Gaining Weight

See my white mousie? I have two white canvas mousies. Mom had gotten the other one out for me to play with today, but I wasn't interested. I went over to the toy basket and fished this one out myself. Dudes, when Mom gets re-energized, she really goes to town. Today it was literally. She was in and out of the house all day long.

Karen Jo: I had a lot of errands to run, as a result of my resting earlier this week.

I got a lot of new kinds of treats out of it.

Karen Jo: Thank you, Sparkle and House of Cats, for suggesting that I try other soft treats to put Herman's medicine in. Unfortunately, none of the ones I could find around here are soft enough to put his pill in. Whisker Lickin's came closest, but the treat crumbled when I tried to put in the pill. Herman certainly isn't complaining about his new treat collection, though.

When Mom wasn't going in and out, we played a lot. She got my wand toys out again and I played with my mousie. I grabbed it and bit it and smacked it around in the air. We also played soccer with my nip ball. I have found that if I try to scratch the pole part of my new scratching post, it tips, but I scratch on the base of it and get a treat.

Karen Jo: I am hoping that getting treats for scratching on your new scratcher and your platform and getting called a bad kitty and not getting treats for scratching on the couch will convince you that scratching on the couch is a bad idea. You had stopped scratching the couch before you got really sick, but now you are back to doing it again.

Hey, a fellow's got to scratch somewhere. One of the times Mom went out, she took my new PTU with my towel inside with her. I was hoping she wouldn't bring it back, but she did. Then she opened it up and put some of my new treats inside. I really like the new treats, but I wasn't falling for that trick this time. Besides, I was much too comfortable on the couch. Then she put the PTU on the couch beside me, picked me up and in I went. Then we went out the door and down the street. It was a novel experience. It was warm and there was a nice breeze blowing with lots of interesting smells. I didn't particularly like the swaying motion though, and started shifting around in my PTU and meowing, but not very loud. After a very long time (10 minutes) we arrived at the v-e-t. I started meowing in earnest then, but in we went. Mom just set me down for a little bit then we came home again. I don't know what it was all about, but I was really glad to get out of the PTU.

Karen Jo: The vet's office said I could bring you in and weigh you. First I just took the PTU to weigh it and make sure that bringing you in just to use the scale was all right. Then I took you down to be weighed in your PTU. I am very happy with the results. You kept moving around inside your PTU and that made the scale fluctuate a little bit, but even using the lower number is good news. To recap: When I took you in because I couldn't stop your poop puddles on March 2nd, you weighed 12.4 pounds. Then your weight started dropping and at your sickest on April 28th, you weighed 8.6 pounds. You had dropped 3.8 pounds or nearly a fourth of your body weight in a little less than two months. I was really worried that you were packing your bags for the Rainbow Bridge. Today you weigh in at 10.4 pounds, a gain of 1.8 pounds or nearly half of what you had lost and you did it in just three weeks. You weigh just 0.35 pounds less that you did when I adopted you. I am simply thrilled. Keep up the good eating and we'll have you back to what you were before you got sick in another month or two.

Are you going to keep taking me to the v-e-t to get weighed?

Karen Jo: No. I will be satisfied with the approximate weight I can get on the bathroom scale or I will look around for a baby scale like Daisy uses. I will only take you back to the vet if you start getting bony again.

Thank goodness for that. We had open windows all day today and they are still open. I am loving it. Mom did something else weird today. I have two litter boxes and Mom keeps switching them off, because I dribble poop down the sides sometimes. Today one time when she came back, she took my clean litter box to the litter box room and started pouring something into it. I came and watched, then had to check it out. It feels like litter, but it doesn't smell the same as my litter.

Karen Jo: I got you some Arm and Hammer corn litter to see if you will be willing to make the switch. I scooped out your old litter and changed the pee pads, then put your new litter nearby. Tomorrow, I will see which one has the most stuff in it. I hope you decide that you like the new litter, because it will be better for both of us -- less dust, hopefully less tracking and lots less weight for your poor old Mom to drag home from the store.