Fuzzy Butt

I had a lot in my plate Friday. After a busy morning, I decided I needed to run home and eat something. And that’s when the productivity ended.

You see, as I was blending my smoothie I looked down and noticed Oliver licking his backside. And I noticed the bright magenta patch of glowing ouchiness at the base of his tail. And the world came to a screeching halt.

If you’ve ever had a male cat you’ve been warned about the dangers of urinary tract infections. How they can become serious very quickly. How they can be deadly if complications arise.

This is why I was on the floor, wrestling with my 14 pound cat so I could look at his butt.

Oddly, he was less than cooperative.

Since it was Friday afternoon, I decided to call Doctor Tiffany and have her check him out just in case. If nothing else he could get a shot for his allergies. And I could avoid a possible emergency visit over the weekend.

And it turned out fine. He got a shot for his allergies which is a probable cause for his itchy bottom (not anything near his boy bits). He got a shot for the infection he’d licked his way into. And he got his annual exam that was coming due anyway – two more shots. All of that he tolerated while sitting in my lap, doing his best imitation of a mean cat.

But, just to make sure there was no hidden issue, Doctor T wanted to probe his anal glands. She told me that even though this was all going to happen in the outside – unlike in dogs – Oliver was not going to be happy.

Indeed, unhappy is what Oli was.

I held him close and ignored the toe nails digging into my side – I guess he felt he needed traction. Oliver yelled out his objections. And Obi came to lick his brother’s face in comfort.

Then it was done.

Doctor Tiffany got out treats to reward Obi for being such a good brother. She tossed one to Oliver where he was bathing himself angrily. He ate it.

“That’s the closest you’ll ever get to him on his free will,” I said.

“Challenge accepted,” she said.

It took five treats to lure the grey kitten back into the living room and close enough that she could pet him while he ate. Glad I didn’t lose any money on that bet.

After Tiffany left, I got some work done and Kitten Thunder took a nap. By Saturday morning there was no sign of any infection, except that I can’t really call Oli Fuzzy Butt – one of his nicknames – until the five inch bald spot he created starts to grow back in.

We watched Reign and didn’t talk about how long MY wounds (five or six long scratches in my side) will take to heal.

Oliver loves Reign.

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Battle: Ear Wax

As I have mentioned before, Oliver has allergies. Allergies that do gross things to my handsome grey kitten like give him goopy eyes, chin zits and icky ears. If the symptoms don’t bother him I usually don’t put him through a veterinary visit. But after cleaning his ears on Monday? His ears were bothering him. I called in my favorite people at Cottonwood Veterinary Clinic.

Obi and I met Tiffany and Laura at the door, because that’s what we do. They came in and set up while we small talked. What they didn’t notice, while unpacking and rubbing Obi’s belly, was Oliver coming in, checking them out, then going upstairs with hopes that they were there to see Obi. So I had to go upstairs to fetch the grey kitten.

Still holding Oli, I presented his ears to the doctor. She was appropriately concerned by the caverns of black crusty mess. And a little bit suspicious that it might be ear mites. I agreed with her that it certainly LOOKED like ear mites. But Oliver is an indoor cat. And he and Obi lay ear to ear all the time but Obi’s ears are clear. And, until Monday, there was no itching or head shaking. I hadn’t ruled it out, but ear mites seemed so unlikely.

And then the ear cleaning began.

There was hissing and screaming and growling. There was not enough cotton ready. It. Was. Gross.

During the whole process, I held Obi. Obi cried. He was very concerned about what they were doing to his brother. When I wasn’t holding him, he would run up and try to help free the brother. 

Finally, it was over. 

Oliver stomped off. Then he came back, ears pressed down to show they were broken, and fixed Tiffany with a mighty glare. He left again with a flick of his tail. “I think he just flipped me off!” she said. Then she played with Obi for a minute. The brown kitten forgave everyone as soon as the growling and hissing stopped.

After a quick trip to look at gunk under a microscope, the ears are officially full of bacteria, NOT bugs. After nine hours I was forgiven, even though Oli’s ears were still bright red inside. Poor kitten. And after I poured medicine in his ears this morning, Oliver was perfectly okay with me leaving town for a while.

***

I am in Rock Springs right now for business. Cousin Spade is standing in for my usual IT team.

Here he is, looking for some more accessories for my laptop. Or the notebook that I need but left on the coffee table in Cheyenne.

***

So! As you may know, Kitten Thunder has a Zazzle store. Our top seller is our Meowy Christmas ornament. Personally, I would buy the 2-sided ornament that says Meowy Christmas and a Happy Mew Year, but whatever. My point is this: if one option is good, many options is better! Instead of just Cousin Spade, who is super handsome, I would like to offer many faces on this ornament. A Meowy Christmas ornament with a calico. One with a grey tabby. An orange tabby. Long hair, short hair, no hair! If you have a gorgeous feline that would like to be featured on an ornament, please send me a photo of your furry friend at angelharp64@hotmail.com.

 

We provide our own siren.

Just like parents, it is hard for a cat’s people to hear him/her in pain or discomfort. Poco had asthma for over 20 years, but every attack made me stop and listen. I hoped it would be short. I hoped it would pass without too much pain. I hoped it would be only one attack.

Oliver has inverted sneeze, which sounds even worse than asthma when an attack comes. And since he can go months between them you can tell that Oliver is unsure what is happening. They are horrible. But they pass quickly.

Usually, they pass quickly.

"This is the face of discomfort."

On Sunday, Oliver had an inverted sneeze. It didn’t last long. A while later he was in the condo and I went to take his picture. I noticed he was a little wheezy. Then, later that night, he started to cough.

The coughing came in spurts – one cough every 40 seconds or so for several minutes. Then he’s put his head back down and nap. By bedtime he was still coughing but between he was having trouble swallowing. Neither of us slept well.

I did the math and realized it’s been several months since we’ve been to the vet.

So we were due.

Oliver wanted to eat on Monday morning. This is a good sign. When he doesn’t want to eat we throw him in the carrier and call the vet on the way there. The grey kitten loves his food. Unfortunately, his throat hurt so bad that when I went back to the kitchen to check on him he was just licking the gravy off the food.

I dialed the phone. The vet had an appointment at 2:30 p.m., which I took and I thought in relief about how much cheaper that was going to be that squeezing him in on a “same day” visit.

I hung up.

I saw Oli gag.

I called back and told them we were on our way in. Oliver wasn’t so sick that he couldn’t scream his fool head off the entire way there.

They have another new doctor – he’s tall and seems to “get” cats. Oliver would have liked him had the new doctor not been trying to pry open his mouth to examine his throat. Next time, maybe.

And the verdict? Allergies.

Good grief, kid.

He’s on his way back to fine. Prednisone, our drug of choice, for the allergies. An antibiotic just in case because he had a mild fever.

"Beware the dragon, for you are tasty and about to disturb the kitten's nap."

Why this picture? Because no blog is complete without Obi, right?