Friday, September 21, 2007

Freaky Friday

I need a break from A Girl Named Zippy, so you get a free bonus post on two freaky things - one occurrence and one discovery.

1. Freaky Occurrence - I was bit by a neighborhood cat. This is bizarre because I have never, ever been bitten by a cat; cats love me. In fact, you've seen this particular feline many times if you're a regular reader; he's at the bottom of my blog and recently starred in the sad, butterfly-shredding-incident photo grid. He's a nice cat, but he likes attention and has been known to swipe out with a paw of needle-sharp claws if you ignore him. He's drawn blood before.

I was ignoring him, looking up into the sky. I'd petted his head, but not enough to satisfy him. Our backyard had the appearance of a horror movie, buried in blue-black birds, just before I walked outside with the camera. Above is the only snap I managed (probably from about 100 yards). Very possibly, my bright striped hoodie frightened them off. Regardless, the cat came to join me and when I quit petting his head he sank his teeth into my bare calf. Freaky.

It was after doctors' hours, so I sopped up the blood, washed the wound and put on antibiotic ointment and Sponge Bob bandages then printed out the cat's photo and hiked up the hill to ask if the neighbors knew who he belonged to. You know, just to make sure he's up on his shots. They pointed next door and said they thought that was Slim, although neither was certain, but the doorbell just produced a whole lot of doggy barking so I went home.

This morning, I overslept because I just had to stay up late to finish reading Lottery. And, then I called around to find out what government or local entity is in charge of helping folks locate the owners of beasts who bite. You would not believe the reaction, seriously. Those who thought they had an idea who to refer me to gave me numbers that didn't work or connected me with people who squeaked, "Ooooh, that's so weird!" Holy Toledo. After several hours of calling around and waiting for potential returned calls that never materialized, I tried another avenue and was chewed out by a nurse for not rushing to the ER. Like I'm going to pay that kind of money for plain old band-aids when I've got the good Sponge Bobs.

I'm supposed to get a tetanus booster in the morning. And, nobody knows who owns the cat, yet, but I have plenty of spectacular photos of him. That's him, at left, rushing to meet me just before he turned vampire. I love that picture at the bottom of my blog. He was watching a mockingbird. I'll let you know if I begin to drool on my keyboard, in the coming months. It seems highly unlikely, as he was just as happy as ever. I think the bite was a bit like when a big guy slugs you in the shoulder while he says, "Hey, buddy, how ya doin'?" and knocks you over. He's just a little too enthusiastic.

2. Freaky Discovery - Really, no so much freaky as interesting, in my humble opinion. Last year, I noticed that our black and white kitty, Spooky, ceased to meow on trips to the vet if I played the song A New York Christmas, one of my personal favorites from a compilation album I bought at Target for 75 cents at a January clearance sale. Earlier this year, I discovered that our now-deceased kitty, Sunshine, was quite fond of Carrie Underwood.

This week, I walked into my son's room to turn off the music he'd left running. I was surprised to hear Sarah McLachlan. Kiddo ignored her Christmas album, when I first played it, but after about 50 repeats, he began to hate it. So, I assumed he'd just left the iPod running. The next night . . . Sarah, again. Finally, I noticed kiddo turning the Christmas album on and had to ask what the deal was. "Spooky likes Sarah," he replied, pointing at our feline, who was happily curled up on the end of his mattress. "If I turn on Toby Mac, she's out of here, but she'll listen to Sarah all night."

I love it. Incidentally, Spooky also is quite fond of the didgeridoo as long as the husband doesn't practice one particular type of sound, which he refers to as "barking".

Okay, I think I can read now. But, I'm not looking forward to that tetanus shot. Hope everyone else avoids needles, this weekend. Nighty-night!

20 comments:

  1. Bad cat! Needles are never fun, but sometimes necessary; cat bites can turn ugly if untreated. I love that you were covered by Sponge Bob!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, naughty boy! LOL I'm not afraid of needles but I recall tetanus shots as a bit of a misery. I love Sponge Bob. Those are my absolute favorite band-aids (although I was very fond of Kermit) :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bookfool -

    Jenclair is right! Cat bites can be nasty! You best be keeping an eye on it!

