I intended to write much sooner but it’s been a bit crazy around here.  Most fortunately, our Baby has been home since last Monday.  I was so very happy to see her.  I think she was happy to see me too but, of course, that would be totally beneath acceptable kitty behavior to exhibit that much emotion. 

Hubby-honey sleeping but Baby caught me taking her picture

When she first came to live with us, she was absolutely insane when we put her in the carrier and after being kept in a cage all weekend, I expected the same behavior.  I was wrong, thank goodness.  She did let me know she would really rather not but she was  pretty good all the way home.  (It’s about 25 miles from Keizer to the vet’s office in Albany, Oregon so it takes about 30 minutes to get home.)

I was also afraid Gizmo would have “forgotten” about Baby and she would relapse into her old snappy behavior, but again, I was most happy to be wrong.  Giz gave her a good sniff (from a safe distance of about 2 feet) but she didn’t hiss or slap.

I understood the nurse to say  Baby could not have any fish but she could have a variety of other flavors of foods.  I thought she could still have Fancy Feast but not the fish flavors.  The next day Baby threw up in the doorway to the livingroom and sometime during the night, she threw up in the laundry room.  I called the doctor as soon as he opened on Wednesday morning and asked if I should bring Baby back to see him. 

Baby sitting on the hood of the Ford finally looking at me.

I was most grateful that Dr. Braat took the time to talk to me himself so I finally understood exactly what he wanted me to do.  I’m not criticizing the nurse in anyway; I am hearing impaired and I may not have heard her instructions correctly.  He explained to me that  Baby was not to have ANY Fancy Feast at all.  The ONLY brand of food she was to eat was any non-fish flavor of Friskies.  I went out and got several Friskies flavors for her to try. 

As I was fixing a plate for Baby, I got a surprise from my other little darling.  I thought Baby was waiting at my feet to be fed but it was actually Gizmo.  She LIKED the smell of the flavor I was feeding Baby.  I was really surprised because it was Turkey/Giblet pate for Special Diets.  Giz hasn’t liked turkey in a long time. 

I started feeding her the same food as Baby.   Most unfortunately, after eating the Turkey/Giblet stuff for a couple of days, she suddenly went off it.  She hasn’t been too keen on much of anything for the last two days so I’ve been giving her an extra  dose of tagamet.  She’s shown some improvement but is still a bit fussy. 

Giz playing with the new squeeky toy mouse

For the last two years, Giz has had to take Tagamet for her ulcer along with two other medications.  I thought she was having an ulcer because she licks herself a lot and ingests a lot of hair.  She throws up a lot of hairballs, which I thought kept her tummy upset and caused the ulcer to constantly return.  Now, I think she was having food problems along with her hairball problems.  I’m hoping that changing her food will help her have fewer ulcers.  Only time will tell at this point.

Yesterday, I talked to my sister who lives in Michigan with her family and two kitties.  She says that both of her kitties can eat neither Fancy Feast nor 9 Lives.  The only food they can tolerate is Friskies.  Unfortunately, we had never discussed her cats having feeding problems or I might have thought about allergies in my own cat.  I feel really guilty about my poor babies having needlessly suffered as they have but I had NEVER heard of food allergies in cats. 

Changing from Fancy Feast to Friskies will have a positive impact on our finances.  The Friskies is a lot cheaper than the Fancy Feast, but the thing I liked about the Fancy Feast is that they have the individual serving size cans.  When Gizmo was my only cat, I had a lot less waste with these cans.  So far, with both the cats on the same food, I don’t have a lot of waste either. 

Giz is scratching but she's also keeping the toy mouse from Baby

I do worry about spoilage.  Gizmo has always been partial to having her food warmed.  Often, I microwave her food for 6 or 8 seconds and she will eat it much quicker.  Baby really likes the Friskies but she doesn’t like it really cold from the refrigerator either so I’ve been leaving the open can on the counter.  I’ve tried several flavors but for buying convenience, I bought two cases of Friskies Turkey and Giblet Pate for Special Diets.  Baby still likes this flavor but Gizmo seems to be “not so much” about it right now.   I’m still experimenting with different flavors for her.

One of the very best benefits of the change to Friskies is that Baby has completely stopped vomiting.  I was very concerned she was going to have continuing problems with the gingivitis and would have to take medication for the rest of her life.  Because the medication was causing her to have diarrhea, I really didn’t want her to have to be on it long-term. 

Also, our house has been much quieter since Giz continues to have a quieter relationship with Baby.  They haven’t been hissing at each other very much.  Occasionally, if they come upon each other unawares, they will have a bit of posturing but other than that, life is pretty quiet, thank goodness.  We are comfortable enough with the situation to leave them in the house together when we go out.

