Let me start off by saying I have caught Will, our cat, a number of times. Awhile back I could even hold and pet him without any problems. Well Friday morning I caught him at the food bowl so we could take him to the vet. I had him by the scruff of his neck and his back legs. A large area on his neck was scabbed over from a fight of some sort. So as I was trying to put him in the carrier my hand slipped off the scruff on the back of his neck so all I had was his back legs. To make a long story short he got a hold of my leg and bit me. I still managed to get him in the cat carrier, but we did not get the door latched in time and he escaped. Since this cat has not had his shots (the reason we were trying to catch him was to get his shots and have him neutered) and since he has clearly been in several fights, rabies is an issue. We ended up trapping the cat in the night Friday (which is what we should have done to begin with, I should have read Kitty’s comment sooner~ LOL), took him to the vet Saturday morning, and our vet will have him sent to K-State to test for rabies. My dh and I have nearly made ourselves sick over the whole thing. We feel really bad for the cat (we know longer call him by his name because it is too hard). I feel responsible for getting bit and making him the bad cat. He didn’t come after me. He was just scared; considering at the time he bit me I was holding him by his back legs only. I would have bit me too. It did make us feel a little better about our decision to take the cat in when our neighbor told us he had to shoot a skunk in the daylight two days prior. The skunk didn’t run from him, spray, or anything. Scary! I cannot go to the doctor yet for antibiotics or blood tests for any other infections or blood diseases (which I have been informed they carry many) because our health department is very aggressive when rabies is suspected. The hospital told me even if the cat is on its way to K-State, and they will have the results in a day they still make the patient undergo the first round of rabies shots just to be safe. There are a million reasons I did not want to start the rabies shots unless absolutely necessary. I have a nine day window (but will allow myself 4-5 at the absolute most). We are hoping to have the results of the test tomorrow (Tuesday), so I can get into my doctor Tuesday or early Wednesday.
Even with all this excitement I did managed to get a few things done. Friday afternoon I cleaned house, baked bread, and made a fabulous meatloaf for my dh who is dealing with me and my emotional rollercoaster like a champ. LOL Saturday he had to help change out a tire on Dad’s combine, so I hung out with my Grandma who also helped me through my struggles Friday morning when I didn’t know whether to go to the doctor or try to trap the cat. With any luck (and no rain) they will start cutting what is left of the wheat harvest this week. They are calling for rain pretty much all week, so it’s not going to be good. Everyone in this area is struggling to make the minimum test weight the co-ops and elevators will accept, so anymore rain and the elevators may start refusing the wheat or taking it for animal feed (a huge financial hit). My parent’s are so stressed between the sheep battling worms due to the wet conditions and the wheat doing so poorly. Here in Kansas we generally pray for rain, but for once in my lifetime we will be praying for sunny, hot days to come.
Sunday, we wormed our sheep again for fear they were battling them. Sure enough, most of their mouths were pale and even slightly gray (a sign of worms). We didn’t have the wormer for Hank, the llama, so we have to worm him tonight. We missed church because we were worming, but it just had to be done. Dad lost ewes and lambs to worms before he got it stopped, so we had to be on our toes. My dh mowed while I mulched, thinned plants, and transplanted plants. Someday our Sundays are going to be our day of rest. We know this is important, but for now we just cannot do it. We have been doctoring a ewe with a torn teat for over two weeks now, and it got infected Friday, exactly two weeks after we started treating her. Thursday it looked nearly healed, but Friday when she came in it was a mess again. She won’t allow the lambs to nurse, so we also have to milk her out every evening. Last night it looked a lot better, so we are hoping our evening milkings will come to a screeching halt soon.
Spring ’08 is the tentative date dh and I have decided on for my last days at work. We have discussed all the things I can do and ways to make it possible for me to do even more at home. We will need to build equipment for livestock handing, so I can do it on my own. I will be in charge of mowing and weed eating (since my husband has asthma this should be my responsibility anyway). I will take care of the pool, and I will have time to take care of our home by cleaning and decorating, and have more time for crafts. I am so excited and can’t wait for this day to come.
Hope everyone is having a great Monday!
A Simple Prairie Life 