Making Friends with the Nylon Tunnel

It was just last week that I wrote of my foster-cat, Parker, discovering the heated cat-beds. Over the weekend, he explored another new element of the household: the nylon tunnel.

The nylon tunnel has been quite a boon to the entertainment of the cats. They will zoom through it for fun; they will chase each other through it; they will lie in it while I play with them from the outside; they will snooze in it. I have found it useful as a toy, a furnishing and an all-round accessory for the beasts. And now, the orange boy has taken an interest in it.

He started by beating it up. He seemed to think this was a great deal of fun. Then he ran through it at speed and kicked it at the far end. He lie in it, perhaps marvelling at the strange colours resulting from the filtered light. He would fight the nylon tunnel, twisting it this way and that. Was he frustrated or fascinated that it kept reverting to its original shape?

Whatever Parker’s emotions, they were positive. He hasn’t played with the nylon tunnel since the weekend but, like the heated bed, he knows that it is there, and it is another part of his foster-world that he has discovered. It was an enjoyable experience for him.

And it was tiring. Afterward, he deserved a rest, which he took on our newest cat-bed.

One Up, One Down

Cammie’s recovery seems to be complete now. As she was rising above her latest digestive problem, she contracted a cold. It wasn’t a major problem for her, and thank goodness it didn’t interfere in her renewed desire to eat. Some of her appetite has changed: she so far does not like anything but Fancy Feast, and my attempts to interest the princess in Merrick have been rebuffed, and she now disdains FortiFlora. This latter is disappointing, as it was previously an incentive to her eating. I am certain that her recent stomach ailment was caused by a new food, so I am reluctant to try anything novel on her highly selective tummy. But she is eating her soft-food (well, sometimes she decides that a particular portion is beneath her and refuses without explanation) and visits the hard-food bowl a satisfactory number of times a day. When she wants some kernels and they are not available, I give them to her. I hope to weigh her and the others this week.

Now, Tucker is sick. He picked up Cammie’s cold when she was done with it. The roly poly one suffers much more from colds when he acquires them than do the other beasts. He sneezes (on Friday, I counted nine in a row) and sniffles, little bubbles blowing out of his nose. He wheezes and sounds like a dusty bellows. But he will recover and, in the meantime, I am grateful that he continues to have an adequate appetite. He even plays a little during his illness.

One cat better, one cat worse; a normal weekend at the cosy apartment.

Warm Orange

As many wrote in response to Tucker’s exploration of the cylinder cat-house, it’s fun to see our beasts look into new things and locations. Parker has been with me for more than three months now, and he still finds novelty about the apartment.

Recently, he stepped into one of the heated cat-beds for the first time. He must have liked it because he has come back to it. He doesn’t often stay long in its warm comfort, which I find odd. Even if some of the others, such as Tucker, visit the heated cat-beds infrequently (in his case, usually at night), they normally remain there for some time. But Parker is actually a restless fellow, and likes to try numerous positions and locations for his relaxation. I can’t see that that would be relaxing, but it seems to be his way. He does eventually settle down and snooze.

But now he knows the warmth the heated cat-beds afford. Perhaps when the year turns cold again, he will find their temperatures more congenial. He may simply not need them right now; his sturdy body may be enough to ward off any chill. But he is aware of the beds and their advantages. And, as his knowledge of his surroundings grow, so will his comfort and ease, and that’s good for everyone.

Unexpected Agility

I do not associate Tucker with agility. I perhaps do him an injustice. In my defence, I may point out that he looks like an immense, hair-covered jujube. One does not expect a gummy candy to have much climbing ability. As well, he has diabetes, which can reduce strength in the nether regions. Though Tucker has suffered from this characteristic in the past, the regulation of his insulin has ameliorated it. It should have been less of a surprise when I saw the roly poly one appear in the cylinder cat-tree.

This is not an easy tree to penetrate. Jumping directly into the opening of the cylinder, or pulling oneself in are the only means of entrance. Escaping requires a drop down to the platform straight below or, even farther, to the floor. Nonetheless, Tucker managed both directions without complaint. 

Why he decided to explore the cylinder cat-tree, I don’t know. He did not stay long. He may have been merely curious, in an olfactory way. Renn has re-claimed the location recently, and Tucker may have been wondering about its attraction. In any case, he made it there and back again, without injury.

I am rather proud of my roly poly, not just for his achievement, but for attempting it in the first place. Perhaps an extra helping of food is in order; something non-fattening, so as to facilitate his unexpected agility.

Leaning With Parker

After the worry and stress of Cammie’s situation - she is still recovering, but is eating and, furthermore, expressing a desire to eat - I thought something lighter would be a pleasant way on which to end the week. Take a look at Parker, my foster-cat.

This orange boy, who is doing well, is what I call a ‘semi-lap-cat’. Before you ask what a ‘semi-lap’ is, let me explain that Parker is a leaning cat. He doesn’t settle fully on a lap. It’s not that he is too large or heavy for it. After all, both Tucker and Renn have found comfort on my lap. (Whether I can find it when they are there is another matter.) Parker simply likes to lean.

