I think I have mentioned that lately Tucker seems hesitant to jump up onto his favourite chair at the dining table. I suspect that he is feeling his age, especially in the joints. I would like to give him some joint medicine, but he is already burdened with a number of pharmaceutical additives. He has his insulin twice a day, his kidney powder, his salmon oil and his Restor-a-lax. Thrice a week, he receives sub-cutaneous fluids. I didn’t want to put another on the menu just yet.
So now he has a small step-stool to assist him in reaching the chair. He still needs to use his muscles and joints, but the stress of jumping has been replaced. I hope this will ease his aches a bit.
The trouble is that Tucker is very set in his ways. He may actually lack the intelligence to understand a step-stool, but I prefer to ascribe his reluctance to use it to an innate conservatism. He does use the steps at the bottom of the bed, and he comprehends the point of the steps up to the couch in the sitting room, I think. It took him years to master the former, and even longer to conquer the latter.
In any case, I am encouraging him to use the new tool, showing how he needs to approach it and take advantage of it. I believe he will enjoy its benefits eventually. For the moment, though, he appears rather dubious.