Baby has to spend the weekend with our vet, hurt my heart so very, very much. 

As you know, when we got Baby, she had the world’s worst case of gingivitis.  Even after the vet had cleaned her teeth and scraped her gums. (Bllllrrrrrr), she spent another month getting antibiotics and shots of prednisone to reduce the inflammation.  In August, she finally started to show some improvement and in September, her gums and teeth were finally healed.  Unfortunately, every time we started to take her off the antibiotics, she started vomiting, which is why I took her to see the vet today.

Vet's office

I explained to him that my job is going to disappear forever in a couple of weeks and as reasonable as he is, I was not going to be able to bring either Baby or Giz back in the foreseeable future unless he was willing to let me clean out the horses stalls or sweep and mop his office.  He laughed and patted my hand – comforting but hardly a solution for poor Baby’s problems. 

While he was looking her over, I explained that about her situation.  I told him that if I forgot to give her a dose or if she started to get diarrhea and I decided to stop giving her the antibiotics for a couple of days (his suggestion), she would vomit.  He asked what she threw up (double bluck).  I told him it was always undigested food, which is why I knew which cat had the problem.  (The girls like different kinds of food and they are easily distinguishable if you’re unlucky enough to see them again.)  I announced with some pride that she only liked Fancy Feast Yellowfin Tuna with Delicate Sauces.  He said he wanted to keep Baby for a few days.  He told the assistant he wanted her fed anything but fish.  He didn’t want her to have any form of fish or anything with fish in it.  He suspects she has a food allergy to fish.  At first it didn’t make any sense but as I was driving home thinking about her eating habits, I thought he might be right.  Maybe the antibiotics make the fish tolerable for some reason but when she didn’t have them, the allergy took over.

The vet is so wonderful and understanding, he’s not going to charge us anything for housing her over the weekend.  Of course, if he has to do any tests or x-rays, he’ll have to charge us for that but nothing for food or observation.  I can’t begin to express my gratitude to this marvelous human being.  Still, it was horrible to leave her there for three days.  As soon as she was out of sight, I started crying.  I cried all the way to the car and half the way home.   I called Hubby-honey and told him his best-bud was going to be staying with the vet.  He loves having her spend the night on his chest.  I know he’s bummed about it but he thinks she’ll have a short memory about the whole thing.  I hope he’s right.

Baby a the Vet

What broke my heart was that I knew it’s taken a long time for Baby to trust us.  Now, she’s going to be spending three days cooped up in a cage with strange cats around her and strange people handling her.  I pray she still trusts us when I pick her up.  I miss her too.  You know what, Giz would rather go bald tonight than admit it but I think she misses Baby as well.  She’s been sitting in the window all afternoon, looking at the place under the bush where Baby usually sleeps.

Hubby-honey and I know it’s for the best especially if the vet can find out what’s causing her to have problems so she can live her wonderful life in peace, but we miss our little girl.  Such a tiny little beast and yet she’s found her way firmly into our hearts forever.

Bush outside our window being buffeted by the wind.

It’s really cold today and very windy with an occasional rainy moment.  If you can believe it, they had snow yesterday in The Gorge.  They always have wind and their winters are usually very harsh at various times during the winter months.  It looks like they’re in for it this winter.  (”Yeah, really – all that climate change stuff is just balderdash.  Why would any sane person believe the Earth is having manmade PMS problems?” she said sarcastically.)  Today, my girls and I are just lounging.  I can’t seem to dredge up the energy to do much of anything and believe me, I have plenty to do; it just doesn’t seem doable at this moment.

The same bush covered with ice and snow last winter.

As I said, the girls are sleeping.  They still haven’t figured out they can sleep together on the bed and not have the world end.  Giz is sleeping next to me on the big pillow.  The physical therapist recommended I get one of those large body pillows to hold between my ankles and knees which will align the vertebrae in my lower back and is still large enough to hug.  I got it last summer and found out immediately it holds in the body heat.  I would wake up sweating every night I used it.  I stopped using it but we think that “holding the body heat in” is why both my girls really like it so I have willed it to them with many happy thoughts.  I have gone back to using two small pillows – one for the ankles; one for the knees, which works much better for me even though it’s much cooler now.

