Tales of the Moggy Horde or How I learned To Stop Worrying And Love Bast

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Tosca has managed to avoid a trip to the vet so far. She seems to be improving, doesn't sound quite as congested and is slightly more active. She's still not as active as she was before, but that may have come from the steroids. I've nearly finished weaning her off the steroids now, so it may be a matter of her body adjusting.

I've had some problems with my fancy new LCD monitor. Strange things would happen. It would suddenly go into a sleep mode that I couldn't seem to undo. Now I suspect it's a corollary on the Law of Unintended Consequences -- that is, the Law of Unintended Cat Consequences. In order to have the monitor at the right height, I have it up a fair distance from the top of the desk. The controls are on the front in the lower right corner. Zoe and Jetta want the monitor to know it belongs to them, so they do what cats do to lay claim to something -- they rub against it. This came home to me with particular force last night when Jetta rubbed against the monitor and the next thing I know, I'm staring at a black screen. She had turned it off. Clever girl.

There's not much I can do about it, so I'll simply have to watch out for UCC (Unintended Cat Consequences).

I had some leftover chicken, so I picked it into small pieces and mixed it into the favorite fish gushy food. Both Jetta and Tosca walked away from it. For Jetta, that was typical. I was a bit surprised that Tosca did. That left Zoe to live up to her rep as Hoover Supreme. She had three servings of dinner. At this rate, she's the next fat cat I'll have to put on a diet.

I'm a bit concerned about Tosca, actually. She's been doing more poorly on the higher dose of thyroid meds and weaning off the steroids. She's become completely inactive, has more problems with her respiratory system, and has lost most of her voice. For such a talkative cat, that's disturbing. I'm afraid another trip to the vet may be coming up.

Christopher Smart, born in 1722 in England, wrote this appreciation of his cat in a poem entitled Jubilate Agno. I love his lines about peace at rest and brisk in motion, and "a mixture of gravity and waggery" and even lines where I'm guessing at the words and yet the meaning comes through, such as "spraggle upon waggle". Separated by centuries of time, the love of a cat's qualities shines through.

"For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry. [...]
For every family had one cat at least in the bag.
For the English Cats are the best in Europe.
For he is the cleanest in the use of his forepaws of any quadruped.
For the dexterity of his defense is an instance of the love of God to him exceedingly.
For he is the quickest to his mark of any creature.
For he is tenacious of his point.
For he is a mixture of gravity and waggery.
For he knows that God is his Saviour.
For there is nothing sweeter than his peace when at rest.
For there is nothing brisker than his life when in motion.
For he is of the Lord's poor, and so indeed is he called by benevolence perpetually — Poor Jeoffry! poor Jeoffry! the rat has bit thy throat.
For I bless the name of the Lord Jesus that Jeoffry is better.
For the divine spirit comes about his body to sustain it in complete cat.
For his tongue is exceeding pure so that it has in purity what it wants in music.
For he is docile and can learn certain things.
For he can sit up with gravity, which is patience upon approbation.
For he can fetch and carry, which is patience in employment.
For he can jump over a stick, which is patience upon proof positive.
For he can spraggle upon waggle at the word of command.
For he can jump from an eminence into his master's bosom."

Speaking of beloved moggies, Pippin is showing more and more interest in the ping pong balls. He treated us to another "first". Randy heard a cat making the "I've got a mousie" song, but he could see that it wasn't coming from Saffy and it wasn't coming from Opal. He finally realized it was Pippin who was in the living room with a PP ball in his mouth, announcing his catch. We've never heard him do that before. Did he learn it from his sisters?

Amusing side note: the PP balls are developing a lot of fang punctures.

Celebrating birthdays! Sometime at the end of March or the beginning of April 2005, four kittens were born to a feral Tortie mother in the small crawlspace beneath an old mountain cabin. We trapped them and they ensnared us. Happy Sixth Birthday to Pippin, Opal, Sapphire and Jetta. Our lives would be far more empty without you.

Cats do disgusting things sometimes. Saffy threw up a large amount of dry food, then wanted to eat it. This isn't unusual and hardly passes for disgusting anymore. I cleaned up the vomit with a paper towel and tossed it into the small wastebasket in the downstairs bathroom where the cat boxes are. What did pass for disgusting was coming in there later and discovering that Pippin had fished the paper towel out of the trash, so he could munch on the vomit. I didn't catch Pippin in the act, but he's the only cat who is so obssessed with food that we have to watch him every minute the food is out or he steals food from Saffy's or Opal's bowls.

Meanwhile, Her Picky Highness Jetta has decided that she wants her gushy food served warm. I've found that the best way to get her to eat gushy food that isn't her favorite is to give it about ten seconds in the microwave first.

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