Time and Age

As the old year is running down, I am reminded of time, and its effects on age. That’s not an original thought in this season, but it comes as I have been observing Renn. My big boy, always so robust and fit, has been having a little difficulty in jumping up onto furniture, such as the bed and the sitting room couch. In the bedroom, he has been making use of the portable staircases which Cammie used to use, and which all but Neville use now, in various ways.

Having a couple of diabetic cats, I thought at first that Renn might be suffering from untreated diabetes. Weakness in the hind quarters is a symptom of the condition. After several attempts – his blood does not flow easily – I was able to gain a sample of his blood to read its glucose level. It was 3.7 which, though actually a tiny bit below the preferred range, is adequate, and certainly no where indicative of high blood-sugar.

A friend suggested that Renn, who will be fourteen in 2021, is feeling the aches of arthritis. That is a possibility. In any case, I will be making an appointment for Renn at the veterinary hospital soon. I don’t believe his need is urgent, but it’s best to have him examined. It’s been a while since he was given the once-over, and it may be time. And it may be time, and age, that is catching up to my big boy.

Merry Christmas from the Cosy Apartment

It is, once again, Christmas-time. This has been a hard year, a tragic year for too many, but I always think of Christmas as a beginning, a beginning of something better. That is, after all, what the holiday is all about.

Below is my Christmas card for this year, inside and out. (I think you can enlarge the image by double-clicking on it.) I have included the former Felons, though they are no longer resident here and, in fact, are celebrating the Yuletide with their own, permanent family. The PAW Society does not usually adopt out cats during the holidays – I think that is a policy with many rescue-groups – due to the chance (not a slim one, either) that the cats will be returned as ‘unsuitable’ after the excitement of the Yuletide. But our adoption process is very meticulous, even severe, and the family who adopted Oleo and Bisto (now Smudge and Scout) are an extraordinarily good fit for the kittens.

But I wanted to include my recent fosters on my card, as they are my ‘guests-in-spirit’ at the Cosy Apartment this year. I was delighted to be their host.

Soon, I will be reporting on all the other beasts who live with me, getting back to those who, in their own opinions, really deserve the attention. The kittens hijacked my blog almost entirely (another crime of which they are guilty) while they were with me, so it is, I think about time to return to basics: the perma-cats.

I am off for four days this weekend, which will be a nice break from work. The usual chores await, though so do naps, time for cats and books, music and simple relaxation.

So, to all who are reading this – and to all who are not – a merry Christmas and a happy new year. God bless you all.

Other People's Cats

Well, there is good news coming from the former Felons’ new home – and I do mean ‘new home’ because the decision has been made formally to adopt the kittens. Their names have been changed. Though they were, I think, beginning to understand that I was calling them, I don’t believe that they knew their distinct names, so receiving different ones will hardly confuse them. Oleo is now Smudge, and Bisto is Scout.

Interestingly, their behaviour with their new family reflects their personalities as I saw them emerging here. Scout has been more ready to accept the new people in his life, already cuddling with them, while Smudge is more reticent, but obviously is starting to enjoy himself because his trade-mark purr is loud and clear.

And here’s a gift from their new people: an Instagram page has been made for the kittens. Those wanting to look at it will likely have to copy and paste this address, as I am not sure how to make it interactive. Nonetheless, you can see the objects of your curiosity here:

instagram.com/scout_and_smudge

Just because I have a couple of left-over pictures of my favourite escapees, I’ll end with them. From now on, the little ones will have others taking their photographs, and that is as it should be.

 

A Few Felonious Thoughts

Now that the Felons have gone to their new home, I have time to reflect on their residence with me. I can write that they taught me a great deal, about kittens in particular, and cats in general.

I have learned that kittens should always come in pairs, at the least. They really aren’t twice as much trouble as a single, and the advantages over just one kitten are many. First and foremost, two kittens are company for one another. When the human is absent, or even when he is present, the two youngsters play, wrestle and sleep together. They encourage each other to eat, and to use the litter-box. They learn from each other: Oleo taught Bisto some things about where to wet, and Bisto showed his brother how to descend steps. As important as anything else, two kittens provide strength and bravery to each other, which is not a little thing when the whole world is new. I couldn’t have counted how many times one of the Felons looked for the other when in a new room or situation.

Watching the babies grow, I learned about the development of cats, how mine became the familiar creatures I see every day. I observed the kittens build hunting and survival skills from play, skills instinctive within each cat but latent until brought out in relationships with others, which is another illustration of why two kittens are better than one. I saw the jerky little movements of babies become the more confident strides of toddlers - and then the over-confident rushes of children.

I know first-hand the importance to kittens of physical contact with humans, giving them the chance to grow accustomed to handling, petting, stroking, holding, and even claw-cutting. Allowing them a variety of foods makes them less picky at a later period of their lives - though this is soon superseded by the period in which pickiness becomes a simple and pervasive species trait. Strong interaction with humans early on can also discipline a kitten, or at least get him used to the human trying to impart it. Biting was common to both Oleo and Bisto after they passed a certain age. Though it may have to do with teething, they nonetheless now know the word “no”. That’s useful knowledge when it comes to deciding what commands to ignore.

And then there is the fact that I realise now that I can raise kittens. Not every little one will be as easy as Oleo and Bisto were on me, but those two survived my inexperience, and others may profit by it. I hope the Felons, if they could speak - and if they cared about such things - would say that I made their lives better and stronger. I know I can say that about their effect on me.

Transported for Life

The Felons are in their new home. It is a trial-adoption but, at the risk of jinxing it, I will write that they will be staying. I find it hard to believe that anyone – short of a foster-guardian – could give them up once they are installed in one’s life.

The removal from the Cosy Apartment was almost smooth. The kittens’ new people brought a carrier for them, but Oleo and Bisto didn’t recognize the container for what it was – or perhaps they did – and it frightened them. Bisto hid and Oleo fought fiercely to keep from going in. So I put them in one of my carriers; it can be returned later. The pair had been placed in the carrier daily, to keep them out of the way while I vacuumed the library and scooped its litter-box. They were used to that confinement.

Oleo and Bisto will, I hope, soon forget me and turn to the new family as their new family. I feel wistful about their absence, but I know they will recover quickly; it is not as if they were adult cats, with adult cats’ reactions. Their new humans sound perfect for them, and the kittens will be perfect for the humans.

In the old days, British criminals convicted of serious but not murderous crimes were sometimes ‘transported for life’ – shipped to penal colonies for the duration of their days. Many were permitted to carry on trades and built better lives in their new lands. So, I think, it will be with the Felons. Transported for life, they will find their world a better and broader one, with an unlimited opportunity for fun and affection. They are just the sort of reprobates to take full advantage of it.