He showed up on the front steps one cold afternoon, in need of food, love, and serious medical attention. It would be easy to write him off as one of Italy’s uncountable feral cats, but this badly battered guy was obviously domesticated. One can never judge why someone would give up a pet (although I do, vehemently), or perhaps he just lost his way (doubtful). - For thirty bucks, the veterinarian will come to your home and take care of business: shots, pills, diagnostics, late-stage care. Weeks ago, his beat-up Panda careened down our driveway, and deposited a short, stout man lugging an ancient doctor’s bag and sucking on a cigarette held between stained fingers the size of pork salsiccia. While the puppy barked at him the entire length of his visit, we were relieved to know if any of the brood needs care at home, it exists here. - But the vet was busy on Piemonte’s opposite end, so texted a prescription for an antibiotic pill and a cream for the cat’s gaping wounds. Local pharmacies in rural areas deal vet drugs, so we scored both the cat’s meds and a bottle of shampoo in the piazza, just a few minutes away. For a week, a thick forefinger swipe from a tub of Philadelphia cream cheese (sold in most markets here) was key to selling the pills, and cotton face pads cleaned and creamed the wounds on Pomodoro, the orange coloring on his rounded body dictating the name. - We’ve been taken a number of times since landing here, one of them the purchase of an expensive, made-in-Italy mattress topper dense with goose feathers. It was like sleeping on a bed of fucking pin nails. Finally (angrily) giving up the ghost on making it work, it sat in a lump in the driveway, mocking my foolish purchase. The company was unmoved by my plight and returning it meant sending back (through the Italian Posta) something the size of a thick-planked dining table. So it was refashioned into Pomodoro’s hospital bed, his blood-stained bulwark against the windy, bitter nights. A fancy bed, meds, and bowls of whey, strained from the wife’s weekly yogurt production, was the magic needed for the cat’s robust return to health. - #itsafuckingzoo #italy #piemonte #rurallife #cats (at Niella Belbo) https://www.instagram.com/p/Coz8aPoNJ2K0RqXQcy6NnuLJ93JjItIQcTueVQ0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
turnnoffyourmind
jbbartram-illu
baratheonpilled
theartofmadeline
origamiaround
snowghoul
kianamaiart
stormborns
dededos