Back to the kitten. Most of the day she slept. I kept her warm with nests of blankets and sweaters. She actually used the litterbox, and she has been going outside for a while now. I was just about to remove the litterbox but now I'm glad I didn't. I don't want to force her outside when she's under the weather. There are dogs and coyotes and other cats out there. Lots of them. I'd rather she lay on my chest while I read, than be out there challenging the elements.
In the afternoon she finally started working on her wound. She licked away the lump of blood-soaked fur, licked and licked. Finally the wound can into view--filled with black blood, a narrow tooth hole in her hindfoot. She kept licking. I have heard that animals' own saliva is the best antibiotic for their wounds, to I encouraged her to lick.
This morning Shakti was feeling much better. She was using her left foot to walk, and wanting to play. She went outside when I was getting ready for work, and immediately caught a bird. I saw her toying with it several times as I went in and out of the house, watering the plants using a gallon jug.
When I came home from work today, after a very busy day, Shakti came spilling out of the door to say hello. I sat down to pet her and noticed that there was pus draining from her wound. Bravo! She finally got it open and drained. Now that the wound has drained the flesh is pink, the swelling down and the temperature just right: she has gotten it out by herself.
I have no desire to go to the vet every time my cat has an altercation with another creature in the wild. I hear stories from cat owners that every time the cat got bit it was another trip to the vet, another anesthetic and exam, the expunging of some ingrown infection, another round of antibiotics. I don't treat myself that way, why would I do that to a cat? I can take a beating, and so can she. Not to mention I don't trust the vets around here at all. They just throw drugs at everything. The modern practice of medicine is diseased. This cat is healthy. That hole in her leg will be healed up and the fur growing back in a couple weeks. Glad I didn't spend $200 to get her tortured and achieve the same end result.