The Ferocious Pretender

There are certain things I do with each of my cats. Each beast is different, with a personality all his own, so what I do with each is different. Tucker and I have our own game.

We usually play it while he is sitting in his favourite chair at the dining table. I will feign an attack upon him, and grab his head. He is ready for this manoeuvre, however, and in turn seizes one of my fingers or a thumb with his paw. (Since he has no thumb of his own, his action is not very definitive; I go along with it nonetheless.) My digit he then puts into his mouth, securing it by clamping his teeth upon it. But he doesn’t want to hurt me, so, while I pretend that he can capture a finger, he pretends that he is biting down on it. I cry out in false pain, and he lets me go.

The roly poly one likes this game, happily rubbing his fuzzy moon-face against the spindles of the back of the chair, a sure sign that he is enjoying himself. Sometimes he even purrs as he is tearing the metaphoric flesh from my bones, the ferocious beast.

While cats’ ability at pretence is demonstrated by hunting fake mice and the like, this imaginary battle and its equally imaginary consequences show, I think, a slightly higher capacity for seeing in their minds’ eyes what isn’t really present, for feeling what doesn’t exist. It proves that we don’t need toys to entertain our cats. And we just need them to entertain ourselves.

Excuse Me, Do You Have Anything Warmer?

Tucker’s photo session went well – after I bribed him with treats. I will show the results when they are sent to me. As regards buying the calendar, I will put the information for its acquisition on the side of this blog early next week. Though the calendar has yet to be printed, copies may be ordered at any time now.

In the meanwhile, days are uncomfortable here. The temperature right now is 32˚ Celsius (89.6˚ Fahrenheit) and is expected to reach 37˚C (98.6˚F) next week. That’s body temperature. And, but for one day, it is not predicted to fall below 31˚C at any time during the daylight hours for the next two weeks. It is my opinion that that counts as excessive. Still, we do not suffer the humidity that other parts of the country do, such as southern Ontario. On the other hand, it is not in human nature to think, when one is being beaten with a piece of plywood, ‘at least it’s not a rock’. So I will continue to grumble.

I, and many others, have mentioned numerous times how our cats will sometimes defy the heat and lie in its midst, and the next moment run for the coolest shade they can find. Here is an example of the latter, a photograph taken while I was making the bed. The comforter, usually at the foot of the bed, has been discarded - though someone found it cosy.

In the Merry Month of Tucker

Each year, the Lethbridge PAW Society, the rescue-group to which I belong, brings out a calendar for the following year. Work has started on the calendar for 2018. The design will be all-new but it will feature, as did previous calendars, twelve cats who were adopted from PAW. I have been working my way through mine; last year, I had intended to include Tucker, but he developed Horner’s syndrome and, though otherwise well, one of his eyes had its third lid half-way across it. So his appearance in the calendar was postponed.

A professional photographer has volunteered her time and talent to take the pictures for the calendar, and will be visiting Saturday to capture my roly poly one for posterity. I hope Tucker isn’t too timid to give a good show. I am sure I can keep him from hiding, but as to whether he will be as co-operative tomorrow as he needs to be is another matter. We will see.

The calendar will be available for purchase by September, and one of the months will be taken up with this fellow.

Pieces of Renn

I would have thought the principal shedding period for cats was over. At the cosy apartment, however, the excessive heat that we are experiencing may be inspiring the beasts to greater efforts. And, while most of them are divesting themselves of their extra hair in an unconscious manner, Renn is a cat of another colour.

He seems not to be shedding, strictly writing, any more now than he usually does. But he is grooming himself more, with the result that he is throwing off small clumps of hair everywhere. I am sure my big boy is not suffering from anything except a more noticeable enthusiasm for cleanliness. I keep an eye on overzealousness, of course, and am inspecting his fur more than usual.

In the meantime, Renn is littering the apartment with little bits of his hair. Sometimes it is fluffy; more often, it is thick and damp (or previously damp), from him licking it off his body. I am glad that he likes to keep himself presentable, but I now find bits of him lying all over our home.

Really, it is a small thing to use the vacuum cleaner on the big boy’s refuse. And in return, he maintains a fine-looking and healthy coat - which he enjoys showing off, like this.

