Category: Smacky

Friday* Night** Cat Blogging!

click image for larger version
…and here’s some more!

* …or “Saturday”
** …or “Morning”

Well, Smacky’s got some kind of skin infection. The doctor gave him a shot of cortisone, another treatment of flea-be-gone (I forget which brand this time, but a different one from before) and I have to administer medicine, twice daily, until it’s gone. I bring Smacky back next Wednesday for his “fixing”, since the doctor didn’t want to risk it while the poor cat’s, y’know, ailin’.

Argh. Of course I will do what’s necessary for Smacky. It’s just annoying to have to reschedule things around again to transport Smacky back and forth to the vet (especially since I don’t own a car and want to cut back on the FlexCar for a while), as well as the cost of multiple visits to the vet. It’s not a lot of money, it’s just… well… dammit, I had to dip into my iPod Shuffle money to pay for this visit.

If that’s not love I don’t know what is.

Friday Night Cat Blogging!

…now with more Saturday!

…and here’s some more!

I was a bad political activist.

I was more concerned yesterday with my and my kittens’ personal health than exercising my free speech rights in protesting the current presidential administrations’ lack of ethics and accountability.

My apologies.

The good news is that I’m in pretty good health. Smacky, however, has been scratching himself horribly and has scabs on both of his shoulders. Apparently the fleas haven’t been quite as under control as I thought. Poor thing. I guess the one application of the flea stuff wasn’t enough. Or (this is my worry) he’s having some kind of reaction to the flea stuff… or he’s got some horrible cancer and is dying. Yeah, I’m worried and probably over-worrying. Remember, people, thinking too much is a bad thing. So I’m taking Smacky in on Monday (the earliest appointment I could get) to have him checked out.

I’ve felt so guilty that I’ve been letting him sleep in my bed again. At least until he starts attacking my toes at 1:27 AM and waking me up, and pissing me off, at which point the guilt turns into sleepy anger and I kick him out of the bedroorm.

Of course, the guilt returns when I wake up and open the door to find he has been sleeping against my door, and looks up at me and scratches himself and makes these piteous cries.

Is this what being a parent is like? Lurching from impatience and anger… to fear and guilt? Not sure I like it… But I will do whatever I can to make sure Smacky is OK.

Friday Night Cat Blogging

…and here’s some more…

Went up to Urban Fauna in NW Portland today. I didn’t spend a lot of time there, just did boy-shopping (I went in, found what I was looking for, wandered for exactly 2 minutes, paid for the item, left).

I was downtown anyway for my eye doctor appointment, and I’ve got a project I’m going to attempt now that Smacky is big enough.

I’m going to leash train him.

I want to be able to take him on short runs with me (you know, after I can start running again. *sigh*). Or at least go for walks, or be able to safely restrain him if I ever take him visiting with me.

Call me craaaaazy, but I think Smacky is smart enough to train. I’ve done a good job of training him out of being so bite-y, and have gotten good results with the “ride on Brian’s shoulders” trick (although it’s painful when I’m only wearing a light t-shirt or no shirt, but I think teaching a cat tact and discretion might take a lot longer than I’ve probably got patience for).

I will, of course, post pictures of Smacky in his stylish new purple harness. Maybe for next Friday’s cat blogging.

By the way: I totally stole “Friday Night Cat Blogging” from Atrios, a.k.a. Duncan Black.

Oh, right, the two helpful appointments, mentioned below?

One, I took Smacky in for his first exam and shots. He’s healthy and well-behaved… except for the fleas. But we’re taking care of those.

And, two, I saw a doctor for the coughing and nasal drip I’ve been having. Yeah… it’s allergies. Probably Smacky. We’ll see if they get better after I start my inhaler. Yeah… inhaler. Dammit. I asked the doctor if I could start running again (I’ve stopped in the last week because of the coughing) and she said that I should stop until I come back in for the follow-up.

“But… do you know about runner’s guilt?” I whined. “I didn’t believe people when they told me about it, but… damn… can’t I run just a little bit?”

She gave me a sympathetic look. “I’m a runner, too, believe me, I know. You’ll be so much faster and better after the treatment, it will be like night and day.” Damn, she did know about runner’s guilt. So with that encouragement, I’ll try really really hard not to run for… two… whole… weeeeeeeeeeeeeks. Dammit.

I’m taking Smacky in for his shots (yeah, yeah, finally) so this week I thought I’d introduce him to his carrier. I didn’t want him to freak out when I put him in it or associate it only with trips to the vet.

Probably optimistic, but there you go.

Anyway, so the night before last I left it out in the living room so he could sniff it and get comfortable around it. Then last night I put some cat treats in there for him to find, and I praised him and petted him whenever he went near it…

Well, my treatment worked very well, because he spent the night in it. I woke up this morning when I looked in the living room, in the darkness I could see his eyes glowing inside the little box…

I’ve bought him a cat bed, and a little cat condo, you know, one of those carpeted things that are a couple of stories high with cubby holes… but where does he like to sleep? On top of the water heater (sure, makes sense, it’s warm) and inside his cat carrier (because it might have treats inside)… I think I’m encouraging the wrong behaviors.

At least he’s way less bite-y now, though.

While I was cleaning tonight, I found something tiny and white and curved. Looked like a toenail clipping, but it was too white and too thick. Then I thought it might be one of Smacky’s claws — and it looked bloody. Did he tear one out… um… somehow?

But what it really looks like is a tooth. A tooth! I mean, baby humans lose their teeth, but it never occurred to me that a kitten would, too.

I grabbed Smacky and took him into the bathroom (better light in there) and pried open his jaw and it looked like he had all the normal complement of teeth in all the expected spots.

How weird. No, it’s probably normal. Probably is weirder that I want to save it as a keepsake, huh?

No, wait, don’t answer that.

I’m very sad.

It seems apparent now that I have been having an allergic reaction to Smacky. It may be something else, possibly my new apartment, but since the time between moving in to my new place and getting Smacky was only a few months, it’s hard to tell which may be the cause.

The symptoms have been a persistent nasal drip, congestion in the chest and throat, itchy eyes and throat… all the typical symptoms. The symptoms have been affecting my regular exercise and running. I haven’t been able to run as fast or as far while being unable to breathe. Strange, huh? (Sarcasm alert)

At first I thought it was a cold but it hasn’t gone away, and I notice it far more when I’m at home and particularly around Smacky.

I don’t recall ever having a reaction to cats like I’ve been having, though. I’ve been avoiding thinking about it, because I do not want to have to give Smacky up. But in researching it (thank you, InterWeb!) I’ve discovered that I chose exactly the wrong kind of cat — turns out male, dark-colored, shorthair cats produce the strongest allergic reaction.

Well, that’s not entirely true — unaltered males produce the least amount of allergic reactions. So I’m going to finally get Smacky neutered. He’s not going to like it, but it’s necessary. Even if I give Smacky away, I’m going to get him neutered. Shelters won’t take him otherwise. But hopefully having him altered will decrease my reaction to him to the point where I can keep him.

Other things I’ll look into are changing the cat litter I’m using. I do notice a strong reaction around his litterbox. I’ll see if I can find another type.

The worst part is, I now need to clean my apartment waaaaaaaaaaay more often than I’m used to! That sucks. But I suppose it’s a benefit, too. Bleah.

Other online suggestions I’ve found are replacing carpets with wooden flooring and using air filters. I’ll think about getting a filter for the bedroom. I have started keeping Smacky out of the bedroom, which is also sad.

I have been bathing him regularly but I understand there are specific shampoos for reducing the amount of allergens cats produce; I’ll try one of those, too.

If anyone has any tips, post ’em on this comment.