To the Vet we go! (Saturday - March 20, 2010)

I wrote a previous account of the stray cats at Marina Mazatlan. There are so many cats here... some of which have been born on the premises and others that have been dumped off. Most of the felines are feral and don’t allow anyone to touch them or come near. The cruisers and some of the condominium residents feed the animals and make sure they have fresh water. Carolyne is among them. She has become the "Mama" of the three little kittens... she has named them: Stripes, Blackie and Splendid. Carolyne has become very attached and volunteers her time cleaning up, feeding and helping to take the animals to and from the vet.

Bill and his wife Martha are generous cruisers here that have spent a lot of time and their own money getting the animals neutered/spade and treated for various gnarly things, like worms and injuries. They’ve taken the animals to a local veterinarian who does the work... but not for free. The cost is about $50 USD per animal to neuter. Then, one ear of the animal is clipped at the tip as an indicator that that cat has been fixed. Pretty clever.

The vet's office is small, but clean... cats, macaws, trarantulas and a very curious (or hungry) boa constictor are about in tanks or cages. Carolyne was in charge of her three little kittens. She carried them in a duffel bag and bravely left them at the vet. Two days later, we all went to retrieve the little furballs ... they were still a little inebriated. The surgeries went well and all three kittens were in good health. Once back in the car, we laid newspapers under Carolyne and the kitties went back in the duffel and onto her lap. I didn’t realize that the kittens after surgery don’t have control of their bowels and bladders... thus, the reason for the newspaper. Yuck.

I also did not realize that Carolyne had agreed to watch the three kittens aboard ‘Hotspur’ until the sun went down and they could go on their own in the cool of the evening. My brain was tick, tick, ticking as to what I was going to tell Jim. We are in the middle of major engine work and now I am going to have to tell my husband what? I decided that Carolyne got herself into it and that she was going to have to take responsibility... not me. So, she sat all afternoon on the deck (the loose-bowel kitties were NOT coming down below!) and she babysat those kitties all afternoon. That evening, she let them free.