My Poor Baby !

Ever since I brought her home, I have known that Mocha is an accident waiting to happen.

She is a Bengal, a notoriously energetic, curious and playful breed of awesome-looking cats. Her personality has always been mischevious, and bordering on crazy. Most of the time, her antics are good for a laugh, and sometimes they require the use of a ladder. But last month, she hurt herself, and badly.

She has this terrible habit of running between our legs as we walk, and unfortunately this time, was stepped on. Her diagnosis was a "luxation"; basically, a dislocation of her foot.

The only way to repair this was surgery, which involved taking a bone graft from her hip, and securing a metal plate to keep the foot bones together. Regardless of the cost, I did not hesitate to authorize this. Yes, it broke the bank, as I have to pay taxes this year as well. But it was worth it, for my little Mocha.

She was not too happy about having to wear that head cone, but she was actually quite mobile on that cast. Not even a week after her surgery, and she was walking around the laundry room, playing with toys, and causing trouble as always. She has quite the spirit. Not even this could bring her down.

Of course, she found a way to take her cast off, by sticking her foot under the washing machine, and pulling her leg out from it. She did this twice, which meant I had to drive 20 minutes to the surgery center to have the bandage replaced.

Little brat.

The vet told me I had to restrict her activity, even after the cast was removed for good, just to be sure the bones healed properly. I have been doing this, as best I can.

I had her and Peaches upstairs the other day, as I normally do while getting ready for work. As I turned my back to pour my morning cereal, I heard some commotion behind me. I turned around to catch a glimpse of Mocha, just as she jumped from the floor, to the counter, to the top of the refrigerator.

Yes, this cat, who had just had a cast removed after major surgery, was jumping on top of the refrigerator.

Nothing in this world, not even a traumatic leg injury, could ever keep her down.

That's the spirit of a Bengal.

That's the spirit of my little Mocha.