LORI: This has definitely become my goto place fer naps. The bed is nice, but the door is usually closed cuz Taz started peeing there again last month. The trees huts are nice, and I do spend time. in 2 of them.
But the hood is warm an private (room fer one only) and none of the others seem innerested in it annyway.
TBT laffs that I keep "missing" the cloth pillow he arranged fer me. But I know what I like.
LORI: I used ta nap in this bed a lot (with Laz), but I havent been there fer awhile. But there it was and I felt like giving it another try.
It s quite comfy!
Its so big, I'm surprised Marley doesnt nap here...
LORI: I've really taken to the aquarium hood lately! I nap there almost all the time inside. Well, OK, there is a particular cat tree hut I like, but the aquarium hood is warmer...
None of that involves The Lap though. That's differnt and special.
Happy National Kitten Day everyone! We dragged out some of our kitten pictures to celebrate the day...
Ayla
Iza
Marley
Lori
LORI: I love the aquarium hood!
LORI: I tinkled in the toilet again. Its a memory from kittennhood that comes to my mind sometimes. Breeders often train kittens to do that. TBT says Ayla did that sometimes too.
I do it more often than TBT knows because we are seldom in that place at the same time.
No pics of ME doing that of course. I'm just mentioning it. But here are a few pics of other cats doing it...
Well, at least it wasn't me being photoed! MOL!
TBT wishes we would all do that. It would save 3/4 of the time cleaning the litter boxes... But apparently, I am the onlycat with that skill here...😊
LORI: I got Dinner on the deck again! I kinna like that.
LORI: I enjoyed "Dinner On The Deck" again. I like to eat by myself, but it usually in a corner where the others can't nose in to my bowl or in the bedroom with the door closed for a few minutes.
Answers... I showed Lori in the cat bed. Well, it is actually a dog bed by size.
Pilch said "You have room for a friend in there". Brain said "Hello sweet Lori, you got room for two more in there".
There is a story there. And it is about Lapis Lazuli. Many of you know that "Laz" came here troubled from a previous home. A rescuer offered him to me knowing that I was patient with "unwanted" cats and (being retired) could spend time healing him.
He came with "demons in his mind" due to being raised with pit bulls and grabby children.
He was a trembling mess at first. For weeks he hid in The Mews Room. But he finally started trusting again. Meanwhile, I was seeking a Tonkie because Iza had died young and I wanted another. I found one (Lori).
Laz had been aggressive toward the other cats, but he found an attachment to young Lori. After a couple months, they were nearly inseparable. They ate together, napped together, played together.
Especially, they napped all day and slept all night together. It was wonderful.
Laz was calm. Lori was happy... I was thrilled at their BFF relationship.
It lasted for a few months. Then suddenly Laz started attacking Ayla and then Lori. His demons had returned. After a few months of stuggle, I had to release him from the demons...
So back to the bed... Lori avoided it for a year after. I'm sure she had memories of it, both good and bad.
A couple of months ago, I saw Lori sleeping in the bed. I'm not sure if Laz's smell had faded or whether she found some good memories. But she has been sleeping there at night more often lately.
Lori is not likely to share space in the bed with any of the other Mews anytime soon. She likes Marley, but he doesn't seem to like the bed himself.
Lori has been adjusting more to Taz and Binq lately. There are more nose-and butt-sniffings the past couple months. They can all sit nearby without "fussies". Things are improving.
But I'm not sure Lori will ever share the cat bed with anyone again...
LORI: It's mostly good news! I went to the VET again Wensday. I mean, I cant say I enjoy the temperature probe or the stabbies. And I dont like hearing big dogs barking so nearby...
The actual good news is that my sneezies has gone away and my appetite has returned. The appetite improvement happened on the first day. I was suddenly very very hungry!
I was getting squirted in the mouth with some stuff and TBT held me down firmly ta do it, but at least it didn't taste bad. Not that it exactly tasted good either, but he said I needed it, so OK...
