And upon reading this, I'm sure that this is one of the first images that came to mind...
Or maybe this...
Or even this...
Before moving to Sydney, a croc, spider, or snake would have been at the top of my list if someone told me that something had almost killed their cat. But like all things Down Under...things aren't always as straight forward as they appear.
Now, meet Myndee.
This is my 10 month old Bengal kitten. Yeah, that picture of her is pretty adorable, but don't let her looks deceive you. Bengals are known far and wide for their...energy. Needless to say, this little one doesn't like to cuddle or ever slow down for that matter. So about a month ago, my boyfriend and I decided to start letting her go out doors for a few hours during the day to burn off some of that intense Bengal/kitten energy.
Yesterday evening, around 5 o'clock, she meows at the door as usual and I let her in. And as usual, she's so exhausted from her outdoor adventures, that she immediately passes out on the couch next to me. But about 45 minutes later, she started acting...strange.
She suddenly woke up, her eyes very heavy, moved two feet down the couch, then curled back up, but didn't go back to sleep. Her eyes were glazed over and just staring off into the distance. I thought it was cute, and when my boyfriend got home at 6, I pointed out her weird behavior as she moved to the table for a few minutes, then the carpet, then the floor under the table.
Then she started dry-heaving.
Immediately, I thought she might be having her first hair-ball. And like a new momma, I stayed near her, talking to her calmly, but as the time went on...she started to act frantic.
She suddenly bolted up the stairs, so I followed. She's still heaving in the hallway, and then she just starts peeing...all over the carpet! Panicked, I grab a towel and wrap her butt with it, running her to the bathroom in one of her guest bedrooms (her room).
(Side note: my cat is toilet trained, and I mean, she LITERALLY pees and poops in our toilets around the house. So for her to just up and squat is NOT normal.)
I call for Angus to clean up her pee while I lock myself with her in her bathroom so she can't run around to anywhere else.
And that's where the intense, guttural mewing begins.
She's still dry-heaving, and I keep assuming she must really need to get something out. Maybe she ate something she shouldn't have outside? Maybe she's sick?
Then she starts to get diarrhea. I hold her over the toilet (as she's trained to do) but the poor thing literally falls limp in my arms.
At this point, I'm panicking, and my boyfriend comes into the bathroom to see what he can do to help.
Then her guttural mewing turns into screams.
And she starts foaming at the mouth.
My boyfriend's eyes suddenly go wide. "Shit...does she have a tick?"
A tick? I think. How the hell can these symptoms be from a tick?
She starts panting, gasping for air.
I take her collar off of her as Gus does another check...
And there, on the right side of her neck, is a tick.
Now, meet the Australian Paralysis Tick, scientifically known as Ixodes holocyclus.
Where's their habitat, you might ask? THE ENTIRE FREAKING EASTERN COAST OF AUSTRALIA, and apparently the smattering of beaches I live on - Sydney's Northern Beaches - are infamous for them.
Some of the many symptoms of a paralysis tick bite include:
- weakness or paralysis in the back legs
- coughing or gagging
- change of tone in meow/bark
- grunt in breathing
- vomiting
- drooling
- inability to stand
- facial paralysis
Oh, and the best part about these things? They hitch rides on all the native animals like bandicoots, kangaroos, and possums - all of which, are immune to the bite of a paralysis tick.
AWESOME.
These little bastards kill around 100,000 domesticated animals a year throughout Australia. Pretty much everyone who lives around here, has had at least one pet die, or have known of a family pet dying from these things.
Needless to say, the moment Angus and I found the bastard on Myndee, we went into panic mode. We put Myndee straight in her carrying crate and bolted out the door. It was a race to the After Hours Emergency Vet Clinic about ten minutes away, and by the time we got there, Myndee was silent.
The vet staff was awesome - unfortunately, they have to deal with tick bites a lot - and the tick they pulled off her neck, sure enough, was an Australian Paralysis Tick. But luckily, it wasn't very large, and they pulled it off her with no problems.
But she was still struggling. Her pupils were massively dilated, she was skiddish, silent, and wasn't moving much at all. The vet said they needed to keep her over night, as well as administer her the paralysis tick serum and wash her. And so we had to leave our poor little girl at the vet.
It's been 24 hours, and I just got off the phone with the vet yet again. Her pupils are still way too dilated and she hasn't eaten, drank, or used the bathroom yet, so they're keeping her for another night.
Living in Sydney, I don't have to worry about crocodiles or King Brown Snakes or Great Whites. The worst thing we have to really deal with on the Northern Beaches are some pretty gnarly rips at the beach...but I was a very silly girl to underestimate the brutal power of Australia.
And what I'm starting to realize, is that the native life here, really was made to kill.
**UPDATE: Myndee is back home recovering after two nights at the vet. She should pull through and make a full recovery, though it will be weeks, if not months, before she's back to her normal, energetic Bengal self**
~Little Blonde Traveler