    The picture of him running to great you makes him look a little... vampirish. Devilish. Something.

    I think it's sweet that the kiddo is playing music for the cat, btw. He seems like such a great kid.

    cjh

    ReplyDelete
  4. He's such a pretty boy what did he have to go and do that for?
    Actually Jiro will do little nips on my leg sometimes usually in conjunction with some serious leg-rubbing! It's not deep and has never broken the skin but has startled me when I wasn't paying attention. Hope your tetanus shot isn't too awful!
    As for the music, that's hilarious. Maybe I should start playing music for the boys and see if they take to something specifically.

    ReplyDelete
  5. My God that's freaky! Lol...It's only cuz he loves you and wanted your attention while you were giving it to the birds that he couldn't stand :p That really is freaky though. I was expecting a nibble on the finger, not a chunk out of your leg! Isn't the government so helpful when you're trying to get answers? I try not to deal with state offices. They tend to just enrage me. Please stay away from clocktowers with Uzi's though, Bookfool...we don't want you in jail ;)

    That's so cool that your cat like Sarah McLachlan! She has great taste in music ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ouch to that bite! I think kitty probably didn't want to stop petting him and bit you to get attention. I hope it heals soon.

    By the way, I love that pix of the kitty in your blog banner - he's a beauty.

    ReplyDelete
  7. CJ,

    The bite is actually healing quite well, but I'm hearing some interesting stories about cat wounds. One swim mom told me that she didn't know there really was such a thing as "cat scratch fever" till a friend's wound caused her arm to massively swell.

    LOL! He's really a very sweet kitty, but a little excitable. I saw him on the hill and spoke to him; he talks as he runs - so cute. He was happy to see me.

    Thanks. Kiddo is so funny. He really is a terrific kid. :)

    Nat,

    I know!! Crazy cat. He's very handsome and photogenic, but he doesn't like to be ignored! I'll watch that a little more carefully, in the future.

    One of my cat-loving email friends said the vet told her those little nips are affectionate - that's how cats say, "You're one of us". Honestly, I don't think that kitty means to harm. He's just very enthusiastic, also a bit of a head-butter when he wants more rubbing. The tetanus shot wasn't so bad, at first, but now my shoulder is throbbing. I think maybe I'll end up crashing early.

    It's really quite exciting to discover a cat's musical taste! Up until I played that Christmas song, Spooky had always howled all the way to the vet. Now, she actually just relaxes in her carrier and enjoys the music. Isn't that wild? It's definitely worth a try!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Chris,

    I really think that's exactly the deal - he wanted my attention. He's always had ways of letting me know when I'm not giving him enough head rubbing!

    On the government issue, all I can say is, "Oh, my gosh!" I've never encountered such stunning incompetence (outside the DMV, of course). All right, fine. No clock towers. :)

    I think Spooky has terrific taste in music! LOL

    Indigo,

    Exactly. He loves his head rubs. He's really a very funny, lovable cat. The bite's healing nicely, so no worries there. It was definitely not worth running to a doctor immediately.

    The cat in my banner is another neighborhood cat whose name I don't know. I really ought to get to know my neighbors a bit better, I guess! Maybe the bite is a hint!

    ReplyDelete
  9. You know, he does have something a little vampire-like around the jawline . . .

    And I agree. There's no reason on this earth to go pay a co-pay for a boring Band-aid when you've already got the good stuff, right there. Honestly -- the way the medical system is run these days, you'd think they could spring for some Sponge Bob or at the very least, Kim Possible.

