Cat Veterinarian

For several years of my childhood I wanted to be a veterinarian. My mother even arranged for me to "volunteer" at our veterinarian's office. I don't know if she paid them off or what, but for a couple hours a week they would give me some small task, and intermittently I got to hang out with cute animals. I mostly remember counting pills and watching animal surgeries. The pill counting was boring, but the animal surgeries were fantastic.

I'm not sure why I abandoned my veterinary dreams, but lately I've tried to play veterinarian to a mystery cat that has decided to live on our front porch. Since my previous explanation a neighbor filled in some background information-- the cat was abandoned in the neighborhood and another neighbor got the cat fixed and takes care of it (which is pretty nice).

For the last couple weeks the cat has had persistent and very raw hot spots near its tail. I attempted to clean them out one afternoon, and I think it worked pretty well. However, the cat sure didn't appreciate my efforts, and stayed away for a whole day afterwards. Since then someone shaved the problem area, but I think a cone might be necessary to stop it from gnawing on itself. However, the cat is a decidedly outdoor cat, and I am not sure how a cone would affect its lifestyle (e.g. I don't want it to become a raccoon meal).

I am going to try to talk to the cat's caretaker about the cone possibility. It isn't our cat, but I sure like it, and it seems to have self-selected us as its friends. Friends help each other out, you know?

Stay tuned. ;)