Josie is my background cat. I hate to think of her that way, but she is unobtrusive, despite her size. She doesn’t invade one’s space, she tries to stay out of the way. Now and then, she will imitate Tucker and waddle over to me to tell me that she likes me. But normally, her behaviour is nondescript.
Even so, I marvel at her sometimes. She has a sensitive stomach. She will throw up her food once in a while, usually very soon after eating it. I feed her hairball remedy, and I know to keep her away from certain fare that exacerbates the condition. And it is rarer now that she regurgitates than it was.
I mention this distasteful topic because my Chubs does something remarkable when she is about to upchuck. She does her best to reach hardwood or linoleum flooring. I thought at first this was mere coincidence. But for some time, whenever she is making that rather horrible noise indicative of nutritional reappearance, whenever her body convulses like John Hurt in the most memorable scene from Alien, Josie hurries, as much as she can, to a patch of smooth and uncovered floor. Most recently, she was on the bed, where she sometimes is served her meals (yes, I give her food there; if that’s where she eats it, that’s where I serve it; let’s move on). I heard her heave and hastened in to the bedroom (running just frightens her) to observe her trundle down the steps in time to throw up on the floor.
She has jumped from the bed in order not to sully the covers, she has trotted from the sitting room rug to the hardwood floor, she has even descended from a cat-tree to unload at ground-level. (This last feat is difficult to achieve in a hurry, and may result in the most spectacular release of post-consumption material, dropped from a height onto several platforms in succession.) She doesn’t always make it, and periodically, she doesn’t try, but perhaps my exasperation, probably displayed too many times when washing sheets and comforter covers, scrubbing rugs and wiping upholstery, made an impression on her. I try not to let my negative emotions show around the beasts, but I’m sure they know my reactions on some level. I have, in fact, taken to complimenting the Great White when she empties her belly on an easily-cleaned surface, rather than on fabric; this probably confuses her more than anything else…
So Josie does her part for the harmony of the household, in her quiet, unassuming way. Now and then, my background cat comes to the foreground. And throws up on it.
This made made laugh, sorry. :-)
ReplyDeleteDerry regurgitates from time to time, when he's too hungry and eats too much at once. But in his case, he usually does it while running, so it goes on the floor, on the carpet...everywhere. Josie, at least, is trying to be as considerate as possible. :-)
I recall the first time I tried to prevent Josie from barfing: she ran, too. Sigh. Live with cats and learn.
DeleteHow considerate of her! I'm constantly shooing cats off the bed when they start to cough, and very recently one of them has started taking her self off the bed, which I appreciate to no end. So I can relate to how you must appreciate Josie.
ReplyDeleteshe gets an A for effort :)
ReplyDeleteI did not realize it but vomiting and regurgitation are two separate things to a Vet. Every once in awhile my cats regurgitate their breakfast. I have very seldom issues with vomiting. Josie has an amazing kindness to reach for the hard wood which is far easier to clean than carpets. OH how I detest carpets now.
ReplyDeleteI learned the difference after I got cats. Josie does both, but usually regurgitation. In the post, though, I was running out of synonyms, so I used both terms...
DeleteYou can take a phone book (if you have one or two) and put them on the floor and put her food bowl on top of it. You can even get creative and dig a hole for the bowl to fit in so it won't topple. This will relax her throat when she is eating and stop the vomiting because she also won't be able to gobble her food down whole.
DeleteCatching up with all the goings on at your house. Seems you are actually doing quite well with Tucker. He remains in my prayers every night. I wish Ralphie would learn from sweet Josie! He runs TO the nearest rug/ blanket/carpet to deposit his latest hairball/food for me in a house full of hard floors! Hope Tucker's numbers are better with the new insulin dose!
ReplyDeleteMarty's Mom
I tore up the fitted carpeting that covered my basement floor when I arrived, and replaced it with linoleum - because of the cats. I forgot to mention in my post an image I saw on the internet. A cat is depicted with his foreleg raised as in victory and the caption reads, "Had to barf - made it to the carpet!"
DeleteJosie is very thoughtful! Flynn rarely vomits but occasionally has a hairball. He will rush from the bed, but has his favourite place on the carpet to deposit them. Eric used to regurgitate regularly until we discovered it was a content in beef cat food. Once we knew that we stopped all food with beef derivatives and he stopped vomiting. When he did vomit, he always ran for the hard kitchen flooring too and would look quite upset and worried if he didn't make it.
ReplyDeleteIt often is the type of food, but Josie's reactions keep changing, so it's hard to tell with her.
DeleteJosie is such a good girl. I have a cat that used to run to the back door to go outside to toss her cookies.But most of them do it right where they are standing. You all have a grand day.
ReplyDelete