In Which Mystery Has A Bad Week And Humans Have His Back

Our human had a catio built for our cat family a few months ago. In particular, the catio is for Mystery, who is Garden Kitty in chief. He prefers to live in the yard and spends some of his time at the neighbors’ where they love him too.

Mystery isn’t that thrilled about giving up his patrolling, so he didn’t move into the catio right away. In the meantime, Meggy, Reggie and Karma spent a lot of time playing out there. The catio screens enclose a concrete slab porch, a few feet of sidewalk and a border with mulch and some plants. We can go straight out into the catio through a door near a litter box station inside.

No one had been in the catio at all for a few weeks because it’s cold outside (well, cold for us, anyway). Now, Mystery is in there in his little house recuperating.

Mystery had one of the worst weeks a cat could imagine.

First, he got hit by a car early one morning. The men working on the house across the street and the neighbor who loves him were there. He laid in the street for a few minutes but ran off before anyone could get to him. Later, he came for breakfast and UH didn’t notice anything wrong. In fact, the humans wouldn’t have known about the accident if our neighbor hadn’t written Robin on Facebook about it. She ran outside to find him, and he was very happy to be cuddled, but nothing seemed wrong at all. She did take him to the vet, and he was, indeed, no worse for the accident.

What got him down is a bite from another cat.

Some time between Wednesday dinner and Thursday breakfast, someone bit him on his back leg (the vet said, “You’ve got to run faster, buddy!”). UH called him for breakfast, and he didn’t come. Then she saw him in his house (Robin’s Dad sent the little green house with a heated pad for Christmas for the Garden Kitties.). She wasn’t sure if he was alive or dead, so she waited for Robin. Mystery did move his head, but he cried when Robin touched his back. The human’s feared the worst, so they called the vet as soon as the office opened, and they took Mystery there right away, house and all.

Once he was on the examining table, and moving around a bit, Robin noticed a furless patch on his back leg. Then the vet found the bite nearby. Mystery had a fever, too, and his leg was swollen. For all that, he got an antibiotic shot. (Turns out he weighs 13 and the tech said he’s “stout,” too).

Mystery was angry about all this and hissed and spit when the humans asked him to go in the carrier for the ride home.

He was just as mad that he got out of the carrier in an enclosed place. He checked it all out from one end to the other looking for ways to get out, I imagine. He found a place between the screen and the concrete and was briefly stuck there. I’m glad he trusts Robin, or he’d still be stuck in that spot. She asked him to get his front legs up on the porch (she’d seen him get that far). Then, she took hold of his armpits from behind his head and popped him out like a cork. A stout cork, indeed.

Eventually he crashed in his house. Robin and UH go out and hold his dish for him. He’ll eat if he doesn’t have to put weight on his leg to do it. He’s eating wet food and has had some kibbles and water too.

Robin and UH worked hard in the catio today to find a good way to plug the house in because it’s going to be chilly tonight. Mystery stayed in the little house and watched them with the ladder and tools. He’s been out once that Robin saw and has also moved around to different positions inside the house.

Thank goodness that he trusts the humans enough to let them take care of him. Our humans deserve our trust. They try really hard to help all of us flourish in our own way.

Meggy says, “I hope Mystery will stay in the catio where fast cars and cats can’t get him. I know Mom will build us another one to play in!”

3 thoughts on “In Which Mystery Has A Bad Week And Humans Have His Back

  1. Oh noooo – poor Mystery. It was so glad Robin and HH were/are so vigilant about the garden kitties. I’m sending some healing purrs to Mystery – he needs them. We hope he gets better soon.,

Leave a Reply to Katie Cat (@katieboocat) Cancel reply