Woes of the cat lady

About a week ago, our precious little girl Laila started to have some pretty serious bathroom issues. After a day of seeing if it would regulate itself, I attempted to hit google up for some home remedies. I fed her some wet food to help her keep hydrated- which might have contributed to the problem because kitties’ bellies are oh so sensitive. When that still didn’t help, I fasted her for about 6 hours to try and reset her stomach and gave her some chicken and broth. Hamdullah (thanks be to God), she started to get better- we had some solidity!!! But then* poor little girl started throwing up everywhere. Nothing pains the heart more than a little one crying out before their lunch is in front of them in another form. 😦 Now, some of you may ask- why not just go to the veterinarian?

Henry at app. 3 weeks

Well, friends! These are part of the woes of having animals in a developing country! Now, some naysayers would also ask- why have them at all? If you must* ask that question, I would say that you don’t really know Tyler and I. As much as we try, caring for the little and the furry is just apart of who we are- both as a couple and as individuals. Way back when our relationship started- part of our bonding was over finding a stray cat and hiding in my dorm room only to figure out what to do with it. We honestly wouldn’t know what to do WITHOUT animals- especially of the feline variety.

Henry at app. 3 months

Anyway, I often question veterinarians here in Morocco- never really putting my trust in them. At first, our vet here in Larache didn’t really want to help us- it took us two trips for him to see Henry for his fixin’. Technically, it is looked down upon to spay and neuter animals in Islam. But when we were finally able to get Henry fixed- there was no anesthetic- POOR THING! Then our vet put his foot down and wouldn’t spay Laila, so we had to take her to Tangier. Boy, was THAT* an adventure! We almost had to put her in the trunk on the return trip (oftentimes here, animals -sheep, dogs, cats- are forced to ride in the caboose)! Many volunteers have faced these same issues or worse! Sometimes there are even questions about whether the cat or dog was spayed/neutered correctly at all! So… you can see my hesitancy to take Laila to the vet this past week.

Laila and Henry meeting each other- both app. 3 months

Finally, after a week of almost* non-stop troubles, Laila and I took a visit to the vet today. I told the vet’s assistant what was wrong- forgot to look up the word for vomit so had to mime that, pleasant I’m sure- and sat down for a second. The next thing we know, we are in the office and Laila is getting two shots in her tookus and we are sent on our way with a powdered medicine and orders to pick up an anti-nausea medicine at the pharmacy.

Cuddle buddies in the early days

All in all, despite my hesitance I am glad that I was able to take her to the vet today. We don’t know what the outcome of these medicines/shots will be! Currently, Laila is not very happy with me shoving a syringe down her throat three times a day- but you do what you gotta do, right?

gettin’ some H20!

Overall, though we have had quite a few trials and tribulations with these two (and* having to deal with seeing many a little one around towns) they have become apart of our little family!

Henry gettin’ his bedet on!

Our lives here would not be the same without them and I know many other volunteers would say the same about their pets. Recently Tyler and I have been traveling by ourselves pretty frequently and it makes it much less lonely when you have two little lives to worry about!  And if nothing else, they are tiny little heaters searching for warm during the seemingly endless cold, wet winter months! It is also an opportunity to share some cultural differences with Moroccans- we have been told it is strange/weird/not good for us if we let them sleep with us. And they definitely do not think us normal when me we talk about how much we LOVE them!

Not so cuddly anymore

They may be a little difficult to find- but there are vets here in Morocco. Most do their schooling abroad and are kind enough to bring their talents back. Some are more focused on bigger animals, but like ours, are willing to help out the youngins’ of the strange Americans that name their pets (naming is not usually a normal thing to do- ESPECIALLY human names).

Obviously super pumped about posing for a picture! Next thing you know… they could be modeling for “Meow Claire” or “Catsmopolitan” or even “Politcat”! Sky is the limit!

The lovely fur-babies add a whole new dimension to our service, a whole new set of vocabulary and a whole new list of things to do and/or find. But the pluses definitely outweigh the minuses especially when we are able to find people here that love animals as much as we do!!!!