Monday, July 01, 2019

The Cat Seems A Little Lean

Happy July!  It's been a lovely summer so far in Portland, I hope it keeps being lovely.

Many years ago, in Kentucky, I got my cat Beatrice into the bad habit of eating on my desk.  She actually ate on this pull-out section just to my right, & every once in a while, when I was moving my mouse (I'm right-handed), if she were there, she'd take that as provocation & swat at me.

This situation continued in Texas but I slowly put a stop to it, especially after Beatrice died.  The cats had specific places they ate, usually on the dining room table, away from snoopy hounds who couldn't understand why they weren't eating as fast as dogs do.

But if you saw my desk right now, you'd say: hey, Gary, are there cats eating on your desk?  & I'd say, yes.  Yes, there are.  Well, one.  Boone.

Boone has been mentioned on this blog before, as well as in recent posts during the move.  He didn't enjoy the four-day drive to Portland.  & we noticed something a couple of weeks into our stay here: he seemed to be losing weight.

There could be many reasons, & we fixated on one: he's always had a weird cough.  We thought he maybe couldn't pass hairballs, so we gave him this goop (he did not enjoy getting this goop squirted into his mouth) which supposedly facilitated that.  But the intermittent coughing continued.  We decided to visit a vet - we're going to need to find a vet - to see what might be the case.

The tentative diagnosis?  Asthma.  Our cat Bronte has asthma, so we're familiar.  The initial treatment: steroids.  Which has made Boone hungry.  & I will feed him whenever he wants, so, once again, a cat is eating on my desk.

Do you smell this brand of cat food when you read the blog?  That's what I'm feeding him!  The wet stuff!  It's so gross!

He hasn't stopped coughing, but he has put on weight.  The wife is not convinced of the vet's diagnostic skills.  For now, I'm just glad he's eating.

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