Bramble's Big Adventure

One recent Saturday morning I awoke to find all my dogs and cats acting loco. Wren growled and snapped at the cats who were spitting and hissing at each other as well as chasing each other around the house.

I found Bramble in a cat bed with blood running down his face, apparently scratched by one of the other cats. It didn't look worrisome so I continued my morning routine. Each day for a week I'd check his scratched face and conclude that he was healing acceptably. One week later, another Saturday morning, he still looked to be on the mend. But two hours later as I was heading off to work, his eye had swollen badly and was producing pus:

I had to continue on to work but made an appointment for him to see the vet the next Monday morning. His eye continued to swell as the day went on:

Every few hours I'd notice that the swelling was increasing and I began to wonder if I'd have to pay to take him in to an emergency clinic.

He also began sneezing as if he had an upper respiratory infection. Clearly, Bramble wasn't feeling well:

By the time Sunday rolled around, Bramble was holding his own but not improving:

When Monday morning arrived, I packed him into a cat carrier and prepared to head off to the vet's. Bramble was not pleased to be stuffed into a small plastic box. He's always been of the skittish sort.

When I was volunteering at the Shelter, a litter of black and white kittens arrived with one gray and white litter mate. They were all sociable and friendly except for the odd colored one. A Shelter employee mentioned that the gray and white kitten, being skittish, would be difficult to place so I brought him home and named him Bramble. He's made great strides toward being a friendly, socialized cat but draws the line at being stuffed into a cat carrier. He yowled all the way to the vet's:

Yet by the time we'd arrived, he'd decided the cat carrier was not so bad after all. He didn't want to leave it and was happy to flee back in to its safe confines:

The vet carried him off for weighing and a shot of antibiotics. A vet tech soon returned with a struggling, panicked Bramble. "No! No! I won't go! Put me down!":

At the desk to pay the bill, Bramble had a chance to meet an elderly beagle. Despite his skittishness with people, he's always loved other animals:

This photo from Bramble's kittenhood of him sleeping with Wally illustrates how he loves other animals:

I paid the bill and loaded Bramble into the car. He's currently being treated with antibiotics and making progress in allowing himself to be handled. I guess I'll never know what craziness possessed my cats the morning when the trouble began, but all is well again: