Off the hook

Byzans has found a new restplace on a kitchen chair. I think she enjoys being close, should Treats appear.

This morning I dropped the bucket of cat food with the lid partially off. I spent some time rescuing the pieces, but of course I couldn't get everything.

Guess who didn't care for a walk a while later.

Dear Byzans,

That is where my onions grow. It's not a suitable place for rolling around and scratching your back. You can go and do that on the grass. Or under the car, if you insist.

Love, Matte

Dear Byzans,

I'm sorry, I really can't run don and up and open the door for your every whim. You were so anxious to get back inside not long ago. You can wait for a little while. The garden will still be there, I promise.

love,
Matte

I made an appointment with the vet next week.

Byzans is going to have the usual shot, but Loffe probably won't, since his stomach seems to be a little out of order. It may be nothing other than a sensitive stomach, and the nurse I spoke to had several suggestion about food we could try. I pointed out that since I drive from Ånge (more than an hour), there's no real point to go there only to buy food, and come back some other day with the cats.

I have started to feed him a little at a time, hoping that will make him less prone to throw up. Perhaps next step will be to see if wet food makes any difference.

Loffe has spent the afternoon trying to convice me that weather like this calls for bad-weather-treats. I tell his there is no such thing as bad-weather-treats, at least not in this house, and by the way, he got his come-inside-treats as usual this morning, when he, well, came inside.

"Are you sure?", he says. "I remember nothing of the sort. Oh, and now you mention it, if I really was outside in this weather, I need some extra treats. Did you see Byzans when she came in just now? She was soaking! So you have to give me treats both for the bad weather, for coming in and because I was outside in it. That should do it. And some because Byzans was so wet."

Yesterday didn't start well. I expected breakfast at the usual hour, Matte put some down for Byzans, and then she took me into the bathroom. I had to wait until she finished her shower, before I could get out. At that point, Byzans had finished her food.

I didn't get to take my walk either, and I got no comebackin treats. Eventually, Matte took a cage and put me inside it. Then I heard her give Byzans more food!

So, was this the vet? Sometomes vets say you can't have any food. Matte eats anyway, of course.

It turned out I was right. It was the vet, and it was a long trip, as it usually is. The first thing we met on arrival was a big nasty dog, but Matte took me to a different spot without dogs, to wait.

The examination room was nice. There was a window in one end, but the windowsill was too narrow to sit on. I tried the window in the other end instead, but I couldn't look out of it. Before i had found anything else to look out of, the nurse arrived. She actually put a stick up my behind! I told her I don't do that kind of thing, but she didn't listen.

I must have gained rank, because I got two vets this time. They took a very long time to prod my head, my tummy and my tail, and finished by splashing something in my eye. The nurse came back, and splashed some more. The last splash wasn't so bad, I suppose...

It was after that the real humiliation started. The nurse took off the the fur on a part of my tail! Now I have a ridiculous little rat tail, with a tiny tuft at the end. I would have left there and then, if Matte hadn't been holding me. I have told her that I don't like being held, but she forgets sometimes.

The vet prodded some more, and the nurse soaked my tail. Then it sounded like we were finally going home, but no, not until they had put a lamp on my head. It almost didn't fit in the cage. I finally managed to take it off, but Matte put it back as soon as we were home.

I don't know when I will be able to show myself outside. Not with the lamp, that's obvious. The bullfinches won't let me hear the end of it. I wonder what the mice will say about the tail?

Is there anyone who would be willing to knock up a poor little horny cat? I'm afraid M and I are more interested a friendly relationship, and Loffe just ignores her. Poor Byzans probably doesn't even understand what's going on; she rolls on the floor, whining and squeaking, wiggling her little butt, clawing at my feet.

There will be a trip to the vet in the future, but we're going off on vacation in less than two weeks, and we don't want to put her in a hotel when she's had surgery. It's neither fair to her, nor to the people who are going to look after her.

Yesterday, I took the cats to the vet in Sundsvall. This was necessary for Byzans, who needed her checkup and vaccination, and merely desireable for Loffe, who has been coughing. Last time coughing happened, it may have been worms, but I thought it best to ask.

The car drive went better than I had feared: both cats were quite calm. When we arrived, we were shown into an examination room, and I let them out to check the surroundings.

Byzans was fine, precisely as expected, but Loffe seems to be a slightly different matter. How different I don't really know. It seems that he has some kind of heart condition. That is all that can be said for the moment. This meant that the visit, instead of half an hour, took all of three hours, and included blood tests, x-ray and ECG. The only conclusion in the end was that his heart beats wery arythmically, but only sometimes, for some unknown reason.

This was completely unexpected. I had not noticed anything, and I still don't notice anything, that suggests anything serious to me. But for all I know, it may prove not to be serious. We'll have to wait and see.