Yesterday, I took my doggies in for their annual poke, prod, and shots. Both are doing OK overall - Pixel needs to get her teeth cleaned and Bernie has a touch of arthritis in her hips. Pix will go back in June when the Perfect Child[sup]TM[/sup] is out of school and can take her so I don’t need to miss work for doggy dental. Bernie needs an aspirin morning and night for pain management. Considering Pix is 8 and Bernie’s 7, I think that’s pretty good.
So, after we were done and the kid took the doggies out to the dog walk area while I settled the bill, a young guy came in with a cat in a carrier. (I should mention, I use the Clay County Humane Society clinic - it’s low cost, non-profit, and I like the vets there.) Anyway, the guy had found the cat and he suspected it had rabies and needed to be put down. The no-kill shelter directed him to the Humane Society Clinic.
At first, I thought they were going to send him to Animal Control - the clinic is not equipped to handle abandoned animals. And while they were talking, the cat let out the most unearthly yowl I’d ever heard from an animal. It was drooling and obviously not well. Suddenly the tone of the vet and vet’s assistant changed. Then wanted the info from the guy about where he found the cat, did it contact his cats, did he need the carrier back right away… The sick cat yowled again - just as eerily as the first time. It was obvious that this poor animal was in a bad way.
They were going to have to put the cat down and check it for rabies. I expect to hear an alert in the next day or so about a rabies quarantine in the county. I’m glad my beasties have their shots up to date. I hope the critters in the woods behind the house stay clear of my yard - like the dogs would let anything get close. And I hope this was an isolated case.
Poor kitty - sick and scared and dying.
Keep your pets’ inoculations current.
