Frank was gone for two weeks, and every day of that two weeks I cried. Every day of that two weeks I was looking out windows, scanning the hillside; every time we drove up to the house I was looking for Frank, up on the hill or on the front step.
So when I drove up to the house on Thursday afternoon and saw a big, grey, tabby sitting at the door, I prepared myself for another disappointment. It must be Zappa…Except that we had finally fixed the fence on Monday after work, so Zappa should not have been sitting there on the step. As I slowly pulled into the driveway, the cat on the step turned to face me and it was Frank.
As I pulled the car in, Frank panicked and bolted. He ran to the far corner of the cat fence, then stopped and turned back. By this time I was out of the car, going after him. I was afraid of spooking him again, but he stood there looking at me and meowing until I picked him up.
Poor Cory. He lived through two weeks of my crying because Frank was gone, and in I walked carrying my wet and filthy cat, bawling my eyes out again. I was just so overwhelmed, and we were both amazed that Frank had made it home.
It had been raining for tow days, though by the time I got home on Thursday the sun was out. So Frank wet; he was thinner, his fur was matted, he had twigs, branches and leaves hanging off of him and we could feel that he had ticks. He couldn’t seem to settle. He’d walk all around, maybe making sure he was really here and everything was as he’d left it? He’d go eat a little. He’d rub up against us. He’d walk around some more. And repeat.
Hungry Kitty
We started noticing little smudges of blood on the floor as he walked around, so we called the vet and they said to come over and they’d see him as soon as they could.
Frank weighed in at 14.3 pounds, as compared to 17 lb on his last visit. It’s a visible difference, and you can feel his spine, hip bones and ribs sticking out. He’s been eating and drinking steadily though, so he should fill out again.
The vet removed at least a half dozen ticks, Cory and I have removed 7 more since then.
Frank has a wound on his side. The vet said it looked like he had an abscess and it burst. Likely he got in a fight with something, and took a wound that became infected. The vet said he would have been sick and feverish. So all I can think is that he got hurt and found a place to hide out somewhere until he was well enough to come home?
The vet had to shave the area to clean the wound, and his fur was so matted that she ended up shaving most of his belly and chest. He’s looking a little raggedy right now.
Frank Fur - iPhone Photo
The vet cleaned the wound and gave him a shot of antibiotics, and then I brought him home. The wound on his is still open, but the vet thought it was healing okay on it’s own. If it doesn’t look like it’s closing up by tomorrow though, we have to take him back to the vet.
Frank seems to not want to be alone. We didn’t get much sleep the first night because he kept coming and waking us up. For the first two days, Frank would only settle if I was in the same room. If I left the room, even just to go to the bathroom, he’d come after me meowing. He doesn’t seem interested in wandering far at the moment. He’ll go out in the enclosure, and he likes to sleep on the deck in the sun as long as I stay there with him. I’d like to think that will last, but I suppose it won’t.
Zappa unfortunately seems to be not quite sure it’s Frank. While Frank was gone, he wandered around the house meowing like something wasn’t right. He was super clingy. Now that Frank is back, he doesn’t seem to recognize him. I feel bad for him, but I am hoping things will get back to normal.
How things should be - iPhone photo from a morning during Cory's last Japan trip
Watching suspiciously from a distance - iPhone photo
Taking to the high ground
The sun is finally showing it’s face. Since Thursday, we’ve had sun every day. My second wave of crocuses are starting and things are slowly starting to turn green.
Deer will eat these any day now
So glad to see Frank home 🙂