Here he is leaning on the base of the tall cat-tree. He will lean on me in the same way. He also likes to lie on my bed, his upper body and his forelegs on the folded comforter at the bottom of the bed. That inch or two of padding makes the difference to him.

Whatever his means of finding a cosy position, he is welcome to it, though it reminds me of a fellow lounging about a street-corner in a small town, waiting for friends to walk by and pass the time of day. And I can assure you that Parker would be a good cat with whom to pass the time.

A Beautiful Sight

This is what Cammie was doing last evening.

When I came home from work, I found no signs that she had thrown up. If she had, it would have involved some of what she had eaten that morning. And as she had shown an interest in hard-food before I had gone to work, I doubted that she would not have ingested some of that. Evidently, it all stayed down.

When I prepared the beasts’ dinners, the princess was ready to eat. I served her some Fancy Feast and she eventually consumed not much less than she normally does at that time. I didn’t press her, though. At snack-time, several hours later, she ate some more soft-food, and then, near bed-time, I took this photograph.

This morning, Cammie ate more Fancy Feast. I was a little worried when, afterward, she hid under an armchair, where she had hidden while sick. But she may have eaten a little too much for her stomach to handle right now, or she may have been afraid that I was about to carry her off to the bathroom and force-feed her again. But when I left for work, she was snoozing in a cat-bed, with no sign that she was about to be ill. So far, everything that has gone into her since Monday night has stayed down.

I have not yet observed her using the litter-boxes, though she may have, as I found some Cammie-sized poop there, but it was a different shape than usual. That is to be expected, I suppose, under the circumstances.

I am not a naturally optimistic man, so I remain guarded. However, while I don’t think we are quite out of the woods yet, we are on the right path, and we can now see green meadows through the trees.

Strangely, the other cats reflected Cammie’s illness. Everycat’s eating - except Parker’s - was off during the holiday weekend, but has recovered with a vengeance now. It’s true that I am serving for the time being Fancy Feast - everycat’s favourite - to get appetites moving again, but even so, it’s gratifying to see.

I want once more to thank once all those who have written and thought about, prayed and purred about Cammie during her trials. It has all helped.

Oh, and Tucker was doing his part. To encourage Cammie, he apparently wanted to show her that dying is not pleasant, and gave her his imitation of that awful state. I’m glad to write that the roly poly, too, has recovered.

Cammie Fights Back

Cammie and I have mounted a counter-offensive against her illness, and so far we have been successful.

I came home yesterday to find that the princess had eaten nothing during the day, but had thrown up nonetheless. I resorted to the Cerenia pill that I had been given by the veterinary but, perhaps predictably, Cammie regurgitated it almost immediately upon receiving it. The same fate would have befallen a pepcid pill. I consulted with a friend from the rescue-group to which I belong and she urged me to try some more slippery elm.

The elm I had used initially in this episode was old. There was a possibility that it was no longer effective. I had purchased a new supply and prepared some for Cammie. This elm thickened quickly and more densely than the other; this encouraged me. Armed with this and some Recovery-and-water, I brought my unhappy cat into the bathroom.

While our ammunition remains the same, I have changed our weaponry. I had previously used large-calibre syringes to deliver the elm and food to Cammie. I reduced the sizes. If I were force-feeding a cat like Tucker, placid and co-operative, a large amount of food injected swiftly would be the proper tactic. With Cammie, I needed more control and better aim. This I think I have achieved with a syringe as small as ten millilitres. Certainly, I have put more food into her and given her less opportunity to shake away, spit out and otherwise eject the precious nutrients.

With this new plan, I gave Cammie a feeding at about seven o’clock last night. I have no idea how long one must wait until the body is no longer capable of vomiting food it has ingested, so I anxiously waited. By ten o’clock, I knew that an amount of food, though small, had gone to where it could not come back up. If she threw up anything thereafter, that serving at least would help keep her organs going. She received another meal before bed-time. She did throw up the slippery elm, convincing me that I was giving her too much. I did not see the elm spilled on the floor until after I had fed her a second meal, but it stayed down anyway.

I heard no sounds of wretching during the night, and found no evidence of it this morning, so another meal was on its way to strengthening the princess. I fed her again just before going to work. A good sign I observed before leaving was that Cammie was waiting her turn at the hard-food bowl. She wanted to eat. Hopefully, she does not over-indulge, though the slippery elm I gave her earlier may provide a buffer against too much food.

This is how the battle stands so far. I feel confident. Though I may be greeted with an unpleasant mess on the floor when I return home later today, Cammie will have been given sustenance, at least for a while yet. Her stomach has provided her other organs with material to keep from degrading.

As for the cause, I believe the culprit is some new food I gave to Cammie in the hopes of giving her increased fluids, since she refused all kinds of kidney-assisting nutrition. She stopped eating it three days before the onset of her vomiting, but the latter has been accompanied by a severe flare-up of the lesions or bumps on the sides of her head. These have subsided now, and she is beginning to feel better. I will, as Kari, one of my readers, suggested, talk to the doctor about the possibility of pancreatitis.

Again, I must thank all those who have wished Cammie well in her fight, and who have provided suggestions to help her. I read and am grateful for every comment.