Ayer

We have four cats, at least we did up till this past Tuesday.  Now we have five cats.  Here is how it happened.

I was sitting in the vet's waiting room last week waiting for Casey to arrive with what has turned out to be my new dog Gus.  She was running late so I chatted with all the people in the office, held the door open for clients who where coming in with dogs on leashes and cats in boxes.  I had a lovely conversation with a gentleman who had brought two heifers in to be palpated.  He needed to find out if they were pregnant.

In the midst of the normal early morning bustle, a lady came in and introduced herself to the ladies behind the counter.  She said she had picked up a cat on the side of the road that had been hit by a car and wanted the vet to check it out.  How much would that cost?  If Dr. Ridlen did a full exam and then had to euthanize the cat, the cost would be nearly $100.  She obviously wanted the cat checked out but couldn't afford that much money.  She said she could afford $50 but not anything more than that.  So I jumped into the conversation.  Yes, she had the cat in her car.  OK, I said.  I'll pay for the other $50.  It's the least we could do for an injured cat and it's what I would want someone to do if it was my cat.

I never saw the cat when she brought it in because by then Casey had arrived and I was playing with Gus.  I brought Gus home to my house for a trial run with the cats and livestock and they said they would call me about the cat.  I didn't want another cat and truly assumed it would need to be euthanized so I didn't worry about it.

I got a call that afternoon with the news that the cat had neurological problems from head trauma but was otherwise in good shape.  It seemed blind but that could be from the head trauma.  Another day and we would know if it would make it.  OK.  Then the beginning of this week I got another call.  My stray cat was ready to go home.  The blindness had resolved and the cat was in great shape.  What?!?  Wait.  It lived?  And was ready to come to my house?  Yikes.

By the way, I asked.  What sex is the cat?  More to the point, has it been neutered?  Nope.  I was a fully intact male.  Of all the things I might be offered, a fully intact male cat is not of any interest whatsoever.  Can he stay another night and be neutered in the morning?  Yes, he can.  OK.  That's the plan.

This past Tuesday afternoon I got a call to say my stray cat was now neutered and had had all his shots.  And was ready to come home.  So I went and introduced myself to my new cat that I had never seen.

His name is Ayer.  With this new cat, we now have two male cats and both of them are named for places in Australia.  Pedy is named for Coober Pedy, the opal capital of Australia, and Ayer is names for Ayer's Rock in central Australia.  Thank you to Peggy for her suggestion for his name.  

I brought Ayer home and left him in the crate on the front porch for an hour or so hoping he would get a chance to meet the other cats and figure out that food arrived on the front porch every day.  Ron went out to feed the cats and when it was all calm, let Ayer out of the crate.  Ayer looked both ways cautiously and darted into the bushes.  We haven't seen him since.