I'm glad cats have 9 lives

As you will remember, my cat, Joi, has been very traumatized since we left the States. He is the arch enemy of Scooby, my sister's Spitz, and has been planning his escape since we got here. I am usually very vigilant about letting Joi out of the house but around these parts, I am the Nazi who will not let the cat out to get some fresh air. So, on three separate occasions, I let the cat out so he could enjoy the fresh air. In catspeak, Joi is thinking..."finally, out of this Alcatraz!" and he makes a jump for the high fence, clears it and is gallivanting the neighborhood. Needless to say, a day later, I noticed that he was hiding under my bed and would not come out for nothing. The only time he does that is when he is sick...and don't you know it, the poor thing was limping. I tried to find out what was wrong with his front right paw but could find nothing so we take him for his first visit to a Kenyan vet (Scooby's vet to be exact!).

Upon checking his vitals, the vet tells me that his temperature is the highest they have seen - at 41 degrees! The normal temperature of a cat is between 38 and 39 degrees and anything over 39.5 (103 Fahrenheit) is considered febrile (hyperthermic). The vet cleaned the cats paw with some hot salty water, gave him an antibiotic injection and proceeded to tell me that she had to keep him under observation. So, Joi is still at the vet hospital and the earliest they will release him at this point is Wednesday or Thursday. The vet thinks he may have gotten into a fight with another cat (our neighbors have 7 outside cats!!) and because the claws retract, the infection may be deep within his paw. I will definitely give you all an update as soon as I find out any more information!