Update on the Whisker Cat

Whiskers did not enjoy the move to Nebraska one bit.  What I mean is, she did not enjoy the drive.  She was sedated nicely for the trip but she would wake up from time to time, realize she was still in the car, remember she did not like it, and yowl for a few minutes before going back to sleep.

Once she got to the new apartment, though, she was fine.  She loves the big windows that look out on the parking lot because there is a lot more to look at than there was in our old place.  Isaac likes them, too.

Whiskers is on a diet because she now weighs a little over 12 lbs.  She is actually not unhappy about the diet.  She is generally a happy cat.

The Final Journey

Hobbes
August 26, 1996 ~ September 28, 2016

To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time to be born and time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which was planted.
A time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up.
A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.

Godspeed to you on your journey, Hobbes. Until we see you again.

And a Whisker Video

Just because it's cute.

She loves to play in the water when I take a bath.  She also enjoys drinking hot bath water.  I know, she's weird.  But cute.

Soda Quackers

A friend sent us a care package.  Isaac was delighted to see the UPS driver, of course, and he was certain there was something in one of those packages for him.  The first thing I pulled out was chamomile tea and Isaac sniffed it carefully but says he is not interested in tea.

The next thing was a stuffed duck with a squeaker in it.  Isaac is most interested in stuffed squeaky toys.

Another friend suggested the name Soda Quackers and so that is the name of the new toy duckie.  For however long it lasts.  I figure Isaac will probably disembowel him pretty soon.

Whiskers got a present, too.  She got three floppy fish toys.  They have catnip in them and make a crinkling noise.

A Cute Kitty Video

Whiskers playing in the water in the bathroom sink.  She's obsessed with it. 

A Cat with a Bone

Isaac got a jumbo beef bone at Rural King yesterday.  Today, I noticed Whiskers licking it.  Apparently Isaac was OK with that.

Cat in a Tunnel

Her crinkly tunnel is one of her favorite toys.  Second only to water bottle lids, I think.

Cat in a Bag

Sharing

They are both enjoying a knuckle bone. Isaac gnaws on it and eats pieces, and Whiskers nibbles up some of the tiny crumbs that fall off. Isaac will later lick up any crumbs she misses.

She Bit Me!

Hobbes, my visiting foster kitty, is here.  I have lots to write about but I haven't been able to post much lately.  First I was driving to Florida and back, and had little time to write, and very spotty internet access on the road.  Then, yesterday, Hobbes bit me.

She bit me good.  I don't blame her, she was mad and scared and did not want to be touched.  And I was insisting on touching her.  She had on a harness and leash and I wanted to take them off.  It was easy to take off the leash, but the harness involved handling her to figure out where the straps unbuckled and stuff.  And she did not want to be handled.

She is still wearing the harness.  And I have three puncture wounds in my left hand.

Cat bites, it turns out, are notoriously nasty.  Cats have long, sharp, skinny teeth, so they cause deep puncture wounds.  Dog bites are often less deep, even if it is a big dog with really big, long teeth, because the tooth is wider and less needle-like.  Cats also have a type of bacteria in their mouth that is normal in animals but harmful to humans.  When they bite, they essentially inject this harmful bacteria deep into your tissue.

Because of that, antibiotics are typically prescribed for cat bites right away, instead of waiting for an infection to develop.  And even with antibiotics, serious infections can develop.  Something like one third of people bitten by cats require hospitalization for treatment! How bizarre is that?

So off to the urgent care I went, to get some antibiotics.  I just finished a course of antibiotics for an ear infection.  I take probiotics daily and I eat yogurt but I think I also need to pick up some kefir.  I am going to get a yeast infection or something from all these antibiotics.

I like the nurse practitioner at the urgent care at my county hospital.  The urgent care there is only open Monday through Friday in the evenings, something like 3 pm to 10 pm.  So I can't always go there due to the limited hours, but I like the NP there and I've gotten good care there.

The NP gave me antibiotics and told me if my hand got any worse, if I had increased redness or pain or swelling, to come back to the ER.  Note that while my hand felt a bit tender, like it was going to have a big bruise the next day, the pain was not bad.  It was slightly red and slightly swollen right around the puncture wounds.  But it was not bad.  Maybe a two or three on a scale of one to 10.

A few hours later, my hand was swollen and red and it hurt a lot worse.  And the pain was not just right around the puncture wounds but my whole hand hurt.  It was hard to move my fingers.

I felt silly going to the ER about a cat bite, especially when I'd just been to urgent care a few hours earlier.  But my hand was getting more and more painful by the minute, and the NP had said to go to the ER if it got any worse, so I went.

It was not a great experience.  The ER doctor looked at my hand and immediately said something like, "that's not so bad."  I explained why I was there, what the NP had told me at urgent care, and he said, "Well, this is what I would expect from a cat bite.  They are red, they hurt.  This doesn't look bad."

It bothered me.  It upset me a ridiculous amount.  It was late by then, I was tired, I was in pain.  I felt like he was saying I shouldn't have gone to the ER.  I felt bad about being there.  Guilty or something.  I cried.

However, the ER doc wrote me a script for some pain meds.  I have had good luck getting pain meds lately!  I got some after having a tooth pulled recently and I got muscle relaxers when I had the muscle spasms in my neck and went to urgent care for that.  I'm not sure why I am suddenly able to get pain meds when for a couple of years I suffered in pretty severe pain, unable to get any meds, but I'm glad for it.

The ER doc also gave me a splint to help limit the movement of my wrist and hand, which helps limit the amount of pain.  It is hard to type with the splint on, though.

Big Box Cat

I ordered a 30-lb bag of Isaac's dog food from Amazon.  It was $1 cheaper than buying it at Rural King.  Came with free shipping.  And a free big box.

Whiskers says the box is hers.

Christmas Breakfast

Scrambled eggs with minced hot dog, cheddar cheese and a pinch of catnip.

Merry Christmas, Whiskers

Whiskers got a crinkly tunnel for Christmas.

Cat on a Shelf

Run, Kitty, Run

And there she goes!

Cat Scratcher

I hung one of those cardboard cat scratcher things on the wall for Whiskers.

I'm hoping it will discourage her from scratching the molding around my bathroom door.  It seems she likes it.

Merry Christmas

Happy Cat

Whiskers is thankful for the bathroom rug and her toys.

Show Down

I was working on a very fascinating article about mold when I heard Isaac whimpering. So I looked over to see what he was whining about and there was Isaac's Blue Toy (a toy he likes a lot that you can stuff treats in, we call the Blue Toy because, well, it is blue) with Isaac on one side and Whiskers on the other, having a show down.

Whiskers does not even want to play with that toy, but she has been a bit rude to Isaac here lately. Isaac wanted his toy and she was daring him to try to pick it up. So he was afraid to try to get it. Poor doggie.

I had to tell him it was OK, he could get his toy, and he crept forward, snatched it up quickly, and ran away with it.

Give a Dog a Bone

A friend sent Isaac some treats and toys, including this bone from Nylabone. Isaac loves it.  He's been carrying around for two days.

Whiskers got some toy mice, which she has been enjoying.

She also really liked the box the mice arrived in.