Gonzo for Cats: 2010

Monday, December 06, 2010

Dexter, the second twin

Dexter. I'll fatten him up, just you wait.

Twin and Dexter

We feed a few stray cats. Our conditions are 1) they must be neutered and 2) we don't name them so we don't get "attached." Of course, when there are more than one stray around, you've got to some how be able to tell them apart when you talk about them. We used to have "Friendly Cat" "Whiny Cat" and "Twin." All three are from the same feral colony and Twin is called that because she looks just like our "official" cat Hana, also from the same colony. Friendly and Whiny are no longer around. Twin used to not come near us, but now can't get enough of us. She even lets me pick her up and hold her, something neither Hana nor Harold let me do. Hana and Twin also share bad teeth and it came to my attention a few months ago that Twin had lost all her teeth. We had been feeding her dry food and she had lost some weight. We started feeding her canned food and that was when a new crop of strays appeared. Canned food is stinky and the outdoor cats (we don't even call them stray) love it. Now we have a black male cat who I've named Dexter after Dexter Gorden who I share a birth date. He's Gonzo's twin. There's also a third cat that we are going to try and catch and get him neutered. Now we have to stay around when we feed Twin and Dexter because #3 will try and eat their food. I've broken down and given him dry in hopes of distracting him but it doesn't work. Even hungry strays will snub dry cat food.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Harold's Tail

Apparently Harold sprained his tail. Who knew cats could do that? I've had cats all my life and this is a first. Thank goodness it's not broken. I noticed Sunday he was holding his tail oddly and wouldn't raise it straight up like he always does when greeting me. I felt it and it seemed OK and he didn't seem to be in any pain. I took him to the vet Monday morning just to be sure. They asked how he did it. Frankly I'm not really sure. I suspect maybe when we were playing. We were playing with his fav toy - the stick with the feather at the end. He was jumping up in the air and he can jump really high, but he doesn't pay attention to where he is landing and fell on me once and into the dresser. But he also goes racing through the house at top speed, usually running into a wall or something. He is such a little boy! Racing around, so curious and loves to play and jump on his sisters. I haven't been able to get a photo of the injured tail. But it seems to be doing better. Every day he can raise it higher. It still seems to have a small kink in it. There's not a lot the vet can do—can you imagine a cat's tail in a cast? They did give me some anti-inflammatory medicine for him. He has his annual check up and shots next week so that will be a follow up. The vet was so surprised how big he is now. Not quite 13 pounds but soon he will be, mark my words.