The Big Fight

Karen Jo: Another old photo of Bambino from when he was happy here.  I do miss Bambino, but not as much as I thought I would.  I guess I have been in mourning for the happy Bambino since Clancy came and I'm mostly used to it by now.  I miss him every time I feed the cats and don't see his face.  I miss him every time I give out treats and wonder where he is.  I miss the way he  used to jump up on the bed and walk up to my face and tickle my cheeks with his whiskers in the middle of the night when he wanted a petting session.

I also want to explain what is likely to be my blogging schedule.  I can only blog when I get up early enough to get some stuff done, so I have time to blog.  I have trouble getting up early in the morning in the winter, so that's why I have been missing for a month.  I will only be able to blog on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and the occasional Saturday.  I have lots to do on the other days.  Events I describe here may or may not have just happened.  I won't bring up stuff from the way past, but from the last few days or a week ago.  Today's post is an example.  The events described between Rocio and Gandalf happened about a week ago.  Now on with the kitties.

Karen Jo: Gandalf, I found a pile of your fur on the kitchen floor.  What happened?

Gandalf: Um, well, I sort of got into a fight in the middle of the night.

Karen Jo: Rocio, do you know how Gandalf's fur got on the kitchen floor?

Rocio:  Darn tootin'! I beat up Gandalf.

Karen Jo:  Why?

Rocio: Just because he's best friends with Clancy, Gandalf has been giving himself airs and thinks he can lord it over the rest of us cats.  I'm not going to put up with it.  Though I'm not keen on it, I acknowledge Clancy as Top Cat because he PROVED that he's the toughest, baddest cat in the house.  However, I'm not going to take any crap from Gandalf.

Gandalf:  Hey, Clancy made me his lieutenant and I was in the running for Top Cat before he came.

Rocio:  There were three of us in the running for Top Cat: you, me and Bambino.  You were the first one eliminated.  Then when Clancy started taking over, you ran away for three weeks, leaving just me and Bambino to sort it out with him.  When you came back, you immediately started sucking up to him.

Gandalf:  I wasn't sucking up.  I came back, took in the situation and decided that the best way forward was to make friends with Clancy, something the rest of you hadn't bothered to do.

Rocio:  You weren't around to see how mean he was to me while he was taking over.  We aren't buds, but I tolerate him now.  He really has mellowed out now.

Karen Jo:  Is everything all right between the two of you now?

Rocio:  Sure.  Gandalf leaves me alone now.

Gandalf: Everything's fine.  I thought that Rocio would be a push-over because he's such a lazy lard-bucket.  I was wrong.

Rocio:  Ha!  I may be fat, but there's a lot of muscle underneath.  I can jump almost as high as  you can with the extra weight.

Julius:  Guess what?  Mom actually got a photo of me.  Now that things aren't so tense around here, I'm hanging out in the open more now.  This is as close as I will let Mom get while she's looking at me.  She started to take another step and I tensed up, so she backed off.  This cat tree is new to us since Mom stopped blogging before.  I like it. I can sit or lie up here and no cat can sneak up on me.

Good News at the Vet

 Bambino:  Man, what a morning I had!  First the blurp came over and I didn't feel like dealing with her.  Luckily, whenever she comes over Mom puts our ham-micks on her bed and won't let the blurp come into her room, so I just sacked out in a ham-mick until the blurp's grownup came over.  Then Mom picked me up and put me into a PTU.  Off we went to the vet with me complaining all the way.  After we were put in a little room, Mom opened the PTU and I got out to explore for a little, but I didn't get much looking around done when a lady came in, picked me up, put me on a table on a comfy mat and started poking and prodding me and holding a round thing to my chest.  Then she stuck something where it didn't belong.  Thankfully she left after that and I went to hide behind Mom.  Then another lady came in and felt me all over and held a round thing to my chest and talked to Mom.  Then she took me into another room and stabbed me several times and pilled me and put something on my hind leg.  Finally she put me back in my PTU and we went home.  When I got there, my fur on my back was all wet and I couldn't shake that thing off my leg.  After a bit, Mom took the thing off my leg and gave me some really yummy food and I ate most of it.  I would have eaten all of it, but Julius kept sticking his nose in.  It turns out he's not all that afraid of Mom when food is involved.  A little while later I felt hungry again and ate a few bites of dry food.  There was an intruder kitty in our yard and I jumped up on the table to watch out the window with the rest of the mancats.  It's the first time I have been really interested in something in days.  Right now I am in the playpen catching some rays.

Karen Jo:  The good news from the vet is that there is no indication that Bambino's FeLV has become active.  The bad news is that we don't know what's wrong with him.  His temperature is slightly elevated, but that's not unusual for him.  Just going to the vet can do that to him.  He might have an upper respiratory infection, but there aren't enough indications of that to put him on an antibiotic yet.  He might just be feeling under the weather for some reason.  He got a shot with B-complex and B-12, subQ fluids (in case he got dehydrated) and some blood taken for a new FeLV test. He also got an appetite stimulant and I got some more to give to him later.  He could be back to normal in 24 hours or so, or he might not be.  I'm supposed to watch him for signs of an URI, like sneezing or discharge from his nose.  The test results will be back Thursday and will tell us for sure if he really is FeLV+.  If he's not back to normal by then, I am to take him back in.  Keep your paws crossed.  Thank you so much for all the purrs pouring in.  I am sure that they are helping him and I know they are helping me.

Spyro:  I just love making Mom get down on the floor to take my photo.  The blurp was handing out treats like crazy and I was the only cat brave enough to get close enough to her to eat them.

Oja:  I feel discriminated against.  Mom manages to get clear pictures of all the cats, except me.  She took two shots of me and this one was the less blurry so she used it.  I haven't been sleeping with Mom lately and she wants to know why.  I'm not telling, but it might have something to do with a certain orange kitten.