Baby on the back of couch watching me take her picture (10/14/09)

Baby is sleeping on the top of the couch.  I’m very concerned about our Baby girl.  She vomited twice this morning.  I’m also going through huge amounts of “kick my own backside” guilt.  I failed to give her the antibiotics last night.  Well, she got it first thing this morning and I’ve got my fingers crossed.  So far, she has eaten a little after the antibiotics and she hasn’t vomited again.  I have an appointment for her tomorrow at 10:00, sigh.  I’m going to have to have a long earnest talk with the vet.  We MUST find out what her problem is and hopefully get it fixed or at least what we’re going to have to continuously administer to keep her body happy. With my job all but gone, unless the vet lets me work off his fees by doing office work, we can’t afford to continue his very wonderful services even if he is the least expensive vet I’ve ever been to and he’s also the best.  His being the very best is what will save Baby’s poor gums and tummy but we need to get to it.

As I mentioned before, Giz has to have her Tagamet administered twice a day.  I’ve found out she’s more accepting if I dissolve the pills in chicken broth.  Neither of the cats like having their medicines administered and they run from me when they know it’s time and I have that “look” in my eyes.  I’ve taken to sneaking up on them which I really hate but not as much as I hate the guilt of not administering said-same medicine and having them suffer for my totally bad-owner behavior.  They are my very special darlings and I need to take care of them.

Giz Sleeping on a windy fall day (10/14/09)

Baby wants to go out but with the weather being dicey and her stomach even more so, I want to keep an eye on her and ensure she’s able to keep her food down.  She acts like she feels well and she really hates being in the house all day but I think she’s going to have to resolve herself to some days inside now that the weather looks like it’s getting serious about heading towards winter. 

I miss the fall season.  It’s always way too short for me.  I need it to last at least six months.  Six months of crispy apples and fall vegetables to make yummy  stick-to-your-ribs stews to keep the cold at bay.  Well, we know how us humans are – six months of fall would probably get boring after all (smile).

Well that was interesting:  Baby jumped up on the bed and Giz didn’t even wake up.  Baby was going to jump up in the window but decided since I was getting up anyway, I could feed her, which I did.  When I came back to the bed, Baby jumped up on the bed and Giz did wake up but didn’t make ANY noise at all .  Wow!!  Baby jumped up on the window sill, down on the floor and out the door.  Giz watched her all the way but didn’t do anything.  It would be really great if I could have both my girls on the bed while I’m working.

Well, the job firing is not over.  Evidently, the ten minute meeting we had yesterday was to review the “pre” firing letter.  I was e-mailed a copy of the letter on Friday and basically it was correct.  It stated I was being fired for medical reasons and not for any misbehavior. 

When Hubby-honey and I arrived for the meeting, the Human Resource woman asked me if I read it and I said, “Yes.”  When she asked me if I had any questions, I asked her if my employer would fight my getting unemployment.  She spent five minutes not answering my question.  It was actually fascinating.  This woman should absolutely go into politics because she was a pro at talking on and on and on and saying absolutely nothing. 

I lost it, of course.  The Union Rep was amazing and very nice; my poor boss just looked confused by the whole thing and my emotional outburst.  After I did the drama queen bit and left the room, the Union Rep followed us out and he told Hubby-honey and I the Union was going to continue to do what they could for me.  I very much appreciate their efforts more than they can possibly know but I don’t really think it’s going to help.  He also told us they have about two weeks before the whole thing will be final. 

I guess the final hurt is being shut out by the people I had worked with and had considered my friends.  I know they sympathize with my problems but in the end they have to protect their jobs as well so I need to let them go with love, which seems to be easier said than done.  I’m working on it.

Giz watching Baby trying to corner the laser light

Well, once again, I’m not talking about my dearest little girls and they’ve actually been doing pretty good the last couple of days. 

Well, this morning wasn’t actually all that great; we had a bit of a confrontration.  I was drying my hair after showering and I noticed Baby was playing in the closet.  She started to go out the door but through the crack between the door and the jam, she spotted the Giz walking down the hall.  Giz stopped in the hall and at first she was just looking at me but then she saw Baby through the same crack.  Baby peeked around the door end and Giz ran in to the bathroom.  They looked at each other for a couple of seconds, batted at each other, hissed and ran in opposite directions.  It appears to be mostly a lot of posturing.  If they had really wanted to attack each other I wasn’t close enough to stop them.

Giz has Baby cornered in the kichen

Most of the time, they seem to be accepting each other’s presence.  Baby can now walk by Giz’s table without getting hissed at – I haven’t seen it anyway.  Unfortunately, Giz does seem to still do the stalking thing once in a while.  She stares ominously at Baby and then corner’s Baby by sitting in the exit.  One night, I caught Giz in the kitchen just sitting there and staring in the entrance way door which ultimately leads into the laundry room.  I found Baby sleeping in back of some old computers in the back bathroom.  Since then, if I catch Giz doing the cornering thing, I move her along and I ensure Baby can get to where she needs to go.  I haven’t noticed it too much in the last couple of days so I have to wonder once again it my stress level may have something to do with it.  Obviously, over the weekend, I was pretty stressed.  Now I’m not so much.  I’m more accepting of the fact I can’t do much to change the job situation.  It is what it is and I can’t change it.

