sigelphoenix

When we first got Kershach, he used to be more of a cuddler. He was always too fussy to be much of a lap cat if you picked him up, but when it was clear you'd planted yourself in one spot for awhile, he'd often show up.

This was often the case when ratzeo sat down in front of a video game, even when it was one as loud and violent as Dead Space. ( The evidence, from 3 years ago )

He's gotten pretty skittish over the past couple of years (ever since we got Drannor and he realized his grand self-image as an unstoppable badass was incorrect ... but he seems to really love Drannor so I don't feel too bad). Most of the time he'll leap off our laps in terror if we try to put him there. Only once in a blue moon is ratzeo or I graced with the presence of a lap!Kershach.

Just now, though, Kershach sauntered up to ratzeo and settled himself in his lap. Incidentally, ratzeo had just sat down to start up Dead Space 2. Because space horror with screaming alien monsters is ... comforting?

I don't understand my cat.

Getting back from San Francisco was not terribly pleasant, as we found out at the SFO airport that our flight (already scheduled to get us back to Seattle around 10:00 p.m.) was delayed by an hour. Once we landed, I then discovered that this delay put me in downtown Seattle right as 70,000 people left a U2 concert. >___________> With the clusterfuck this caused for public transit, I didn't get home until nearly 2:00 in the morning. >_<

But! On the bright side, I had a ratzeo with me, because he bused all the way down to the airport to meet me and then bused all the way (aaaaaallll the way) back with me. That made me feel good. ♥

And then all the cats in the neighborhood turned out to greet me! Well, not really. XD But as we were walking back from the bus stop (we were too late getting out of downtown to catch any of our usual buses, so we had to take another one that dropped us off a little less than a mile away from home), a small cat ran into the street to say hello. He was a gorgeous little blue point shorthair who clearly thought of strange humans as sources of petting rather than fear ... Unfortunately, he was also very clearly unneutered. :/ I don't know if he was a stray or not, because he was in good shape and so friendly, plus the apartment building he ran out from had what looked like buckets of litter in the yard. So it's possible he's being taken care of by humans who are letting him run around outside without a collar and intact. >_< At least he looked healthy, but I really wish it hadn't been 2:00 in the morning and I could've called someone to pick him up.

Then ratzeo and I got back to our apartment building, and as we were crossing the courtyard I saw Drannor in the window of our office, looking down at us. I waved and called up to him, and he meowed back, loudly, several times in a row. And, okay, that doesn't sound like a big deal - but Drannor does not meow. He, even moreso than Kershach, is a cat who murrbles and grunts, but he does not meow to chat. He saves his plaintive, unmusical meow for one thing: a single, whiny burst of "hey!" when I'm serving his dinner kibble and I don't put the bowl down fast enough for him. So hearing him cry "hey! hey! hey!" over and over down at me made me really wooby. ;____; (And yes, I know, that means I'm as important to my cat as kibble. XD)

And then he followed me around until I went to bed, and the morning after. Every time I moved he showed up to lounge just a few feet away, making sure I didn't leave his sight. ♥

On the other hand, Kershach greeted me, as he has done every time I've been gone for a few days, with consummate Cat Cool. He walked up to me and let me pet him, but didn't immediately roll over for belly rubs or anything needy like that. He only just happened to flop over at one point, several minutes later, not too close but not too far from me, and waited to see what I would do. (I, of course, rubbed his belly.)

The next day I also ran into the neighborhood overlord, a giant orange tabby with seven toes on each paw, who is as friendly as anything. I hadn't seen him in a few weeks, so it felt like he was welcoming me home, too. XD

After today's check-up, my vet has recommended that I try to brush Drannor's teeth (he seems prone to gingivitis). It's one of those things that I've heard about doing with cats but never tried myself, because I wasn't sure of the risk vs. reward payoff.

The first attempt went decently well (and then after the fact I did some online research, and saw recommendations to gradually introduce brushing over several days/weeks ... oops). Drannor does not like to be restrained or messed with in general, but he has a "I'll just tolerate it until it's done" attitude for the first minute or so, before he really starts squirming or breaking out the teeth and claws. Since brushing doesn't seem to take that long, I wonder if he'll just let me do it.

Anyone out there brush their cat's teeth or have experience with it? Any tips?

And while we're at it, what about brushing cat fur or trimming their claws? Both my boys are decidedly against the practices, and I haven't bothered because, again, the risk doesn't seem worth the reward. They groom themselves (and each other) and have lovely soft fur that rarely causes hairballs, and they scratch their scratching furniture politely and only occasionally catch us with an errant claw. If that's the case, is there any reason to put them and us through the hassle of grooming and clipping?

