Nico's Journal

I put off posting about this for several days.

Vic got much worse last week and stopped eating altogether, then disappeared for two days. We wondered if we'd see him again, but he turned up in the evening and we brought him inside. We could tell he was like Claudia was in her last few days last year--thin, weak, finding it hard to walk, and not even wanting to drink--so we cuddled him and talked to him and decided that if he was still there in the morning we'd take him to the vet. He was in the garden (it's very warm these days) so we took him in. He was very calm and purring when we stroked him, and I think he knew. The vet was very gentle and said he was ready to go.

So goodbye, Vic. You had a very good life after you turned up here and decided to stay. :-)

(The icon shows him sitting on Greg's keyboard with his paws on the mouse, looking puzzled at the beeping sounds from the error screen behind him.)

And now I'm up to date with cat photos, some bad news about Vic.

He's been off his food for the last few weeks and lost some weight, so we took him to the vet and they did tests on him. The vet was the one who first saw him when we found him and now he's saying he may have got his estimate wrong and Vic's older than he thought. Anyway, he's got kidney failure like Claudia had, but it can strike some cats younger, and Vic did have a bad start in life as a stray. The vet said he can still have a couple of good years (Claudia had three) on kidney diet food, but he's still not eating much and therefore not taking much of the antibiotic pills we're crushing into his food though he had an injection that was meant to stimulate his appetite.

If he doesn't start eating soon, he's just going to keep going downhill, making him the third cat we've lost in three years. Already his coat's losing its gloss and he's not moving round as much and preferring to stay outside when he used to come in for cuddles and to sleep on the bed. It really does look like Claudia in her last few days. but I suppose the good side is that it's been a sudden decline for him; he's been very healthy and active up till recently. He had a bad start as I said, but since then he's had an excellent life.

I took a photo of Vic at the window yesterday (pity he wasn't doing that elongated sphinx thing along the sill) and also realised that I hadn't posted the one of him in a box.

( Two photos )

Vic is home, and without a collar! They kept him in overnight to see if his nose would worry him (and vice versa), but he was fine. They said he'd eaten but he enjoyed some soft food and is looking very happy to be here in the sun. I'm so glad he didn't have to wear a collar; there was a sweet little cat in one there and her owner said her had to take it off to let her eat, and that because she couldn't use her whiskers, she kept misjudging distances. Vic would not have coped well.

He's such a laid-back cat normally, it's odd how very stressed he gets. He cost us an extra $100 for a thyroid test because they said his heart rate was far too high (almost 300) to be mere terror, but the result came back normal. Thanks, scaredy-cat Vic! He howled all the way home in the car but as soon as he was here, calmed down and went right back to normal. This is why we leave him here when we go on holiday and let the neighbours feed him; he's a cat of location and habit, whereas the girls are more people-oriented and would be so lonely they'd go looking for company.

We have liquid antibiotics and painkillers for him for the next week or so and I'm not looking forward to that. He's extremely difficult to dose, unlike the girls. It will take two of us and possibly a tightly wrapped towel.

Ashley turned two in the weekend; at least 1st May is the day we chose for her official birthday.

( Three photos taken on her birthday )

We went to Whitcoulls bookshop last week so that I could spend some vouchers. I rarely buy books unless I know I'll reread them, so I looked at DVDs. There again, unless I want to watch them more than once, I'd rather rent them. I did fancy Doctor Who: War Games, and would have bought it too, but it was twice the price of the other old Who serials there--and two thirds the price of a whole season of new Who. So I wandered around disconsolately, wondering what I could use my vouchers on. I was sniggering at a book of Barack and Michelle Obama paper dolls when I saw it.

The Book Seat.

I've got a lot of use out of it already. It's a great design which holds a book firmly and still lets you turn the page easily, and I use it on the table when eating and on my lap. It stops my hands getting sore when holding up a large book for hours and I can drink tea and read. :-)

( Let Vic show you how it works )

Vic hasn't been eating his evening treat of soft food for the last few days, but I wasn't that worried till I saw him doing that weird mouth-opening and licking thing Claudia did when she had sore teeth, so we took him to the vet today. He needs a scale, but that's not the problem; he has a sore throat! I didn't know cats got sore throats. So he got a painkiller and an antibiotic injection, and some liquid antibiotic for the next week. We also bought him some extra-soft food and he seems a lot more keen on that, though he's been eating his Hill's dry food. Not that he couldn't stand to lose a little weight anyway; he's a prosperous-looking cat, as a friend would say.

There's a new cafe going into the local mall where a pie seller used to be. Today I had a look and saw that they've hand-painted on the wall, in a very nice casual font and an attractive coffee colour, a list of coffees available. Or as they have it, "COFFEE'S". I called out to the decorator and a guy I assume is the owner and told them about the rogue apostrophe. "Can't have that in our coffee, can we?" said the guy. "No," I said, "I find them very bitter." I bet they won't change it though, and I probably won't be able to bring myself to go there. I am a sad pedant.

And for those who went to so much trouble finding out what the flowers were that I drew yesterday, here's a photo of the clump of flowers and the tree, taken today. It's a vireya (a tropical rhododendron) and not a very happy looking one it seems; no wonder I didn't think it was evergreen. I suspect it needs repotting and some plant food; I'll do that when the weather's a bit warmer.

( Flowers and tree, and bonus Vic )

I went to the pet supplies place today and on one of the toys (a sort of springy octopus I resisted buying) there was a label with a happy cat face you'd swear was Ashley. Pity I can't hire her out as a model and live off her earnings. :-P Anyway I realised that I hadn't posted any pictures of the little fur-balls for a while.

( Nine pictures including a cat pile )

And here's Jasmin with Claudia and Vic.

Claudia weighs less than 3kg now, and her kidney function is down, though she's still quite active. I'm not sure how much longer we'll have her though, and Jasmin's really attached to her (and vice versa, when Jasmin's not being too annoying). If anything happens, I think we'll have to adopt a cat from the Lonely Miaow charity, which houses abandoned cats and kittens, because she's never cuddled up to Vic. She's a bit wary of him; I don't know why.

( Five pictures )

I had to do this cat meme before I went to bed.

Post a picture of a cat in your journal. (Your cat, a lolcat, or someone else's cat. But preferably yours, if possible.)

( Claudia, Vic, and Jasmin )

We've had a couple of sunny days this month--ones in which the sun shone for more than five minutes--and I have picspam. Yay, it's almost spring (I think it officially starts on Monday). Not before time either; it's been a long and very wet winter.

( Flowers and cats )

Today's entry for the naarmamo National Art Making Month challenge is a quick one: Vic curled up on a flowery background. He was actually on Greg's computer chair, but I based the background on a fabric bag I have.

ultrapsychobrat tells me that Vic is a "Chinese flower cat", and I suppose I can see it in this position. He looks a bit like a white one with black edging to his petals. ;-)

( Vic the flower cat )

And here's some picspam before I go away of the cats and some fluffballs at the pet supply store, all taken last weekend.

( Cats and fluffy puppies )

There was a sudden thump scraaaaaaaaaaaape thump on the roof above us, and Greg and I looked at each other.

"What was that?" I said.

"I have no idea."

I was beginning to suspect that I had. "I think a cat got out the bedroom window and slid down the roof." (All our upstairs windows are set into the roof, so they all lead onto slopes of varying degrees, and that side is steep.)

I went outside and sure enough, Vic peered over the gutter at me and meowed piteously. The roof is very steep there and I didn't think any of the cats would be stupid enough to use it as a way out. We had to induce him over towards the fence where he leaped onto a tree and made his way down it, making kitten-like meows all the way. :-P