Giz with the new squeeky mouse

At times, I have noticed other improvements in their attitudes towards each other.  Two nights ago, Baby was up on the back of the office chair I have in the kitchen to sit in while I’m cooking and Giz jumped up on the seat.  Nobody made any noise, which really surprised me.  By the looks on their faces, it surprised them as well but I took it as a plus they didn’t hiss and/or slap.

Mostly, I think they’re just like kids.  With children, many times it’s best to stay out of it and they will deal with any problems in their own way.   Of course, with the threat of physical violence, all bets are off and the adult human person must butt in the stop the altercation.  Fortunately, interference hasn’t been necessary very often.

Baby and Hubby-honey

Baby is still very much a Hubby-honey fan and I was finally able to get a picture of them together.   I also have a two or three pictures of my girls playing.  Baby is so funny with the laser light.  She is absolutely determined to take it down and after Hubby-honey shuts it down for the night, she still spends a good fifteen minute looking for it.  I think she finally understands he’s the creator of the light.  Now when she can’t find it she comes down the hall looking at him.  Giz is a little less energetic; I think she’s feeling her eleven years.  She looks at the light but doesn’t seem to be able to garner the energy to chase it.  She does follow it with her eyes.  I was hoping the liking for the light would make them bury the hatchet in favor of going on the chase but so far, no dice.

At any rate, I think we’re making progress.  It’s been really, really slow but my girls seem to be a little more accepting of each other than they were two weeks ago.  Here’s hoping we don’t have too many more stalking and slapping incidents.

It’s been a week since I started this blog post.  I have allowed other stuff to interfere with what will, in future, be more a part of my life than my about-to-be job firing.  Soon, the experience of being fired for medical reasons will be a not-great memory but still a memory.  After all, the very real truth is all we have is “now”, the current meeting as we live it.  Everything else, including the beginning words of this blog, is in the past.  While the words can be changed,  the past is writ large in permanent ink. 

What’s very exciting to me is we can change the “future” by what we do in the now.  Thus, I’m going to be spending a great deal of time this weekend writing the future I want and the steps I need to take in the “now” to achieve that future.  Of course, the future is just a breath away.  Isn’t that really exciting?  

Baby Staring at Gizmo

What does this have to do with my darling girls?  Not much (smile).   Believe me, these ladies have made it a VERY interesting week and I became convinced my moods were a good part of what was causing them to act out in various odd ways. 

Remember when I said my two kitties seemed to be more verbal than physical.  Well, Giz made me eat those words – at least somewhat. 

Last Saturday was relatively quiet.  My girls were really quiet too.  Hubby- honey had Army National Guard but because he’d had range qualifying one day of the last week, he only had to do Saturday.  Originally, he’d planned on going fishing on Sunday but our finances were tight and fishing trips were not to be kindly tolerated by our penurious accountant.  Although we knew the check was coming the next Thursday and it absolutely would be in the bank account, just knowing we were broke and couldn’t afford even the most basic needs was, in and of itself, stressful.

Sunday things were not quite so tranquil with the girls and I may have been the reason.  Because of the financial situation, Hubby-honey and I were tense; not with each other (thank God) but with the situation in general.  I was the most tense as it’s my assigned task to do the bills and organize our financial situation, when we have the money to accomplish anything at all.  I’ve also been feeling a lot of guilt because I had a lot of operations last year and I’m not going to be able to return to work full time; thus, I’m going to be fired next Monday or there abouts.  In this economy, it’s not a good situation for the continued health of our finances.  I’m absolutely certain the girls felt all this tension. 

Gizmo Staring at Baby

Giz started to actually stalk Baby.  I couldn’t believe it.  She had NEVER behaved like this before.  If Baby was just sitting on the couch or on her favorite little carpet, Giz would try to sneak up on her and start chasing her around.  I think if I hadn’t been there, Giz would have really physically attacked Baby.  For her part, I didn’t see Baby do anything except try to avoid Giz.  It went on ALL day.  Finally, we went bed and you’d have thought nothing at all untoward had happened.  Giz went to sleep up by my bed and Baby down by my knees – easy breezy. 

