Update on Big Acoustic Kitty

Here's a picture of his handsome self - just because:


Well, we decided to do a little "wait and see" on the outside-the-box piddling issues, just in case it was stress-induced. Once "the horde" was kept downstairs and he had some time to relax, that problem seemed to resolve itself. So that was good news. However, we had been noticing an increase in his water consumption and subsequent "output", so we decided to give the vet a call and see what she had to say. Predictably, she wanted him to come in for some bloodwork. So that is what most of today was taken up with.

We went ahead and okay'd the full blood panel, along with testing for thyroid problems and pancreatitis. The blood panel should be back tomorrow, with the rest of the results coming back early next week. He's down a couple of pounds since his last visit in October, and he was slightly dehydrated, so they know something's going on, but nobody's quite sure what it is yet. BAK had to stay at the vet's for most of the morning, since his usual inside-the-carrier "accident" had left his bladder empty and unable to provide a urine sample. So I took the Amazing Husbandini to work and then hit the library and did some time-killing running around for a few hours before the vet's office called and said BAK was ready to go home. They gave him some sub-cutaneous fluids while he was there, so hopefully that will be some help to him.

Anyway, the long and the short of it is that there's obviously something wrong, but we don't know yet what it is or how serious it might be. We're keeping our fingers crossed and praying that it's something treatable. He was out of his carrier at the vet this morning and busily investigating the exam room, so we know he's not down for the count. We have both agreed that as long as our little curious bug is still in evidence, it's worth doing what we can to keep him going. Once that interest in life starts to go away, then we'll deal with that aspect of things.

We both hope that things will settle down and that BAK will be able to have at least one more happy and comfortable Christmas with us. We adopted him around Christmas, and if his time is coming to an end, we'd rather be able to associate Christmas with his coming into our lives, not with him leaving us.

So that's where we are now. More updates as events warrant.

Big Acoustic Kitty, Reporting.

They've done it to me again. What exactly was wrong with the last place we were living, may I ask? I had a nice sunbeam in my window every morning, a high-up spot with a second water dish, and lots of places to hide that smelled like me.

And I did NOT appreciate that week I had to spend at the vet. (Mama tells me it was less than a day, but what does she know?) Those people didn't even let me have a room of my own - they put me in a room with The Evil One. But, I hissed at her and let her know I wasn't going to take any of her nonsense, and she mostly stayed over in her own carrier. And speaking of carriers, I got even with Mama - usually I have my little "accident" in the carrier on the way to the vet. This time, I saved it until I was in the carrier on the way home. Maybe one of these days Mama and Papa will make the connection - no trip to the vet, no stinkiness.

Okay, that's enough of that. Regardless of the necessity of this move, we're here now, and I'm trying to make the best of the situation. For the first couple of days, I stayed in the bedroom because The Evil One was upstairs, whining and fawning over Papa, as she does. She even tried to come in and colonize the bedroom, but Mama was pretty good about shooing her back out. Give that one an inch, and she'll take a mile. I did come out a couple of times, just to show her that she wasn't intimidating me any (and to steal some of her kibble.) Eventually her food and her nasty litter box went downstairs, and she got shut on her side of the gate, leaving me to properly explore this new place.

There are a whole bunch more rooms up here than in the old house, and just about every one of them is full of boxes. The boxes all smell like the old house, and they are conveniently arranged so that I can climb up and down and get all kinds of different perspectives on the situation. In one of the rooms, I was able to walk along three of the four walls without ever once touching the floor. I'm a mountaineering kind of cat, and that was just pretty cool, let me tell you. (I even climbed high enough in one spot that I was taller than Mama.) Every single room has more than one window, and most of them get morning sunbeams. So far, so good. I'm not very happy with the bathroom, though. There's only one sink, and apparently I'm not going to get my own water glass up on the counter. I look at the counter, then look at Mama, then look back at the counter ... but nothing happens. In the old house, that was the signal for the Mamavator to deliver me to the counter so I could get a drink. I'm going to have to work on that situation.

Yesterday, Mama went downstairs and left the gate open. The Evil One wasn't around, so I just walked myself down the stairs to check out the first floor. Mama came around a few minutes later and found me in the family room. She made quite a fuss over me and told me what a good boy I was to come downstairs like that. (She's kind of a mess sometimes, but I humor her.) I went around and around and around downstairs and checked it all out. My eyes don't work too well anymore, but my ears and nose certainly do. It's a huge house, and there were all kinds of things to investigate. I found the sliding glass door in the kitchen, and I now understand why Evil has been spending so much time down there. Evil wasn't happy that I was in "her" territory, but I ignored her and just kept right on checking things out. (Mama was also playing escort, so that helped.) Just when I thought I'd explored the whole house, Mama opened another door, and there was ANOTHER flight of stairs into a basement! I got about halfway down those stairs, but then decided to leave that for another day. Evil was getting hissy, and I had to hiss back at her to get her to back off. Even then, Mama had to shoo her away so I could get by. But mostly, the basement smelled like wet dog and some other cat. I'm a Super Explorer Kitty, but I'm also well into my 'teens, and even I need to pace myself a bit sometimes.

So right now I'm enjoying the open windows in my upstairs. Evil is downstairs where she belongs, and Mama is going back and forth doing whatever it is she does. Usually in situations like this, I'm getting my picture taken every time I turn around. However, I think Mama and Papa misplaced the camera in the move. I'm sure they'll find it and get my photo up soon. I'm sure I look very handsome on top of all those boxes.

Respectfully Submitted,

The Big Acoustic Kitty

Don't Panic - Find Your Towel.

I didn't mean to set off a cat-related panic yesterday. The trip to the vet went well, and it turns out that the Big Acoustic Kitty's hips seem to be fine, but there is a slight "thickening" in his knees - most likely arthritis of some variety. So he's on a one -week course of anti-inflammatories, and if they do a good job for him, we will probably put him on a permanent low-dosage regimen of them. It. Whatever.

After yesterday's post, I turned my attention to packing. This led me to open up the closet in the guest room and start shuffling things about. The next thing I knew, Mr. BAK was smack dab in the middle of the boxes and bags, clambering about like there was nothing at all wrong with his joints or his vision. He's our little tank.