Cat update

Bowie’s behavior continues to mystify.

He hasn’t peed anywhere inappropriate recently (*knocks furiously on desk and own head*), but he seems to still be more… anxious? restless? annoying? Than usual.

 

Like, in the evenings at our old place he used to just hang out in the living room or wherever we were. He would lie down on the back of the couch or curl up in a chair and take a snooze. Now usually starting at about 8PM he just won’t settle down. He’ll stalk around the room and go over to the bookshelves and knock the contents to the floor. He’ll knock papers off the desk and shred them into tiny pieces. He’ll stand at the front door and meow. He’s 12 years old, so I sort of thought he would get LESS active and crazy over the years, but it doesn’t seem like it. And it seems like it coincides with all the big changes in his life, but I don’t know how to fix it.

About, oh, a year ago I want to say (?), the vet (old vet, not new vet) told me that Bowie was too heavy at 26lbs and needed to go on a diet or else he would get diabetes. The vet recommended Fancy Feast Tender Beef because it’s high in protein and doesn’t have fillers or grains. So now he gets one can of Fancy Feast Tender Beef in the morning and one in the evening, plus a tiny scoop of dry food when we put him in the garage at bedtime.

As a semi-related side note, have I told you about my former cat sitter who shamed me about Bowie’s food? He texted me while I was out of town to tell me that Bowie had eaten HIS ENTIRE BOWL OF FOOD from the previous day and maybe I should consider an automatic cat feeder. I was like 1. Call me when the cat DOESN’T eat his entire bowl of food. Then I’ll be worried. And 2. Are you trying to talk yourself out of a job?

Anyhow, I digress, but it was just an interested incident of someone worrying about my 26 pound cat being UNDERfed.

On his new diet, Bowie went from 26 pounds to 17 pounds. HE LOST NINE POUNDS. That’s like, a whole normal sized cat. His bones started to stick out more. And now he's all jittery and anxious. So maybe he DOES need to eat more now? About a month ago I decided that if it would make him HAPPIER, I would just give him more food. So I bought this automatic cat feeder to give him little snackies while I was at work. I had it for a week and a half before Bowie managed to break it so that the lids won’t close anymore. So then I started leaving him a little extra food in the morning before I left for work and he started puking on a daily basis. Because apparently he will just EAT ALL THE FOOD if you just leave it out.

I’ve started trying to give him more attention when I first get home from work and later in the evenings.

I’ve tried distracting him with the laser pointer when he starts throwing papers on the floor.

I’ve tried squirting him with water when he does his annoying habits.

I’ve tried opening the balcony door and letting him wander out there in the evenings.

I’ve tried sprinkling catnip on his scratch pad.

I’ve tried giving him an extra little snack in the evenings and a bigger one at bedtime.

Nothing has changed.

I think my next step will be one of those anti-anxiety cat collars or diffusers. Anyone have experience with that?

Catastrophe

As you may recall, my car was stolen (and miraculously returned!) and at that point Niall and I decided that it was high time to skedaddle out of our current apartment and live somewhere else. I happened to find our new place the very day my car was stolen, in early November. We signed our new lease and gave notice at our old place in mid-November and started frantically packing.

We moved everything and were out of our old place by December 12 and do not get me started on how crappy our former landlords turned out to be. I can’t even revisit it because it made me RAGE CRY and I just cannot.

Anyhow, so we were fully moved into our new place on December 12 and then we left for Ireland on December 23 for two weeks. We returned in early January and then Niall had to go to Phoenix for work for a few days and things were hectic with both of us going back to work after vacation. On January 30 I got my first shadow line on a pregnancy test. So that week I was on pins and needles, peeing on a stick least twice a day (since my period wasn’t even due until February 5). We had decided to have a Super Bowl party on Feb 7 (we had sort of halfheartedly done one the previous year and it was really fun, so we decided to make it an annual event), which meant that on Feb 6 and 7 there was frantic cleaning and prepping our house for guests.

Also in the evening of Feb 6, the cat, Bowie,  started acting weird. The first thing I noticed was that he peed NEXT TO his litter box. I was pretty annoyed by that, but then I realized he was walking kind of gingerly. And then as I was paying more attention to him that night I realized he was sitting kind of funny and he kept getting up. He wouldn’t just settle down for a snooze like he usually does. He was clearly uncomfortable, so I decided that I would take him to the vet in the morning (it didn’t occur to me to just take him to the emergency vet right THEN, which I now realize I should have done).

