Whine and Cheese

"I really don't want another cat," I said to my co-worker back in 2003.

The cat was a small stray she and her husband had found at their rural house. She was guestimated to be around two years old and they had named her Zinnia. She insisted that I needed another cat, that my one cat Murphy needed a companion for those days I was out of town. I stated that I couldn't take her because she had claws and wasn't fixed. It was a grand excuse really. However, she showed up soon with the same cat, front claws gone and spayed. Now I had no reason to say no, so reluctantly, I accepted her.

So, the cat gave up her plans for world domination and her ovaries, albeit involuntarily, and moved in with Murphy and me. I renamed her Maggie the Cat (TM).


Maggie the Cat (photo by mikiedoggie)
2002(?) - March 7, 2016
Unlike Murphy who was very affectionate and playful, Maggie was neither. She was aloof and skittish. Where Murphy was more of a pet, Maggie was almost like a roommate. She would fool with me only when it suited her. She often fought with Murphy anytime he wanted to play. Luckily, her lack of front claws saved him from serious harm, but it never deterred him from trying to snuggle up to her.

When Murphy got sick and left us in 2013, Maggie took up the mantle of head housecat, resulting in a big reversal of behavior. She was still aloof, but seemed to want to be in my lap more often. She was more affectionate. She seemed to enjoy being around me. The line between being playful with her and annoying her was still very fuzzy, and I have the scars to prove it.


Maggie the Cat Attacks!
As I'd mentioned in a previous post, Maggie had a seizure over the weekend. The vet initially called me on Sunday evening to let me know that she hadn't had another seizure and I could pick up her the following morning. When I went to the vet ER this morning to get her, they informed me that she had two seizure episodes around 4 AM. The vet told me that the blood I'd seen was the result of Maggie biting her tongue during the seizure, which she had done again there, meaning that she had likely had one or more while I was out of town. They recommended I take her to my usual vet and discuss the possibility of seizure meds.

I left the Vet ER to my usual veterinarian immediately. He and I had a frank discussion. He said that in cats Maggie's age such seizures are often the result of brain tumors or lesions. To determine if this was the case, it would be a costly MRI. He said that the end result would be knowing a physical defect was there, but there was nothing they could do about it. Maggie would get worse over time. I weighed the options, including the amount of care I could give her with the quality of life she would have.

It is one of those decisions that we have to make that truly places us in the grown-up category. I've done it before, but the idea of choosing euthanasia for a pet you care for is horrific, no matter how much sense it makes logically.

Maggie put up a fuss one last time on me, drawing blood on both hands and nearly getting the veterinarian too. She always hated going to the vet, and almost always bit me when there. So this was normal. She definitely had felt better. He gave her a couple of shots and it was over. I kissed her forehead one last time and stroked her chin. We wrapped her in a thin, white towel and placed her in her carrier. I cried all the way home.

I took her inside our house one last time. I grabbed a couple of things and then took her into the woods behind the house. I found a nice tree for a marker, dug her a grave, and gently placed her inside. I put Murphy's ashes next to her, said a little prayer, and finished up. I placed a small log to block it off.

Be nice to Murphy when you see him on the Rainbow Bridge, Maggie. He'll show you the ropes.

And remember that I love you.

I have hundreds of pics on my iPhone. Some of them are photos I have planned on posting for a while, but time gets away from me. I was cleaning them out tonight and here are a few:


Light Fixture at My Favorite Bar


Maggie the Cat in Sunlight
Cats are solar-powered, you know...


From my office's odd device collection
Guess where you stick this!


Virol Sign at the Irish Pub


I loved "Big Hero 6"

Just the odds and the ends so far:

• I caught up on my DVR last night, watching an episode of the 1960's show "Thriller" hosted by Boris Karloff and last Sunday's mid-season premiere of "The Walking Dead." Both shows were good. No spoilers in case people haven't seen the latter yet.
  
  
• Now that Maggie the Cat is the sole kitteh in the house, I've noticed her changes in attitude. She seems to crave more affection, but she also is getting strangely playful. She's still no where near the playful that Murphy the Cat was (oh such a good kitteh), but little bursts of kitten-like behavior appears to be creeping in. The blanket on my bed is fraying in spots and those loose strands drive her crazy. She will paw at them repeatedly when they aren't moving. It makes me wonder if there was indeed some odd hierarchy in the house, with Murphy being the dominant cat, Maggie next, and, of course, the human (me) dead last. Maggie is now in charge and she appears to be enjoying it.
  
  
• The other day I thought of Margie Ison, a meterologist (formerly "weather girl" I'm sure) I used to watch on WBIR out of Knoxville, TN. She seemed to be the favorite in my household when it came to the weather and I remember her voice clearly. There was an incident where she appeared to go on TV completely drunk, slurring her words and flailing her movements. Now why someone did not stop her that night, I have no idea. She retired soon after that. On a lark, I looked her up and found she's still around and looks good for someone in her 70's.