    ReplyDelete
  10. My godmothers cat was jealous when she got on the phone, so the cat bit her earlobe off. I thought that was weird too. Although one day I was talking to a neighbor at my Dad's house and a strange dog walked up and peed on me. I know I am built like a tree, but geeze.Animals can be so weird.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Tristi,

    LOL! He's really a sweet cat, but he got a little chewed out, himself. :)

    You know, the funny thing about that nurse saying I should have gone to the ER is that I grew up with a father who was a navy corpsman in the Korean War, so I just don't panic about much of anything - he was always so calm when we scraped our little knees. It wasn't a life-or-death situation, not even close. That's when you stay home and use the Sponge Bobs. Yeah, they ought to at least get some interesting band-aids, for the amount people pay!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Joemamma,

    That is so weird!! Bit her earlobe off? Wow! It's true that cats can be just as jealous, lonely, etc., as we are. They're emotional creatures.

    As to the dog . . . My SIL has a video of a dog peeing on her in Belize. When she and my BIL were dating, they went on a mission trip to Belize and that's where he asked her to marry him. Even after being peed on by a local dog, she was still in good enough humor to marry him. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ah, the kitty sounds a bit (no pun intended!) like Count Frankie. And that brings up a discussion I've been avoiding for quite some time now. Nat asked about Frankie and I realized it was time to 'fess up. We had to give Frankie away. He turned into a very mean kitty. Not just playful bites, but mean, feral (sp?) biting. Rod seriously thought there was something neurologically wrong with that cat. So we gave him up.

    I hope you're ok! You wouldn't believe all the questions we had to answer when we took Frankie back to the Humane Society, all because I told them we couldn't deal with his biting. They asked if he'd ever broken the skin and drawn blood. Well, ya! How else do you define biting? So he had to be quarantined for 10 days before he could be adopted. Poor little guy. I sure hope some cat-lover snatched him up on Day 11. He certainly looked loveable.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Les,

    I'm sorry you had to give Frankie up, but it sounds necessary. I wonder what turns cats into biters. When I read up online, everything I read said the cat that bit me should be quarantined for 10 days but nobody - and I mean nobody seemed the slightest bit interested in finding the cat. I was told, "We haven't had any problems with rabies in the area." So, that's an excuse for letting potentially dangerous animals continue to roam loose? I have to wonder if the response would have been any different if the bite had been serious or inflicted by a dog.

    Anyway, so sorry about Frankie. We gave up one kitty a very long time ago because Daniel had such a serious allergic reaction to him. He's allergic to cats, but seemed to have less trouble with our two than he did with that one (a Siamese - don't know if there's a reason anyone would be more allergic to one cat than another).

    ReplyDelete
  15. We have Spongebob bandages here, too! That made me laugh. But sorry about the tetanus shot--they usually make my arm sore, so my advice is to massage the shot site!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Gentle Reader,

    That's funny. Sponge Bobs are the best. I wear them proudly. My teenager isn't quite as enthusiastic as I am; he seems to prefer plain. :)

    I got the shot in my shoulder and it aches. I've rubbed it quite a bit. On Saturday, I really just ignored it until it began to throb - probably not the best plan, but I had to keep myself busy finding butterflies to photograph and reading between important swim events to keep myself sane, so I didn't give it much thought!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I think he does have "that look" in his eye. I have three cats and sometimes they will give a little love bite. Sounds like this cat did more than that. Thank heavens for Sponge Bob to the rescue.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Violetlady,

    I've gotten a squillion love bites, over the years. The thing is, they aren't usually serious. They're nips that don't break the skin; if Slim was love-nipping, he needs to use a little less gusto. LOL

    Sponge Bob to the rescue! Good way to put it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Thanks for your nice comment back about Frankie. It was such a tough decision. Probably didn't help that Rod had just quit smoking and our patience was running a wee bit thin around here.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Les,

    I'm sure it would have been a difficult decision, even without a grumpy guy giving up the cigs! What is it about orange cats? Sunshine was a very naughty cat for about 3 years - always jumping on bare feet and sinking in the claws (never teeth; that's much worse, in my opinion). I think they're kind of a kitten hoodlum color. LOL

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting my blog! I use comment moderation because apparently my blog is a spam magnet. Don't worry. If you're not a robot, your comment will eventually show up and I will respond, with a few exceptions. If a comment smacks of advertising, contains a dubious link or is offensive, it will be deleted. I love to hear from real people! I'm a really chatty gal and I love your comments!