On Monday, they weren’t exactly friends but they weren’t on each other either, thank goodness. In the late afternoon, Giz was sleeping on a big pillow on our bed and Baby was snoozing as near Hubby-honey as she could get.  As you’ll recall, she believes he is the equivalent of Elvis Presley and Robert Pattinson rolled into one.  I love the way she looks at him.  It’s really funny to see that much total adoration in a cat’s face.  Baby is also very interested in football, which is Hubby-honey’s favoritest past time – duh.  We have a very LARGE 42 inch TV and she sits in front of it on her little carpet and watches the action as the players run back and forth on the screen; it’s a riot.

All week, we’ve been going back and forth with Giz doing the stalking thing at various times during the day.  I am sure it’s because of my emotional upheaval.  During those times when I’m relatively calm and not stressing on what’s going to happen tomorrow, Giz and Baby pretty much leave each other alone.  When the whole job situation gets the best of me and I start the weeps, my girls start to get testy with each other. 

Last night, I noted this and made an extra effort to be reassuring to both of them but most especially to Gizmo.  We had pork chops for dinner (one of Giz’s favorites), and I sat her next to me on the couch.  (We eat in front of the television with TV trays.)  Just before dinner (Hubby-honey cooking, bless him), I picked her up and held her against my chest.  I told her I desperately needed her specific kitty-hugs and she condescendingly complied with my wishes (smile).    I told her if she was a good girl, I’d give her some of my pork chop and again she complied.  She continued to sit quietly until I finished.  With her sensitive tummy, she needs to have her food in very small pieces.  I put the remainder of my pork chop in the blender and she literally scarffed it down in about twenty minutes.  Since the remainder of the evening was pretty quiet, I took it as confirmation that my stress level had a strong effect on my girls.

Baby Sleeping on the Blanket on the Couch

As the remainder of the week played out, I’ve had more periods of acceptance than of stress.  Usually, the stress has peaked when I had problems getting people on the phone and all that.  Currently, we’re having a meeting on Monday to do what we know they’re going to do – fire me, but evidently unless I go through the agony in front of everybody I work for it doesn’t count.  So, Hubby-honey is going to go with me to the meeting so while I may have a total meltdown, at least he’ll be there to help me get home. 

Bless his heart, I’m ruining a day off for him and he’s still willing to go through all this with me.  He is a Federal employee and he has Monday off as Columbus Day.  I’m sure you can appreciate that he had much better things he’d rather do than hold my hand while I’m losing a job I really love.  Well, there you have it.  At this point, we don’t have any control over what they are going to do.  No matter what I do, it won’t change what they are determined to do.  I must accept my future without this job and open my heart and mind to accept something even better.

My girls are doing pretty well.  I’ve noticed they have a new thing with each other.  When we first let Baby in the house, Baby and Gizmo moved around each other very, very slowly.  Now, they’ve taken to moving around each other pretty fast.  If Giz moves quickly past Baby, Baby will snarl and assume the hissing, paw out and crouching pose.  If Baby runs past Giz, Giz will crouch low and chase Baby into the next room.  Occasionally, they actually will slap at each other but they’ve never actually come to blows.  It’s still mostly a lot of noise. 

Giz Sleeping On Our Bed

Some good changes have taken place.  If Giz is up on her table eating, Baby can usually get by her without so much as a second glance.  Last weekend, we went grocery shopping and left both cats in the house with no human supervision.  Everybody was in good form when we got home. 

I really wish they’d be friends.  I’d like to see them share the bed with me.  Right now, if Giz is sleeping on the bed, Baby hangs out in the guest room or on the couch.  Most days it’s fairly sunny by 10:00 so I can let Baby go out until about 5:00 in the evening.  I want her to enjoy the outdoors as much as she can while she can.  By next month, we won’t be getting much in the way of sunshine and Baby will be stuck in the house until May.  I don’t think she’s going to take it well.

I’m happy most of the hissing seems to be gone.  It’s interesting that they are sitting closer when they are in the same room.  It used to be about five feet apart and now they sit about two feet apart and do the staring thing.  Also, when Hubby-honey plays with the laser light, Giz now joins in.  They still play separately.  Giz chases the light in the living room and Baby goes up the hall. 

Hopefully, friendship is in there somewhere.

The last couple of days have been REALLY interesting.  Two days ago, Baby, Gizmo and I were not feeling our best.  I had a sinus infection and my girls were having tummy problems.

Baby playing with the cane

When I took Baby to the vet a couple of weeks ago, he said her teeth and gums looked better than he’d ever seen them.  He really had a point.  When she came to us, her teeth were covered with icky stuff and her gums were bleeding a lot.  Now her teeth are really white, very strong and sharp and the gums have stopped bleeding completely.  She still has some issues though because if she doesn’t have antibiotics for a couple of days, she goes off her feed and starts vomiting.  The one she had been taking for almost a month started giving her loose stools though so the vet changed it to something else. 

