Fizgig the Homeopathy Cat - the final chapter

Today, three years later, Fizgig is home well and truly. She has become a much happier cat, tolerating family and friends visiting without too much fuss. To my surprise she will sometimes come into the room when people are present, or will stay in the room. She tolerates Keith better and has been known to occasionally purr when he picks her up. She had a recent trip to the vet who commented that she is a very healthy cat for 13 years. Thanks to homeopathy, the effects of her earlier trauma seem to be finally and completely gone.  The End..

Fizgig the Homeopathy Cat 5

Fizgig had gone. She always answered me when I called her but this time there was silence. We looked everywhere, inside and outside, all around our section - which she never left - but she was gone. Six weeks went by with no sign of her and then one day Keith came in to say he had caught a glimpse of a black and white cat disappearing under the house from inside this shrubbery. I called her with no response so we began to put food and water under the house for her. Once we could see she was eating this, I tried adding a couple of drops of a well known homeopathy trauma remedy to the food with no effect.

This was when I asked for advice from a friend who was an animal homeopath. Listening, she replied "Scaredy cat" and suggested another well known homeopathy trauma remedy. This time, the day after adding a couple of drops of this remedy to her food, Fizgig came out from under the house and with much meowing approached me. I picked her up and we had a rapturous reunion. She is not normally an affectionate cat but this time she snuggled into my shoulder with loud noisy purrs and much head butting.

She had lost weight and condition, her fur was coarse and rough to touch but she was back. I took her inside to my study where she liked to be. She promptly crept under a cabinet and stayed there. She would only stay inside for a while before disappearing back under the house again.  It took about a month and several doses of the remedy before she finally came out and stayed out. (to be continued)

Fizgig the Homeopathy Cat 4

By the time Fizgig was 10 years old, I had retired from my nursing position and was close to completing my Diploma In Homeopathy.  Fizgig was well settled into her very set routines and behaviours. She had a particular hiding place she used frequently. Our house has a sloping roof with the lowest point at the back of the house. Fizgig had found a way to climb the fence to get up onto the roof at this lowest point. From there she would walk up the roof to a place under the eaves where there was a very small opening - just big enough for her to squeeze through into the ceiling.

That was alright but she would occasionally do a 'Drama Queen' act where there would be this pathetic wailing either from the roof or from her hiding hole in the ceiling. "'I can't get down from the roof ---- I can't get out of this space" she would wail. We would get caught up in her drama as I would try to coax her down off the roof or Keith would climb up and try to get her to come out through the opening in the eaves.

Eventually we discovered this was all a big act and if we ignored her she could get herself out through the opening in the eaves and off the roof. Because she was getting older we became concerned that if she did get stuck in the ceiling of the house, or did get sick or injured and retreated into this space, the only way we would be able to reach her would be to remove sheets of roofing iron. So we made the decision to totally block this opening, after first making sure she was well and truly on the ground.

After this Fizgig disappeared (to be continued)

Fizgig the Homeopathy Cat 3

Over a period of time I was able to win Fizgig's trust. When people asked if she was my cat, my standard reply was that I was her person which is very different.  She was obviously aware of the classic quote that cats find humans 'useful domestic animals.'  Training her person took a long time but she finally had me trained to her satisfaction. Cats are animals of set routines and her routines were more set than most cats. She only grudgingly accepted Keith and when family or friends called in, she would either rush to get outside or head to our bedroom where she would stay until she felt safe enough to come back out.

She had a routine that included getting under my feet until I fed her. The fact that there was food in the bowl didn't matter. She had to actually hear the rattle of the container before she would stop pestering me. She had set times to be fed, set places where she could be found and she never left our section. I was the only person she trusted and when I call out to her, she would reply. Letting her in each morning is quite a routine with Keith silently laughing in the bedroom as we chat to each other. She is very polite and always gives a little vocal meow of thanks when doors are opened for her. She has a way of sitting by a door she wants  opened, looking hard at it and if we don't respond, there is a petulant grumble of complaint that continues until the door is opened.

And so the years went by (to be continued)

Fizgig the Homeopathy Cat 2

Once home with this little scrap of fur, Keith and I attempted to connect with her. Her response was to crouch down and growling loudly non-stop, she would  quickly scuttle into or under a suitable hiding place. Watching her, Keith promptly named her 'Fizgig' after a character from the movie 'The Dark Crystal' who made a lot of noise and little else.

A branch of the family in transit had asked us to store their baby's cot which was in the bathroom. (Where else would one store a cot?) A box under  the cot with a cover Fizgig could burrow into and under, a kitty litter box plus food and water and we had a boarder in the bathroom. I patiently spent time each day trying to win this little creature's trust which proved futile, and after a week I took her to the local SPCA and asked "Is she feral?"  After watching her for a while the response was that she was not feral but had been mistreated to a point where she had lost all trust in people.

Knowing this gave me the renewed patience to slowly and gently build up her trust in me. She reacts badly to males which made us suspect that she had been mistreated by a male. The sight or sound of a male would cause her to panic and run for cover so Keith wasn't able to spend any time with her initially.

After some time I was able to bring her into the sitting room in the evenings while we were watching TV.  I would place her on the back of the sofa which was against a wall and from here she would sit quietly all evening watching us until I would return her to the bathroom. (to be continued)

Fizgig the Homeopathy Cat

This is Fizgig now 13 years old. Her story for me started when I was the local Public Health Nurse and visited one of my small country schools. This was not my usual day or my usual time to visit and I don't recall why I was there that day. It was lunchtime and I walked into this buzz of excited children.  A mother cat and her kitten had been dumped at the school and after a week the kitten had just finally been caught.

I was taken into the classroom to see her in the cardboard box she had been put in and the cover someone had placed over her was lifted. There was this tiny scrap of black and white fur growling furiously at everyone. The teachers were telling the children that she was probably a feral cat and would have to be put down. I looked at the children's faces, looked at this little scrap of fur and said I would take her back to the vet in town and get her checked. If she needed to be put down, I would arrange it.

At the vet clinic this obviously sick little kitten, full of worms and struggling to breathe but still furiously growling was checked over. She made no attempt to bite or scratch just growled from the bottom of her little being. She had a strong little spirit and responded to treatment so after paying out $200 plus I found myself the somewhat bemused 'owner' of yet another cat.  (to be continued)