Getting a new family member (or maybe he's getting us)

[WLJ]

Steve took like 3 minutes.

Barney the cat, who was here first, took a might longer. I think I mentioned before that my first night here, I looked out the living room window and a cat was looking back in. He would run away when I went outside, then I started tossing him some chicken and he would then hang out without coming too close. Then suddenly one day, maybe a few weeks in, he just walked up to me while I was sitting on the porch rocking chair and he hopped in my lap like we were life-long buddies. 

Rigel showed up one evening and I saw him walking across the patio and I was like "who is that?". Opened the door to take a closer look and he just walked in, "nice place, think I'll stay here". Found the food and then curled up to sleep. Been here ever since.

[K Frame]

Steve took like 3 minutes.

Barney the cat, who was here first, took a might longer. I think I mentioned before that my first night here, I looked out the living room window and a cat was looking back in. He would run away when I went outside, then I started tossing him some chicken and he would then hang out without coming too close. Then suddenly one day, maybe a few weeks in, he just walked up to me while I was sitting on the porch rocking chair and he hopped in my lap like we were life-long buddies. 

Steve's situation was quite different. He wasn't being adopted from a different situation. He was being rescued from a situation in which he likely would have died.

He also very likely didn't have much experience with a previous family.

[RoadKingLarry]

He's already drawn first blood.

Brad

Just establishing dominance.

[Brad Johnson]

Just establishing dominance.

Yeah, he pretty well has us snookered into liking him.

Unfortunately, had our first emergency vet visit last yesterday afternoon. He'd been listless most of Saturday, not eating much and giving indications of generally not feeling well. I figured it was some form of transient malady and would go away within a day or so. First indication of something really wrong was yesterday morning when he didn't come meowing for his breakfast. He spent the rest of the day in corners and dark areas, constantly repositioning and not responding much to pets. We could tell he wasn't feeling well and probably had pain. Went to clean his litter box and noticed he hadn't done anything in it all day. That's super odd as he is usually a poop and pee machine. When he started panting we knew it couldn't wait until this morning.

Went to an after-hours vet and glad we did. Turns out he had a mild UTI combined with a huge abscess around one of his rear paws. The vet confirmed the UTI almost immediately but only discovered the abscess when they turned Raj over to do a bladder draw. Apparently it ruptured all over the place and stunk to high heaven. A slow-release antibiotic, round of pain meds, and $550 later, he was released with instructions for us to watch him closely. Vet said if we'd waited until this morning there was a better than 50/50 chance he'd have gone septic, but thought we'd caught everything in time.

We got almost immediate confirmation of improvement. The first thing he did when we got home was head straight for the food & water bowls, then a litter box visit. Slept for several hours without repositioning so we knew he was much more comfortable. This morning he was up with the alarm, yowling for breakfast and doing his usual thing of hanging around during morning get-readies. Even insisted on a long session of head scritches. His toe is still noticeably swollen with light drainage, but it doesn't seem to be bothering him. We were sent home with an e-collar, but we're holding off since he's not chewing anything and the collar would only stress him more. Plus, I'm not sure we're brave enough to try getting it on him. After breakfast and scritches he went straight to his favorite corner, curled up in a contented ball, and immediately went to sleep with no obvious signs of pain or distress. Poor little guy got well and truly run through the wringer yesterday, but seems on the rebound. SWMBO took the day off to watch him but so far it appears everything's gonna be okay.

Brad

[WLJ]

UTI? What are you feeding him?
Had on and off problems with UTIs and bladder crystals in several of the cats until I switched their food to Iams and haven't had a problem since. Many of the cat foods out there just aren't balanced right for cats and they mess up their urine Ph.

Of note after going to a somewhat more expensive food I noticed they eat less of it, I guess due to being more satisfying, so the cost per month actually stayed pretty much the same.
A 25lb bag of Purina Complete would last ~2 weeks. A 25lb bag of Iams Indoor about 3 weeks. Plus they slimmed down and even their fur is softer.

[Brad Johnson]

Same food he got at his previous home.

Doc said there's a good chance the UTI is related to the drastic diet changes of going from housecat to three months on his own and back to housecat in rapid succession. We gave the vet an exact description of diet and feeding schedule and she approved, but said if another UTI shows up we may need to look at food changes.

Brad

[Brad Johnson]

Much improved, especially since the antibiotic kicked in. Swelling is down considerably. If you didn't know the toe had been swollen before, it's unlikely you'd even notice. Litter box frequency and amounts seem back to normal. He still favors the foot a bit if he jumps off something, but otherwise seems back to normal.