I’d had her on the new medication for over a week and it seemed to be fine but then on Wednesday, she started vomiting.  I called the vet and told him I thought she should be back on her old medicine for a while.  He agreed and I’ll take her in around October 15th.  I think he’s going to want to do some additional tests to find out why this continues to happen.  He’s fairly certain it’s some kind of bacteria but he’s not sure what it is or how to treat it.  We’ll get to the bottom of it I’m sure. 

Baby's Pretty Face

Gizmo was also having tummy issues.  I got up in the middle of the night and found a HUGE hairball in the livingroom.  Gizmo’s ulcer needs to have the Tagamet twice a day and not once a day as we were very much hoping.  She was hungry but she just wasn’t keeping it down very well. 

Giz sprawled out on our bed

After a full day of everybody hissing at everybody else, I was starting to lose my patience with both of them.  I was having a roaring sinus infection headache and I was not amused by the continued posturing.  I have to say neither of them really cared whether I was miffed about their constant needling; they just continued with gay abandon.  So far, they haven’t really come to blows.  It’s usually just a lot of hissing from Gizmo in Baby’s direction if Giz thinks Baby is getting a little too close.  However, Baby can give back as good as she gets and sometimes she just goes looking for trouble.  It was a very long day.

By the time we went to bed, they’d both had two doses of medication and were obviously feeling much better, but they weren’t ready for peaceful coexistence just yet.  Hubby-honey and I would just start drifting off to sleep and one of them would do something to set the other one off and somebody would be doing the deep throat growling.  It was a long night.

To my surprise and relief, yesterday wasn’t too bad.  The girls were feeling better and food was staying down pretty good.  I think this helped a lot toward keeping tempers tamped down a bit.  Giz finally got tired of staring at Baby, because Baby had gotten bored with the whole thing and just up and went to sleep.  Giz finally went out on the couch and went to sleep on her blanket. 

I hadn’t been sleeping too well for the past two nights because of my sinus infection with its attendant headache and face pain, but I slept pretty good last night. – until about 3:30 in the morning. 

Giz In Closet

I had just gotten up to use the bathroom and while I was up, I fed the girls because they were both looking expectantly at their feeding bowls. While I’d been feeding the girls, Hubby-honey had gotten up to use the bathroom as well so we were both awake a half an hour later when the thundering herd ran up the hallway, making such a screeching noise as to wake the dead.  With my heart pounding a mile a minute, I ran into the hall to break up the fight but no fight came.  Baby ran to the left into the guest room and hid under the bed.  Gizmo ran to the right into the computer room and that was the end of the argument.

Hubby-honey has to get up to go to work at 4:00 so I don’t think he got back to sleep.  I must have dropped off because I was asleep when he came in to kiss me goodbye and wish me good day. 

Today has been fairly quiet.  It was raining this morning so Baby was in the house until almost 11:00.  When the sun started shining, I let Baby out to catch some rays.  She really hates being cooped up in the house all day. 

I’m beginning to wonder if they don’t get along better when no human is around to pay attention.  Hmmm – definitely a point to ponder.

I think this is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen a cat do:
Cat Taking A Shower

However, I think that if I would have had a proper video camera, Gizmo would now be a front-runner on YouTube.

Musical Cats

In the past, I’ve played musical cats when bringing Baby into the house.  I set up Giz’s food and potty-box in the computer room and I would put her in there for a couple of hours while Baby was settling in.  Baby always makes her way around the house, wandering from room to room, looking the situation over several times before she decides to settle down on our bed where I work on my laptop (I have a nice lap desk).  When she finally falls into a deep sleep, I shut our bedroom door and let Giz have the run of the house again.  She’s knows Baby’s around but she can’t seem to find her.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Hubby-honey and I knew we were going to have to force the issue soon.  It’s coming onto Fall and it’s getting colder at night.  Baby’s health is much better but we didn’t want her to have to put out calories adjusting to the temperature while she’s also fighting off whatever infection is in her gums. 

I’m Pretending You Don’t Exist

Giz likes to sleep on the back of the couch on her blanket.  It seemed to me the best time to let Baby in because Giz feels much less threatened when she’s “above it all.”  She did very well.  She just stared and stared at Baby but she didn’t make any attacks.  Hubby-honey played with Baby with the laser light for a little while and she finally went to sleep on the floor near the kitchen. 

I hadn’t been feeling well yesterday so I decided to lay down.  When I got up two hours later, Giz was on the bottom shelf of the coffee table giving Baby the evil eye but not really being aggressive.  Baby was just nonchalantly laying on the floor, very cleverly ignoring Gizmo.

