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Tuesday 3 February 2015

Poor Harry is unwell (and other kitty and hen piccies)

My poor Harry, the ginger cat, is unwell. He's been under the weather since Friday morning. I'd noticed he hadn't got up and come into the kitchen for some grub when I got up, like they normally do. By mid morning he was still sleeping on the sofa by which time I asked my OH if he'd seen him get up and eat anything. By afternoon I was worrying a bit, but I do know cats, and short spells of being unwell/off their food is not entirely unusual. So we kept an eye on him. He did eat a bit but seemed very slow and not very with it, so as it was nearly the weekend we decided we'd watch him carefully and if no signs of improvement, we'd take him to the vet on Monday.

There he was checked over and the vet said he had a slight temperature and a bit of swelling in his lower abdomen. He was given 3 jabs for various things and we were told that he should start to improve within about 48 hours. Of course as soon as we came back from the vet, he legged it through the cat flap and then spent the next couple of hours in the garden! This was yesterday afternoon and the sun was shining and I'd planned on attacking my front flower/herb bed outside my living room window. I also let the hens out to play, so his brother Bertie (the skinny tabby who is the best hunter of the three) enjoyed chasing the hens around - he's a right devil. He's the one who was chasing the Red Legged Partridge with feathers in his mouth. He's even caught moorhens, the little sod, although I did manage to free them from his pitbull jaws and set them free none the worse for wear. You'd never imagine it as butter wouldn't melt and he's the most lovable of the three demanding noisy attention and the most amount of strokes of the three.

By the way I had a great afternoon out snipping and clipping and watching and taking photos of my menagerie and the garden in fairly nice weather, but more about that in another post.

Harry looking sad. :-(

From another angle, and I really need to wash that blankie
but they won't forgive me if I take it away!

And another let's take over the sofa day. Actually that's every day!

Thankfully I managed some photos of Bertie this time. He was acting loopy and jumping up the tree, back down again and repeat about 10 times. I finally managed to get a couple of non blurry photos! The trouble with winter is that you can't up the shutter speed very much due to the low light levels.

I'm about to jump up (this is Harry's hugging tree by the way)!

And up he went, only to come down and repeat this over and over.
Little things please little minds.

And here's Harry out yesterday after the vet visit.
He did seem to enjoy the fresh air.

In front of the garage - and aaaargh yet another mess as you can see - Irises needing tidying.

Bertie again in the Stipa grasses - I have pulled all the dead bits
out of these grasses so they will live to see another summer..... :-)

Hallie up on the garage roof next to my Photinia - this is not the
bog standard Red Robin but a variegated variety called
Photinia cassini 'Pink Marble', which in my opinion is much prettier.
Although it needs a prune.....

The hens running through my asparagus bed which my OH aka the Under Gardener
weeded and added compost to. Although you'd never know because
between the cats and the hens digging holes in it it looks a mess again!

And the three red hens again - they were still being chased by naughty Bertie!

Today Harry is no better; he was sick last night and is still quiet, sleepy and sad so I really hope he will pick up as I hate having sick animals. Please send him healing vibes! At least I'm feeling a lot better so only one sickly 'person' in the house. I've finally made it to the hairdressers to have my well overdue blonde highlights put in and a cut after about 10 weeks. It'd got so I barely recognised the mousey brown person staring back at me in the mirror. ;-)

17 comments:

  1. Nice to see you've gotten out but sorry to hear about Harry. Will certainly keep him in my thoughts and send healing vibes that way.

    Lovely photos as always and the stories that go with them always seem to cheer me up :))

    April Hill aka April Melot Fenwick
    Creative Expressions Photography

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    1. Many thanks April and I'll tell Harry that you send your love. I'm sure he will appreciate it. He's actually got up the stairs and is asleep on our bed so hopefully that's a good sign! Thanks for visiting and commenting. xx :-)

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  2. Loved seeing all your critters! So sorry to hear Harry's still sick. With the swelling, I hope it's not an obstruction :-(

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    1. Thanks Marianne. I have seen him have a poo (but outside) so I don't think it's that kind of obstruction. It's worrying though - I really hate seeing them under the weather and they normally perk up quickly after some shots from the vets. :-(

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  3. Oh dear, poor Harry, very positive vibes coming from Lydford.
    I love the way all 3 cats snuggle up together.

    Philippa x

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    1. Thanks (and hello) Philippa! Oh they do that all the time so I have no room to stretch out on MY sofa!!! But they are so cute so it's hard to get cross with them. Thanks for the positive vibes for Harry. xx

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  4. Oh poor Harry, sending some of Splash's energy and positive vibes and hope he feels better soon. Lovely pics of all your critters. Our hens would be green with envy if they could see all that lush grass....we have a large area of mud!

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    1. Fingers crossed as he seems brighter this morning so thank Splash very much from me! You should see the chicken runs - they are like yours but have some nettles still growing in them. That's why I feel so sorry for them and let them roam the garden often in winter. In summer at least they have some hardy weeds like plantain to provide a bit of interest to the bare ground. I keep telling them it's their own fault for scratching it all up, but do chickens ever listen? :-)

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  5. There's nothing worse than a poorly pet, hope he feels better soon..sending my love. I do like the photo
    Bertie in the Stipa grasses and it's nice to see the chickens out having a run...
    Amanda xx

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    1. Hi Amanda and thanks a lot! I was happy with the shot in the grass too - so pleased he sat still got a moment! Harry has eaten twice this morning (that I know of) and seems a bit perkier, so really hoping he'll improve as the day progresses. xx

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    2. Aargh how I hate predictive text (on my Kindle) - for 'got a moment' read FOR a moment!

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  6. Despite their antics you captured their characters so well. I hear ya on the light levels - they're probably even worse up here in Scotland. You could try and use your flash to freeze the action with the cats. I hope Harry gets better soon and I'm sure you feel much better for having been to the hairdressers. :)

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    1. Thanks so much Rosie! I could raise the ISO with my DSLR but tend to forget and don't go past 400 much. It's because my bridge camera is hopeless above 400 so I'm always trying anything to avoid that - doesn't help that it's my bird shooting camera cos of the superzoom! Yes I'm looking human in the mirror again - hair cuts are a huge boost to the system. :-)

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  7. Oh! What lovely purdy cats. Fantastic pictures of them. Poor Harry- I wonder if he's reacting to what you've been through? Stranger things have been known to happen... Great to hear you are out and about and a new hair do is just the thing to restore spirits! ps Love the chooks too xx

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    1. Cheers CT! Cross fingers Harry is over the worst.... hope I'm not being previous but just little things like him having a stretch getting out of his basket and enjoying a chin rub are good signs. I'm wondering if it's something he ate outside. Glad you like the pics and I enjoyed being out taking them. And a new hairdo works wonders. :-) xx

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  8. Love the photos of Bertie having a silly five minutes and one of the hens having a little jig! Poor Harry. It is awful when they're sick Sending him lots of healing vibes from Ireland. I'm so glad you're feeling better Mandy.xx

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    1. Hi Deb and thank you! I'm glad to say that Harry is just about better now - I guess it was some kind of infection and it took its time going, but the ABs etc did the trick. Yes I've been getting out more and thoroughly enjoying it. Gotta make the most of the next few weeks before I become an invalid again! xx

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