Marlon Padgo

At the risk of sounding like a Blues song:

I woke up this morning

And found Padge looking like this:



Well, it was like this:



But you can't see his forehead and face that looked like someone had stomped on it as well as this:



And that's AFTER the vet put an interim hole in his head.

Here's a better shot:



Note the Brando forehead. Everything from the bridge of the nose upwards is a mass of (avert thine eyes, weak-stomached peoples) pus.

Sigh. And on a Sunday, as well. Bastard. So I took him to the emergency animal hospital, where they charge $150 just to let you through the door, and the nice vet on duty did the bare minimum to make Padge comfortable until tomorrow when the credit card gets a lesser workout on an abcess drainage system.

We also discussed options to lessen the amount of damage this cat accrues. Even though we lock him indoors every evening for the whole night, so far he's managed a slashed-open side, a bitten-through tail (now permanently curly) and a Marlon Brando forehead. The vet suggested a dose of female hormones to break the fighting cycle and I think that's a pretty good solution.

In the meantime, Pooter's flinty little heart has been softened by Padge's misery, and he has been (avert thine eyes again, weak-stomached peoples) licking up the pus as it oozes out.


Now that's love.