I used to feed the kitties kibble in the morning and wet food at night, but due to an unforeseen development (*ahem* Drannor stealing Kershach's kibble) I'm switching it up so I can monitor them during kibble time.

My boys are kibble fiends who do not like wet food nearly as much as they ought to, even though it's healthier for them, and under the old arrangement they would take their own sweet time getting to their dinner plates.

However, now that dinner time is kibble time, they are loafing expectantly by my computer chair. They look like a pair of Hungry Hungry Hippos. XD

The Palazzo: It earns the 5-star hotel rating with its giant suites and ridiculous number of flatscreen TVs. Unfortunately we were running around so much that we didn't get to fully enjoy the luxury of the room. I was glad of the cushy bed and elegant bathroom, though.

Phantom of the Opera (or "Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular"): I enjoyed this even more than I thought I would. Phantom has never been one of my absolute favorites, so I didn't expect to be affected as much as I was. It probably helped that our seats were in the dead center of the front row (though that meant I had to crane my neck to see the chandelier special effects) and the Vegas production is all about the fancy set effects. But I enjoyed the cast, particularly the Phantom, who clearly put a lot of effort into his physical performance along with his singing (imitating genteel gestures, facial expressions, trembling when Christine kisses him). And he made "Stranger Than You Dreamt It" actually tragic, and his final lines made me tear up.

I was momentarily knocked out of the spell of the show when Raoul showed up to rescue Christine at the end, and his white shirt had somehow become conveniently ripped open to display his manly cleavage. XD

Le Cirque: I went to this restaurant last year, and brought ratzeo this year because I wanted him to experience a fancy/expensive restaurant that was actually worth the cost. The food was as delicious as I remembered (they made a cucumber soup flavorful and tasty), and the atmosphere was not too you-only-matter-for-your-money.

O: I've seen 3 Cirque du Soleil shows now, and O is my favorite for overall experience - I was enthralled by every scene (with the exception of the comedic clown interludes, which were just okay - but I never seem to be won over by their comedic scenes). I like Ka better for its music, and for the spectacular scene where the Sister and the Firefly Boy use the sashes (which, sadly, was a type of act that didn't feature in O). But O has ridiculous use of rings, trapeze, parallel bars, diving, etc.

shadawyn and irishninja's wedding: It went off without a hitch! I think they're glad it's over, though.

ratzeo's and my first honest-to-goodness vacation together: ♥ ♥ ♥

The cats: We were only greeted with a minimal amount of vomit upon our return. Also, Drannor was very sweet; I picked him up when I walked in and he licked my forehead in greeting. Later when I took a nap, he spooned with me the whole time (he's usually a love 'em and leave 'em type who will cuddle for a few minutes and then find his own spot on the bed). Kershach, on the other hand, played it cool and didn't act impressed with our return. He didn't actively shun us, though, and now, 8 hours after I got home, he has finally flopped and showed his belly for me.

I'm going to highlight my cats today (er, more than I usually highlight them) because they are the greatest simple pleasure in my life, and simple pleasures get overlooked a lot.

1. They spoon. They spoon each other sometimes, as you've already seen. But they also like to spoon with the humans. Sometimes when I'm going to sleep, they'll hop on the bed, nose at the edge of the covers, and make inquiring little trills. I lift the covers, and they burrow in, then settle themselves in as the little spoon. When Drannor spoons, he likes to lie against my chest, with his head about level with mine, whereas Kershach nestles against my stomach (he is the baby of the family, after all). Of course, they only do this when the stars are aligned in that esoteric way that cats require, but I've gotten the pleasure of kitty spooning nearly every day over the last few days. The feeling of a purr vibrating against your heart as you fall asleep is really what pure Happy feels like. (Last night I almost fell asleep with Drannor that way, but he got up because ratzeo got home, and of course he had to go greet him.)

