Save The Cheese

Last night as Kim and I were getting ready for bed, there came from the bathroom a feline moan like only Cheese can make. It was pain, and it had been reserved for blockages. Except, Cheese pees gallons now. But, there he was on one of our floor towels straining.

A few drops of red pee came out, but you could see it hurt him. Not being sure if it is an infection or inflammation, I’ve started him on both steroids and antibiotics.

Later trips to the litterbox did confirm that he is definitely NOT blocked, (that boy can PEE!)

I just feel so bad for him.

Cheese had been on antidepressants for about a year after a study showed that they can sometimes assist felines with his urinary problems. Unfortunately, they really didn’t do too much other than make him rather listless and “tame.” They took all the Cheesiness out of him, so we’ve been slowly weaning him off.

I think he’s almost back to his “old” self. This morning at 4:30 AM, he climbed onto my chest and started licking my face and chewing on my goatee.

Yup…Cheese is in da house!

Doing pretty good.  He still needs to be on a diet, but he’s happy.

For the first time, Cheese is showing fear of the weather. (Tropical Storm “Hanna” is starting to hit the area.) It’s freaking me out a bit. He’s jumped into bed and is snuggled up against Kim, but startling with every rumble and loud gust of wind.

Now Mika has a UTI.  We visit the Vet this afternoon, which should prove interesting as I’ve never tried to crate her before.

Oddly, Cheese has been rather protective of her last night and this morning, and licking her head without trying to chew on her ears. Almost as though he’s saying, “I know what you’re going through.”

The previously discussed lizard WAS in our house. Being in the air conditioning made him rather sluggish and he was barely able to stay clear of the beasts (who really didn’t know what to do with him, anyway.) I was able to grab it and relocate the poor tailless thing to our front yard, where he appeared to warm up a little and get that much needed boost of energy to scamper off.

This probably involves all our beasts, not just Cheese, but…

Today I was walking through the kitchen and saw what I thought was a beautiful blue bead on the floor. This is not unusual, as the girls make a lot of crafts. So I went to pick it up when I noticed that this was NOT a bead, but a piece of Blue-tailed Skink tail. (We have some BEAUTIFUL lizards in this area, and as we live in front of a swamp river tributary, we see lots of critters around.)

The trouble, though, is that this was only about 3/4″. Skink tails can be MUCH longer, and oh by the way, where the HECK is the rest of the skink?

I told Kim and she let me know she saw a tailless skink running on the front porch yesterday, so I was no longer concerned about the body of the animal, but I still couldn’t see why there was such a small piece. Then I went into the family room and saw the pile of chewed up tail bits. My guess is that the kitchen piece was a toy of some sort. And, oh by the way, our beasts are indoor only, so how did it get inside in the first place!

(I had originally gone into the kitchen for lunch, but I wasn’t much hungry after that.)

We’re weaning off the steroids. It’s just a laugh a minute here at the Walaski Compound.

I’m trying to clean up a photo, but it’s just so strange seeing Cheese sit next to tiny Mika. He can probably eat her in one gulp.

99% of the time, all our cats get along…well, as long as they leave Jenny alone. We have been incredibly lucky in that regard. At any time of the day, they’ll play, eat and sleep together. The only time we had some upheaval in the clowder was when MingLing died and we had a few jostlings for social hierarchy positions. Dinner, sometimes, will create a few squirmishes…especially when it’s a little late and they’re cranky.

A couple days ago, while I was preparing the entre, Cheese took exception to how close Mika got to him, jumped her and got her on her back. At that point ALL the other boys jumped on Cheese and put the smack down on him. They didn’t stop until Cheese let Mika go, at which point Mika went over to Jester and submissivly curled around him as if to say, “Thank you for saving me.” Meanwhile, Jasper and NotSo chased Cheese from the kitchen.

Don’t NOBODY mess with the “little sister.”

(Oh, and they did all let him back when I served the meal and all was forgiven.)

Our upstairs air conditioner decided not to play nice this weekend. We’re in 90+° summer heat so it’s about 86° in the upstairs. Until we have it fixed (hopefully on Monday,) our house guests and the kids are sleeping downstairs. I slept upstairs because I had an early-Sunday-morning conference call, and Kim slept upstairs because she would’ve felt guilty with me being the only one sleeping in the heat. (Awwww…what a gal! For the record, though, I pleaded with her to sleep downstairs.)

It’s the poor cats with all their fur and stuff. You’d think they’d be all, “we’re staying downstairs where it’s cool,” but no…they’re all spread around the upstairs. Cheese is flat on his back, splayed out in his classic Cheese pose, except it almost looks like his hips are dislocated he’s so spread. I did notice, though, that none of the beasts slept on the bed with us last night…too hot.