Scary Day

Morty, my sweet, but sometimes mischievious yellow cat, has been the subject of many posts lately, and today is no exception. In "Morty's adventure," I told the story of how he ripped through the screen on my back porch and escaped. Well he did it again, but this time it was much more harmful to my poor boy. I have spent the day in a terrible nervous state, but now, in the wee hours of the morning, I finally feel he's going to be ok.
Yesterday (Tuesday), I was awakened by the telephone ringing. It was our cats' vet, returning a call we'd made about one of our outdoor cats. When the call ended, I rang Dave at work to relay what the Doctor had said. In the course of my conversation with Dave, I glanced out the bedroom window and that's when I noticed something amiss. Last week, after Morty escaped, Dave cut a sheet of pet resistant screen, which he stapled onto the screen door to cover the hole Morty had escaped through. This was meant to be a temporary fix until he had time to fix it properly. When I looked out this morning, I noticed the staples had been uprooted, and the hole in the original screen torn bigger. I jumped out of bed, telling Dave that Morty had escaped again, and I needed to find him. After I hung up the phone, I looked out the other bedroom window and was relieved to see Morty lying on his cat tree, in the safety of the screened porch. Apparantly his new adventure was over, and he'd returned. A search though the house revealed that my other five indoor cats were safely inside as well, so I began to relax. I fed the cats, Got Mr. Bojangle (the outdoor cat we'd called the vet about) ready for his noon appointment, and waited for Dave to get home for his lunch break. At this time, I had no idea we would be heading back to the vets office so soon...
When I had examined Morty earlier I noticed some dried blood on his leg. I wrongly assumed he'd simply cut his leg on one of the staples or the screen. I petted and comforted him a bit, then went about my business. Since he normally sleeps most of the morning hours away, I thought nothing of him lying around. Dave stapled the screen back down (using heavier staples), we took Bo to the vet, then ate lunch. As Dave was preparing to go back to work, I asked him if he'd take a look at Morty. I was getting conserned because he normally comes around to greet Dave during his break, but he still hadn't moved from his spot. Dave petted him a bit, then turned him on his other side, causing him to yowl in pain, and that's when we saw it. A huge bite wound on his other leg, where he'd apparantly gotten into a fight during his little misadventure. I got on the phone after Dave went back to work, and made Morty a three o' clock appointment. It was just an hour away, but for some reason, the time seemed to drag on, causing my imagination to run wild. Finally, my anxiety getting the better of me, I called Dave at work, crying because Morty had refused one of his treats. He loves these treats. I was so scared, that Dave called my cousin (and pastor's wife) to ask if they'd go with me to the vet's. Being perhaps the nicest people ever, not only did they agree to go with me, they even drove. Morty was examined and given a pain injection, and a slow releasing antibiotic injection, good for two weeks.
I'm pleased to report that after spending the evening in hiding (and in a great deal of pain, poor baby), he's finally showing signs of normal behavior. I'm so thankful. I don't know if it's because of my anxiety disorder, the stress, or just my imagination, but I was terrified I was going to lose him. I know mommys aren't supposed to have favorites, but Morty is extremely special to me. Please pray for my boy's complete healing, and that the screen will hold this time.