2. Kershach sighs when he slips from a cat nap into actual deep sleep. It's funny to hear or feel him when he draws in this long breath, because you know it's about to whoosh out at once as he goes solidly unconscious. I don't know if all cats do this, but I found out that Drannor does, last night when we were spooning. ♥

3. They make funny noises. Really, I don't think I've ever met a cat that doesn't make at least some funny noise or other. Trilling, burbling, grumbling, grunting - they can be inquisitive, whining, annoyed, or "hey, look!" calls for attention. Drannor also seems to leak noise - it happens when he's lounging and it isn't that air is being pushed out of him; he just sometimes lets out "urrrm" sounds like he forgot to turn off his voice. XD

4. I said that Kershach is the baby of the family, and he really is. He still gets pouty over the attention we give Drannor, and sometimes he sits in his bed by the window and ignores us like an emo kid. But unlike an actual emo teenager (whom I would probably end up wanting to drop-kick), Kershach is really easy to win over. You just pet him and love him until he grudgingly starts up his purr motor, and then it's *click* *click* *VRRRRRRMMM* as he revels in getting pettins. If he's on the floor, he sometimes flops on the spot to show how happy he is.

5. Like I said, cats are simple, and however intelligent they are, they can't fully understand when I feel sad or upset. But one time I was crying and I went and hugged Kershach while he was lying in the cat tree, and he let me squeeze him and cry in his ear and get his fur soggy, and he didn't squirm away. And then Drannor jumped onto the tree with one of his inquisitive trills, looked at me, and started licking my forehead. ♥

We had some really nice weather on Sunday, and it got pretty warm in the apartment. One of the cats' favorite spots is my desk, which is in front of a sunny window and is *cough* covered entirely by two plush cat beds. Since it was so warm, though, they sometimes lounged underneath the desk, in the shade.

ratzeo reported the following scene: Both Kershach and Drannor were under the desk together, lying in a yin yang shape with their heads next to the other's back feet. Drannor was tenderly grooming Kershach's back paws ... while his back feet were tenderly kicking Kershach in the face.

Drannor's such a good older brother. XD

... to those who have ever had to negotiate that delicate balance of giving a cat enough treats to make the medicine experience less horrendous - not too many before the medicine so he gets satisfied and walks away before the medicine - making sure that you have access to both treats and medicine when your hands are already full of unhappy cat - trying to give him some treats afterward when he's mistrustful of anything from your hands - and then making sure to give treats and praise to your other cat(s), because you don't want them to feel "left out" from the attention and treats and praise your medicated cat is getting.

YOU'RE RIGHT, IT'S NOT EASY. >_<

Poor Drannor has come down with Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease, which is a fancy way of saying that he's having trouble peeing. This is my first time dealing with cat health problems, because Kershach is young and robust and has always been spectacularly healthy. So I'm ... trying not to freak out, because I know that far more cat owners have to deal with far more serious issues, and this is relatively minor. But I've been on a constant, low-level "fret" frequency since this weekend.

( The medical details, for the curious and/or my own records )

( Home, and meds )

( Food, water, and other preventative measures )

This part I won't hide behind a cut because it's cute: I thought at first that Kershach was oblivious to his brother's suffering, but I may be wrong. He didn't act any different on Sunday (he didn't even get out of bed when we got home from the vet :P), but he and Drannor slept with me in bed. This isn't unusual for Drannor, but Kershach has not joined me every night like he used to (lingering jealousy issues is our hypothesis). However, ratzeo said that when he came to bed late that night, he found Drannor with his arms around Kershach. You know, like this. ♥ Except it was hard to tell for certain if it was the same position, because it was dark, so all he saw was a black blob and white legs stretched across it. XD

And then last night, they also both joined me in bed, and I woke up in the middle of the night to find them lying in overlapping curve shapes. Kershach was against my side, and Drannor was sprawled across my hips, his head resting on the bed beneath Kershach's throat - the perfect position for Kershach to groom him. (I reached my hand out to pet them, and their faces were so close they both nuzzled me at the same time. ♥) So maybe Kershach is helping out his brother. ♥

So that's the story for now. The hope is that the painkillers will last until the antibiotics kick in and/or the condition clears up, but I was told to check in with my vet if he doesn't feel better within 2-3 days. So I'll be watching him closely today and tomorrow.

Please send good kitty vibes Drannor's way. He's a sweet boy and doesn't deserve to be in pain.

My camera is just a regular camera, which means I don't get really beautiful images, just good ones. And I'm usually fine with that, since I'm no photographer. But sometimes, I really wish I could go back and beautify a really great shot:



I highly recommend clicking and seeing the large version, just so you can see the look of kitty bliss on Kershach's face as Drannor grooms him.

Drannor is a friendly cat, but I don't feel he's given his heart over to me and ratzeo yet (no surprise, since we've only had him for just over 3 weeks, and he was surrendered by his owners of 4 years just a month ago). But Kershach - Kershach, I feel, has wormed his way into his "older brother"'s heart. ♥