Picasso is five years old. We adopted him 1.5 years ago (he was already 4 years old at the time) from a family that could no longer keep him. It was a friend and neighbour of this family who told me about Picasso, who was then looking for a new home. She praised his nice, cuddly character and his unusual shape – Picasso is an oriental Siamese. He was born at a breeding cattery.
I have always loved cats, and animals in general. We lost "Chichi", a black and white European cat to which we were very attached, in 2021 at the age of 13. We didn't want to adopt a new cat right away. In the few months before we took in Picasso, we started to feel we wanted to adopt a new cat and my preference was for an adult cat, so I didn’t hesitate for a second when my friend told me about Picasso! Also, knowing his background was important to me.
Picasso is a very sociable and curious cat: when someone comes into our home, he does not hesitate to go and meet them and let himself be petted. He is affectionate but he tends to "lash out" suddenly when he no longer wants to be handled. He is also still very playful. Picasso is particularly "talkative", with a sonorous meow typical of Siamese cats. He has a bit of a "dog-like" character; he enjoys our company and willingly follows us when we are in the garden. He really likes lying on our laps. He loves warmth, from humans, the sun and the fire that we light on winter evenings. Before his accident, Picasso liked to spend time outdoors during the day but he came home regularly and never strayed very far from the house. He didn't like cold, wet weather. In the evening, we closed his cat flap so that he would stay inside at night. Picasso got into the habit of sleeping with us, in our bed, and adopted our sleep-wake rhythm to some extent. He is "difficult" in terms of food (tendency to vomit); he only eats one kind of kibble (hypoallergenic) and wet food (bought in supermarkets).
I like the cuddly side, the presence but also the independence of the cat. What I like the least: the hair, the prey (mice, birds) that Picasso brought back to us from time to time...
We were away from home. In the morning, as I drove away, I was thinking to myself how uncomfortable I was to see Picasso crossing and walking along our neighbourhood road. Vehicles (cars, tractors and also trucks) drive along there at nearly 50 km/h... During the morning, I received the phone call from a neighbour who saw that Picasso had been hit by a car. By the time we got home, our neighbour had immediately taken Picasso to our vet who kept him in hospital for 4 days.
The femur of Picasso's right hind leg and the neck of the shoulder blade on the right side were fractured. He underwent several examinations including X-rays, was quickly medicated and they operated on his femur. Unfortunately, he suffered a second fracture of the femur, only a few days after this first operation... He had to be hospitalized for 10 days at the animal hospital in Bern to be examined, then they operated on his shoulder and femur again and treated him. An external fixator was placed on the femoral bone. The dressing had to be changed weekly. Picasso was on daily pain medications but he was also given anti-inflammatories and antibiotics. Monitoring his wounds was important to prevent infection.
For the first few weeks, Picasso had to be kept in a cage to limit his movements (to prevent him from running and jumping) before being able to walk freely inside our house again. While he limped a lot initially, he gradually resumed walking, running, jumping and even playing. His fur has grown back in the areas that were shaved, and his wounds have healed.
Six months after the accident, he is still recovering and does not go outdoors yet. In terms of his behaviour, he is fine. He no longer has the external fixator but still has check-ups for X-rays. Picasso "left his mark" on the veterinary staff at the Bern veterinary clinic as well as at a private veterinary practice with his docile and calm character. He never scratched or bit. During treatments (dressings, for example) and examinations, he just let the vets get on with it... Picasso had 2 sessions of physiotherapy during which he was more reactive because it was probably more painful.
Thanks to wau-miau insurance, we were able to have our cat given comprehensive medical care – without fear of the financial consequences. Without this insurance, it would have been extremely difficult for us to cover all costs.
I became aware of wau-miau via the Internet. Attractive excess/benefit ratio. A close friend, the owner of 2 cats, had strongly advised me to take out insurance, knowing that Picasso is an outdoor cat and that we live near roads.
I chose the Clever variant.
