Concerned, I ran up the stairs and saw Maggie cornered by Frances, a cat we took in as a starving kitten. There was blood all over my little dog's chest and legs.
For new readers who may not know, Maggie is only five pounds. The length of her leg from her elbow is about the length of your index finger. Maggie is also older and does not have the teeth she used to have to defend herself. She was recently shaved, so that layer of defense was taken away too.
The dang cat bit her! The bite was deep and blood was rapidly pouring out of the hole and onto the floor. I scooped her up in one hand and put direct pressure on the wound with the other hand at the same time. Blood was soon all over the stairs, my hands and arms, and our table. I believe an artery was knicked.
Frances* is not supposed to be in the house, but I think she slipped in when people went to work this morning. She was given a place on our acreage to assist in keeping the numbers of rodents and slithery things down. Joshua is very fond of her and often takes her to his room to keep him company while he is working on his computer or watching a movie.
Poor little Maggie was shaking so hard she made the table vibrate. Emily and Hannah brought a towel to cushion where she lay and another to warm her to ward off shock. Hannah sent a text to Clint telling him I might have to take Maggie to the vet if I could not get the bleeding stopped. Fifteen minutes of direct pressure finally stopped the bleeding. As a hobby farm/kennel manager, I keep antibiotics on hand. I have started Maggie on amoxicillin as a preventative.
Frances has been attacking our other pets lately. She has become very aggressive since reaching breeding age. When I scooped Maggie up, Frances was staring at Maggie like a predator and took steps toward us. I quickly stood up and used my foot to shoo her into my daughters' room and shut the door. Territorial cat aggression is what I believe we are dealing with in Frances. Miracle used to have the same behavior, and we trained it out of her. Mostly. She'd still chase the other pets but would not bite them. I guess you'd say a happy middle ground was reached.
All is well. I was home and was immediately able to give first aid to our injured pup. I now am aware that Frances needs more training. My youngest daughters were able to witness and assist in how to treat a deep puncture wound. We already had plans in place to have Frances spayed. Hopefully that, along with some behavior training, calms her down.
This is life on a farm. No day is ever the same. I never know what I will be hit with from one minute to the next. It is never boring for long! One learns how to stay calm and carry on. Today was easier than the morning I woke up to see the horse running full speed down the driveway into the road!!
*I found Frances the cat as an abandoned and starving six-week-old kitten right before a winter storm. She was so thin and cold that she was lethargic. She was terrified of people, but she quickly realized we were allies. This was at the same time my friend of 40 years, Frances, was dying of bone cancer. It comforted me to care for the kitten since, in those last hard days, I could not do anything except pray for my friend. I watched the kitten thrive under our family's care while my friend slowly left. I cannot find the story in the blog. It may have been one I wrote and deleted because it was too difficult to share at the time.
Update: Maggie is walking just fine. She even chased crows, which are much bigger than she, out of the driveway a couple of hours later.