We usually put Bowie in the garage when we go to bed, but we let him stay in the house that night. The reason we put him in the garage is that he’ll usually start being a pest in the wee hours- walking around, jumping on things, meowing loudly, scritching at doors, generally being a cathole. That night? Nothing. He didn’t make a peep. But then in the morning I walked into the kitchen and he was fine! Normal energy level, acting normal, didn’t seem to be in pain, peeing in the litter box. So… okay then. I decided not to take him to the vet, and I couldn’t get an appointment that day anyhow.

(We had the Super Bowl party, it was fun!)

The next day later Bowie peed in the closet.

Two days after that I caught him right before he was about to pee in the closet AGAIN. I called the vet. They didn’t have any appointments. I ended up taking him to the emergency vet. For $400 they took a urine sample, determined that he might have a UTI, and gave me 2 weeks’ worth of antibiotics for him. He seemed to do better. Then they called a few days later to say guess what! The urine grew nothing, so he does NOT have a UTI. So, I’m a nurse, you guys. And I did EXACTLY the thing I tell my patients not to do. I kept giving Bowie the antibiotics for the rest of the week. So he ended up taking a weeks’ worth. And I dunno, he seemed better! He didn’t pee anywhere.

And then a couple weeks later I found a puddle of pee in the closet again. So I finally made an appointment with a regular vet. Since we had moved, I wanted to establish care at a local vet office. So we went to the new vet. And I think he either is or is related to Dr. Dolittle because wow. This guy. At first I was like oh who is this weird hippie doctor with a ponytail? He breezed into the room “Hi I’m Jerry. Don’t get up, I’m pretty casual. The first thing to know here is that at every appointment I’d like to start with a very open and honest conversation just to make sure we are all on the same page and that we’re having good communication.” WOAH. Okay then. I told him what had been going on with Bowie. He enthusiastically explained that the peeing in the closet could have been physical (UTI) or behavioral (cathole).

I had explained to the vet that the emergency vets said Bowie’s urine test had come back negative. And he explained that it Bowie still MIGHT have had a UTI.

See, as I mentioned, I’m a nurse. The way we get urine samples from people is we either have them pee (most convenient!) or if they cannot pee, we stick a tube up through the peehole and into their bladder and collect the urine (least convenient!). I was unaware that for a CAT, they do not stick the tub up through their business, they use a needle through their belly and collect urine directly from the bladder. SO, if Bowie did have a UTI that was somewhere OTHER than the bladder, the test would not detect it. So MAYBE that medicine did in fact help clear up a lower down infection. Huh.

The vet asked if we could think of anything else that could be affecting Bowie, emotionally or behaviorally speaking. And, well, yeah: We moved rather quickly and frantically, and then Niall and I went out of the country and left Bowie with my parents for 2 weeks soon after moving, and then we were suddenly in the new house, and then Niall went away for awhile and came back, and then I got pregnant (COULD THE CAT SENSE IT?). And then there was the frantic cleaning before our Super Bowl party. Oh, and Niall and I also remembered that our new landlord saying that she replaced all the floors in our house, because the previous tenants had 2 large dogs. So perhaps there are some lingering dog smells in the house?

The vet was like. Uh. Yeah that’s a lot of stuff.

So we came up with a plan: I would buy a blacklight and search the WHOLE house for cat pee. I would also buy special cat-pee removal cleaning product because other cleaning products don’t actually break up the enzymes and cats can still SMELL the pee, so they’ll still want to pee there. And then clean up all the cat pee I found, to make sure there aren’t any traces anywhere there shouldn’t be. And the vet would do a blood test to see if something was wrong, some physical reason Bowie wasn’t feeling good that was making him act out.

We didn’t find any more cat pee in the house (yay!), and the blood tests all came back fine (also yay!). The vet had also mentioned that indoor cats sometimes tend to go a bit stir crazy since normally cats roam about 5 miles per day and indoor cats have that taken away from them. He asked if we have a cat tree. Uh. No. I do not have a cat tree. I don’t have room in my life for a cat tree. But then I realized that our house DOES have kind of an odd nook. It’s like a miniature loft over the stairs that you can’t access without precariously balancing a ladder on the staircase. So I got the idea in my head that it could be Bowie’s area. We went to out and bought some shelves and got a new cat bed and scratcher thing and now Bowie has his own little loft!

It took a bit of convincing to get him to learn to jump up the shelves into the area. We used food.

Once he got the hang of it he can bound up there in no time.

He seems to like it!

