Cat-astrophe

He's back home now and recovering, so no content warnings!

 

When we came home from our holidays on Sunday night (more about the trip below) I was immediately suspicious because Earl Grey's favourite food was untouched -- and he never leaves his favourite food. But he likes to roam the neighbourhood and gets bored when we are away, so I thought maybe he's just on an adventure. Then the cat-sitter said the last time his food disappeared was on Thursday… 

 

By Monday evening I was seriously worried. After dinner, I put up notices on Animal Search and Pet Log, with his microchip number. And then we thought we heard a meow. We walked around the house, looking and calling, but found nothing. Then another meow--and that time we were sure it wasn't Major Tom, the other cat. We ran around the house, and then Jan, my husband leaned over the fence and saw Earl Grey on the ground on the other side, looking very poorly indeed. 

 

We rushed him to emergency vet. Most likely he was hit by a car. He must have just managed to drag himself home then, because the neighbour would have spotted him earlier. He was cold and in shock, but luckily, his most serious injury turned out to be a broken jaw. He had that fixed and spent two days at the clinic getting tests and pain treatment. He's still in a lot of pain, both from his jaw and a bruised shoulder--he's barely able to walk but the vet assures me nothing's broken. 

 

He's recuperating at home now, and getting more relaxed by the hour. I have to hand feed him soft food, because he can't eat well with his broken jaw, but he's got great appetite already now. He'll be on pain meds for a while, which I have to get up in the middle of the night to give, but that's fine. I'm just happy to have him back!

 

 

So yes, this was a rather rude end to the holidays--and ruined plans for this week as well, including another missed fencing session and Adrian Tchaikovsky's reading at SFRC (Super-Relaxed Fantasy Club, a monthly London event).

 

The holiday itself was great: it was our 20th wedding anniversary and we went to Skiathos, a lovely tiny Greek island. Our hotel was on a hill with amazing views. We travelled a bit around the island, with its winding roads and amazing views. It is not one of the super-popular islands, and we were there at the end of the season, so it was wonderfully quiet and with perfect weather.  


 

Greek lunch: 

I love this picture as well -- it looks like some alien planet:




A personal highlight was a day spent scuba-diving. I used to be an avid diver but hadn't dived in… seven years. This is mostly because Jan's not keen on water and we hardly ever do beach holidays--and even if we are close to water I don't feel good leaving him alone for an entire day out of what's usually a seven-day-long trip (not that he ever complained). And then going diving for just one day only whets my appetite, so I just ended up not diving for far too long. Jan talked me into going this time, and I'm glad he did. The club there was very friendly, and Panos, the instructor/guide was the type of who seems totally laid back but never misses anything (I later found out he'd been a navy seal… I should have guessed, when he showed up to pick me up from the hotel on time… Never happens in Greece.)  

 

I did a refresher shore dive, and then I did two reef dives. There was way more fish than I expected as well as lovely coral. I saw two moray eels and a sizeable octopus in its hiding place. I even felt the jet of water from its breathing! But the best thing for me is just the freedom of floating in the ocean, weightless as if in space. I'll never get bored of that!

 

Back home, and need to get going on the novel edit. I'm way behind on that--I was hoping to have it with the agent in October but it's not going to happen. Anyway, that's for another post--I haven't been posting much recently, for various reasons. I should get better at it, if only to keep myself accountable. Expect a novel status report soon!