Nursing duty

We've been nursing a sick kitty since Thursday -- I found our little Muggle lying limply on the back patio Wednesday evening, unable to make her back legs work properly, and very listless.

For a day we watched to see if she'd get better on her own; I spoonfed her water and what little food she'd swallow. She'd crawl in and out of a little cat house we'd put back there, sometimes lying on the patio, sometimes in the house, pretty nonresponsive. Friday we took her to our vet who ruled out neurological damage and took Xrays to check for breaks. He said it appeared to be soft tissue damage from something and sent us home with antibiotic and pain killers. He also shaved her hips, which were solidly matted from all the burrs and foxtail and Medusaheads that abound here, so she really looks even more pathetic, with her long black fur on part of her back and the bald patches.

I made a loose corral around the door and her house since she wasn't able to move very far -- but Sunday morning she was gone. We looked all over, called, checked everywhere, but no cat. Yesterday afternoon we spotted her under the RV, her favorite place, but she was squarely in the middle of the gravel pad underneath it so there was no way to reach for her, and neither of us were about to crawl under it. We coaxed...to no avail.

Today I watched her hoist herself up onto the undercarriage, her favorite hiding place, and she spent most of the day there. I put out water and some food, which Weasley -- our six-toed Manx ginger cat who was lounging near the back of the pad -- thought was wonderful: room service!

Late this afternoon I saw her on the ground again, and went out to see. Sitting on an old rug, I talked softly, urging her to have some food, some water, a little of the milk/soft food slurry I'd brought, but she was still beyond reach, although she did come to drink -- but not near enough. I patted the old rug I was sitting on, calling her to come to momma. Clearly she was more mobile than she'd been, and maybe a little more responsive. So I poked the elastic cord from the tire cover at her paw. Muggle could ALWAYS be lured out of hiding with a long blade of grass or a piece of string, and today was no exception.

WHACK. The paw snagged the looped end, and she didn't let go. So I pulled slowly until she was in reach and nabbed her.

She's residing in the bathroom tonight with litter box, bed, food, and water, and has been medicated. That's where she'll stay for now.

We're a little more hopeful.