3 posts tagged “cats”

My cat has been using my bathtub as a litterbox for a while now. Not that long--maybe a month. I'd rather she goes in the bathtub than on the rug, you know? I have no idea whether it was the difference in litter, the hood on the litterbox we have, or the fact that my brother's crazy cat is seriously territorial with his litterbox. Probably a combination of all of the above. I did get a litterbox and put it in my bathroom when she started doing that in an attempt to get her to go in the litterbox again. No dice. I guess it really was the litter. Prissy cat. Well, I went out earlier this week and got a couple more litterboxes and the usual gravel litter. And lo and behold, she's been using the litterbox again! Thank goodness. We have four litterboxes in the apartment now. It kinda sucks to have to maintain them all, but I would rather do that than have her go in my bathtub again.

We had craziness in my neighborhood last night. A guy shot someone on pretty much the opposite side of town, then led police in a chase to my side of town. He was headed for the mental hospital that's about a block from my apartment. He stayed in his car talking on his phone to the police for three hours and holding a gun to his head. I had to drive the long way 'round to go hang out with a friend of mine. It TOTALLY slipped my mind to pay the rent. Yikes! That's a costly mistake. Thank God that when I went in today, they let it slide because of all the ruckus. Sweet. What a relief--I can't really afford it on my nonexistant freelance writer's salary. I'm considering applying for food stamps, but it would be weird. I'm not in dire straits yet.

On another high note, one of my friends whose opinion I really respect read the piece that I wrote and submitted. She said that she was really interested and kept her interested the whole time. She's more than a little ADD, so that is a HUGE compliment. In my opinion, at least! It's something to keep someone who is easily distracted interested! I would love to share if anyone else wants to read. Maybe I can find another market for it somewhere. It would be a shame for it to go to waste, so to speak.

I was home at my parents for a couple of days this week and had a scary episode.  My parents have 5 cats.  One of them has been wheezy for several years.  My mom and I took him to the vet when I was home at Christmas-time, and it turns out that he has asthma. 

One morning, I was in the bathroom with several of the cats who were milling around waiting to get fed.  I heard the cat's toenails click funny on the floor, and looked over to see him fall over on his side.  His mouth was working, and I could see that he was struggling to breathe.  In a matter of seconds, he quit struggling and went limp. 

I yelled for my dad when it all started.  I said that the cat wasn't breathing, that he was dying.  My dad came in and pressed on the cat's sides, got him breathing again.  After he was breathing okay, he starting shaking like he was having a seizure or something.  My mom and I took him to the vet again.  They gave him a shot and a refill on one of his medications, then sent him home.  The vet said that she didn't want to stress him out any more, so she didn't do anything else.

Since we had been gone for a few weeks, we'd had a neighbor kid who was supposed to take care of the cats.  We don't think he did--the litter box hadn't been cleaned, and there was no food or water when my brother stopped by the house about a week before we got back.  My parents aren't going to ask him to take care of the cats again, to say the least.  Part of the reason he had so much trouble was probably because he hadn't gotten his medication while we were gone. 

I am still a little traumatized by it.  I was trying to go to sleep the other night and all I could think of was the cat falling over like that.  I really hope that it never happens again!

I don't know which is worse, the packing or the unpacking.  Neither are fun.  We picked up my boxes today.  A couple of things got broken in the move, but nothing vital or anything I'm upset about, yet.  I still have plenty of boxes to unpack to find out if there's anything else that got broken. 

It went faster this time around with a couple of extra people to help.  One of my brothers got overheated and threw up.  It's not really all that out-of-the-ordinary for him, actually.  He used to do it when he was a kid.  He said that he thought he was going to pass out as well.  He made it, though.  It was not all that hot today, but it was pretty humid. 

My brother's cat is crazy!  It's kind of fun, actually.  He's entertained by a plastic bag for long periods of time.  He was playing with a candle from one of my boxes for a while.  He used to jump on your shoulder, but he doesn't any more.  He's too hyper! 

Okay, I'd better go do some grocery shopping so that I have something to eat for dinner.