Abelard is still struggling to get well

He's back on antibiotics because I don't think the ear infection ever
cleared up completely, the bottom of the back of his ear is bare of fur and
slightly reddened from scratching and his balance is still not right. He has
definitely improved and is eating and drinking well, but not gaining back
much of the lost weight. We may have to try a different drug in a week or
so. He's still impossible to pill so I am mixing he capsule contents with
water and giving it via syringe.

One change since I started taking him outside, now he wants to be taken out
constantly and will slip out the front door given the slightest opportunity.
I've fashioned a very long leash from clothesline rope and he will spend the
whole afternoon roaming the yard on the end of that line while I work on the
fence.

Pat wrote:

He's back on antibiotics because I don't think the ear infection ever
cleared up completely, the bottom of the back of his ear is bare of fur and
slightly reddened from scratching and his balance is still not right. He has
definitely improved and is eating and drinking well, but not gaining back
much of the lost weight. We may have to try a different drug in a week or
so. He's still impossible to pill so I am mixing he capsule contents with
water and giving it via syringe.

Poor guy. I hope he's feeling OK in spite of his low weight.

One change since I started taking him outside, now he wants to be taken out
constantly and will slip out the front door given the slightest opportunity.
I've fashioned a very long leash from clothesline rope and he will spend the
whole afternoon roaming the yard on the end of that line while I work on the
fence.

That's great. Just don't make the mistake I made and leave him out there
on the leash unsupervised! (Maybe you're not as dumb as I was, though.)

Fattening-up purrs on the way.

--
Joyce

To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^

wrote

| Poor guy. I hope he's feeling OK in spite of his low weight.

He seems to feel good, and although he still looks too thin, he is
definitely getting heavier.

| I've fashioned a very long leash from clothesline rope and he will spend
the
| whole afternoon roaming the yard on the end of that line while I work on
the
| fence.
|
| That's great. Just don't make the mistake I made and leave him out there
| on the leash unsupervised!

Of course not. Well, I may go inside if I need to for a few minutes, but I
wait until he is napping and in a spot where he can be seen from the window.
He has a snug harness and has never been able to get out of it. I took Tommy
out with us the other day and he did manage to slip out of the harness, but
he is so attached to me that he didn't leave the immediate vicinity.

"Pat" wrote in message
et...

wrote

| Poor guy. I hope he's feeling OK in spite of his low weight.

He seems to feel good, and although he still looks too thin, he is
definitely getting heavier.

| I've fashioned a very long leash from clothesline rope and he will
spend
the
| whole afternoon roaming the yard on the end of that line while I work
on
the
| fence.
|
| That's great. Just don't make the mistake I made and leave him out there
| on the leash unsupervised!

Of course not. Well, I may go inside if I need to for a few minutes, but I
wait until he is napping and in a spot where he can be seen from the
window.
He has a snug harness and has never been able to get out of it. I took
Tommy
out with us the other day and he did manage to slip out of the harness,
but
he is so attached to me that he didn't leave the immediate vicinity.



There is a much bigger problem than slipping out of his harness. That is,
if a predator happens to get into your yard, a cat attached to a leash is
helpless -- and that can happen in just a matter of seconds. That's why it
is not a good idea to tie a cat out on a harness and leash. Those "few
minutes" when you are absent can be equated to the "few minutes" that people
sometimes think is safe to leave a cat or dog in a locked car on a hot
summer day. Terrible things can happen in a short period of time.

MaryL

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote

| There is a much bigger problem than slipping out of his harness. That is,
| if a predator happens to get into your yard, a cat attached to a leash is
| helpless -- and that can happen in just a matter of seconds. That's why
it
| is not a good idea to tie a cat out on a harness and leash. Those "few
| minutes" when you are absent can be equated to the "few minutes" that
people
| sometimes think is safe to leave a cat or dog in a locked car on a hot
| summer day. Terrible things can happen in a short period of time.

What sort of predator did you have in mind? Remember, I live near the center
of town, and there is a leash law, which means generally no dogs roaming
about.

"Pat" wrote in message
et...

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote

| There is a much bigger problem than slipping out of his harness. That
is,
| if a predator happens to get into your yard, a cat attached to a leash
is
| helpless -- and that can happen in just a matter of seconds. That's why
it
| is not a good idea to tie a cat out on a harness and leash. Those "few
| minutes" when you are absent can be equated to the "few minutes" that
people
| sometimes think is safe to leave a cat or dog in a locked car on a hot
| summer day. Terrible things can happen in a short period of time.

What sort of predator did you have in mind? Remember, I live near the
center
of town, and there is a leash law, which means generally no dogs roaming
about.



A dog (or dogs) would be my primary example, and possibly even an aggressive
cat. We also have a leash law, but that does not mean there are no dogs
roaming off the leash.

