Hi there:

Thank you all for your words of support.  Chester had to go back to the vet
for pilling the next day (Fred was away and I can't do it) and they checked
his temperature.  He had a nasty fever so they gave him some aspirin and
he's perked up.  TED says that the puncture wound has healed quickly and
nicely and that we got him there nice and early after the fight so he'll
heal just fine.  He considers the risk of additional illnesses to be slight,
given his vaccinations and the uncommon occurence of other nasties around
here.

Otis is remarkably unscathed.

I was reliving what happened and I've been struck by what Otis did.  Chester
was pinned down and in pain and Otis attacked the other cat.  I don't know
if he was helping his buddy on purpose or just saw an opportunity to nail
the tom but it gave Chester enough time to run away.  Unfortunately, Otis
then got attacked and chased and attacked until I was able to open to door
for him.  Luckily he got away with hardly a scratch.  I'm very proud of him.
I prefer to think that he could tell Chester was in deep trouble and was
trying to help.

I haven't yet written to the SPCA but intend to do so.  I will also phone
after the four day hold period to make sure that tabby didn't get
surrendered back to owners around here.  I really think that he strayed from
the Indian reservation - we saw animal control take three dogs from just
outside the entrance yesterday.  The animals aren't neutered or cared for.
Its terrible.

Anyway, overcome with gratitude that they were okay, I took some photos - 7
of them - and tacked them onto the end of one of the albums on Webshots.
The pictures start here :
http://community.webshots.com/photo/266128895/266128895uLCkbU

I'm going away for four days so I won't be around to post.  I'll catch up
when I get back!

Take care and thanks for your healing thoughts!

Susan M
Otis and Chester