Preliminary Preparation for Parker

My foster-cat Parker went to the veterinary hospital yesterday. This was a preliminary visit to his dental procedure. The hospital wanted to provide an estimate of what would need to be done. Parker goes to a different hospital than do the perma-cats, and the procedure there is different, as well. The estimates for the work to be completed on the other beasts are often done when they are brought in for the procedure; if they come in for a check-up and work is seen to be done, an estimate may be made then. In Parker’s case, he has to make two visits: this one and another for the actual procedure. This one did not bring him happiness.

He cried on his way there, was uncomfortable while present and cried on his way home, when most cats are relaxed and know that the worst is behind them. It was a stressful time for the orange boy. But it was necessary, and is now finished for a month. He returns for his dental at the beginning of August.

When he came back home, I put him in the library to relax. I didn’t feed him right away, in case he was too upset to keep food down, and gave him half of his dinner thirty minutes later, the other half a little while after that. But, though he was anxious, he was also hungry and all went smoothly. The day’s events tired him out and he was happy to snooze during the evening.

I wish I could explain to the animals what is happening during doctor’s appointments, and why they are necessary. All I can do is try to calm them as much as possible. I am astonished that they not only continue to trust me after such ordeals, but look to me to protect them during the event itself. I feel inadequate at such times, and am glad that cats seem not to experience their fears and anxieties until faced with them. I’d like to think that humans could learn from that attitude, but the fact that we worry for them about many things is often why cats need not. I believe Parker would agree that it’s a good arrangement - until his next veterinary appointment.

Of Changes

Cammie continues slowly to improve. She is not active right now. One of the lingering effects of Cerenia is lethargy, though it’s difficult to determine if her lying about all day is due to her medicine or her species. In any case, she doesn’t have much reason to go anywhere, as she has eaten too little to make many litter-box trips, and I am bringing her food as a waiter does a restaurant’s favoured customer.

The princess has visited the litter-box, and she continues to eat. She has consumed a few kernels of hard-food, but prefers the soft right now. This won’t add much to her weight, but it is keeping her going. She lets me know when she wants a meal. (It’s funny how we can reach a point in our acquaintance when we can judge what our pets want simply by their stance or how they raise their heads.) I provide her with a portion of food every couple of hours; she is eating all that I give her, and it is staying down. As the portions I dole out are about the same size as she receives for dinner, and she is eating one of these every few hours, Cammie is, in fact, eating more than usual.

I have noticed also that she is being a bit less offensive in her attitudes to the proximity of other cats. This actually began with the cleaning of the cat-trees, which appeared to generate in Cammie a self-imposed search for different quarters. I took these photographs over the last little while, some at night (which accounts for the flash.) The picture of her and Parker is most interesting: I heard hissing and growling, and, knowing that Parker was loose, I hurried to the sitting room. Unless there is a physical debate occurring, I don’t separate the cats, but talk to them, pet them and try to calm them. After doing so, Cammie seemed to acquiesce in the sturdy-boy’s presence.

What with clean cat-trees, sickness and a foster-cat, these are interesting times in the cosy apartment.

Another in the Recovery Ward

Thank you to those who have sent Cammie their best wishes, and those who have thought about her.

I took the princess to the veterinary just before noon on Friday, and an injection of Cerenia was administered. It was suggested that, though the medicine would start to take effect thirty minutes later, best results would be obtained by waiting a couple of hours. I locked her in the bathroom again, to see later if she would throw up any more. When I returned from work, a few hours later, no vomiting had taken place.

Cammie ate soon after. I kept her portions small, but fed her soft-food several times through the evening. She was uninterested in hard-food. The Cerenia has now worn off, and Cammie appears to be in low spirits. I think her stomach may be feeling a little queasy once more. Even so, nothing has been brought up, so what food she has eaten will go to keeping her organs moving. I hope, like the last time, she will improve as the food gives her strength, and the lack of upchucking gives her incentive to consume more nutrition.

Cammie weighed 4.27 kilograms at  the animal hospital, which means she lost a pound in the few days she hadn’t eaten. I would like her to take in some hard-food, as this will put some weight back on her; it has no water, of course, but she is drinking again, after not wanting any water. The doctor stated that my princess was still hydrated; that was encouraging.

Now, my cat is in our metaphorical Recovery Ward. There always seems to be one of my roommates in that location. But as long as when they leave it, they head upwards, I don’t mind worrying about them a little beforehand. I just hope their stay is brief.