He also wiped some stuff in my ear. That dint bother me.
More good news. I gained a half a pound in 10 days! TBT says it that ear stuff. I suddenly kept asking for more food. We Mews get 6 meals a day normally. I was getting 8! So now I weigh 7.0 lbs. TBT says that is the most I've ever weighed.
He forgot the camera again, so here is a previous pic...
At least it seems like I am done with VET visits for another year...
TBT: The computer photo problems weren't the only thing keeping us from posting most of last week. That was certainly a problem and I'm glad it "may be fixed" (but it is still awkward and I have to struggle a bit). I'll find out more about that when I get a chance to sit down and load new photos and try re-organize the old ones. But that is a minor problem.
Lori was ill all last week (and this doesn't end in bad news so far). She started acting oddly last Saturday (3rd). She was suddenly having hacking/sneezing attacks several times per day (naturally right after the Vet office was closed for the weekend). It was like she had a hairball she couldn't hack up or had swallowed some small thing she couldn't pass or expel.
Well, that sort of thing can happen. LC once spent 3 days hacking. She finally coughed up a small cotton pom-pom (and I got rid of all of those). An x-ray didn't show it, nor could the Vet feel anything in her stomach. But she was fine afterwards.
Then Monday morning, I realized she wasn't eating. She can be fussy and skip meals sometimes, but I called the Vet in the late afternoon. They couldn't see her until Sat morning. I took that appointment and watched her carefully Tuesday, Wensday and Thursday. In spite of not eating, she was active enough and steady on her feet.
She was very quiet though. She mostly made grumbling complaining sounds. I noticed she had a sudden odd habit of opening her mouth slightly in time with her breathing. I noticed some small wet drops on the sheets near her mouth.
I'm no Vet, of course. But I know some biology, and am analytical, and am reasonably good at diagnoses for some simple issues. I concluded that Lori was sufferring some nasal congestion and possibly some throat or stomach blockage. I also realized that "no eating" meant "no pooping". But she did pee some, so water was getting through her.
I could tell that because I enclosed her in the bedroom alone with me at night with a absolutely clean litterbox in the shower stall. With food and water in the bedroom. She didn't eat anything. I couldn't really tell about water. Cats don't drink much, and any lowering in the waterbowl could have just been evaporation. But I did find a small peepod each morning.
But she napped and slept well, and went outside a few times. Thursday night, I considered bringing her to the Emergency Hospital. But I don't like that place. I've been there several times. The Vets there seem like zombies, don't really seem to care about cats, and there has never been a good outcome.
So I thought "OK, just Friday and then a Saturday morning appointment with the regular Vet" (who has awards and an outstanding reputation plus several very caring Vets on site). But if Lori had shown signs of distress, I would have gone to the Emergency Hospital.
So we went to my Vet yesterday morning. Naturally, I forgot to bring my camera...She was due for annual shots, but we put that off in favor off the eating problem. No need to complicate her situation with shots... Some things interfere with others.
The technician and Vet were wonderful! The tech gathered information, held Lori to her ear (saying she could hear congestion). BTW, I had weighed Lori each day for a week. She went (according to my digital decimal bathroom scale) from 7.0 Monday gradually to 6.4 Saturday morning. The tech weighed her in at 6.5 #. Well, of course they have a more accurate and small animal-oriented scale. But it was nice to know mine was pretty accurate.
Then the Vet came in for a detailed exam. She did the usual temperature check (102F, high end of normal). Then she went for the nose. That revealed a lot! Bright light, wiping, stethoscope-listening at nose/chest/heart/stomach. She even sniffed her butt!
The nasal light was informative. With the light, I could clearly see she was clogged and dripping. I sure hadn't thought to shine a flashlight on her nose. But she kept wiping her paws across her nose, so I didn't realize the extent of nasal discharge.
