Monday, October 18, 2010

What's good for the goose....

.... is not always good for the gander.


I am NOT a gander, I am a CAT ! And Lucy may be silly, but she is not a goose.

The new pen seems to be working well for Lucy and her pups - Lucy is spending a bit more time with them and is happy to be able to hop in and out at will, and even the pups seem more settled. Sitting in my living room near the pen can, at times, be aggravating as ten pups sucking sounds rather like a kindergarten class full of annoying little kids with colds - sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff .........AARRRRGH! But for the most part, things are good.

Allie, the gander... er....cat, however, is another matter. She showed considerable shock when she saw the pups and Lucy in "her" space, their pen very close to the buffet on which her food is placed (to keep it away from certain catfood-eating-long-nosed-collie dogs who shall remain nameless).

I wouldn't have a clue who that would be!
(Photo by Red Dog Photography)

Me neither. No long nosed collies around here!

Allie puffed up her fur, her eyes grew big, her ears went back, and she started a low growl. Now, she is hiding out in my bedroom, fur still puffed. She will not eat, she has not used her litter box since yesterday morning or earlier (even when I carried her to it just now), and although she ate a few Temptations and drank a bit of water when I offered it to her, she has refused her regular food. More to the point, she did not come barrelling into the kitchen this morning or last night as she usually does when she hears the treat jar open. She just stays curled up on the bed. She did try to jump to her kitty condo this morning, but missed it and fell scrambling to the floor. She is decidedly out of sorts.

Perhaps there is something else going on - she has not had any of her usual cat grass for the past month as I am unable to locate any here (except the kind you grow yourself which I never have any success with) and I cancelled my trip to the mainland last month so was unable to replenish my supply. I have given her some hairball guck in case that is the problem, but if things aren't moving (cat, pee, poop) by tomorrow morning she'll be heading to the vet. It's so hard to know if the timing is just coincidental or if she is really that upset by the changing household.

I'z sick. But NO VET. I hates vets.

Oh, and Lucy's runny poops and straining is back. Perhaps from the stress yesterday. I hope that's all it is, because I can't for the life of me figure out why she would be fine for three days and then, without a change in diet, back to sh*tsplosions.

As for me, I ran out to pick up more formula fixings for the puppies and decided I better stock up on Hallowe'en treats so I don't forget. I have one piece of advice: if you are feeling stressed, don't buy the box of 50 yummy little chocolate bars until Hallowe'en afternoon. 'Nuff said.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That would be the same for me buying l00 little chocolate bars three weeks ago knowing full well that we don't get any kids for halloween
Are there any left - NO....
Hope Alley is going to be fine.
Gail

Anonymous said...

I hope Allie's changed behaviour just has to do with the changes in her environment - cats HATE change. And let you know.

Although I'm with you on getting her to the vets quickly if she doesn't eat.

Sharon

Jean said...

Allie got up once during the night for a pee and pooped out four rabbit-sized hard pellets. She then had a big drink of water and ate some canned food I offered her (with a little olive oil mixed in). She ventured once into the living room around 2 AM, which started Lucy barking, causing Allie to race back to my bedroom and hide under the bed.

So it looks like her problem is one part constipation and two parts nose-out-of-joint. I spoke to the vet's office this morning and we decided that since she is passing something and she is eating and drinking, we could hold off one more day. On their advice, I've added pumpkin to her canned food - surprisingly Ms. Fussy-cat-who-won't-eat-anything-new gobbled it right down.
She's still puffed up, cries if I touch her back end (but is agile, so hasn't hurt herself) and is hiding out. She has an appointment for tomorrow afternoon if things haven't improved.

Unknown said...

Jean, do any of the puppies look like Lucy? What do you thinnk the dad(s) were? Are they all healthy and walking?

Jean said...

Jen, it's really too soon to tell if any are going to look like her. All puppies seem to look pretty much the same for the first few weeks. I've been trying to figure out if some have long legs and some short, but can't tell. The one pup who has her body colouring has a dark face and is very big - looks almost like a mastiff!
No idea what breed the dad was (or dads - one litter can have more than one dad), though I would guess there might be a pitti in the mix somewhere for the brindle babes. Of course, other dogs come in brindle too, and it could also be a throwback to something in Lucy's unique mix.