A traumatic day for poor Quincy...

Poor Quincy. I called the vet this morning and explained what happened about the pill and she said, "Would you like to bring him in and we'll give it to him?"

"How much?"

"Just the cost of the pill."

"Great!"

So, I got out the carrier and got Quincy and put him in it. Now, he did not want to get in it; but I got him in before he could resist too much. But as soon as I closed the door, he cried and cried. Now, he rode for 21 hours during evacuation in that cage, and I'm sure that was plenty traumatic for him. Well, he cried all the way to vet's. I swear, he had tears! After I got him in the waiting room, he was quiet but there were dogs and people and activity and he's so not used to any of that. When we went back into the room, he was sooo timid and scared. She decided it was easier on him to give him a shot instead of the pill, and he didn't flinch when she stuck him (I was holding him). After it was over, I put him back in the carrier and he willingly went in - which is extremely unusual. He's always hated closed up spaces, even before the nightmare evacuation experience.

We got home, and he ran to the bedroom and got under the bed. When I went in there he cried like a cat cries when they're really scared. So, I left him alone to settle down and realize he was safe.

I had to go get the sheets at Walmart that I'm using to make liners for the curtains and even bought a flat of pansies for my porch and one of those box things to put the water hose in. The day was beautiful, cool, perfect! People were out everywhere, and lots of people in the garden section; but it's just too early. There aren't really many plants ready to put out yet. Seems like everybody is trying to rush springtime.

When I got home, poor Quincy, he was at the door when I came in, and as soon as he realized it was me coming in, he took off and hid under the bed again. All evening, when I'd try to interact with him, he let me know he was still majorly upset with me! At one point he even hissed at me as he passed by! Later on, I went to check on him and he was laying on the dresser and even spoke to me with his friendly voice when I went in. So, I petted him and carried him back to the living room, but he immediately became tense and nervous just going in there.

People don't realize sometimes what stress the poor little things are under. It's not too hard to know exactly what's going on in his mind, because he certainly knew how to communicate his fear and trepidation and even mistrust. It made me feel really bad for him! I'm sure he'll be fine, but I'm sure sorry he had such a really bad day. Besides all that, who knows how that shot made him feel, or if the tape worms make his tummy cramp.

In the meantime, speaking of cats, Tommy was stressed, too, but because there's a new cat hanging around, a black and white. I called Lisa, my neighbor who knows the neighborhood cats and she said she didn't know whose this cat is, but he's been hanging around her house, too, acting like he belongs there. The cat is very gentle and definitely looking for a home. We don't know if he was dropped off or abandoned. He's healthy looking and very insistent about wanting to hang around. I guess it's a male. Lisa was pretty sure. That's the way Hilda had done when she came up, only she had kittens under my house and I didn't know it. That discovery explained why she was so persistent to make a home here. Hilda is Quincy's momma, and I had her a couple of years and she disappeared. I still miss her. And no, I do not want to keep this black and white, cute as he is. I have four, and that's more than enough! But I did give him some food, which I know is plenty stupid -- but I can't stand to think of him being hungry. If one of mine were at the mercy of having to find food, I would hope somebody would at least feed them. But I won't take claim to him.

Well -- enough cat stories. The porch is really looking nice. I bought more pansies than I realized that I was getting and got most of them potted. This morning I had toted all the gutters and leftover aluminum framing pieces out to the front, along with a very rusted tool box and the chase that goes with the ratan chairs. It's falling apart and I don't want it. I was hoping somebody would take it and fix it and paint it. Anyway, it helped clear out some of the clutter off the patio, though there's still a lot more to do something with. By the time I got back home, somebody had already taken all the metal, left the rusted toolbox and the chase. Of course now the old water hose and holder is out there, too, since I got a nice new one. Slowly I guess I'm getting a little "curb appeal" as they call it on the improvement shows.

So, I guess that's it for this Saturday. Tomorrow I'll do that last job I have here to do. I'm not a football fan by any stretch of the imagination. Sometimes I wish I was because people get so excited about the football games, but I just can't muster up the enthusiasm. Maybe I'll turn it on to see some of the commercials, anyway.

PS I've been trying to post this message for almost 2 hours but kept getting messages about having to republish. I noticed my post from yesterday disappeared; so I tried to reconstruct it and my best effort is below this one.