I woke at 4 a.m. feeling like someone had dropped a hot coal down my throat. Coughing, head full of lead, miserable.
Girlmama texted to ask if she (she's sick too) could visit with Patient Zero, who has been on antibiotics and is her happy, sunny little self. Girlmama's nose is running like a faucet. I'm coughing like a 3 pack a day smoker. Miss D is fine, thank you for asking!
They visited for a few hours. Miss D now pulls herself up to stand and is obviously plotting walking soon. The dogs of course went wild and are passed out exhausted now, but Miss D's true fascination is the Ancient Cat. She lives with dogs, Grandma has dogs, she knows dogs, they kiss you and want to share your cookies - but that skinny old orange cat is the most fascinating creature she's ever met! She babbles at Higgins, she crawls to Higgins - Higgins watches her with wary eyes and makes an exit when she gets too close.
This afternoon we had a close call. I have a (virtually useless) tiny table and two stools in the eating area. Miss D. cornered Higgins and he made his exit through the legs of the table and stools, and had to squeeze between a stool and the table leg, just as Miss D. leaned on the stool - she nearly caught his neck between the legs. Her mama grabbed her as she pushed on the stool and the cat was uninjured. We explained to her that we only JOKE about wanting the cat to just die already!
Oh, and when I woke this morning at 4, with my head hurting and my throat on fire, and I lurched toward the kitchen to find a liquid for my burning throat...there were these small brown lumpy things on the floor, leading like a trail of very unpleasant breadcrumbs from the hall bathroom where the litterbox resides. Yes. Apparently he was constipated (not a problem we've seen before) and sort of...dropped a few dry turds in the night after exiting the Box.
And I had a flashback to Boris and the megacolon he experienced in the last months of his life. Until this incident, Higgins had been pooping like a healthy young horse. So is this a change in his health, or a fluke? He has seemed fine for quite a while - sleeping at night, sociable, limited complaining, eating well, alert - all things that would be considered great in a 100 year old nursing home resident, which is basically what he is now.
The winding down of the ancient cat continues - but if you looked into his eyes and saw the bright and alert animal looking back, demanding food, and leaning on you in bed to get petted, you'd be as befuddled as I am.
I knw that we humans are supposed to feel less thirsty as we age. I wonder if cats and dogs are the same? Is he on wet cat food, or on kibble? Is he drinking enough in this hot weather? Poor old moggy... And poor you. I hope you weren't barefoot!
ReplyDeleteHope you feel better soon.
I spotted the trail of Not Breadcrumbs at a distance Joan, not the hard way. :-) He's on wet food only, I do see him drinking water, his kidney function fluctuates (again, extreme old age) and he's in A/C 24/7, so the hot weather isn't a factor. It's just another old cat issue for me to decipher!
ReplyDeleteWhen the heart starts to weather, so does the kidneys and colon start to tank, in humans. So it mat be his age. It will be off and on,too.
ReplyDeleteBoy I hope you are back to your sunny self soon. what ever it is sounds dreadful!