Poor guy! Jingles that he’s feeling better soon!!!
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Jingles for Mulligan!! Get better kitty!
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Poor mulligan! Jingling for some kitty healing
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Details, please! Sounds like Doofus was meant to be. 
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May we please hear that story? 
Oops. @FrittSkritt beat me to it.
And big jingles for little Mulligan.
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So the Doofus story:
My mom and dad got this Shi-Tzu from my nephew, and for whatever reason they adored and worshipped this stupid dog. (I hated it.) He became Dad’s constant companion when my mom died, and he took him for walks all over the farm (because the dog was too stupid to go outside, do his business, and come back in, and Dad wouldn’t invest in a fence for his yard).
One day, Dad took the dog for a walk in the pasture. We had some cows with calves at the time. The cows knew Dad. He’d walked his dog out there before with no issues. But on this day, one of them had a new calf, and for some reason, decided the dog was a threat to her calf. (Yes, dog was on a leash.) She charged. Dad said the cow lowered her head and hit him right in the chest, and sent him flying about 15’ in the air. He landed on his left side, broke all the ribs on impact.
As he was laying there, the dog barking and being stupid, the cow turned around to charge again, and with all those broken ribs (and a ruptured spleen, we learned a few days later), he couldn’t move. At all. And suddenly, Doofus was right there between him and the cow. He charged her, grabbed her by the nose, and refused to let her get near Dad. He stayed in between them for at least half an hour, until the cow finally decided to give up and Dad was able to start crawling for the house. And Doofus stayed with Dad until he got out of the pasture and could call for help. Dad said he chased that cow away several times.
And no, Dad never walked his stupid Shi-tzu in the pasture again.
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Oh my, what a story! I hope your Dad was ok once he healed. That sounds like an awful experience, except for brave little Doofus! 
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He spent several days in the hospital - our local hospital did not do a proper exam and just said he had bruised/cracked ribs. Totally missed the ruptured spleen, until about 3 days later when he started to complain that his left arm hurt. Apparently, that’s a symptom of a ruptured spleen, who knew? It was a “slow leak,” they said, so he didn’t bleed out internally, but still.
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How’s Mulligan? I hope no news is good news.
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He’s home, and just fine - has 2 more days of doxy, but is playing and eating. He chewed me out ROYALLY on the way home.
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How is the gang? Is Mulligan cured? And The Pirate Schuyler?
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Yes, the Gremlins are fine. Currently they have been yelled at multiple times tonight for being too destructive. They have graduated to staying in the bathroom overnight (their crate is too small now).
I did lose one of the original litter, though, and another is at the vet currently. Vet is suspicious of bobcat fever, but couldn’t get a good enough blood sample to be sure. If so, that would be the second cat in 6 weeks I’ve lost to that, which makes me very nervous.
ETA - the kitten at the vet died overnight.
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oh no, I’m sorry. Poor little things.
Did mom ever return for those other little ones. I forget if you said or not.
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Well, Tuffy had and raised the original litter of 4, which she moved. I raised the Gremlins. Then there was the cluster of about 8-10 kittens being raised by one very good feral mama (looked like she had adopted another, younger litter along with her own) - she’s the one who died a few weeks ago of bobcat fever, and only 1 of those kittens has returned. But they disappeared before she got sick.
Was that confusing enough?! It has been a crazy summer!
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Yes, it sure has. I’m sorry some didn’t make it.
I don’t think I’ve heard of bobcat fever before. Is it tick related or viral?
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It’s a protozoa parasite that lives in bobcats (they’re carriers) and is spread by ticks. Basically 100% fatal in domestic cats, as it attacks the red blood cells and causes organ failure. (It also seems to cause clotting that reduces blood flow, but there’s some debate about whether this might be a different strain of the protozoa.) Here’s a good article from Oklahoma State University about it. This article also cites a treatment using malarial drugs, but says that treatment isn’t as effective in our area, and I doubt most vet clinics, especially in our area, have malarial drugs on hand anyway.
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Scary disease! I hope a vaccine can be produced one day soon.
Jingles that no more kitties get it this year!
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So sorry about the kitties 
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Lol, how cute.
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