Thursday, August 16, 2007

12:07 AM

Kiki's fall

I just got back from the animal hospital a few minutes ago. Why was I there? Well it all started when Kiki jumped down from our window ledge this morning...

This morning, my mother bathed Kiki and after that she was rushing off to go to my uncle's house. Nowadays, Kiki loves to sit on the window ledge at my parents' bedroom. Knowing this, my mother would usually check to make sure that he isn't outside before closing the window. But she forgot to check today and just shut the window, not realizing that Kiki was actually there. She then left the house at around 9.30 am.

I reached home from my religious class close to 12 noon and only saw Brownie. I didn't know that my mother had bathed Kiki (we don't let him out after he's bathed), so I assumed that he went out. I didn't see him until after my mother came home, which was after 4 pm. I asked her whether she let Kiki out. But she said no because she bathed Kiki and what's more, she doesn't let him out whenever she leaves the house. And then, I asked her whether she checked the window ledge before she closed the window. And she couldn't remember checking for him. So we concluded that Kiki must've jumped down because he wasn't there already.

My mother started to worry and panic, but the 3 of us didn't really worry because we kept thinking, he's a cat, he's strong and he knows his way around. Even if he's injured, we were sure he could make it back to our house. My brother looked for him after 5 pm, but couldn't find him. And then at about 7, my mother looked for him too, but still couldn't find him. In the end, after my brother came back from his run, which was around 7.40 pm, he found Kiki hiding in the bushes that were near the area where he fell. He couldn't walk properly, so that must be what've made him unable to climb up the stairs.

The minute my mother saw him, she started to hug him and cry. Tears filled my eyes too, but they didn't fall. He could barely drag his body to move, and everytime he wanted to move, he would cry out. We knew that he had broken him right hind leg, but also suspected that his right front paw was broken too. Initially, my mother was thinking of bringing him to the animal hospital tomorrow, but she was too worried. So, we(my parents, my brother and I) decided to bring Kiki to the animal hospital this night. And that was at around 9.30 pm.

Kiki was meowing all through the journey because he was scared and still in shock. But my brother managed to calm him down somewhat. When we reached the hospital, there was already 2 women with a small fluffy dog. We found out later that their dog had had a heart attack, and had to be admitted for a few days. Our turn came next.

Kiki was so scared that so much of his fur fell. You can gather them up into a sizeable clump. The vet checked all of his limbs for broken bones and found that his right hind leg was broken. The fracture was on his thigh bone. She also found out that there's some air in his lungs, because of the impact of the fall. This caused his face to swell a little. She will leave it alone first, but if it doesn't reduce, then she'll have to tap in and remove the air. The fracture was also a complication because there were broken fragments of the bones. In the end, Kiki had to be admitted for 2 days in order to stabilize him before surgery. Total cost will be around $1400.

I tell you, it was really heartbreaking to see him so quiet and helpless. Because he's so full of energy and life. To see him in that state really tears me up inside. But my mother is the one who feels it the most because she feels guilty for not checking whether he was outside before closing the window. I've been holding back my tears just now. But now, since it's over, I'll let them run. I keep thinking how helpless he must've felt, hurt and unable to move, just hiding in the same spot through the rain for the whole day without any food or water. Makes me just want to hug him and assure him that everything will be alright, now that he's come back to us.