Saturday night, I noticed that Maggie had scratched her ear to the point of bleeding. I suspected she had ear mites, but she never had those grainy particles or anything in her ear and she never seemed to scratch both. She never seemed to scratch all the time either. Concerned, I got some peroxide and Q-tips and cleaned out her ears, something I should have done a long time ago. I didn't notice any of the tell-tale signs of ear mites, but she did have a bit of wax in there.

Sunday morning, after my workout, I went to PetCo to get some ear mite treatment. It's not terribly expensive, but the warnings on it read like it's made from plutonium.

"IF IT COMES IN CONTACT WITH SKIN, RINSE WITH WATER FOR 25 MINUTES..."

And they want me to put this in my cat's ear?? I am guessing that the firm's attorneys have overly panicked. The ingredients are the same in multiple brands, so I'm not concerned.

So I dosed Maggie's ears with a few drops, to which she meowed loudly at me for the inconvenience, but never hissed at me. She shook her head and proceeded to try to clean her ears, but I doubt she could hope to dig that far in.

After two treatments, she seemed good this morning. I scratched around her ears and didn't get any unusual reactions from her, though she's weary of me. I'll dose her again tonight.

The joys of having a furry kitteh.

On Saturday night I felt a strange bump on Murphy the Cat's left shoulder and it worried me. Murph is getting up in years and I was concerned. So yesterday on my day off, I packed up both Murphy and Maggie and dragged them meowing and hissing to the vet.

Once I got them in the exam room, the technician weighed Murphy who had lost a pound and was down to 13 lbs. Murphy was already freaking out, his tail ballooning to three times the normal volume and there was a lot of growling. So I held him down while the tech took his temperature the "old fashioned way." I just whispered for him to take it like man.

Maggie's turn was more comical as she wouldn't come out of the carrier. I had turned it vertically in the hopes of dumping her out, but that little kitteh has some strong legs. After literally pulling her from it, she weighed in at 7 lbs (1 lb heavier) and hissed incessantly before the thermometer was poked in.

The vet later checked them both and gave them shots. Maggie hissed even more and the vet commented that she had "potential biter" in her file. I thought, "Great, she has a reputation at the vet..."

The vet believes that the bump on Murphy is a cyst under the skin as it moves and doesn't appear to be attached to any organ. He told me to check it for any size changes (it's about the size of a "BB"), but he wasn't overly concerned.

So we're now up-to-date on shots and everything, so no more vet visits unless something comes up. After dragging them home, they became quite the affectionate kitties. I wonder if they think the vet is something akin to the principal's office.

Around 4:30 AM this morning, I was in bed sleeping with Maggie (the gray cat) snuggled up next to me. Murphy (the orange cat) popped onto the bed and apparently wanted the presumably coveted spot Maggie had. I was waking up at this point.

Instead of finding a new spot, he did something I find humorous and surprising. He crawled under the covers right next to my chest, burrowed in, turned around and literally nudged her out of the way. Maggie let loose a resounding hiss, then accepted her new spot on the bed cover.

I found this funny that Murphy would be so competitive in a sense. I chuckled a bit and sleepily said "Murphy, that isn't nice..."

Eventually I got out of bed to get ready for work. Maggie stayed right where she was until Murphy climbed onto the bed again while I was shaving and decided to sniff around on Maggie. Maggie woke up, hissed at him, and took a couple of well-aimed swats (sans claws). I couldn't pass up the photo-op, so I grabbed my iPhone and caught her in full defensive mode. Murphy is a bit blurry because she had just tagged him not a split second before.

Overall, the trip to see family for Christmas was fun. I overindulged too much as usual at dinner, but it's hard to pass up the goodies. Still, it was good to get back home and sleep in my bed last night. I left the photos to other family members. I'm sure they'll show up soon.

The cats were happy to have me home. I went to the bathroom earlier tonight and saw Maggie the Cat all snuggled up to the battery recharger. I figured she did it because it was warm. She got a little surly at me taking her photo, maybe because of the bed hair.


Maggie the Cat -- Sleeping.. and Not...

If she doesn't get her 16 hours of beauty sleep, she's a grouch!

Murphy gives me the cold shoulder at the vet
I've been teaching class all week so I haven't been online too much. Class is going well, but being on my feet most of the day has been wearing me out.

When I got home I decided I needed to take the cats to the vet to get their shots. I wanted to do this before I get the pet sitter for my next trip, in case that was a requirement before they'd agree to do it. So I piled up the two kitties and headed to the vet.

( The rest of the saga -- cut for the uninterested )

Thank heavens it's Friday....