So here is the Vet's diagnosis... Lori has a Upper Respiratory Tract infection. No smell of food, so no eating. No eating, weight loss and no pooping. She gave Lori an anti-bacterial oral dose and rubbed an ear with Mirtazapine. Provided a 14 day dosage of each. The tech kindly drew a red marker line on 2 reusable (after a thorough rinse each time) dosers. She called it a syringe, but I think of those as needle-tipped. These are just more like eye-droppers.
The Vet also suggested offerring Lori the "smelliest" food I have and warming Lori's food beforehand to release some odors. I'm actually familiar with that. Sometimes, after the last cat meal of the night, there is some left over and I store it covered in the refrigerator overnight.
Since I usually have a cup of green tea in the morning, I start with hot tap water because I M/W it higher before steeping the bag. So I usually warm up the refrigerated canned food in a small tray of warm water anyway. It helps Marley eat his kidney diet food. I should have thought about with Lori.
The Vet say she will call me Monday to see if there is an improvement, and the tech made a 10-day appointment for a return exam visit (and overdue shots). But there is good news already!
The Vet applied the Mirtazapine about 12:15 Saturday. At 6 pm, Lori sniffed at Marley's leftover kidney-care diet food and licked the bowl clean! So I gave her more of it. I guess pig liver has a strong enough smell. Given that Marley's food is prescription, I suppose it isn't the best-balanced diet. But seeing her eat anything after a week was wonderful. Heck, I would have given her my dinner meat!
So things are looking up. First and most-importantly, Lori ate some food. Second, the anti-bacterial oral stuff should clear up the respiratory infection. I look forward to Lori re-gaining her lost weight. I look forward to seeing her running around the yard rather than just walking around and sitting a lot.
I look forward to seeing her grow older. I had my doubts for a few days. Well, I can usually tell what's going wrong with me, but it is trickier with cats. This may not exactly be the most serious problem a cat can have, but by Thursday night, I was imaging the worst. But it seems curable. And anything curable can be dealt with...
Poor picture, but it shows she was starting to eat again!
LORI: I really like this one particular hut. There are several on the 2 trees, but this one just feels "right". Here, I am coming out of it after a nice nap...
And I think it is time fer dinner!
LORI: A little different today. Marley was here when I arrived. Taz and Binq came later from the Shelter. So I asked him why I was here.
He explained that Iza was a champagne Tonkie female and he loved her very much, but she had to cross The Bridge too soon. So he went searching for another like her. And found ME.
I get it. He likes orange/white males like Marley and Taz (and Skeeter before them). So he wanted somekitty like Iza.
Well, he sure has been surprised! Iza was fat and happy and loved belly rubs. Ate anything offerred. Did I mention "fat"?
I am the opposite. I'm skinny, fussy about food, and while I love The Lap I dont like belly-rubs!
I would think TBT would be disappointed in me. But he isn't. Ive seen old pictures of Iza. He treats me just the same as he did her. Love, Lap, bed, etc. I am so happy here (OK, I could manage without Taz and Binq).
But I'm not Iza and will never be. Yet he says he is happy with me. As I am, different from Iza but sort of similar but not what he expected.
TBT: I just can't seem to get enough pics of Lori napping on the aquarium hood! She alway looks so sweet and innocent there.
But the brick that holds it in place is annoying. It prevents me from lifting the lid to feed the fish. And since Lori is there a lot, I can't do that while she is there (the dishtowel ends up in the water).
So I went searching for "tiny pillows". I tried beanbags, dollhouse pillows, and they were either too large or too small. I finally found the right size with "jewelry pillows" (through an Amazon suggestion link). I had no idea there were such things! Or even why.
They are about 3"x2". I sure didn't need 6 of them, but maybe The Mews will appreciate the others on cat tree platforms. I figured I could attach a pillow on the aquarium hood with double-stick tape, but it didn't hold to the fabric. The tape is too weak. So I'm going to try some folded-over duct tape. If that works and Lori likes it, I'll post a pic on a future post.
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