Watching TV, eating salad, sneezing!

What are you doing this evening?

I’m already on antibiotics…

I’m trying to eat healthily, but I had my tea before I saw this prompt, so this is a free photo.

The antibiotics are for an infection in my leg. I didn’t expect to feel rough on them. But now I think I’ve been coming down with a cold (a viral infection) and the antibiotics won’t help with it.

So feeling tired and achy so I have been watching TV this evening instead of going to a meeting I was due at. I didn’t sleep well last night so I’ve been napping a few times over the day. The only trouble is that the sneezing woke me up twice! Atishoo! We all fall down!

Long day

My upstairs stairs window.

My life had been quiet during the last few weeks. Long boring days, my ivy has been growing and I can trace it’s growth in my memory, almost like watching paint dry. I need to get someone in to help.

My brain was frazzled by the heat and now it’s getting cold I’m more interested in keeping warm and cozy. The cats keep me company, either on my lap or on the bed. The last three days have been worse, the skin on my legs is sore and I’m starting a course of antibiotics tomorrow. I think I have a temperature. I’ve been too stationary with not being able to drive so I think I need bucking up a bit. I’ll try and do a bit of walking tomorrow. Fingers crossed I’ll feel more myself soon. X

Home!

After another sleepless night I got up and tried calling my cat again. I whistled and shouted but nothing. I had been concerned because when I saw him on Thursday night his chin looked strange and slightly swollen. I had decided to take him to the vets but now it was two days later and him going missing made this impossible.

A woman had contacted me to say she was his previous owner. She had not abandoned him but he had gone astray and although they had searched for months after leaving they had not found him. It was only when I put a missing post on Facebook about him that she spotted him and realised it was her old cat. With her and her husband’s help we managed to  walk over rough ground round the backs of houses and flats. It was actually this lady who spotted the cat in a little hutch in a back garden. There was a bowl of water and some food nearby. When we called to him “our” cat came out but was very lethargic and just sat staring at us. It was clearly our (both of us) cat. At that point another neighbour came round the corner and climbed the fence to get the cat. It leapt over the fence and scurried off and into my garden through the hedge.

Off I went to try and catch him. The woman and her husband followed and together we got the cat into a cat carrier. I told them I would take him to the vets as he was looking really poorly. We all agreed that he should stay with me as I’d been looking after him for the last 6 years but I realised she was really upset to part with him again. I don’t think I would have been able to find him without her and her husbands help.

Eventually I made an emergency vets appointment. The vet saw he had an abscess in his jaw and gave my cat a shot of long lasting antibiotics. I also have painkiller liquid to give him. Now it’s just a case of keeping him in for a while. At the moment he’s fast asleep!…

Medicating the cat

What are you doing this evening?

Waiting to give my cat his medicine… My cat has had an abscess, probably swiped by another cat. He’s got antibiotic tablets, but he won’t take them crushed up with food. They are big and I have to quarter them then crush each bit up and give them to him twice a day.

I need my hubbys help. We wrap him up in a towel then I’ve dissolved the tablet in a bit of water and I’ve got a small pet syringe, so we have to use that to squirt the medication in his mouth. The trouble is I have to wear gloves as I’m allergic to the medicine. So it’s a bit of a fight. I’ve got a bite to my finger, but I can’t blame the cat for being scared.

We managed to give him his tablet this morning and now this evening, He’s not impressed, only another six days to go! He’s getting a nice treat afterwards. That seems to help a bit. He needs to take the full course.

Scientists?

What profession do you admire most and why?

The industrial revolution in Britain and Europe began the transformation of alchemy to science. Inventions were happening and knowledge became more and more important.

As instruments improved things like telescopes and microscopes gave us a better understanding of the micro and macro aspects of life and the universe. We could see smaller and smaller living organisms, such as unicellular plants and animals, and then bacteria and finally viruses.

That understanding gave us vaccinations and antibiotics and began to initiate preventative medicine instead of simply trying to deal with the ravages of Plague and poxes.

There are many branches of science where humans have delved into how things work. They may have started as a philosophical perspective, such as Geography and Meteorology, but then deeper understanding of the underlying issues. Dinosaurs and fossils were discovered. The age of the the Earth extended from the supposed 6000 years since the biblical flood backwards over millions, then billions of years.

Meanwhile Issac Newton was discovering the ‘clockwork’ universe. Where stars moved in their courses. What then happened took decades and centuries, but scientists like Einstein changed the modern world.

I’ve been watching “The Ascent of Man”, by Jacob Bronowski, talking about all the changes and revolutionary things that happened in the last few centuries. It not only covers discoveries, but also how destructive factories could be to humanity. Thankfully not all manufacturers treated their workforces so badly.

I conclusion there is simply too much to discuss about sciences, it is impossible to understand all their aspects. But hopefully we can use science to improve our world, even if it’s only to work out methods that are less destructive to nature.

Getting better…

His eye and face are much better now. We are still giving him antibiotics, difficult as he won’t eat them mixed in for, so we wrap him in a towel and try and open his mouth. It’s a tricky situation, but I think he knows he needs the stuff. The only thing is he won’t stay in, so it’s a case of pouncing on him and grabbing him. Does anyone have a good way of giving medicine? I might crush a bit of tablet and use his other medication syringe (to put liquid medication on his food) to give him the tablets mixed with water. We will have to see.

Getting better

I finally got a photo of the cats eye… Its still red, but the iris is showing more clearly now and the transparency is coming back a bit although it is still slightly cloudy. His eye looks wet as I had just put the drops in. I will keep looking after him (he hates it, he really does squirm). He should be going down the vets in the morning.

Cats Eye

Take a photo of your cats eye said the vet on Tuesday. Then we will be able to compare how it’s changing.

Good idea, the cat injured its eye when it disappeared (trapped in a shed /garage) and they need to know if it’s improving. But, my cat keeps closing his eyes when I go near. Either in a friendly way, or because I’m advancing on him with eye drops.

So, all I can say is that it is improving slowly. He’s avoided having the drops a few times and he’s managed to lick out the antibiotic tablets I’m giving him a few times. It’s frustrating but I just have to do what I can. X

How can the cat trust me?

Since he came home, I’ve had to give my cat eye drops and antibiotics. Every day he sits a bit further away from me. He is a bit more wary, nervous. It’s not surprising. Yesterday he was checked over by a vet and given another lot of antibiotics. I understand why, he needs them to help him heal. But it doesn’t make it any easier. If he wasn’t such a patient cat I don’t know what I would have done…. X

Cat update

My cat is making slow progress but I hope he’s on the mend. He went missing the Wednesday before last and came back on Thursday. He was gone eight days. His paws and legs were covered in a tarry substance. He had hurt his mouth and has an ulcerated eye.

He has eye drops and antibiotics, he’s only able to eat soft food (not much) because of his mouth. He’s always been fussy over food so it’s hard to get him to eat anything. I’ve tried pate type cat foods, cat soup, soft and tiny bits of meat (sorry any vegetarians).

It’s taking time to nurse him so I might not be here much over the next few days. X