Chattering-Magpie-blog
Mystery of the litter box.
We have a bit of a problem with carpenter ants. The exerminator sprayed a few weeks ago, but there are always a few slow stragglers.
I keep finding carpenter ants in the litter box. I’m not sure whether they find their way there on their own, or the mighty bug hunters are eating them and pooping them out.
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Zoe is a sexy beast.
Big blue eyes, a luxurious tawny coat and of course those adorable white mitts and boots. What’s not to love?
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Chattering-Magpie-blog
Jail break.
Late last night E looks at me and says
I haven’t seen any cats for awhile
I shrugged it off. The cats often cuddle up together in the bedoom. E went to check up on them.
We’ve had a jail break.
What?
Come see.
Our bedroom opens onto a deck. It’s been warm, so we’ve had the sliding glass door open with the screen door closed. The screen door wasn’t quite in its proper track, though.
The cats had managed to pushed through the screen door. It twisted obliquely in its frame. We didn’t see the cats the rest of the night.
This morning everyone was back safely home.
Chattering-Magpie-blog
New cat toy.
Somewhere there is a squirrel running around without its tail. Actually it’s probably dead. Squirrels don’t last long without their tails.
We let the cats out to play yesterday. Rufus came running back in with his new toy: a squirrel tail. He was so proud and happy. I took it away from him and threw it back outside. Within the hour he had brought it back in.
What’s the worse that can happen? I figure the biomatter will just dry up.
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Rufus & Nefertiti (and Zoe, too) in 2007.
Rufus and Nefertiti came into our lives in September of 2007. They were part of a semi-feral litter that my sister-in-law brought in when her neighbor abandoned a pregnant cat.
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Guess what? Kitty butt.
I come home from work and E says to me:
Look at Neffi’s butt.
What?
Look at Neffi’s butt.
So I pick up my little gray girl and examine her butt.
She has a long string hanging out of it. It looks like a carpet thread.
I know better than to tug on it and possible tear up her little insides. So I just snip it short. I tell her to poop that thing out as soon as possible.
Chattering-Magpie-blog
Indoors outdoors.
Rufus and Nefertiti had their first foray into the great outdoors yesterday. They’ve been showing increasing interest in where Zoe goes.
E was nervous about letting the kits out. They’re still pretty skittish, especially Rufus, and he was concerned about them running out into the street.
They nosed around the porch a bit, then they were ready to come back inside. It’s wet and icky out there!
Poor Zoe. Outside was her last refuge away from the kits.
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Chattering-Magpie-blog
Shorn cat.
Oh believe me, I thought of another title, but I don’t want to be inundated by pr0n bots.
Rufus and Nefertiti have both taken a big step toward adulthood, something that every kept kitty must (or should) undergo. They got neutered and spayed, respectively, last Friday.
Neffi was pretty dopey after the surgery. The doctor described it as having one too many margaritas. They put a cone collar on her to keep her from getting at her sutures. But when we got home and let her out of the carrier, she panicked. Poor kit was running around terrified. So we caught her and removed the collar.
Zoe acted weird about the kittens when we brought them home, like she was unsure of them. Maybe they smelled differently. But eventually she returned to normal.
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Chattering-Magpie-blog
Good Neffi news.
Almost right away Neffi is much better. She is standing straighter and walking farther before laying down. She just looks like she feels better. She is tussling with her brother. Last night they were grooming each other’s faces so vigorously I thought they were going to start french kissing.
Now that she’s proven she’s eliminating properly, Neffi no longer has to be in isolation. That was just heart-breaking, listening to the poor critter cry and scratch at the door. But with three cats, the only way to know what any one of them is doing is to separate them.
Chattering-Magpie-blog
How Neffi stands. Or rather, doesn't.
I took little Neffi to the vet last night, but unfortunately, the vet could not give a definite diagnosis. An x-ray appeared to show a malformed tail vertebra that may be pinching a nerve. Luckily it’s in the tail rather than the spine, so it’s missing the most important nerves. She seemed a little tender back there, too.
Neffi’s lymph nodes were also enlarged, suggesting an infection, although her temperature was normal. A simple and cheap blood test ruled out diabetes, often a cause of muscle weakness in cats.
For now Neffi is getting steroids for inflammation and antibiotics for infection. Then we see if she gets any better or not. It’s pretty much guessing game – try something and see whether it works.
We are also observing her to make sure she is eating and drinking and eliminating. The only way I can be certain is to isolate her from the other two cats and see if the food and water disappear and the litter box fills up. Poor little thing has never been alone in her life and she’s miserable stuck in a room with her brother on the other side of the door. It’s only for a couple days, but she doesn’t know that, poor little thing.
It could be the result of a trauma, in which case I would hope she could get better. Maybe Neffi and Rufus played a little rough, maybe she rolled off the top of the kitty condo and landed wrong. I’m disinclined to think this is the case, because I’ve noticed for the last few weeks that she walked kind of funny.
This might be a congenital condition. As long as she’s not in pain, can get around and, most importantly, can make it to the litter box, we can live with this. She’ll be our Tiny Tim.
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