Ekanath is Currently in the Veterinary hospital. As of the time of writing this is his second day and he is undergoing a second round of surgery. Marie and I took him into the vet's on Thursday because his breathing was labored, he wouldn't eat and he was lethargic. Earlier in the week he has suffered a wound to his chest which seemed to be healing well, there were no obvious signs of infection and he was well in himself at first. By Wednesday he had begun to refuse food (Except cat treats) and was growing increasingly lethargic. his breathing had become rapid and we were timing it to keep an eye on it. When he was no better by Thursday morning we took him to the vets for an emergency appointment. By then his breathing was up to double the higher rate for cats ( A cat should take around 20 to 30 breaths a minute, in case you ever need to know. Any faster than that for more than a short period and there is a problem you need to keep an eye on and a vet should be called if if goes above 40 or if it continues for more than a short while). By the time he reached he vet's Ekanath's breathing was over 60 breaths per minute, obviously painful and he was gasping with his mouth open (Cat's should not breath with their mouths open, this is always a sign something is wrong. If it is short lived stress this will stop within a few minutes if it goes any longer consult a vet!). On arrival at the vets he was given Oxygen to calm his breathing, a cardiogram and then was administrated a mild sedative and was given an X-ray. The X-ray revealed a huge amount of fluid in his chest cavity and he was booked in for a chest drain, blood tests and fluids tests. Fortunately the vet we use is a full veterinary hospital and they were able to conduct all this on the premises. He was kept in overnight and the vet rang me at 7.30pm to tell me the chest drain had been successful and that the amount of pus removed had been alarming. It had distorted his diaphragm as well but with the pressure removed there was no sign of damage to it or his ribs. The infection was most probably introduced via the chest wound that had healed over the top of it. they also booked him in for more surgery and he is under the knife as I write this now! He is having the chest wound reopend, cleaned and sutured closed and while he is out anyway they are going to neuter him in the hopes he gets into fewer fights as a result (since he is no bloody good at them and always get's hurt). He is on strong painkillers and anti-biotics and he may not be home tonight either, depending onn how he responds to the surgery. that said, after last nights surgery he was comfortable, doing well, he had eaten a meal and was demanding attention fro the vets and nurses (he has a thing for women in uniform no idea where he gets that...) Naturally we are very worried, but he is young, strong and mostly healthy so his chances are good. His injury was from a bite he got from a large black cat that came in the house through his catflap. To minimize this happening again we are going t replace he catflap with one activated by his microchip. Chip activated flaps large enough for a Bengal are expensive, but worth it if it helps keep him safe. He has had a great many well wishes form people and we thank you all on his behalf. We have also had a lot of people asking us how they can donate towards the cost of his new catflap and the veterinary treatment. Most of the treatment will be covered by his insurance (not all, but a lot of it, we have an excess to pay and some of the treatment is excluded under the polciy, but the rest is covered up to £3000). For those of you who would like to donate there is apaypal donation button on the home page of tis site or you can donate via paypal to the address dj_ghostuk@yahoo.co.uk All donations will be used on the veterinary care, the new catflap, and a few comforts to make him feel better when he finally gets home. If there is a surplus it will be held in trust for him in a separate account we are setting up just for him and used for any future veterinary care.