Just the Normal Madness

the late kitten, so sad

Loulou

 "To speak a language is to take on a world, a culture."  "In the world through which I travel, I am endlessly creating myself."  "The oppressed will always believe the worst about themselves." Frantz Fanon.  "Even if it is hunger that killed a man, people still want to eat at his funeral." "If your own dog keeps barking at you, someone else is feeding it." Jabah Funniebo.  "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in a large crowd." " If a dog chases its own tail, it has a reason. "  Ubuntu African Proverb. "All are equal, some are more equal than others."  George Orwell (Animal Farm).                                                   The pretty young girl who had taken home the remaining kitten left in front of my door, returned and asked for a bit of food and a sweet. The third time she arrived she wanted just a sweet. So I asked her whether the kitten was okay. This she confirmed. I felt she didn't tell me the truth, therefore I inquired: No salami (sausage for pets)? The answer was no. Strange, I thus insisted, is the kitten dead? At the same time I imitated a sleeping/dead face. Sadly she said yes. I cannot judge what went wrong, sudden death is unfortunately quite common among cat babies, in particular if separated too young from the mother, ideally only after 12 weeks, but not less than 6 weeks. My brave Johnny, who already has to live with 2 in a complicate way broken bones (back thigh) of which one is pointing outwards, now suffers from cancer as well in the same area. One morning I discovered his big lump, sized like a small melon. The vet removered a lot of blood the lump was filled with. The poor darling amazingly accepts his fate, no screaming, no grumbling. I have been advised that it can not be operated, just like already his complicated bone injury. Meanwhile the bump is smaller, roughly orange sized. Johnny decided to ignore his handicap and try to be simply a normal cat. I admire my sweet black treasure who loves to cuddle in particular with his vice daddy (my husband). Myriam is another unfortunate cat. Years ago she lived on a Mosque compound, rised there her kittens successfully. Then one day she got hit by a car, lost one eye and ended up with a broken jaw. A neighbor took a photo and asked me to help her. The veterinarian did an excellent job and suggested that we keep her. At first Myriam was a bit shy and kept a distance to our other feral family members. But then we lived happily together until a few days ago when she fell off our staircase (presumably), couldn't walk, something was wrong with both her legs on her left side. I tested gently and they didn't seem to be broken. This the veterinarian confirmed, but under shock and possibly a nerve effected, pain near her backside. Presently there is an improvement with the prescribed medication. Unfortunately I cannot afford an x-ray which would provide a clearer picture. Anyhow, Myriam also suffers from constipation now, which can become a severe problem. Don't I know it from my own experience! (My tummy was killing me. ) The veterinarian managed with special movements of my little darling's lower body parts to make her do "her big business". A rapid solution for the moment. Back home Myriam drinks a lot and uses the toilet, but she just passes urine, in spite of her diet and medication. There is an improvement concerning her movement, but she's still not steady on her legs. A chance exists with another treatment and special (expensive) croquettes to overcome the constipation. All not easy, also financially. My blind boy, Loulou, in addition to his handicap, now also suffered from inwards growing eyelashes on both lids. So one more operation and pains. Slowly getting better, but presently I can't have him registered for a beauty competition. Better to choose others, perhapps black cats that suddenly changed colour from black to a beautiful warm reddish brown more or less starting at the height of their front legs, while others remained all black. - We repeatedly had to discover that some, (as far as we can judge) poor folks, whom we have helped, have a rather strange way to show their (not really expected) gratetude. They tried to trick us to spend even more. One woman who said she couldn't meet the costs for her sick/injured cat on 2 occasions (we then did), shamelessly told the next time she visited the recommended veterinarian that my husband would pay for her. This was not agreed and in addition came at a time when we were already kind of broke. Another example that really made me mad, neigbors with limited income, whom we helped (when we only had about 12 cats and less expenses) several times with various bills, also bought food, a nozzle, a necklace and a lead for their  dog, so he won't be mistaken for a stray dog, which can be dangerous around here, killed their Shepherd sized dog with rat poison when he fell ill. Unfortunately several supermarkets sell rat poison, thus available to every ignorant person, a very cruel way to kill. I have been called on 3 occasions when criminals gave this to a cat. I saw the terrible cramps, rushed the cat to our veterinarian and saved their lives.

Some where I read: "May life treat you the way you treat cats and dogs." By the way, the only son of the aforementioned neighbors decided after attending school for 3 years that he had enough education! This didn't induce his father to refrain from asking me for money for school books. My husband was shocked to have the son knocking at our door one day, holding a shopping list with 8 items, including a chicken and a bottle of oil. He said his mother wants us to buy these products for them. Strange folks. By the way, we were told at the time that they got the dog for their son as a companion. Wonder what will become of the boy as an adult. 

Myriam