When I came home from work today I expected Alex (my cat) to peak his head up from the couch, where he spends most days, look at me for a minute, and then jump down, stroll over, and demand some immediate attention. He’s been on his own all day, after all, so naturally his welcome should come before I get a chance to take of my jacket.
Fair enough.
But there was no Alex. He wasn’t on the couch. He wasn’t in the kitchen. He wasn’t on my bed and he wasn’t in the second bedroom. He wasWhen I came home from work today I expected Alex (my cat) to peak his head up from the couch, where he spends most days, look at me for a minute, and then jump down, stroll over, and demand some immediate attention. He’s been on his own all day, after all, so naturally his welcome should come before I get a chance to take of my jacket.
Fair enough.
But there was no Alex. He wasn’t on the couch. He wasn’t in the kitchen. He wasn’t on my bed and he wasn’t in the second bedroom. He wasn’t under the dining room table, he wasn’t in any of the closets and he wasn’t chilling out behind the couch.
I used to get a little freaked out when I couldn’t find him, thinking that somehow he’d escaped and would either be gone for good, mangled by some crazy accident, or God knows what. But I’ve mellowed over the years, knowing that he always turns up [i]someplace[/i].
Which he did. Alex was lying on the bath mat in the bathroom, just kinda lying flat. Weird for him? Sort of. But what weirded me most was that he just stayed there when I found him. I’d been calling him during my search, and he hadn’t come over, like he usually does.
So I let him be a minute, and after I changed clothes, found him not in the bathroom, but now on the hallway mat by the front door. Again, he didn’t respond to me. More curious. So I picked him up and gave him some attention, but he didn’t purr. Something was wrong. I let him down on the couch and got myself a drink, but when I saw him now by the bedroom, I got a fright.
A real fright.
He was walking … make that limping … and his left paw was drawn up near his chin. So of course my heart starts thumping away, thinking he somehow broke his leg. Cats get into all sorts of trouble, so who knows.
That’s why he wasn’t so happy when I came home. He was in pain. He was scared.
And when a cat breaks its leg, well, I don’t know if that’s something they can recover from, or if it’s like a horse, and they have to put it down. So in a nanosecond I’m thinking the worst.
So I picked him up to comfort him. And that’s when I saw it.
His paw was caught in his collar! That’s why his paw was like that, pulled up by his neck. Alex the cat found a little trouble.
Good gravy!
Post edited by: rcolchamiro, at: 2007/01/03 19:02
