The Wild Bunch
November 3, 2009
Just preparing the last of my brood for the epic trip to Florida was an ordeal. This pack was the crazy ones–all the neurotic, timid, anxious, squirrely, agoraphobic, partially feral and maniacal felines of my happy family. All the calm, placid and peaceful ones were already in the first batch.
So, first thing last Thursday, my wife and I got up and, after the usual morning ablutions, got down to it. We had to trap and catch each one, cage it and try to do it with a minimum of blood lost–ours, not theirs.
Naturally, they all freaked out, hid in armoire drawers, under and behind furniture, under beds, you name it. My wife is pretty good at this. They’re afraid of me (God knows why…if it wasn’t for me, they’d all be road kill by now. Some gratitude!).
But even she gets sliced up by the hind claws we let them keep, as a hedge against the day that one of them escapes–at least they have some means of defense, outdoors. Cat fanatics think that no one should remove claws at all, front or rear. But after they “distressed” six thousand dollars worth of leather furniture, I decided that this was my price for tripling their life spans. Just as well. They do a pretty damn good job with just their rear claws–little bastids!
I found one guy hiding in the lower drawer of an antique cabinet in the bedroom. He tried to exit, stage rear, but I got hold of the scruff of his neck and lifted him out, to put him in the waiting cat crate. He cartwheeled, virtually somersaulted and pinwheeled his legs, nailin> my left hand, including the first knuckle of my index finger. I dropped him. He dashed under the bed. I stood there, bleeding.
I need my head examined.
Finally corralled all of them, got them packed in the car, with their food, litter, boxes, bowls and a few clothes for us, and away we went…
After a few miles on the road, the caterwauling (often in harmony, believe it or not) died down and they went to sleep. It was shortly after that that I noticed that the knuckle scratch was painful and swollen. I had cleaned it immediately with Hibiclens (4% chlorhexidine gluconate), which kills everything, even HIV and hepatitis viruses, in about two minutes. You should have some in your own bathroom, for emergencies. It’s OTC, in any drugstore. Then, a little bacitracin ointment and a bandaid. Good to go.
And usually, infection takes a few days to set up shop, not just hours. However, this was like a puncture wound, that probably tagged the fibrous extensor hood of my knuckle. That means very little oxygen, due to poor blood supply in the tendinous tissues. Besides, the cat had probably scratched his ass with that same set of claws. Great.
Sure enough. In a few more hours, the finger was swollen and reddened, stiffened and tender. Damn infection. And me now in a “foreign” state. No access to my prescription pad, for an antibiotic. Sure, I could have called it in, but then, I’d have to hang around for an hour or so, while they make it up…Damn nuissance!
So here’s what I did: I took three of my MAXIMUM ALLICIN FORMULA garlic capsules, together with my POWERHOUSE OMEGA FORMULA http://www.favoriteformulas.com/.
Garlic has over 28 different antibacterial and antiviral compounds, to combat infection. And fish oil is a natural anti- inflammatory. These, plus some hot water soaks, reduced the swelling, pain and inflammation. Bought me time until I got to Florida and started Levaquin, a potent, once a day quinolone antibiotic (also good against anthrax). So I’m on the mend, now. But this is a good thing to remember, if you’re ever in a jam like this and don’t have access to a doctor.
We stayed one night at a motel. Had to catch the wild bunch, all over again. This was such a trauma, we decided to drive for 12 hours straight, just to avoid having to go through that again.
Finally, got in at 11:23 PM Friday night. Thank God! Never again. Next time, I’m getting an RV, if I have to move these critters!
Well, they’re settling in and I have some catching up to do, with my knee pain exercises, like those in my PAIN-FREE PROGRAM at http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html/.
Glad I don’t have to travel anywhere else, for a while. To coin a phrase, “There’s no place like home!” Til next time, my friend, be well.
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,
Dr. Bill
P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html/.
P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to
http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
P.P.P.S. For conventional and alternative treatments and exercises to relieve knee pain without surgery click on http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html
P.P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html
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Copyright, 2009 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD, FACS
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