My heart is so heavy. I don't see much chance in BB's survival. He just won't eat. I force feed him, but he fights every drop. So if kitties have angels, I do hope BB's angel will care for him.
Sunday, July 10th - I see a slight improvement in BB. I bought some Whiskas pouch chicken and squeezed out a tiny bit on a saucer. He licked at it. I tried to give him some milk by a dropper, but he refused it. So, several time during the day I put a bit of Whiskas in a dish and set it up to him. He licked more and more each time. My heart is encouraged. I'm sure his angel was standing close by and came to the rescue.
Monday, July 11th - What an improvement in BB's condition. He is beginning to eat the hard stuff again, and more and more of the Whiskas. He still refuses milk, but is beginning to climb on things again. His eyes still look a little droopy, but he is much peppier.
Tuesday, July 12th - BB has bounced back to his old self again. I am still trying to come up with an appropriate name for him, but have decided to call him "Friday, for now." He came to us on Friday; his life-and-death turn around came on Friday. So for now , I shall refer to this little kitty as Friday. As to the determining of his gender, I am still in a bit of a quandary. It has never been a problem for me to tell the gender of a cat, but Friday really puzzles me. I change my mind every day, as to whether Friday is a "he" or a "she."
Friday, July 15th - No more question as to Friday's gender. He is definitely a male. He becomes more endearing every day. His interaction with the other cats is entertaining and a pleasure to see.
This evening a neighbour dropped in for a visit, bringing his year-old puppy, Katie. Katie has been here several times and bounces around the other cats without upsetting them too much. But this evening something very funny happened. E~Z was sitting on the cat tree just staring down at Katie, when Friday appeared out of thin air, ran up to Katie and they started a little game of hiss-and-bark. Katie got excited and became a bit aggressive, frightening Friday. He started to spit and hiss and hop around with his back all humped up. Suddenly E~Z jumped from his perch and sprang at poor Katie, growling and snarling, as if to say, "You leave my baby brother alone!" It was hilarious, watching the reaction of the three. It was the first time we have ever seen E~Z being that aggressive. It warmed our hearts to know that our little Friday has a protector.
Tuesday, July 19th - Several people have been asking if we were going to keep the new little kitty. "After all, you have five cats! Surely you won't keep this one. Surely you will find a home for him." Well, NO, we are not giving Friday away. He is here to stay. He now gets along very well with his Uncle Scooter and his Grandma Keeper. Keeper has decided at last that her little grandson is okay. They sleep curled up together. She licks him just as if he were her own kitten. It is good to see the three of them together.
Our quiet, gentle Casey, whom we love very much, doesn't react with the other cats. He is our beautiful, three-year-old purebred smoke Himalayan. So maybe we should give him away.
The answer to that suggestion is also a resounding NO! All six cats are staying right here.
Is this the End of the story?
September 23, 2005 – Update - A permanent name for the little time-bomb, the Angel Kitty.
It is hard to name a kitten properly when they are tiny. Their personality (or shall I say catonality) does not develop right away. BB/Friday/ has now found his true name. It is SPARKY. He is like a firecracker. His eyes are full of sparks and sparkle and he cannot find enough bad mischief to get into--like pulling the toilet paper down to the floor.
Once he had unrolled nearly half a roll before we detected it. One day Marianne, my sister, brought her new little puppy over. He (Bouncer) and kitten (Sparky) are exactly the same age, and both black scallywags. When we saw the toilet paper fiasco, we wondered which of the two little rascals had done it. It wasn't long before I found out. Sparky has done it again and again.
Another thing he does is jump into the bathtub--we have a soaker tub. He jumped in once when I was having a shower. The water didn't bother him a bit, but I quickly got him out of there--the water was too hot for a kitty...And most recently, he was sitting on the edge of the tub while I was having a bath, and he fell in. Expecting to be scratched, in his fright and scurry to get out, I screamed, grabbed him and tossed him out of the tub. Nonchalantly he began to lick himself off, undaunted by his dunking! Another day he put his paw under the running tap, as I was pouring the tub. I have to make sure the water is not hot, as I run a tub.
It's a good thing we have five cats and a dog to keep this little time bomb busy. He wears them all out. It's good for Scooter, as he is a quiet cat and still just a year. He was beginning to act like a grown-up--until Sparky came along. Now the two of them tear the house apart. E~Z likes to get in on it too. And it is so cute to see that Keeper (Grandmother) has taken on the role of Sparky's mother. She grabs him and puts her arms around him and gives him a good washing. The two of them curl up together. Or if Keeper can't be found, Sparky will squeeze in beside Scooter. Do they know they are related?
October 16th
Where there's Sparky, there is trouble.
He is still doing his little tricks. The minute he hears me in the bathroom or the kitchen, he is there. He loves to puddle in the sink and "help" me with the vegetables that I may be peeling. Or, when I change the pet water, which I do several times a day, he has to be there, putting his paw under the running water. He gets right into the sink, and if there is water in it, no matter. He doesn't mind. Another great attraction for him is to watch the toilet flush. When all the stuff has gone, he puts his paw in to touch the water......
The other night, just after we had gone to bed, we heard a "splash, splash". I got up to see what was going on, and there was Sparky, with his paw, splashing the water out of the bowl, delighted to see it run across the floor. Scooter was sitting beside him, watching. After all, it WAS Scooter who taught him what water was, in the first place. And now BOY does he know! A few days earlier I had wondered what had happened, when I discovered water all over the floor, and the pet water dish almost empty. I had thought that maybe one of the cats had accidentally tipped it. But that is hardly likely, as there is a Styrofoam tray under the dish. But when I saw Sparkle's antics that night, I realized what had happened to the water dish.
And now Sparky has joined the "troop" of neuters in our house. Although he was only 5 months old, the Vet said he was ready to be neutered. We are all glad to have that ordeal behind us. I was hoping that it wouldn't spoil his mischievousness, but it didn't. He is till as naughty as ever! He still loves to get a hold of a paper towel or toilet paper roll and riddle it. Where there's Sparky, there is trouble.
December 4, 2005 – January 4th 2006. A further update on Sparky. . . And he's still going strong…at 7 months of age
Yes, Sparky is just that. He puts SPARK into life. He loves to watch the toilet flush, and when everything has gone down, he puts his paw into the hole, touching the water. A while ago I bought a toy that looks like a big spider with fuzzy legs. All the cats love it, but Sparky especially enjoyed carrying it around and dropping it into the bathtub. One day, I had just flushed the toilet and before I could turn around, he had grabbed the spider toy and dropped it into the toilet, just to watch it go down. Bye-bye 4 dollar toy!!! Indulgent me, went and bought another one so the cats could still enjoy their spider. Now I watch to make sure the lid is shut. He has dropped other things into that deep hole too. And just the other day (January 1st) he saw me flushing the toilet. He put his paw on the flusher, so next thing he may try is flushing the toilet himself. I doubt he'll be strong enough. Hope not!
Oh yes, Sparky is still going strong.
© Helen Dowd
Part I – Do Kitties Have Angels?
Part II – Do Kitties Have Angels?
See also:
Finders Keepers