A home for one who doesn't want a home
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Now neutered, vaccinated but unfortunately infected with feline leukaemia, Hi-So is appointed resident rat catcher
Watch any TV programme on dog training, and the trainer, whether the world-famous Cesar Milan or one of the many trainers here in Thailand, makes training look so easy!
Me, I haven’t been that successful training my poodle-pup Wan-Wan, who has, instead, taught me behavioural modification.
I’ve watched another programme with an American expert specialising in cats, and no matter how wild the cat, he makes it look easy to calm the animal to become a member of the family.
Well, he’s never met Hi-So, the little cat who bit me when I tried to catch her in an up-market department store in Bangkok.
Now living at my vet’s clinic, Hi-So hasn’t calmed down. She continues to be completely feral, meaning that she’s never become used to being around humans.
She’s utterly terrified of people, of being in a cage, of being in a strange environment. She continues to bite and scratch anyone who comes near her, even those who are trying to feed her or clean her cage.
I’d take her home and keep her in the upstairs bedroom, but my vet won’t allow me. She’s absolutely right. I already have too many animals, and the addition of a wild lady requiring lots of care would be beyond my capabilities.
Early one morning, the assistants discover that during the night, Hi-So aborted a kitten. The foetus, my vet tells me, was only 50 days old. Since a mother cat normally carries her babies for about 65 days, this baby was too young to survive.
The pregnancy explains why she had wandered upstairs in the department store. Perhaps she was looking for a safe place where she could give birth.
Now, it’s important to anaesthetise her immediately, to check if she’s has any more foetuses inside.
While she’s under the anaesthetic, she finally has a complete examination, with vaccinations and neutering. She doesn’t have any other foetuses, but other results are bad.
Hi-So is positive for feline leukaemia (FeLV).
Two of my cats have feline Aids (Fiv), which I find manageable, but I would never take in a cat with FeLV, which is so easily spread to other cats. In addition, FeLV can cause a mother cat to abort, perhaps the reason Hi-So lost her baby.
With her health and behavioural problems, we’ll never find a home for Hi-So, but we still have hope for her. After she’s acclimatised to the clinic’s car park and understands that she’ll always have a free meal at the clinic, she’ll be released, with the plan that she’ll deal with the resident rat population.
Even with so many strikes against her, Hi-So may yet lead a healthy, happy life.