MaryL

MaryL -out-the-litter wrote:

There is a much bigger problem than slipping out of his harness. That is,
if a predator happens to get into your yard, a cat attached to a leash is
helpless -- and that can happen in just a matter of seconds. That's why it
is not a good idea to tie a cat out on a harness and leash. Those "few
minutes" when you are absent can be equated to the "few minutes" that people
sometimes think is safe to leave a cat or dog in a locked car on a hot
summer day. Terrible things can happen in a short period of time.

I can't argue with you here. I (and Smudge) learned this the hard way.

--
Joyce

To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^

Pat wrote:

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote

| There is a much bigger problem than slipping out of his harness. That is,
| if a predator happens to get into your yard, a cat attached to a leash is
| helpless -- and that can happen in just a matter of seconds.

What sort of predator did you have in mind? Remember, I live near the center
of town, and there is a leash law, which means generally no dogs roaming
about.

We have leash laws where I live, too. But that didn't stop someone from
dumping a couple of big dogs in my neighborhood, who went on to attack and
nearly kill Smudge.

--
Joyce

To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^

"Pat" wrote in message
et...

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote

| There is a much bigger problem than slipping out of his harness. That
is,
| if a predator happens to get into your yard, a cat attached to a leash
is
| helpless -- and that can happen in just a matter of seconds. That's why
it
| is not a good idea to tie a cat out on a harness and leash. Those "few
| minutes" when you are absent can be equated to the "few minutes" that
people
| sometimes think is safe to leave a cat or dog in a locked car on a hot
| summer day. Terrible things can happen in a short period of time.

What sort of predator did you have in mind? Remember, I live near the
center
of town, and there is a leash law, which means generally no dogs roaming
about.




You have written in the past about your problems with dogs running loose,
despite the lease law. Here's an example from one of your messages
(reprinted in its entirety):
http://tinyurl.com/6b46xy

Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
From: "Pat"
Date: Mon, 21 May 2007 21:41:58 -0500
Local: Mon, May 21 2007 9:41 pm
Subject: Advice, please!! - (long)
Reply to author | Forward | Print | Individual message | Show original |
Report this message | Find messages by this author
I'm stuck between all sorts of rocks and hard places here and am about to
lose my mind. I have to do something about it, and would like some input.

First, the background:

I am surrounded by neighbors with dogs that bark all night long. If one's
quiet, others aren't. Most nights they keep me from getting a good rest.
It's only a little bit easier in winter because I can keep the windows
closed, but I can't do that all year without air conditioning.

The neighbor on the west has three dogs that they lock in the utility room,
spitting distance from my bedroom window, every night. They leave an outside
door wide open with a gate across the bottom half so the dogs can't get out,
and the inner door is closed to the rest of their house, and they sleep on
the opposite side of the house with their bedroom door shut so they don't
hear their own dogs barking all night.

The dogs run loose all the time, which is against a city leash law, and they
poop in my yard daily as well as tear into trash cans and leave trash of all
kinds scattered all over my yard.

One of these dogs has attacked children riding bicycles along the street and
has attacked me twice and has attacked the man across the street also.

This evening I caught the woman letting the dogs run through my yard and
asked her politely to please keep them in her own yard. She started bitching
at me, and I told her those dogs keep me awake all the time, and that
there's not only a leash law but also a barking law, and that I've put up
with a lot from their dogs and never complained to the police about them
because I wanted to be neighborly, but by God do I not also deserve a bit of
consideration?

Then her husband starting yelling at me to get off of their property (I was
standing between the two houses talking to the woman and not really paying
attention to which side of the property line I was on) or he was going to
have me arrested for trespassing.

He also said not to complain to him about the dogs, that they NEVER bark at
night and NEVER leave his yard, and it must be other dogs that I hear and
whose poop I walk through, etc. and that I had better call the police about
it, and if I want solitude I should move out to the country.

Well because of this attitude I am thinking it's time to make a formal
complaint. The lady who used to live across the street says she will testify
to seeing them let those dogs run into my yard all the time and she also saw
the attack on the child on the bicycle. I'm going to try and find the child,
and speak with the man across the street who got attacked also.

It's pure luck that no one has been hurt so far. That dog came after me
growling and snarling on two different occasions and scared the life out of
me. I can only imagine how scared the boy must have been. The owners of the
dogs know about the attacks. Every time one happens, they will keep that dog
tied up for a few weeks, but then they go back to letting it run free.


What has stopped me so far from making a formal complaint is (a) my word
against theirs (which has now been solved), (b) not wanting to make an enemy
(I no longer have a choice on that part), and (c) fear of retaliation -
e.g., they set fire to my house, or poison the cats once I can let them out
into the yard.

Ideally, this whole group purrs up a reason for these folks to just MOVE
OUT. Or I find a way to buy that house (it's for sale) and rent it to
tenants of my own choosing.

Failing that, what do you think I ought to do? I haven't had a decent
night's sleep in 16 months, and it is literally killing me, and no way on
earth will I risk the safety of the cats, but they deserve to be able to go
outside.

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote

| You have written in the past about your problems with dogs running loose,
| despite the lease law. Here's an example from one of your messages
| (reprinted in its entirety):
| http://tinyurl.com/6b46xy

Those people moved away last summer.