Hubby-honey and I had dinner.  I filled the dishwasher, read for a while and went back to bed.  When I woke up, Baby was sleeping at the bottom of the bed.  When Hubby-honey came in to put his clothes in the hamper and take his shower, I asked him where Giz was.  He pointed at the floor.  Giz was on the floor staring up.  She really couldn’t see Baby but she knew she was there. 

Actually, after all the fuss Giz usually makes, I thought she was doing pretty good.  She was stalking Baby but she really wasn’t making any aggressive noises at her.  For once, she was being fairly polite.

By the time Hubby-honey came to bed, I was having a great deal of pain in the middle and lower areas of my back.  (I had several surgeries on my lower back last year.)  With the pain in high gear, I couldn’t sleep so I read and tried to ignore the discomfort as much as possible.  Giz finally came up and went to sleep in “her” area right by my head.  I was laying on my right side and Baby was sleeping in the crook of my knees.  All was well.

Feeding Time and Hissie-Fit Noises

At least all was well until I got up at about 1:30 to go to the bathroom and take some pain medication.  Both cats followed me into the kitchen and I got each one a plate of food.  Gizmo gets fed on her table which is right by the door to the laundry room.  Baby’s food and potty-box are in the laundry room.  Problem:  Baby has to walk past Gizmo to get to her food and potty-box.  Gizmo is setting up a real vocal fit and Baby, for obvious reasons, is hesitant to cross in front of the insane beast staring down at her from the table top hissing for all she’s worth.  I feed Baby on the counter. 

I thought it was a bit odd that Baby only ate a little but we all went back to bed and the two cats slept as before.  I was still having problems so I continued to read.  I got up again about about 3:30 to go to the bathroom and everybody had to join me again.  We went through the same procedure with the food thing.  Giz likes to have her food stirred up, thank you very much.  While I was getting a drink, I noticed that Baby only took a couple of bites and she was trying to find a way past the hissing beast again.  I gave her a hand by holding Giz back with my cane and Baby ran by into the laundry room.  As I suspected, poor Baby very much needed to use the potty-box.  I put Baby’s food in the laundry room and after she used the box, she went for the food. 

I went back to bed.  I figured they’d get it all sorted out and I guess they did.  I didn’t hear any more vocalization but a few minutes later, Giz came back and laid by my head and I felt Baby get on the bed a little later.  She may have waited in the laundry room for Giz to come to bed.   Finally, I fell asleep.

Gizmo, the Stalking Beast of Prey

When I woke up at about 8:00, Hubby-honey already had the coffee on and both cats were still in bed with me.  Baby didn’t even twitch when I walked by the end of the bed.  As I proceeded across the hall to the bathroom, I glanced back and noticed Giz was awake and giving Baby the evil eye again but since she wasn’t making any vocalizations, I left them to it. 

After finishing my shower, I started to go back to the bedroom to dress when I saw Giz very, very slowly making her way around the edge of the bed towards Baby’s sleeping back.  When she got right up to Baby’s back, Baby awoke with a start and stared at Giz with a really surprised look on her face.  Giz sat back on her haunches and started hissing for all she was worth, like Baby had approached her.  I interceded by giving Giz a very light tap on her back with my cane.  She hissed her way to the kitchen.  It doesn’t sound like it but it was actually very funny because Giz had a really guilty look on her face.  I’m still not sure why she did it.  I was ready to intercede if needed but I admit to curiosity myself.  Giz could have attacked Baby very easily; Baby was sound asleep and unaware she was being stalked.  I’m not sure what she would have done if Baby didn’t wake up.  I think she would have smelled her or maybe batted her.  I don’t know.

Baby showed up at our house one morning late in June, 2009.  She was all head and ribs and she was also obviously ill.   Hubby-Honey (H-H) and I talked about whether or not we should just take her to the Humane Society, but we both felt that in her physical condition taking her there would be a sure death sentence. 

Baby Comes to Live with Us

We both think we are chosen to take care of these little friends.  They come into our lives for a reason.  She was sent to us and we intend to ensure she has a good life with sufficient food and good medical care. 

It was obvious she had been living rough for quite some time, but she was incredibly friendly.  Hubby-Honey sat outside with her several evenings petting her and just talking to her.  Now she follows him around just like a dog.  It’s wonderful to watch her sitting on the boat while he’s cleaning it.  He talks to her constantly and she looks like she understands.  When H-H comes home from work and Baby is on the bed with me, she walks back and forth rubbing up against his waist. 

 She looks at him the same way a teenage girl looks at any of the Jonas Brothers and she can’t get enough of his scratches and loves.  (I know the feeling – LOL.)

