Smudge at Your Service

Smudge at Your Service

Mom finally stepped away from the computer without turning it off, so I can finally use it. She has been on this energy saving kick ever since the home show and she keeps turning things off and pulling plugs. I don't really mind the pulling plugs though because sometimes fraNkie and I like to nibble on the cords and when they are plugged in you can get an unpleasant jolt. Mom doesn't feel too well right now. I can tell because she isn't as playful as usual and she is really moving slowly, too.

I thought maybe her cuts were still hurting - she made a terrible noise when I ran across her stomach a few days after she got those cuts - but I heard her tell her friend they all healed fine. But now it is something else. What is it with people anyway? Cats are much more resilient and complain a whole lot less, too!

Back to Mom. She went to another doctor and when she came home, I thought she needed some catnip!! She told M that the doctor said she had chronic kidney disease stage III (moderate) and that she had to have more tests and - worst of all - she had to stop taking the pills that make her joints and muscles not hurt. Ever since, she has been making bad noises, and walking slow, and she needs to take pain medicine all day instead of just at night.

The doctor told her that if she doesn't take the joint medicine - something called NSAID - maybe her kidneys will get better. M asked her what that stage III part meant and she said it meant her kidneys, working together, only worked 30% of what they should. That kind of worries me because I think Jack went away because his kidneys didn't work right. I couldn't stand it if Mom went away. I may be the alpha cat around here nowadays, but I still need my cuddles on a regular basis. M tries, but he just can't cuddle like Mom can.

I especially like it when Mom is wearing a big sweater because I crawl into the sleeve as far as I can go and Mom puts the sweater over me, and then I just go into cat heaven. It is better than catnip! She seems to like it just as much I me. Well, there's a line here of cats with something to say, so I guess my turn is over.

its fraNkies turn now

Smudge is so bossy. I had to wait a long time for my turn. I like this new typing thing mom has cuz sometimes it fixes stuff and I don't even have to know how to do it. So if I seem smarter, im really not.

Ihave been having a lot of trouble with the mean cat. She gets really mad at me whn I snuggle with mom on the bed. She bats me with her claws out!! Mom cant seme to do anything with her and I am getting tired of it.

But I never bat her back. I jst lay on the bed real quiet and try to ve invisible. If the mean cat would jist let me, I would be her friend. I like to cuddle and I would cudd;e with her on the bed. Sometimes she lets me get a little close to her but not much.

Mom always wants to cuddle with me but I am not ready for interspecies cuddling. She can feed me treats from her hand and that's okay. She can brush me too as long as she keeps it in the bedroom wher it belongs. Boundaries, mom, boundaries. When I tiptoe out into the big part of the house it is pretty scary and I don't want anyone picking me up. That is the scariest. And I know mom wants to pick me up, I can see it in her eyes.

Of course as soft and round as I am that makes sense. She can hardly keep her hands off me. Training mom has been harder than I thought it would be. Oh here comes the mean cat. I have to hide.

You Can Call Me Ms. Trixie

Well, I chased off those two ruffians. They know that my human's desk chair belongs to me, so I can't think why they would even get near it. I am getting quite sick and tired of those boys. They take attention that should be mine. I have had to resort to sitting on my human's lap, something I thought I would never stoop to. Fawning and playing up to people has always been beneath me, but hard times force hard choices.

The big dumb kit, fraNkie, is almost all right. Sometimes I am tempted to try getting close to him like I did with Jack, but then I stop myself. NO ONE can replace Jack and I feel so sad remembering that he left and never came home again. And so what if I take it out on the juvenile delinquents? The dirty cat (his name is Smudge) really gets me going. He stalks me and chases me every day. When I call him on it, he claims that it's all in fun and he just wants to play. Right.

My position requires that I rise above it as much as possible without condoning bad behavior. That goes for cats and humans. Just to remind my human that she should treat me with respect, I think I'll leave a fresh hairball on her chair before I go in for evening treats. It will be quite amusing to watch her reaction when she finds it tomorrow morning.