Rocio:  I grabbed Horus' favorite spot today.  Just look at the great sun puddle up here!  There was an intruder kitty in our back yard a few minutes ago and I'm still watching for her.  I know it's a her because Mom knows the cat.  She lives up the street from us.

Horus:  Rocio and I traded spots today.  It's comfy up here and I got some sun on me, too.  I have been grabbing Mom's lap a lot lately.  She pets me and tells me how hard it is to type with me in her lap.  Too bad.

Julius:  The Lady caught me by surprise.  She was facing the other way, then she suddenly turned around and took my photo before I could run.  See my cool stripes?  Mom says I look a bit like a Rex cat she saw at a cat show once.  Mom kept trying to shoo me away from Bambino's really good food, but I kept sneaking back.  Bambino let me have some and he let me have his leftovers when he was done.  He didn't leave me much.

Purrs for Bambio

Update: Bambino was making motions in his mouth with his tongue like he was thirsty, so I thought I should syringe some water into his mouth, but I remembered that kitties generally don't like that.  Then I remembered that Herman would eat Fancy Feast Elegant Medleys when he refused to eat anything else, so I went to the store and got some.  The Elegant Medleys have a much higher moisture content than the pate style, so I would be taking care of two problems as once.  I gave Bambino just a little bit of the Elegant Medleys and he ate most of it.  I'll try to get some more down him later tonight.  Right now it's "Yay!  He ate!"  Thanks to all of you for the great comments and the purrs.  I know they are helping.

Update:  I had a long conversation with my friend who is an experienced Mom and foster Mom to special needs kitties and we came to the conclusion that as Bambino is not terribly sick yet and his vet knows him and has dealt with FeLV+ kitties before, it would be best to wait until tomorrow and get him an appointment with her.  At the emergency vet you never know who you will get and it's a long trip.  His regular vet also has a new treatment for FeLV+ kitties that the emergency vet might now know about.  Many thanks to Ann of Zoolatry for the badge on the sidebar.  Please feel free to put it on your own blogs.  I know the power of the purr.

Karen Jo:  I am worried about Bambino.  He hasn't eaten much since Saturday.  I have tried putting him in front of the food and the food in front of him, but he sniffs it, licks it and walks away.  He ate a few treats yesterday, but today he walked away from them.  He hissed at Horus this morning, which really worries me because he has NEVER hissed at another cat.  He spent most of the day yesterday sleeping.  I can't take him to his regular vet today because they are closed.  I left a message with a good friend of mine about maybe taking him to the emergency vet, but I'm not sure they would see him.  He is still walking around with his tail up and jumping up on the furniture, so he's not deathly ill.  This could be something minor like a kitty cold or it could be a FeLV flare-up.  Please purr for him.

Meet Bambino

 Bambino:  It's about time my lazy Mom got around to letting me introduce myself.  I've been here since April   7th.

Karen Jo:  Sorry, Bambino.  I was greatly affected by Austin's running off to the Bridge.  Then I got involved with my income taxes and that along with the return of winter really got my spirits down.  I'm OK now and will start blogging more again.

Bambino:  I love this nifty cushion.  See all those papers?  I pushed them all off on the floor the other day.  I'm good at pushing things off.

Karen Jo:  I've noticed.  The last three mornings I have been awakened by loud crashes.

Bambino:  It gets your attention and I get hungry in the mornings.  I guess I should tell you how I got here.  Several months ago a nice lady found me as a tiny kitten wandering around on a busy street in Santa Fe.  She took me home and took care of me, but when she discovered that I was FeLV+ she had to keep me in a playpen most of the time to keep me from infecting the cat who was already there and started looking for a new home for me.  She was a volunteer for Felines & Friends, who rescued Austin and Rocio.  There were plans made to pair me with Rocio, but then Austin came along and they were perfect together, so I had to wait.  When Mom first brought me home and put me down in the living room in the carrier, no cat hissed at me, not even Oja.  Things soon changed.

I noticed right away that Rocio and Spyro were both bigger than I was and Oja was stockier and stronger, so I decided that it was best to stay in the safe room for a few days.  Monday, I stuck my head out of my room and promptly got hissed at by Rocio, so I scurried back into hiding.

Karen Jo:  I was surprised that Rocio hissed at you.  He had never hissed at any cat before.  I think he was still missing Austin a whole lot.

Bambino:  Monday evening, I crept out into the hall in slink mode and Oja growled at me, so I ran back into my room again.  Tuesday morning and afternoon, I ventured out just a little, but when running back to my room when I got hissed or growled at.  By Tuesday night, I had figured out that these bigger cats were all talk and no action, so I came out and stayed out.  I spent part of Tuesday night on Mom's bed, until Oja got hissed off that I thought I could sleep ON Mom instead of beside her.

Bambino:  It was only a few more days before I made friends with Rocio.  He saw all the fun I was having with Spyro and decided that I was OK after all.  Here we are playing with Da Bird together.  Spyro, Rocio and I all play chase and rassle together, though not all three at once.  Well, not rasslin' anyway.  By the amount of stuff that gets knocked off of tables Mom strongly suspects that all three of us play THoE at once.  Oja isn't always hissy with me any more and I try to stay out of her way.

Karen Jo:  Bambino may not be the Sultan of Swat, but he is the Prince of Pounce.  He loves pouncing Spyro and Rocio.  From some yowls I have heard, he may have even pounced Oja.  I know that Rocio has been teasing Oja by jumping up the foot or side of the bed and taking a swat at her, then running away.  As a side note, I filed my application to adopt Bambino yesterday.  There is just a little more paperwork to do and he will be an official member of the family.