Party Poker Blog

I'm sorry for the non-poker post. Scroll down for massive poker content.

I'm not being lazy, I'll post soon, I hope. Real life just got in the way...

Some of you out there who know me understand that my wife and I are animal nuts - we live on a 150 acre horse farm with dogs, cats, ducks and horses right in the heart of Cincinnati. No, we don't own this wonderful place, but my wife runs the horse facilities and we get to live here for free, plus we receive free boarding for our horse. It's quite a cool set-up.

My wife and I have a cat named Monty (yes, after Montgomery Burns) that we've owned as a newborn since we first got married, nine years ago. He's an incredibly affectionate, doglike, 19 pound tabby. He was raised by our female dog so, of course, he now rules our dogs, all of the barn cats, and the farm in general. If you take our dogs on a long hike or walk, Monty the Cat always tags along. It's truly hilarious, watching him run along behind the dogs.

He's one of a kind.

Sadly, last evening he didn't come home for the first time in seven years of living here. Because this people-person cat falls asleep on her lap every single damn nite, Di was freaking out, imagining the worst. But she is Dr. Dolittle and has a sixth sense for these things. I wasn't too worried - I figured he was just sleeping somewhere and had forgotten to hit his internal snooze alarm button.

When it became nearly dark, the wife went out hunting for him. In a miracle, she found him (he called out to her from deep in the woods), severely injured and bleeding everywhere. He had been hit by a car, or possibly kicked by a horse, but I think it's obviously the prior, considering the massive damage. They thought he would die last evening when we brought him in.

Anyway, it's been a horrific 24 hours. He's somehow still alive, with multiple broken ribs and jaw. My wife is besides herself with grief and we are both praying that he can somehow come out of this alive, and back home to us. The vets are worried about his heart for the most part, not to mention the head trauma. We are just hoping for the best and expecting the worse....it's a coin flip right now.

Sure, this may sound trite, but to anyone who understands how animals become part of your family and often times, best friends, please say a little prayer for my cat.

Here's a shot of Monty with his mom, Samantha, when he was only a year old.