I had a great day: recorded some stuff for an English web site, read my book over an extended lunch, then did some voices for very cute cartoons. I met Simon, Constance and Sophie for wonderful hotpot and silly chat then went home to feed the beasties. About 150 m from my home I saw Little One hanging out by the side of the road. "Little One~~! Hello, Little One!" I called out to her. She looked at me curiously: the voice sounded right but the full-face yellow helmet did mask some essential features. I rolled a few feet closer, she sashayed a few feet away. "Come home for dinner, Little One, real chicken tonight!" I said, before driving home.
After feeding the dogs and other cats, I figured I'd take Dodo out for a short walk and bring Little One in. Although she can jump over the perimeter wall by herself, I feel safer if they are in for the night. I grabbed my torch, made sure I had my keys and cell phone and went out into the night. I started calling her. Within about twenty seconds I thought I heard her answer. I walked in the direction of the miaow, she sounded closer. She was about four metres up the mountain, near the road. I called her down but she just miaowed plantively. I considered walking away but thought I'd just pop up and have a look where she was resting. "Pop up" was not the correct term: on my fifth attempt I managed to scramble up this pile of loose dirt and rotten roots.
Little One hadn't come down because her paw was stuck in a trap! Poor Little One. At that point she had only been there for probably 25 minutes max. I tried to get the trap off her, but couldn't open it (it looks like a mini 'bear trap', with two semi-circles that snap painfully together. One side has 'teeth' which are squared off, not sharp.) After a few minutes of struggling--while trying not to slide down or distress Little One any further--I called Constance. Simon came down a few minutes later with wire cutters which he passed up to me. I cut the wire attaching the trap to a tree then (carefully!) reversed down with Little One still attached to the trap. We went to my house and tried to get the trap off of Little One. I held her steady as Simon pushed down with all his might. The jaws opened a little and I tried to ease Little One's paw out. This was clearly a painful process for Little One which led to her frantically trying to escape and biting me rather painfully on the finger. We ceased activity for a moment and studied the trap. Sudddenly--ding!--I knew what to do. I put the trap and Little One on the floor and told Simon to step on the mechanism. The jaws opened and Little One's paw came out. Phew! Thank you Simon!!
I took her upstairs and cleaned off her paw, the skin was a little torn. She tried to walk but it didn't look normal (an extra joint? Yech.) I called Sean of Animals Taiwan and he said I should definitely take Little One to the vet. I called my vet on his cell (it was his day off) and asked him to recommend another local vet. "You can't just go to any vet! You must take her to my friend in Yung Ho." Sigh, that's like 20 km away. My heroine, Constance, willingly drove us to Yung Ho. Turns out that Dr Jen is her old vet from when she lived in Yung Ho 15 years ago! He normally closes at 9:30 but stayed open an extra 15 minutes waiting for us to arrive. Another hero! The X-ray clinic was shut by then, so he just cleaned off Little One's paw (her 'forearm', in cats does that have a special name?), put some iodine on it, some cotton then a stretchy bandage to keep the entire limb immobile. He followed up with a shot of antibiotics and a painkiller. Unfortunately, the antibiotic for today will render yesterday's vaccinations useless. Rats. She'll have to go back for another vaccination in a month or so. As I was leaving the vet he gave me his card with his cell phone number and told me to call anytime. Wow, that's dedication.
We stopped off at a pet store to buy an animal cage. I do have one but LW is currently in residence in it.
Tomorrow morning I will not be going to the National Palace Museum as planned. I will be taking Little One to the Xindian vet, then the X-ray clinic, back to the vet and then home. Yippee.
So, a bad day for Little One. It could have ended so much worse, though, that I really can't grumble too much. I suspect that this might have been Latte's fate, my cat who disappeared ten months ago. Ah, the choices we havve to make for our pets: Keep them inside, safe and bored; or let them go outside to run, play and have adventures, knowing that there are many dangers lurking beyond the garden wall. I'm all for freedom--better a short, full, exciting and sweet life than life imprisonment.
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