Making Progress

Mom kept trying to take a picture of my shaved chest, but I wouldn't let her. A big mancat like me should have fur on his chest. You can see how short the vet lady clipped my ruff in the front, though. It's a bit cold going around bare-chested, too. I am doing a lot of meatloaf position on the rug, trying to keep warm. Luckily we had sunshine today, so I could warm up in the sunspots. I am feeling perkier today. I actually played with my flashy ball for a minute or two. I wasn't very enthusiastic about it, but Mom and I rolled it back and forth a little bit. Boy, have I been hungry! I ate up almost all the Stinky Goodness that Mom gave me for breakfast and lunch and I ate half a can in forty-five minutes after Mom got home from work, which is very unusual for me. I also ate some of my dry food. I have decided that I don't much like Mom squirting stuff in my mouth, but I am going to let her do it. She only needed two tries to get my Interferon down me this morning. Then I got my sardine! I really confused her about that. After asking and asking for my sardine for three days, when I finally got one, I only licked up the oil and nibbled at it. I had eaten more than usual for breakfast, though, so maybe I wasn't all that hungry at sardine time. I am still making poop puddles, but they are smaller and not quite as liquid. Maybe I'll get lucky and not have to go back to the vet for antibiotics.

Karen Jo: I really hope that you do get lucky, Herman. I think it was funny that every time I pointed the camera at you, you covered up your chest. I didn't realize that you were self-conscious about your shaved spot. I think you'll get back to eating your sardine again. You probably got used to not having it and didn't save room for it. I am glad to see you eating so much. The vet was very happy about your weight. You have gained one and two-thirds pounds since coming to live with me. You now weigh in at a mancatly 12.4 pounds.

Going to the Vet

For some reason the fact that I keep a little curl in the end of my tail amuses my Mom no end. She even took a picture of it today. Mom is being mean to me again. She didn't give me my sardine at all. I asked and asked for it and I know that she has lots of them, but she wouldn't give me one.

Karen Jo: You are still making poop puddles, Herman, so I decided to just give you your cat food and see if that helps. There is something worse coming for you, too, I'm afraid.

What could be worse than not getting my sardines?

Karen Jo: You are going to the vet as soon as I can get an appointment for you. I saw your foster Mom at the store today and she agreed that you needed to go, so we can find out what is going on with your digestive system. She said that once diarrhea gets started in kitties with leukemia, it can be hard to stop it.

I don't want to go the the vet. The last time I was there, they stole my fur.

Karen Jo: You might get some more stolen this time, too. You are getting mats in your chest fur and I can't seem to brush them out. It won't be so bad, Herman. We just need to find out what I need to do to get you well again.

But I am better today. I even played with my nip ball a little while you were at work.

Karen Jo: I noticed that, but you didn't move it very far. I was glad to see that you had moved it at all, though. You still need to go so we can get you better. You don't like making poop puddles, do you?

No. After I go, will I get my sardines back?

Karen Jo: We'll see what the vet says about it. If she says it's OK, then you will get your sardines again.

Oh, I hope that she says that it's OK for me to eat sardines.

Mean Mom

It's been forever since Mom helped me blog and she hasn't been much fun lately, either. She has been really mean to me. First, she let me run out of sardines again.

Karen Jo: Sorry, Herman. I did find your sardines on sale and got you a bunch. You won't run out again any time soon. I did try to make it up to you with chicken, cheese shreds and a crumb of cooked hamburger.

The cheese was OK, but I didn't want any of that other stuff. I wanted my sardine!

Karen Jo: I know. You complained about it loudly and long, in your most petulant voice.

You haven't been playing with me much, either. I wanted to play soccer the other day and you just ignored me.

Karen Jo: When I have my coat on and am headed toward the door to go to work is not the best time to try to start a soccer game. The last few times I tried to play with you, you only wanted to play for maybe a minute. I think maybe you haven't been feeling so good lately.

You shut me out of the bedroom again this morning.

Karen Jo: I'm sorry, Herman. My allergies started very early this year and they have been worse than they have been in many years. The last three weeks I have just been a walking snot machine. It has drained all my energy and made fun things, like brushing and playing with you and blogging, seem like chores and the chores seem almost unbearable. Luckily I am going to my doctor tomorrow morning about my TSH test and I'll ask her about getting a referral to an allergist. Yesterday after I got my teeth cleaned, I got home and had no energy at all. I had dinner very early, then lay on the bed to read for a while. You came and cuddled with me.

Yes, and you disturbed me.

Karen Jo: I woke up about 8:00 pm, realizing that I had been asleep for a couple of hours and needed to pee. I am sorry that I disturbed you, but I did get up and give you new food, when I figured out that you weren't going to eat what was in your dish, then I got into my jammies, flipped on the TV and went to bed. You woke me up about midnight, wanting more food, so I got up and got it for you. You woke me again at 3:30, wanting new food, and I gave it to you. Then you decided that you didn't want to eat that food and woke me up again at 7:00, 8:00 and 9:00, wanting different food and that last time is when I shut you out of the bedroom, because I really needed that last hour of sleep before I had to get up.