Poor Starving Baby

When H-H told our son about Baby, he told H-H he and his wife had gotten their last two cats at the Salem (Oregon) Friends of Felines (SFOF).  SFOF guarantees they do not euthanize the cats in their care.  They keep some animals at the store/vet area but they are always looking for foster families to give temporary homes while they are looking for permanent homes.

I went to visit this amazing place.  They have a very nice gift shop and several cats of all ages in various sized cages and they all look very well cared for.  I was incredibly impressed with the cleanliness of the place and the amazing friendliness of all the caretakers.  They gave me a coupon I could take to a participating vet giving me $25 off spaying or neutering.   The gal also told me about a vet close to where we live who would give us a discount to give Baby a checkup.  In fact, when I called the clinic, the receptionist told me they would waive the office fees. 

Poor Baby Needs Food

As it happened, Baby had a temperature of 103 and she was suffering from a very nasty gum infection. The emergency vet tested her to ensure she didn’t have feline leukemia or feline HIV.  Most fortunately, she had neither so the vet proceeded to give her a shot of prednisone and some antibiotics to take home.   Although the vet waived her fee, we still had to pay over $100 for tests and medications.

I couldn’t believe how much food she needed.  She ate every three hours around the clock.  At first, I got up twice during the night to ensure she had food.  I think at that point, her starvation was over-riding her very painful gums.  A week later, I took her to our vet and he said she had gingivitis.  She needed to have her gums scraped, her shots and spaying (or so we thought). 

By the time she had the oral work, she was not running a temperature and she had gained quite a bit of weight.   She’ll always be one of those tall skinny cats but at least her ribs had stopped showing.  Along with the oral work, the vet also cut her front nails (lethal weapons) and gave her a preliminary immunization shot but she didn’t need to be spayed because someone else already done that.  (I’m very curious about her past but I’m sure I’d be very angry if I ever knew how she’d been abused.  You can see by the pictures she’s pretty small but the vet thinks she’s about seven years old.  I think she must have had a very difficult life indeed.  The first few times we put her into the cat carrier, she literally went nuts.  She was biting at it and literally attacking it the whole time she was in it.  I kept wondering if she hadn’t been locked into something similar for long periods.  Thanks goodness, she has settled down.  She’ll never really like it but she doesn’t go crazy now which makes trips to the vet more easily accomplished.)

Baby - Sleeping On Our Bed

Unfortunately for her, I was very naive about the nature of her gingivitis.  I thought once she had the operation, she would be fine.  When she came home, she seemed to prefer the hard food I bought which was suppose to be specifically for keeping her teeth clean.  She seemed to be doing fine ten days later, she was vomiting and not eating very well.  She was also starting to lose weight which she could hardly afford.

The vet looked at her gums and they were really bleeding quite bit.  He gave her the booster immunization shot so couldn’t give her the prednisone shot but he did give her another course of antibiotics.  Ten days later, her gums looked much, much better but she still had one place that was still showing a little bleeding so the doctor gave her yet another prednisone shot and some more antibiotics.  After another ten days on medication, her gums were clean and the vet and I were high fiving each other.

Sleeping Baby

Three days later, she stopped eating.  I tried everything I could think of.  My husband thought I’d lost my mind because I had gotten one of everything and tried them all out.  She turned down all cat foods and even tuna.  Our vet was out of the office but one of his partners was able to see us.  She was flummoxed.  She said the gums looked a little sore but she really didn’t understand why Baby had stopped eating and had started vomiting again.  She decided to give her another shot and more medication.  She also thought that we should have more in-depth blood work done to determine why Baby was continually having gum problems. 

Currently, she is still on the medication.  I have another appointment with the vet next Friday, September 25th.  In a conversation with him, he said he didn’t think we needed to do more blood work but he did think she had some form of bacterial infection and we would need to do a “biopsy” of a scraping from Baby’s gums to better determine which medication she would need for the specific type of bacteria she’s having problems with.  I wish we had thought about it at the time we were getting her gums cleaned.  Our vet is wonderful about keeping costs low but his costs are rising too.  Anesthesia is expensive and I’m thinking Baby will have to be asleep when they do the biopsy.

She’s still sucking down an incredible amount of food.  Right now, she prefers the Fancy Feast Yellowfin Tuna in Delicate Sauces. I thought she was eating so much because she had worms but we’ve had her wormed too and she’s still really hungry all the time.  While she isn’t eating every three hours, she still eats very frequently.  I usually wake up between midnight and 1:00 a.m. so I feed her then and she’s always waiting for me at the door more ready to eat.  

We’ll keep you posted.