Catching Samantha and to the vet’s and total pandemonium!

During Indy’s visit, I had brought along Samantha’s faeces.  The fecal examination of her stools showed the presence of a lot of Clostridia, a gram-positive anaerobic bacteria. The vet says Samantha would need to be dewormed, given a B-12 injection and if possible, three days of anti-parasitic liquid medicine.

I said the three days of anti-parasitic liquid meds would be impossible. But the injection, possible, if and only if I can catch her.

So after I settled Indy in, the adventure to catch Samantha began.

This is where we left Samantha earlier when we took Indy to the vet’s and failed miserably to extricate her from her own entrapment. I did show the photos to the vet to ask if she could injure herself or her unborn kittens by being stuck up there and the vet said no. They are very flexible and very strong.

By the time we got home with Indy, Samantha was already settled back down.

My plan was to use a towel.

I know, it’s just a simple plan. So I brought a towel along with me and Samantha had already got herself out of that entrapment and was just sitting calmly behind the computer screen. I went towards her as calmly as I could and placed the towel on her. She didn’t know what I was going to do, so I held onto her, carried her (still no struggle…yet) and attempted to put her into the carrier.

That’s when all hell broke loose!

She refused to allow me to put her into the carrier and she struggled and growled, and attempted to bite me. I didn’t scruff her as she’s heavy. I also wasn’t using my bare hands as I was afraid she’d bite me. So with the towel, the grip wasn’t too good. Samantha escaped multiple times, and I caught her again and again.

It was total pandemonium. And while all of that was happening, hubby was fast asleep downstairs!

Samantha was as fierce as a tigress. She bit me on the same finger a few times. The pain was excruciating and I cried out, but funny, there was no blood. It just felt blunt. Later, I found a puncture wound but not deep enough to bleed. Good girl, she knew how to control her bite.

I think it took me about 20 minutes in all, before I was finally able to bundle her up in a bigger towel and stuff the bundle of cat and towel into the carrier.

Then I brought her downstairs, woke hubby up and by then Samantha was scratching and pushing like a captured tigress at the door and I knew she could push the door open any minute. So I told hubby to hold on to the door of the carrier while I got another towel and tied it around the carrier with raffia string before we made the journey to the vet’s.

This is crazy, I know.

Samantha was completely quiet in the car so much so that we wondered if she was still inside or had she tricked us and got out and the carrier could be empty?

Waiting at the clinic.

We took off the towel carefully and found Samantha trembling. The vet said she was very scared and I totally understand. Poor girl. She didn’t understand what was going on no matter how I explained it to her. She and I do not have a long enough relationship and unlike Gerald and Creamy whom I’ve known for a much shorter time (shorter feeding time, that is), the two boys have bonded with me very well. But not Samantha. Sam’s more aloof, being a calico. So I could not get through (telepathically or otherwise) to Samantha and I could not calm her down or give her confidence that she would be safe. Samantha was caught and kept indoors on the same day that Bunny went downhill so I didn’t have enough time to spend with her too as I was busy nursing Bunny.

The vet said she would attempt to give Sam the B-12 injection and do a bigger attempt to deworm her by using the pill-popper. As for the liquid medicine, we can forget about that. It is impossible. But she gave time for Samantha to calm down first.

The vet had to get one of her assistants to handle Samantha. They managed to hold her down long enough for the vet to administer the B-12 and the pill popper was a complete success. The vet then quickly put her back into the carrier. Samantha was so stressed that she released some anal gland liquid in the chaos.

The vet had wanted to palpate her belly to let me know the number of kittens, but this could not be done. However, she managed to press Sam’s nipple and there was already milk, so the vet estimates that she will give birth in 1-2 days.

We got home in one piece, with Samantha in the wrapped up carrier with the raffia string. Then we started to prepare Bunny’s cage for her. The vet agreed that Samantha should be kept in a cage for her delivery. It would be safer. At least we would know where the kittens are.

So while Samantha was still in the carrier, we prepared her cage.

It is rather a poignant moment when I reflected on this. This is Bunny’s cage. Bunny’s gone and new life is going to begin in his cage. It’s poignant, yet meaningful. Bunny would have been proud. I’m sure of it. And we are very practical people. I am not superstitious in any way. If we can put Bunny’s cage to good use, we definitely should.

We have three stainless steel cages. The biggest belong to the Monsters. The smallest one belongs to Ginger (but Lynx has taken ownership of it now). And this medium-sized one belonged to Bunny and Indy. We cannot use the Monsters’ because they need it when they are scared. It is Robin’s safehouse during thunderstorms. Ginger’s cage can be used but Lynx has taken it now. So it made sense to use Bunny’s cage although Indy has moved into it after Bunny passed on.

I asked for Indy’s permission. I hope he understood.

We tied the baskets with cable ties to the cage.

After we got it all ready, it was time to put Samantha in, but the carrier was too big, so I took away the box.

So instead of the box, we are using the carrier without the door.

Cow and Indy came to check things out.

Cleo: Your calico colours are a wee bit “diluted”, so I’m still the Queen.

No dispute there. Absolutely!

Indy was rather upset and refused to go up to the penthouse.

He had actually moved into the cage’s higher platform already. Now, he has to give it up for, maybe, at least 6 weeks. But we will see how things go. Maybe after 4 weeks, we can move the family back to the upstairs room. The plan is fluid.

I am confident Cow, Indy and Cleo will be merciful and will not disturb Samantha.

But, I cannot say the same for Rey. He loves disturbing others.

So Samantha’s big day could be as early as tomorrow!! I’ve got some names prepared: Pico, Petal, Peaches, etc.

I know I named the outside white-socked cat “Peaches”, but I’ve renamed her Socks instead now. Socks must be from the RYABK down the road. We have not seen her since.

It’s been two hours now and Samantha has not come out of the carrier. She will when she is ready. Poor girl. She has to get used to the cage and a new environment now. We also have some major installation of new security windows soon and it’s just as well that Samantha and family stay in the cage. All windows will be replaced (for the sake of the cats!).