Had another big step last night in him accepting us as family. We spend a lot of time in the basement watching TV. He's now regularly downstairs with us, but usually curled in a ball on the first step with the occasional trip to the couch for head scritches. A couple of times he's jumped up between us and stayed for a while, but only as a "be close" thing, not a "snuggle in tight" thing. Last night he jumped up and we fully expected more of the same, which we're very okay with, only this time he came straight to my lap, curled up, and reached up with his paw to touch my cheek. Closed his eyes and commenced to purring contentedly. He didn't stay long, maybe 10 minutes, but that was enough. Damn near cried because it reminded me so much of Minnie, the loveable hellion who had me wrapped around her paw for 17 years.

Brad

[Hawkmoon]

Congratulations on your promotion. You have gone from being tolerated to being accepted.

[K Frame]

Glad to hear that the little guy is doing better.

[Brad Johnson]

Pretty sure he's decided this is an okay thing.







Brad

[Brad Johnson]

Today marks four weeks since we brough him home. I've always heard it takes about a month for cats to acclimate and start considering new places/people as home & fam. That looks to be the case here. As of a few days ago he's following us around pretty much constantly, if not directly underfoot then at least close by. Over the weekend he really got into joining us for substantive snuggles while we were couched up watching TV. He's even gotten to where he'll pull your hand in for gentle "pet me more" love nibbles. Can pretty much touch him all over now, at least in the context of gentle pets. Certain places still get a warning rowl, especially if he's startled, but sans the hissing, bitey thing.

Little turd did a 180 on food, though. We tried a host of wet foods and finally found one he would damn near knock you over getting to. Gave him a spoonful or two each morning as a treat with his kibble. Saturday he decided he no longer liked it. Won't even sniff at it any more. Of course, it was the day after we'd popped for a whole case. *sigh* I'll take it back to PetSmart and see if they'll credit towards other things. Thankfully, he hasn't turned up his snobbish nose at the kibble brand. Eats that plenty well, as the daily bag of litter box screenings will attest.

Health seems back to 100%. No signs of anything other than being a lazy housecat. Only thing we've noticed is he doesn't have the typical desire for being on high places. He'd rather curl up on the floor against a wall or chair, usually somewhere with a bit of shelter or structure around it. His favorite spot is under one of our side chairs, the kind that has an exposed ankle-height perimeter bar and no dust ruffle. He loafs up right in the center and just sits there, napping. We figure it's because he spent several years in a home with large, active dogs and the dogs couldn't reach places like that. He could get some relative peace and quiet while still being able to see what was going on in the room.

Brad

[JTHunter]

Health seems back to 100%. No signs of anything other than being a lazy housecat. Only thing we've noticed is he doesn't have the typical desire for being on high places. He'd rather curl up on the floor against a wall or chair, usually somewhere with a bit of shelter or structure around it. His favorite spot is under one of our side chairs, the kind that has an exposed ankle-height perimeter bar and no dust ruffle. He loafs up right in the center and just sits there, napping. We figure it's because he spent several years in a home with large, active dogs and the dogs couldn't reach places like that. He could get some relative peace and quiet while still being able to see what was going on in the room.

Brad

Sounds like one smart cat. 

[Brad Johnson]

He's decided this is a pretty sweet gig.





Brad

[WLJ]

When I saw that Junior, Rigel's brother* that showed up a couple of months after he did, was curled up almost the exact same way with me while I use the laptop in bed.

*100% sure they're brothers, one they almost twins, two the way they greet each other, and three I actually found out where they came from.

[HeroHog]

Awwwwwwww!

[Brad Johnson]

Everyone is settled into a nice routine, but it got interrupted a bit today. Infected anal gland. I've seen it in dogs but this is the first time I've dealt with it in a cat. He's been acting like he wasn't feeling well the last day or two. Not like before when he had the double-whammy of paw abscess and UTI, but enough to tell. Saw a bump on his behind during lunch so off to the vet it was.

Poor little guy got his butt shaved, lanced, and slathered in heal-em-up cream. Pumped him full of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. First thing he did when he got home was head to the water and food station, a very good sign as he'd not been doing much of either the last day or so.

The last pic above continues to be the usual situation. Plus, he's chilled way back on the whole bitey scratchy thing now that we're all in a groove and used to each other's triggers.

Brad

[K Frame]

Poor guy! I'd never heard of that in cats, either.