It wasn't until I found the mustard yellow puddle of poop in your litterbox and you barfed again shortly after I got home tonight that I finally figured out why you haven't been eating your Stinky Goodness like you used to. I upped your The Missing Link on Sunday to the recommended level and it is too much for you. This is exactly the way you reacted when I gave you the Newman's Own, which was too rich for you. No wonder you were always bugging me for new food. What I was giving you was disagreeing with you. I am really sorry that it took me so long to figure it out. I threw out what I had given you tonight and opened a new can of Stinky Goodness and cut back The Missing Link to half the recommended dosage. You were doing well on that, as this picture of your fur shows. Actually, this picture was taken when you were on three-quarters the recommended dose, but, thinking back, I realized that you were beginning to get pretty picky about eating your Stinky Goodness even at that dosage.

Thank goodness we got that straightened out. Does this mean that you won't shut me out of the bedroom any more?

Karen Jo: I hope that it won't be necessary any more, Herman. Now if only I can find a way to brush out those tangles you are getting on your chest. I am looking for a metal comb, but I haven't found one yet.

Does this mean more brushing for me? Yay!

No Sardines?

It seems like forever since Mom helped me blog. She's been goofing off a lot lately.

Karen Jo: Sorry, Herman. I have been having issues with being very tired on my days off. I'll try to do better.

You better improve in the sardines department, too. Can you believe that Mom actually allowed me to run out of sardines? There were no sardines at all on Friday. Sardine time came and she gave me tuna instead. I lapped up the tuna juice and left the tuna sitting there most of the day.

Karen Jo: I went to the store and bought you more sardines. I thought you liked tuna.

I do, but not as much as I like sardines. You better not run out again. I have been a really good kitty lately. I have been waking Mom up gently for breakfast and it has been working. I have even been waiting until the sun is up to wake her for the first time. Mom will give me breakfast pretty early if I have eaten at least most of my food now. She started putting more healthy stuff in my food and my fur is beginning to get some shine in it. My fur still sticks out, but I am less of an electric cat now.

Karen Jo: You are looking good, Herman. I just wish you would play a little more.

I play when I feel like it. I send you hunting for my nip ball every day. I love that. I knock my nip ball somewhere and get Mom to hunt for it. It's very funny. I would rather watch Da Bird fly over my head than try to catch it sometimes. Once in a while I catch it. Most nip toys don't interest me much. I like nip and when Mom puts loose nip on my cardboard scratcher I smell it and lick it and get it in my fur, but it doesn't make me crazy. I think nip just affects me a little bit. I do love to play with my nip ball, though. It's the only toy that Mom leaves out all the time. I smell it and bat it around and rub my head on it and lick it a little bit. Some nights Mom comes home and I have scattered all my toys around. Most nights, all the toys are right where they were when she left for work, except the balls. I love balls the most.

Karen Jo: That has been true since you first moved in. I am always looking for new kinds of balls for you. You do like your mousie wand toy pretty much, too.

That one is fun when you make the mousie move along the floor. I like to pounce on it then.

Improving

Mom has been trying and trying to get a picture of me up on my platform and she finally got one. I nap up here an lot and watch the birdies and meow at them. I also get treats when I have been up here, but I'm not sure why.

Karen Jo: I give you a treat or two when you scratch on your platform instead of on the furniture, but I'm not sure that you have ever made the connection.

Mom's ribs aren't very hurty any more and I get lots more play time. I seem to be feeling better myself lately. I went tearing around the house like my tail was on fire this evening and I haven't ever really done that before. Oh, I tear down the hall full speed when I want Mom to play with me, but tonight I was going in and out of rooms and all around the living room. Mom has been trying to get some fatty acids down me, but I have been outwitting her. First she found some fish oil with flax and borage and put it on my stinky goodness. I wouldn't even taste it. Then she put some cod liver oil on my stinky goodness and I wouldn't touch it the first time, but I did eat it when she put it on my dinner. The part I like best is now I get a sardine every morning for second breakfast. Mom thinks my fur looks a tiny bit better.

Karen Jo: I am finally getting smart and will look for cat-specific fatty acids online and order him some. Thanks to Daisy I have some names to look for. Hopefully, I can get Herman's dry fur problem under control before the lack of enough fatty acids in his diet affects the rest of his health. I feel bad that I didn't realize what the problem was earlier, but I have never lived with a cat with long fur before and I didn't know that his fur was sticking out because it was too dry.

I am going to miss Mom when she goes back to work next week. I like being fed four times a day and playing with her whenever I want and and napping with her in the afternoon, though she has pretty much stopped doing that. Mom did something weird to the couch where I like to scratch it, but I still scratch there, though it feels different.

Karen Jo: I got an idea and duct-taped the left-over ramp from your platform to the end of the couch where you scratch. It's a perfect fit. It looks a bit weird, but it will prevent any more damage to the couch and it looks better than the stuffing coming out of the slashes in the couch.