The next day Niall went to the gym. He was walking to his car outside our house and exchanged a few pleasantries with our nextdoor neighbor lady. Then he noticed a LARGE SNAKE on the ground in the neighbor’s driveway. As Niall got into his car, the neighbor PICKED UP THE SNAKE and took it into her garage.

So… apparently our neighbors have a large pet snake? I’m thinking THAT might be causing Bowie (and now me) some anxiety.

Sweet Pea

I don't know why his favorite snack is flowers.

Cozy

Sometimes it gets cold here in San Francisco.

Fresh from the Faucet

This is apparently what happens when two people have been spending most of their time doing stressful, boring things like homework, study work, housework, work work, and OMG GIANT PAPER DUE IN SIX DAYS GIANT PAPER work.

Birthday Bo

Well, at the risk of turning this into a Kitteh Blog I'm going to post some photos of my cat. Because, while I DO have lots of other things that I'd like to share with you, today is the Ides of March which is also one Bowie Pants Wolverine's (estimated) seventh birthday.

Permit me to reminisce for just a few moments?

I remember when he was just a wee baby kitten.

Melt my heart, whydontcha?

I remember when he was so little that I used to keep him in a box so he wouldn't get lost in my room.

Only 3 weeks old when I got him, I used to feed him that fake cat milk stuff.

I remember when he was smaller than my shoe.

I remember those hot LA days when my roommates and I would put him in the freezer to cool off (with the door open of course).

He loved snuggling and napping with my roommate's cat, Lucy, when we all lived together. Three girls, two kittens, one iguana, and a whole lot of Smirnoff.

He's always been pretty good with other animals. His friendship with Jasmine was based on their common interest in napping.

He is good with kids, too. Even now when I see my nieces and nephews their first question is usually "Did you bring Bowie?"

He will only drink running water. Sometimes it is frustrating because he'll get up around 6 and start yowling at me from the bathtub until I stumble in and turn on the faucet for him. Even though HE HAS A PERFECTLY FINE WATER DISH. Nope, His Majesty prefers water in motion.

But he's a good kitty. A tolerant kitty.

A BIG kitty.

I love him, in case that wasn't obvious.

Happy Birthday lil Bowiepants. I'm so glad I paid $25 for you at that random East LA animal shelter/pet store (?) that seems to exist in a parallel universe (since I tried to go back there and it had apparently been transformed into an abandoned warehouse). I'm lucky to have you.

CHECK OUT THE BIG ONE I CAUGHT

Had a little trouble reeling him in.

This post contains naught but videos of my cat.

Bowie has picked up the quirky new habit of bolting out the door when I get home.


And then he does this:


I don't know what is so exciting about the hallway but he has also started asking to go out.


When I lived in LA Bowie would sometimes run out the door of my apartment. It was a much bigger deal then since outside and down the stairs was the STREET with cars and strangers and dogs and the big, wide world. I now live in an apartment with indoor hallways so it isn't such a problem for him to run out. Plus I think the rolling is cute. So I've been letting him do it. I figure that it will be a long time before he learns how to run to the elevator and press the button to make his grand escape.

Go get them!

Every couple of years I start thinking about how lovely it would be to get another kitten/cat. I've held myself back, for the most part. Okay, that's a lie. The first time my roommate at the time told me I couldn't get another cat and the second time I actually did get a kitten but she turned out to be kind of insane and I thought I might be allergic to her so I passed her off to my sister and her kids and now she lives at my parents' house and just last Saturday she caught a rat, a mouse, and a lizard. And the week before my mom found a bunny in the yard, in pieces. So I've pretty much decided that one high-maintenance cat is plenty, for now.

Anyhow. I went to the animal shelter on Sunday, just to LOOK (because we all know what a great idea that is, right?). And, OMG, there was the sweetest dog there. She was this blind pug with her tongue perpetually drooping out of the side of her mouth and I just wanted to scoop her up and take her home with me.

And then there were these....

I think they want to come home with you.

UPR Simply Shabby Chic Cozy Blanket

I think I went to Target and stood in the aisle fondling this blanket probably three separate times before I pulled the trigger and bought it. I was a little hesitant because of the price. After all, fifty bucks is a lot to spend on anything, particularly a blanket you're not quite sure you need. But I justified it thusly: I use my bed every night and I am always cold. I have Raynaud's Syndrome-- I need a warm blankie. It's medical science!

Anyhow, after I bought it I was not disappointed. This blanket is ah-may-ZING. The name doesn't lie, it is cozy. Warm and snuggly and fuzzy and cuddly. And it fits in my washing machine so I don't have to feel guilty about never washing it take it to the cleaner's.

