And Now Presenting...

My new book will be available for purchase in paperback form on June 16th. It is available for purchase now as an e-book. Though it is currently listed as the first volume in a two-book series, I have at last managed to find a way to re-arrange the order, and in a matter of three days or fewer (or more, if I didn’t do it correctly), the two volumes in the series will be listed as just that.

Yes, Idylls of the Spy is another collection of short stories featuring Linus Smith, field operator for the British Secret Service in the 1920s. These stories are, in chronological order, sequels to those collected in Inductions Dangerous. I may have a different publisher for the third volume that will eventually be published, but for now, it is, and will be, available on Amazon.

Ta da!

Striding Forward

As the holidays progress, so does the situation at the Cosy Cabin. Indigo is feeling better. For the first time in a week, she jumped up on the bed to spend the night with me. That is as positive a sign, as is her consumption of food, which is nearly back to what it was before her illness. I am continuing to give her Recovery with Restoralax in it, to help her poop. She has done so, which is, if you’ll pardon the pun, a relief, but the poop has been in small amounts, and rather hard. I hope the medicine will have an effect on that.

Millie is adjusting to things in her new foster-home. I leave the door to the cat-room open much of the time when I am present. The other beasts, mostly Moxy and Brazil, go in, and, while Mills doesn’t like this, she puts up with it. As well, she comes out and explores the house when things are quiet. There are still blow-ups from time to time, either when someone - principally Shimmer - gets too close, or when the newcomer and another accidentally meet outside the cat-room. But Millie is handling the changes very well.

As a sign of her steps forward, she has not wet outside the box in five weeks. I am not discounting anything yet, but this record began when I gave her no alternative to using covered litterboxes. (Mills had been using only an uncovered box in her previous home.) I have decided therefore to remove the ‘splashguards’ - soaker-pads I had placed behind even the covered boxes to catch Millie’s urine at the most likely spots she would wet, if not in the boxes. The pads in front are to catch litter tossed out of the boxes, more than to absorb any fluids.

I will keep my fingers crossed. I am not a particularly superstitious person, but things tend to go wrong when one thinks they can’t. Part of me will stay pessimistic. But most of me is striding forward with Millie and Indigo.

The Semi-secret Garden

A bit of a different entry today…

First, I will report that while Indigo appears still to be under the weather, she is eating. She responds well when I bring her food, and eats most of what she is given. She has also wet in the box twice in the last couple of days, but has not pooped. She may not have eaten enough for that, but it is giving me some concern. I have been mixing a little Restoralax in her Recovery, and that should move anything along, if it is there to move. So there is improvement, but she is not back to normal yet.

For pictures today, though, I thought I would show what the back garden of the Cosy Cabin looks like. It is a small one, but private, with a shed for storage, and to serve as my bicycle’s garage. The lawn takes little time to mow, which is fine with me.

The patio furniture is actually being used, unlike that at the old Cosy Apartment. I am not sure why there is a difference; perhaps it has to do with the privacy I have here. (The drainpipe’s position is temporary; it did go over the gate to the garden, but during the winter filled with ice and collapsed. To prevent water from turning to ice on the walkway, the present expedient was devised.)

There are some small flowers growing. I think the magenta and the white are varieties of the same species, but I have no idea what. I am leaving them alone, since that is their best chance of survival.

It is a pleasant little space, which I am enjoying, and I am grateful to have it.

...And Indigo Moves Sideways

What would holidays be without an ill cat?

I heard Indigo throw up a couple of times Saturday night, and she didn’t come to bed with me, which is unusual. The next day, she didn’t eat at all, and vomited a couple more times. I injected her with Cerenia and though, later, she still did not want food, neither did she bring any up thereafter.

I wondered if this was a recurrence of what the doctor thought was pancreatitis. The symptoms seem similar to what had happened before. She may be in some physical discomfort, but I don’t think it is worth the stress for her to go to the hospital to have some pain-killers prescribed. I will keep an eye on her behaviour for clues to that.

Today, Indie is eating small amounts of Recovery. In case there is constipation, as accompanied her last episode, I am dissolving some Restoralax in her food. I will also try to give her some fluids, though the most recent attempts at that produced such resistance that it was impossible to complete the process without a fight, which is counter-productive.

At least in this instance, I am home to give her food at irregular intervals and to watch her.

Millie Moves Ahead

I am satisfied with Millie’s progress. It is now a month since she last wet outside the litter-boxes. This includes her introduction to the many other cats who live in the Cosy Cabin; seeing cat after cat appear as if from nowhere must surely have been stressful to her. Yet she maintains her good hygiene, so far as I can tell.

Initially, she hissed and even physically fended off any cat who came too close to her. I cannot think this was a bad thing, since her reaction was not an over-reaction: there were no injuries, though there were some lessons learned. Brazil, who still goes after Imogen now and then - but, I am interested to see, with less vigour or seriousness - has been put in his place twice by Mills. Even the Mixer, who means no harm, has been kept at a distance by some judicious whapping.

In the last few days, Millie has been watching more than hissing. The latter still occurs, but she seems less frightened or anxious about the others. She had taken to jumping to the top of the cat-room’s bookcases when she saw other beasts enter the room. Already, she is more likely to maintain her ground at the top of a cat-tree. She has even left her room’s safety and explored a bit; previously, I had had to bring her out. And, for their part, the others seem to find her less fascinating than they did.

Nonetheless, I will give the newcomer plenty of time alone, with the door to the cat-room closed to anyone else. She will continue to be allowed to set her own pace. That pace, however, is moving in the right direction.

The Next Leg

The latest project involving the cats is to rid Neville of the matts on his rear legs. They are primarily on the backs of these limbs. I suspect that, with his advanced age, he cannot stand long enough in a litter-box to wet, so he crouches. (Cats normally walk and stand on their toes; Nev probably squats on his whole feet.) This presses sodden litter into his fur, where it stiffens. I have to pick the matts out one by one with a comb, as his skin is too thin and the crusted hair too close to it to have been trimmed.

He is naturally impatient with such operations but they must be done. I have almost finished with one foot, but it is slow going. Once it is completed, I will try to keep up with it as it recurs.

Such is another price of aging…

Sable's Latest Discovery

There has been a minor albeit interesting development courtesy of Sable. Not only has she returned to her spot under the dining table for breakfast (both yesterday and today) but she has found a new place to relax in the library.

I have a cat-hammock, rather like a camp-bed, that has been enjoyed for years by many cats, though by none since we moved into the Cosy Cabin. Sabe has now discovered its comfort, and I have seen her in it several times when I go downstairs.

There is often something new for a cat to find, even in something old.