How about Catnip and her kitty who needs his collar off?

Pam S.

I seem to be a huge consumer of purrs just lately, what with my eye
operation and all the complications.  I have to ask for a few more, I've
been offline and need to catch up, because on Monday night on my way to bed,
I fell backwards down the stairs.  13 of them, I was nearly on the top one.
I think the reason was that all these years I've never had a stair rail, my
stairs are steep and go up between two walls, one is the outside of the
house.
When I knew I needed help with the chickens, I had a stair rail installed
for Uncle Bryan, as his balance isn't so good after his stroke. But I
measured the inside wall instead of the outside one, and the rail is maybe
18 inches too short, so at the top it doesn't carry on long enough and I
needed to hold on to the windowsill on one side and the edge of the wall on
the other, it didn't work too well : -( and backwards, hitting every stair
with my head I went.
I lay at the bottom of the stairs for probably an hour, everything was agony
and I couldn't get up because of that.  Eventually I persuaded myself I had
to, and took myself through some pain barriers.
In the morning. I had to phone for Auntie Margaret to come back to feed and
water the chickens and geese and feed the cats.  My neck and shoulder blade
at the front (collar bone?) hurt so much that I could hardly move, I
couldn't even open the curtains.
It took her an hour and half on the bus to get here, bless her, she's so
wonderful.  She thought I ought to go to hospital but I've had enough of
them at the moment, so I refused.  Not only that, but I knew it would be
impossible to lift my arms, and that therefore they would cut my clothes
off.  No way.  I had a nice sweater and tee-shirt on ;-)
I couldn't go to bed last night, as I knew if I laid down, I wouldn't be
able to get up, it would be too painful to try and raise myself up, so I
slept downstairs in the armchair with the patchwork woollen blanket round
me, that Auntie knitted while she was here.  That's when I discovered that
Kitty snored!
I woke up about 8 times in the night, because my whole head seems bruised
and it hurts a lot to lean back on it. and it was strange to be asleep
sitting up in a chair. My head was also cut and there is blood in my hair
that I can't do anything about yet,  can't bend over, and I can't lift my
arms yet to wash my hair free of it.
I have managed to look after the chickens, geese and cats today.  I threw
everyone's food on the floor, I couldn't bend to get the dishes up so that's
how they had to have it served, at least they got something to eat.
I think I'm improving a bit since yesterday.  Everything still hurts a lot,
but it isn't absolute agony.  It just hurts a lot.. there's a difference.
I am just *so* clumsy but rest assured that I would always look after any
animals/birds that depended on me.
I'd crawl, and lay down to rest in between, but I'd make sure they were fed
and watered in some sort of way.  Unlike the dreadful brother of one of us
who chose to watch TV instead.

I need to get the stair rail extended.  I could have easily have broken my
neck or spine and been a gonner.
I mightn't have been found for nearly a week.  I'd been to relatives Sunday,
and neighbours Monday, like I always do.
As I'm off sick from work at the moment (they'd soon raise the alarm, they
did once when I was stuck in a traffic jam) no-one checks that I'm okay on a
regular basis.  My brothers are too busy.

Tweed
very sore

Crackles mommy posted a note to the Yahoo "catslaves" newsgroup - she was
posting from a public library since her family is still in the process of
moving out of their hurricane-damaged home.

Hugs,

CatNipped

The little green candle I lit for him earlier has burned right down.  I
think he must be there at RB now restored to full health.

Tweed