Written by Susan Lane

The Orange Cat and Nigel, The Veterinary

A quick backstory: the cat was not well, and the vet suspected possible leukaemia. Red blood cell count PCV of 7 (possible heaven); that’s the blood test for counting the red cells to you and me. I took him home for what could have been his last days (more details to follow in the Orange Cat stories), and so the story continues.

Our Cat and Vet Nigel

The Medivet veterinary in Gravesend, Kent
Has been absolutely fabulous
To my orange cat and me
We’ve recently been going there
Every week
My boy has had lots of blood tests
Keeping a check on his PCV

At the beginning of July it was really low and
Now weeks later, amazingly
The count has risen; who wouldn’t be pleased
But I digress

Not surprisingly, Nigel seems to be
Really chuffed that he
Could be a monumental help
In keeping my cat with me

Although, to be honest it was really doubtful you see
Because several weeks ago,
When I looked at my poor cat
And thought it could be
The end for my poor orange pussy

But I decided on a last chance
Just to see
If he really wanted
To stay and live with me
So, he was put on steroid tablets
That has improved him
I’m so pleased to see

He was also given appetite enhancers
Because he wouldn’t eat
And dropped so much weight
He was an awful sight to see
Like a little old cat man
Of 20 but he's actually
Not even 3

Well, from July to much recently
My orange boy has gained weight
So, it’s quite a struggle for me
To carry him from the car into the surgery
He’s rallied like Bjorn Borg
In the 80s

Playing tennis at Wimbledon
Like you wouldn’t believe
Fighting with everything
That he could be
Every day another match
Another battle of will
Where he could prove
That he would be
One of the most 
Superior iconic players
In the Wimbledon history

Cat Proof For Vet Nigel

Always with the end
That only he could see
That beautiful, fabulous trophy
That was most definitely
A wonderful sight to see
And he gave so much
Joy to you and me

Well, now my orange cat
Is doing a Bjorn Borg on me
He’s treating each day like a battle
Winning every one diligently
Fighting to be with
The others and me

Unfortunately, there were a couple of downsides
To the medications
Given to me
The chronic diarrhoea 
Was a real challenge
For my boy and me

It was like turning the tap on
And extremely stinky
I’m not sure if
Nigel believed me
But he gave my cat some
Jollop that he had to eat,

That wasn’t successful
It didn’t have the desired effect
He certainly didn’t like that
So next it was powders. 
Sprinkled by me
Onto his wet food
Half a pouch, yuk, hehe

He wasn’t having that
Oh, no siree
So, I had to be devious
Just give a tiny sprinkling
Then gradually increase it
During the week
A flippin’ facepalm moment
For me

It went from dirty water
To a yoghurt consistency
It wasn’t brilliant
But it was reasonable
And more comfortable
For my poor orange compadre

Another veterinary visit and
My boy’s PCV uplifted to 31
How fabulously brilliant for me
And because his weight
Had gone up quite reasonably
No more appetite enhancers
That was good news for me
Because it had gotten like
Fighting a wild cat hehe

And my boy, I hear you say
Well, his toilet is back to normal
Thankfully
But he wasn’t finished
With Nigel and me
He had developed red eyes
The back of which 
Couldn’t be seen

He’s Rebalancing

It threw off his balance
So, floor-bound was he
Nigel thought
The culprit could be
The steroid tablet – so that was
Reduced, significantly
A couple of weeks later
And slowly
My boy was getting better

And the veterinary
You wonder
Well, I’m as chuffed as he
Nigel 
Who we are visiting weekly
I know he doesn’t see
The daily changes
Of my cat with me

The way he’s gone from 
Laying down to
Jumping up all over
Wherever he wants to be
He is most definitely
Improving daily
Almost
Like a monkey
Going through the trees
Shhhh

You know it’s time for
A couple of glasses of Asti
Yippee!
One to celebrate my lad
And his recovery and 
Not to be selfish
I’ll also have one
For Nigel
Our long suffering
Vet
Cheers, everyone.
Hehe

© Susan Lane. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form without prior written permission from the author.

ColourMine poetry, and the original photographs, are completely authentic to myself, Susan Lane – no AI, no plagiarism, all checked and verified by copyleaks

Apologies for the emoji presentation – I tested several, but this was the only one that worked reliably on ColourMine. Just click the box next to the emoji and hit submit, and I’ll know if the poem resonated with you. Thank you for sharing your feelings.

More poems written by Susan Lane and you can choose by category

Blog | Organic voice | A happy survival of triumph here

Speak freely, ColourMine and myself will be pleased to hear from you.