Critter Update. (Don't worry, they all still live.)
Higgins is still with us. I believe it's just to torture me at this point. He's skin and bones and runs me ragged buying different flavors of food to tempt his palate. When he eats, he cleans his plate. If it's not the flavor he had in mind at that moment, he licks the gravy off. He's social, purring, and sleeping on my legs in the bed at night. He wakes up 20 minutes before the alarm, which is set for an already painful 5:30, and screams in my ear. I take a secret delight when he walks up my other side and steps on Sophie, who lunges from a sound sleep and snarls in his face - she doesn't try to bite and it's over in a second, it's just a really annoyed noise, but he jumps back. "WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU? CAN'T YOU SEE I'M SLEEPING HERE!" He rejects 80% of the food he is offered, but cleans his plate 20% of the time. He purrs and acts alert. He hasn't been "Thinking Outside the Box" lately. So, I keep throwing out uneaten cat food and tolerate his screaming in my ear before the alarm, because he is still the Cat of Mixed Messages.
Murphy...I can't tell. He's chipper, yes, but his innards are not as calm as they were for quite a while post dental surgery. I really thought that the surgery was the magical solution to the endless relapses, all other things being constant, but no such luck. I'm Doctor Mom-ing for now, and things seem to be settling down. He's just the ultimate delicate flower at this point. Excitement upsets him. A couple of sneaked bites of cat food upsets him.
But he's bright and perky and energetic and obviously feeling no discomfort, so we will just try for the umpteenth time to get things settled down again. Further dental surgery is tabled until the other end calms down. It's not dire, he has had no accidents in the house and he's not throwing up, he's eating, etc., but at this point I can pick him up and feel the weight in his abdomen and know things are unsettled, and when he poops outside, stand back.
And he's skinny, Oh God, he's so skinny.
Sophie is fine. Bless her snorty little heart, she's the low maintenance lovable companionship sanity in my life. If not for her snuggly presence I think I'd lose my mind running this nursing home for senior critters.
Aw, Catherine... Thanks for the update. My lord, that cat comes from good genes!
ReplyDeleteSophie is cute :D
ReplyDeleteCatherine,
ReplyDeleteI do sympathize with you but I have to say that I got quite a laugh from your description of Sophie's reaction when Higgins steps on her early in the morning! You are a good woman to be so kind to the animals in your life. I enjoyed reading the update.
Sophie is my companion in the old animal home - she's young and bouncy and takes no crap from that whiny ancient cat. At first I actually worried that she really wanted to bite Higgins and there would be bloodshed at 5 a.m. and Before Coffee, but after a few repetitions of his bitching and stepping on her, I figured out that she's just as pissed at him as I am. Neither of us will kill him, but we both wish he'd go away.
ReplyDeleteUgh. I found a tick on Hannah's neck the other day. I'm still itching from just the thought of it. I put flea stuff on her, but it's not strong enough for ticks. She just weighs five pounds, so I'm afraid to go overboard with the poison---I figure anything strong enough to kill a tick is probaby strong enough to harm a tiny little Yorkie. (Yes, she is also my delicate little hot-house flower. Long may she reign.) I hope we have days and days of sub-zero temperatures this winter and all the nasty ticks, fleas, mosquitos, etc. don't survive it. Bring on the sky-high heating bills---it will be worth it.
ReplyDeleteBrenda.
I HATE ticks! I never see them here, but Sophie picked up a couple while we were in Asheville.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first one she's ever had, and I'm hoping she never gets another one. She hadn't been anywhere but the backyard, so she had to have picked it up there. Yuck! For all her faults, she will potty on command, so I've been taking her out on the driveway. (TMI, I know.) It's just been too hot and dry here, plus the winter was too mild to kill all that stuff. I've been telling her that if she wants some kind of little friend, I will get her a Poodle. NO TICKS!!!!!
ReplyDeleteBrenda.