A cat's last stand

This is my cat, Miles. You probably know him, I have had him for about ten years. Miles has always been a fighter, always. He fights (I think) almost every night. I used to think that neighborhood cats always picked on him, because I hear cat fights every night. Then I noticed he was never hurt when he came home. In the last few years though, I have seen him in action, and he is a fighter. I think he has started every single fight he has been in. I used to think he fought just to defend his turf. Nope! This Spring I caught him chasing down a neighborhood cat (who was nowhere near our house) and beating his ass.

Well, his Mike Tyson-like string of undefeated knockouts has come to an end. Miles got really messed up in a recent cat fight. He has two huge holes in his face as a result. It's more than sad, it's really gross. This is a picture of him today, in his special collar so he doesn't scratch his owie. It is called an 'elizabethan collar' and just don't mention it around him ok (he is plenty aware of it). The dogs keep tripping him, and hiding his food.

It gets stranger. I am taking a vacation this week, and was going to simply leave the cat in the house with a huge bowl of food. He does fine, we do this every year. Well, because of Mile's medical situation, he has to be tended to three times a day by us for the next week. Surely, we couldn't skip Christmas with the family for my stupid cat, right? So gear up, Phoenix, we are driving the horribly maimed cat and both dogs across country. Oh yeah, 15 hours in a station wagon with two huge dogs and an injured cat. What could possibly go wrong?

I'll update y'all from Phoenix.

* oh, a small bonus. In this picture you can see the damage that Miles has been doing to our $500 recliner in his free time. Moral of the story? Cat for sale!