When Mom took Carson to the shelter yesterday, she put him on a towel on the counter in the clinic, and he started walking in circles, like he always does. Dr. Michelle said she had never seen a kitten do anything quite like that before. She also agreed with Mom that Carson was blind. Mom told Dr. Michelle that Carson bit her yesterday morning, and it happened while Mom was holding Carson in one hand and trying to get a walnut out of Barry's mouth with the other hand. And maybe she squished Carson, and that's why he bit her.
Anyway, Dr. Regan, who got bit by Carson last week when she was just trying to pet him, said that kittens didn't usually bite like that. Mom said she thought anybody who ever adopted Carson would have to worry about getting bit, and Dr. Regan said Mom was right about that.
Dr. Michelle tried to think of a disease that Carson might have that would make him blind and also make him walk in circles, but she couldn't think of one. Dr. Regan said maybe Carson had rabies. Then some other people who were there said that if he had rabies, he would already be dead. But Dr. Regan said that sometimes the symptoms take longer to show up. Of course, if Carson had rabies, then Mom has rabies, and she will start foaming at the mouth and trying to bite us, and we will have to shoot her, like Travis did with Old Yeller.
After that, Dr. Michelle called a neurologist to see if he had any ideas about Carson, but he was busy, so he was going to call her back. He didn't call back while Mom was there, so we don't know if he had any ideas or not. Dr. Michelle said that the safest thing to do was probably to put Carson to sleep. Mom said she agreed, but it was a sad thing to have to agree to.
So then Mom held Carson all curled up in a little ball in her hands, and he went to sleep for a while, and Mom watched Dr. Regan neuter a very cute airedale mix, and then she watched Dr. Michelle spay a feral cat and also take out one of her eyes because it got ruptured. Mom had never watched an eyeball surgery before, and she said it was kind of bloody and gross, but interesting.
Then Dr. Michelle gave Carson a couple of shots to make him go really, really deep asleep, and Mom held him while he was going to sleep. But she did not stay to watch the last shot because by then Carson didn't know if she was there or not.
Carson's body has to be sent someplace where they test for rabies, and the reason for that is because he bit Mom. It's supposed to take two days to get the results of the rabies test. Mom has had sort of a sore throat for the last two days, and she thought it was just allergies. Or that she was getting a cold. But after Dr. Regan said maybe Carson had rabies, Mom thought she might already be starting to get rabies, too. So as soon as she got home, she looked on the internet to find out the symptoms of rabies in people, and none of the symptoms were "sore throat." Also, it turns out that it usually takes 30 to 60 days before you even get any symptoms, especially if you are bit on your hands or feet, which are a long ways from your central nervous system.
But guess what! When Mom was getting ready to come home from the Humane Society, she told Aunt Tania that she would be glad to foster a kitten again sometime, and Aunt Tania already had one that needed to be fostered, at least for a little while, so Mom brought him home. His name is Jacen, and he is gray and white. He is 11 weeks old already, and we don't think he walks in circles. But mostly all he did last night was sit in his crate and look scared.
First, he sat in his litter box, but then Mom put him in the nice, cushy kitty bed that she made for him, and he liked that pretty well. Mom says she thinks he will be more lively when he is not so scared. He was supposed to get neutered this week, but he was "too puny." That's what it said, right on the card that was on his cage. He is kind of bony, so I guess that's what they mean by "puny." Also, he is afraid of people, and Mom is supposed to just love on him a bunch. And we don't think he bites, so that is a good thing.
When we were sitting around, watching TV last night, Jacen started acting all kittenish and he was playing with the sides of his bed and with his tail. Mom took him out and held him for a little while, and he purred a whole bunch, which is something that Carson never learned to do. And during the night, Jacen ate some of his food and he used his litter box, so this morning Mom told him he was an excellent kitten.
Anyway, I'm very happy to have another kitten of my very own because it makes me not think so much about poor little Carson, and I don't have to feel sad all the time.
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