The Siamese Patient

I am going on holidays at the end of Friday: three wonderful weeks in the peaceful Kingdom of Not-at-Work. It’s an easy-going, gentle land where there are chores to do, but no schedules or time-tables to keep, except for the odd doctor’s appointment. It’s like a pastoral landscape by Claude Lorraine in which shepherds spend their lazy days watching their flocks and playing their flutes. Except there is concrete, and exhaust fumes from automobile traffic.

In the meantime, I want to report as much about the beasts as possible. I can publish articles from home, of course, but somehow, I have more time for it while working. Today, I have the pleasure of recording that Cammie is doing better than she had been. She is eating well, though not as much as I would like to see. Her activity is lower than it was before her illness; she isn’t playing much, but then she is still being given Prednisolone. That may be affecting her behaviour somewhat, though she is receiving it only once every two days now, and that for only a couple more times.

The ugly swelling on either side of her head has vanished, leaving bald patches that may or may not fill in later. Appearances mean nothing in my household; as long as the Siamese princess is healthy, I don't care about her looks. She's a beautiful cat, regardless.

Cammie was good about taking her medicine; not very good, but good. She struggled a bit when getting her syringe-fed solutions, but I felt I had to give them by that method since she was not eating the pill-pockets with the medicine inside. Then I recollected that on a previous occasion, I had doctored the pill-pockets with small amounts of Temptation treats, which she enjoys. She gave me anxious moments when she continually rolled the pill-pocket, now filled with half a pill and half a Temptation treat, around and around, but she eventually ate it.

She is, I think, on her way to recovery, for which I am grateful.