About a year later, my Son, Nick informed me that he and his family will be coming to Tucson, AZ for about a year. Leanne who is obtaining her Masters from Victoria U. will be doing research at U. of Arizona for a semester, so all will come to Tucson, including Zeta. Accordingly, I got us an apartment and moved there with Delilah in early May, 2007. It didn’t take long for Delilah to feel right at home in her new surroundings. There was a fence in yard and she soon made friends with the other tenants.
The battle scenes were quickly drawn when Zeta arrived. Days became weeks became months while the two combatants hissed and sometimes fought. Zeta was obviously the alpha male in this struggle. Delilah would wait for Seta’s attack, get a few licks in and then run and hide.
I thought summers in Columbus were unbearable; I wasn’t prepared for the city heat and the fact that it didn’t cool off when the sun went down. So any outdoor activity had to be done in the early morning. The surrounding area had many hiking trails that I took advantage of. http://www.pbase.com/koyote11/tucson_gallery
I also spent much time at the university taking pictures. http://www.pbase.com/koyote11/tucson The monsoons were very strong, thanks goodness for the relief, and it afforded many great scenes for photos. http://www.pbase.com/koyote11/tucson_monsoons
Delilah’s world was the fenced in yard and the constant warring with Zeta.
Summer slipped into fall with the relief from the sun. October came and so did the return of Sheila from China. We made plans for a trip to copper Canyon in Mexico. Accordingly, she, Delilah and I went back to Columbus to embark into Mexico. On the way, we stopped at the Chirachua National Park for a few days. http://www.pbase.com/koyote11/chirachua
We left Delilah at Sheila’s trailer in Columbus where two people would come in to hang out with her. Everything seemed fine so we left for Copper Canyon. http://www.pbase.com/koyote11/copper_canyon_mexico
Ten days later we returned to find a sick kitty. She wasn’t eating and her bones stuck out in her back. I drove back to Tucson and watched her for the next two days. I tried to feed her but she wouldn’t eat. She had no energy; all she wanted to do was hide under the bed and sleep. Delilah at Six Pounds:
Finally in desperation, I brought her to the vet. An X-ray later revealed that her lungs were filled with fluids. They wanted to drain her lungs and sent me to a specialist. He never touched the kitty and using the x-ray as a guide compiled a list of tests to run. The price was nearly $2000. When I said no, he asked me what I was going to do with the body and charged me $90. I went home in total despair. Enter the scene was the hero of the day, Leanne. Utilizing all the data and symptoms, she concluded that it was a bacterial infection and we pushed the vets to prescribe an antibiotic. Finally after a week of delay, we got the antibiotic and a set up to intravenous feeding of water since she was so dehydrated.
This required injecting a needle into her back and gravity feed water into her. She freaked causing all kinds of problems. Finally we gave up and forced fed her water with a syringe. This started a regiment of every four hours, she was forced fed wet food containing the antibiotic. I would wrapper her in a towel, our little burrito, she and Nick would alternated feeding her twenty fours per day. When Leanne was near her, I could feel the loving and healing energy coming from her towards Delilah. I felt the presence of an animal whisperer. I could feel Delilah responding from her healing energy.
It was one day at a time and my life consisted of preparing the food, feeding her and cleaning up and trying to get some sleep. The days floated into weeks and then to months. The holidays had something for us to cheer about, she had turned the corner, and she was getting better.
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