Bubastis' Page
Bubastis
(Bubi) wandered onto our court from the Greenbelt.
Some creep had dumped her there to starve to death. They almost
succeeded. She was so skinny that my fingers could almost meet under
her backbone. Two of her paws were wounded and had gone septic. She was
dehydrated and running a fever. She was so hungry that she was trying
to eat the dead flowers in our neighbour's front garden. I ran inside
and got a handful of dry catfood. When I put it in front of her she
started to purr, a purr so loud it could be heard next door. She hasn't
stopped purring yet, 16 years later (2007).
She
was so happy to have someone to
take care of her that she purred all the way through several vet
examinations, shots, cleaning her wounds, everything. She purred while
I soaked her wounded and infected paws in a special anti-bacterial
solution four times a day. She purred when I shoved antibiotic pills
down her throat. She purred while I combed the tangles and dirt and
bits of stuff out of her fur. She purred whenever she found a nice soft
place to sleep. She purred when she looked out the window, probably
because she was so happy to be inside.
Most
of all, she purred while she ate.
For the first few years, food was a big issue for her. She would do
almost anything for a snack. She is the only cat we have ever had who
would sit up and beg, like a dog. The day she found a big open bag of
cat food on the kitchen floor, she got very excited.
Imagine what a starving cat must have thought of a bag of food bigger
than her whole body. She must have thought she was in Heaven.
It
took many years of regular meals and tender loving care before the
trauma of abandonment and starvation began to wear off. For the first
four years she lived with us, Bubi's
favourite places to nap were always hidden under something. One had to
take great care in walking around the house. A lump under a throw rug
was probably a cat. A lump under a slip cover or bed spread was
probably a cat too. She just seemed to feel more secure when she was,
so she thought, hidden.
While
Bubi has never been interested in going outside (she knows that
horrible things happen to little cats out there) she has always enjoyed
looking out the window. Batting at big fluffy snow flakes as they float
past the window panes has long been one of her favourite winter
entertainments.
Like
most cats,
she always likes to be at the highest point in any room. One of her
favourite places in our old house was on top of the broom cupboard in
the kitchen. From there she could look down on her kingdom, secure in
the knowledge that she could see any potential threat long before it
could see her.
In
the mid 1990s Bubi developed food
allergies. After several outbreaks of dry, itchy, irritated skin
patches above her eyebrows, our vet recommended putting her on a
hypoallergenic diet. This has solved the problem. She has not had a
recurrence in many years. However, she gets tired of the same flavour
food day in and day out, year in and year out. Her vets have always
recommended "Medi-Cal Hypoallergenic" dry food, we have found that she
could also eat "Fromm's Light" dry food.
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This page was updated on 26 November 2007.Contact me at: patti.primeau@sympatico.caThis site was edited using Nvu and Style Master. |