Caturday: Why Is Tiger Being a Pussy Cat?
Tiger, the great and powerful orange tabby has been untouchable for 14 years. When his owner, my disabled daughter, whom he fiercely and forcibly protects, moved from her apartment back home with me. Tiger would not go into his carrier. No way. No how. Not chasable. Not touchable--put claws all the way through my shoe and my son's glove, his teeth baring in a loud, prolonged threatening hiss. Not enticed by food even after eight hours of packing and alternately encouraging Tiger to be part of the process and let us put him in his carrier--one big enough for a large dog, anything else being unthinkable that he would enter. We contacted a friend with a feral cat trap and made plans to leave Tiger alone overnight in the empty apartment and try to catch him with the trap after being hungry for even longer. But, Tiger is a smart cat. As my son and I headed out of the apartment, followed by my daughter in her wheelchair, Tiger went into the carrier and looked at us. He was not to be separated from my daughter, and if going into the carrier was required to be with her, then that is what he would do. And that is how we ultimately were able to move him.
As a kitten--small and not all that feral yet--Tiger allowed himself to be carried off the vet and be vaccinated. Then, a couple of years later, my daughter's apartment was being fumigated, and we managed, again, to get a young Tiger into the carrier and to the vet for boarding for a few days. When I returned to pick him up, the vet said he was unapproachable, would not tolerate interaction from any of the staff, and no one had been able to put him into the carrier so I could take him home. When Tiger saw me, however, he walked right into the carrier, expecting to go home.
Tiger is in charge--always. We even had a vet come to the house last summer to make sure Tiger is still healthy, now that he has reached geriatric age and we still cannot get him to a vet because of his ferocious rebuffs. The vet, highly experienced, was unable to come within three feet of him. He was snuggled next to my daughter when the vet came into the room, but upon seeing her, he leapt to his feet, as if guarding my daughter. When the vet tried to approach, Tiger stood his ground, hissed, lashed out, and made all kinds of ferocious threats. She gave up, said Tiger looked to be healthy, and allowed that she would not be coming back to see him again!
Fast forward to two weeks ago. Tiger stopped eating although he continued drinking. No kind of food or treat held any interest for him, and he started to lose weight, taking on a gaunt appearance with unkempt fur and sad eyes. Instead of bounding from room to room, in charge, and defying anyone to deny him anything, he started slinking from his shared room with my daughter through the nearby bedroom to the catio and slinking back. He stopped growling. He stopped hissing. He stopped playing. He was no longer king of the bedroom but a weak little pussy cat (though he still does not allow anyone except my daughter to touch him). He spent more time with her, sleeping on her electric blanket next to her, keeping warm in a cool house. And troublingly, he started to prefer dark places to sleep.
No way, however, would he allow anyone to put him in a carrier. He was weak but still in charge. The vet who had seen him in the summer is the only vet in the area who comes to homes. So, we were/are on our own to figure out Tiger's issues and how to treat them.
The first though was some kind of illness, perhaps even cancer. My daughter started putting mirataz, left over from one of our cats who had died from cancer, on his ear, and that stimulated his appetite a bit--at least, to begin eating but not to finish.
Then, a little research suggested an alternate theory: dental issues, gingivitis (like he would like us look in his mouth, let alone clean his teeth), and pain while eating. We decided to test this theory. We gave him baby food (meat/water, with no other ingredients). He ate it. All of it. He is still eating baby food, but it looks like he is gaining some weight back. We moved him up to cat food in pate form, and he has been willing to embrace that. Bit by bit...
Still a pussy cat, though, for now...
For more Caturday posts, click HERE.
Read more posts about cats.
Watch for Luna Norwood's forthcoming book, Raising Happy Cat Families.
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