience is a virtue, folks.

You sit, I sit. You watch, I watch. The evening is still young. We have time.

Let's just sit and smell the roses, shall we?

Daffodil is done eating and leaves the carrier.

I pray: Let there be some food left to tempt Mr Zurik. Please, please, please...

Mr Zurik isn't moving in?

No, looks like he isn't.

Shh....(be still, my throbbing heart, be still).

I've learnt to stay really calm through the years of doing animal caregiving work. Work fast, work effectively, but keep the heart calm at all times. That's how you get things done efficiently. Ahem...

I left my camera on the bench, and slowly tugged a little bit on the raffia string. The moment I did that, Mr Zurik backed out.

Oh no...he's too sensitive. He has already learnt that any movement of the raffia string means danger.

No can do.

Never mind. Wait.

He goes back into the carrier. The menu is too good to be resisted, eh? Thank you, Pet World 2013.

So we went back and forth this way for about 3 times: I tug on the string, he backs out.

I figured I cannot use the string method.

Improvise, quick!!

What else could I do? I had no stick, I had nothing with me except myself. I hadn't even gone into the house to get a towel yet.

So, I moved closer, one step at a time. Barefooted.

One small step at a time. That's all. Don't be greedy. Just one step at a time. If you don't catch him this time, never mind. Just let him feel confident with eating inside the carrier.

So, that's what I did. One small step, and by then, he had eaten half of the food left behind by Daffodil.

Taking one small step each time, I was now close enough to quickly slam the door shut, if I wanted to, but it would involve a really swift move. Will I be fast enough?

I doubt it, but what is there to lose, right?

Just do it, Nike's motto echoed in my ears.

And I did.

As swiftly as I could, in one stroke, I slammed the door shut and Mr Zurik pushed hard on the door. It was him against me. And he was very strong. I pulled up the lock and slammed it in. Took me twice to do it properly.

Slam!!

I trapped him, I trapped him!!

My Zurik struggled and the carrier was bouncing up and down, with the kibbles flying all over the porch. I was so sure he would break free as this is a new carrier and it hasn't been reinforced with tape yet.

"Get me a towel!!", I shouted to my son.

He didn't struggle for too long. Smart cat.

I decided to take him directly to the vet's and pay for one night's boarding.

He can be fasted for tonight and the procedure can be done tomorrow.

We drove to the vet's.

He was quiet throughout the journey. I talked soothingly to him and of course I felt bad, but it's for your own good, Mr Zurik. You'll be a happier cat and you'll be protected from testicular and prostate cancers later in life, you know. I sounded like a medical insurance salesperson.

We reached the vet's and I enlisted help to take the carrier safely into the clinic without any jailbreak. The vet said she had never seen any cat break out of this type of carrier, but I said I have - my own Bunny and Indy!

We got the carrier safely inside the clinic. Phew! The vet said since Mr Zurik is fierce, she will put the whole carrier into a larger cage and leave him be for the night so that he could calm down. This is how they do it with fierce TNR-cases. They will be okay, she assured me. He's also eaten half the food already, so he shouldn't be too hungry. In any case, the vet assured me he'll be okay as this is their normal procedure.

My Zurik weighed a healthy 4.75kg.

Tomorrow, they will see how he is. If he is calm and not aggressive, they will take him out, examine him and then sedate him for the procedure. If he is still fierce, they will transfer him from the carrier into the squeeze cage and sedate him inside the squeeze cage. The vet prefers the former, so that's good. They will not use the squeeze cage unless it is absolutely necessary.

I told the vet Mr Zurik isn't particularly fierce, just incredibly smart.

The vet also showed me the next cage where the iron bar is broken. It was broken by a cat who then escaped and ended up on the ceiling. Yes, cats can break iron bars and escape. When there's a will, there's a way.

I said some comforting words to Mr Zurik (who appeared calm) and assured him I'll come take him home tomorrow afternoon.

I reached home and saw the scattered kibbles in the porch. A reminder of the adventure and successful trapping of Mr Zurik half an hour ago. My heart was still pounding. I don't feel particularly elated, actually. Feeling a little bad at having to trap him so unceremoniously, but consoling myself that it is for the greater good. Hopefully, he will stop terrorising my patio cats after being neutered (hopefully!). And hopefully, he will be happier cat after this - no more mating instinct, just eat and enjoy life, right?

I pray all will be well for Mr Zurik and that we will have him safely home tomorrow evening.

Connie says I should go console the shrews later. Yes, I should. They might miss Mr Zurik tonight and wonder what had happened to their leader. And Igor might launch a counter attack on me... Yikes! I had better go out in protective gear tomorrow morning.

But most importantly, please pray for Mr Zurik's safe surgery and may he be back home soon...happily.

On hindsight, the credit for today's successful apprehension of Mr Zurik actually goes to...Daffodil! She helped me "trick" Mr Zurik into entering Jojo's Feeding Station! And our brave girl was so cool through it all (check out the photos above)!

Hooray for Daffodil!

P.S. And do you remember, it was Rosie who tricked Mr Quack into getting trapped last time? Like mother like daughter, eh? What will I do without my able assistants!

http://myanimalcare.org/2012/12/19/ladies-and-gentleman-may-i-present-mr-q-plan-d/ (the same modus operandi too!)