And this cat of mine cannot get enough of it. Even when he's wired and going crazy running around, if I pick him up and put him on the bed he will instantly become calm and start kneading it. Then he'll usually lay down and fall asleep.

So, to sum up: This blanket is a tad on the pricey side but it is very soft and warm and has MAGICAL POWERS OF CAT HYPNOSIS.

Thirsty

Bowie Pants Wolverine

What's that? Why, YES, in fact I AM writing a blog post about my cat! Because today is his birthday! And I love him!
This post consists largely of pictures of Bowie. Feel free to move along if that kind of thing does not interest you. (Actually I feel silly saying that. Like, under normal circumstances you're required to keep reading but TODAY you have permission to skip it?).

Anyhow! Bowie is six today. Or around today. Because I got him and the vet said he was about three weeks old so I did some hazy math to assign him his birthday.

I fell instantly in love with that little ball of fluff the moment I saw him. Of course, some people didn't think he was quite as adorable as I did-- can't imagine why.

But he got cuter.

So cute.

Oof.

Okay okay that's enough kitten photos.

Well, how about just one more?

Now he's six. SIX! That's, like, middle-aged in cat years! He's older than nearly half of my nieces and nephews. He's lived in my last four apartments.

And, oh yeah, he grew.

And became rather distinguished.

And curious.

And tolerant.

And, uh, idiosyncratic?

?

The weirdo prefers to only drink running water.

This means that on any given morning he will jump up onto the bathroom counter and meow at me until I turn on the water.

And sometimes he will go back and forth between the sink and the bathtub, yowling at me to turn on whichever faucet His Majesty currently prefers. Oh and I bought him one of those stupid cat fountain things a couple years ago and he STILL wanted me to turn the sink on instead. Brat.

I used to lock him in a crate at night because he would run! around! and! pounce! all! night! long! But then I got my big fuzzy blanket and it seems to have a hypnotizing effect on him.

Anyhow, he's my Bowie. Bowie Pants Wolverine [Lastname]. I think he's pretty fantastic. I know he's "only a cat" but I think he made my life better and I'm so very glad I have him. I think you'd like him, too. Even people who don't like cats tend to like Bowie. And I know a lot of people who have cats tend to say that about their cats but, seriously, I'm right. I mean, he sits on command and eats flowers and he's TWENTY FIVE POUNDS. C'mon. Anyhow, happy birthday to mah Bowie.
And thank YOU for bearing with this sappy cat adoration post-- I'd love to hear about your pets, should you wish to share.

And then he had the munchies.

My nieces and nephews got Bowie a Christmas present. He found it and opened it just a tad early.

Look closely, he also gnawed his way through the plastic on that stocking. And then he spent the rest of the evening totally H-I-G-H off catnip... running up and down the hall, staring at things really closely, scooching along the ground on his back, getting startled whenever someone came near him. Now I remember why I don't usually keep catnip in my house.

Fluff Ball

I gave Bowie a bath the other day. He spent the rest of the day alternating between glaring at me and curling up by the heater.

I didn't rip your face off becuz you feeds me.

Ferdinand

Sometimes I think that my cat is a lot like Ferdinand the bull. He is close to 25 pounds and looks kind of like a bobcat and has rather sharp teeth and claws, and yet Bowie's very favorite thing to do is to sit and eat the flowers.



Nom!

Sleeping Beauty

I used to put Bowie in a crate in the bathroom when I went to bed because if I left him out he would (a) jump up on countertops and knock things over, (b) jump up on the bed and pounce on my feet, (c) jump up on the bed and pounce on my head, (d) try to get into cupboards, (e) meow loudly, or (f) all of the above. Now, after 5 years, it finally seems that he usually will sleep on my bed with me at night. And I love it.


I guess the room was too bright for his little eyes.

Husky

The other day I was searching the house high and low for my black opaque tights. I hadn't worn them in over a year but I KNEW they had to be SOMEWHERE because though they may look like legs, tights don't just get up and walk away, do they? And I wanted to wear them for mini graduation because I was wearing a mini skirt and a mini skirt is only appropriate in school if it doesn't look overtly slutty. So I pulled out the drawer of my little 2-drawer "dresser" to search more thoroughly through it. And Bowie took that opportunity to crawl in and use it as a napping/hiding facility.


And he actually broke the wooden piece that separates the two drawers. Bowie, sweetie, if you're going to do things like BREAK heavy wooden pieces of furniture, it's going to be harder for me to convince people that you're just big boned.