Thursday, September 23, 2010

My amazing amazing boy


If you haven't already noticed, it has been very hard on me to play nursemaid to Ollie.  Normally my cats don't much like my meddling in their affairs, but they will let me do it with out telling me off.  Not Ollie.  His infirmity is not something he likes to share, and he certainly does not want anyone else to know about it.  Having his whole side (and his front paw) shaved has been very hard for him to deal with, and as a result he has felt he had to be extra diligant to tell everyone he was "FINE THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!" and put the other cats in their place, reminding them he is King. Ruler. Of. All.  (KROA) When he walks out of the bedroom, he often growls at the other cats or jumps on them to 'put them down' if you will.  Now that he is eating with everyone else again, it is all the more evident but more on that in a bit.

Yesterday was the first night I did not keep him locked up overnight.  I really missed being covered in my cats, and he was gaining weight (9lbs 9 almost 9.5 oz) so I got a syringe and forced the remainder of his breakfast into him, and went about my night.  He sat on the couch and surveyed his domain.  He milled about during my getting my dinner, and sniped at anyone who got close to him.  I even left the house and left him out.  All was as it normally is when I got home.  I went downstairs and had watched some TV and he came downstairs.  There really hasn't been need for him to do that previously as he had access to the litter box in the bedroom and I wasn't hanging down there when he was free.  When I was done, everyone ran upstairs, including Ollie, who ran like he wasn't in an ounce of pain.  I went to bed, and the core bed crew came with me (not everyone sleeps on the bed) Ollie showed up, grumped his way into a prime spot, and we watched a little TV, before I rolled over and went to sleep. 

No idea how they all did, as I slept like the dead to the point that I slept through my exercise time and was late to work.  But at breakfast Ollie ate almost his entire portion.  He left a scrap, and his portion was a bit smaller then normal because I figured he wouldn't eat it,  but I was so unbelievably happy.  When it came time for me to leave for work, I brought a plate of canned food and a bowl with some dry food in it into the bedroom, and Ollie came willingly into the bedroom for me.

That night he ate a few bites of his food, but I figure that has more to do with his access to gushy food then anything else.  Another night free, another night of being KROA, and another breakfast eaten with the crew.

Now once again, when we feed the eight of them, we have two dinner plates that we used to put four portions on a piece and put one down in the kitchen and one in the laundry room.  Ollie would lord over the plate in the kitchen and everyone would have to wait for him to walk away, so we started giving him his own salad plate with a portion on it.  Today he got his plate, and the alpha crew ate off the kitchen plate, and the beta crew ate off the laundry pate.  Today Twee just sat and watched Ollie eat.  She wasn't waiting for anything, I think she just wanted to be with him, but he wasn't quite sure what to make of her adoration when there was food involved, so he started getting upset.  I grabbed another little plate and gave her a portion of food to distract her a little from him, and show him that she wasn't interested in his food.  She licked at it but still was watching him.  He decided her food looked better and went after her plate, which she willing let him have.

He didn't eat a full breakfast before he got annoyed and walked away, but it was the more then two bites he had been eating with the crew.  Once again I walked him into the bedroom with the lure of canned and dry, and he came willingly, and hunkered down and ate from the canned for a while, then had a few bites of dry, and wandered off to wash and I'm sure take a nap.

Part of me wishes I could get him a little kitty toupee to help cover his shaved bits to help him feel a little more comfortable, but other then that, and the stitches still in his side, he really is doing remarkably well.  I was so guarded about the results of the surgery because he really seemed so upset over the whole thing.  Just this Monday I was telling someone I wasn't sure it was the right decision, but I so am now.

I'm probably going to keep locking him up during the day until the stitches come out, or until he tells me that I'm being insane (which he has no problem doing)

Hopefully I didn't just jinx his recovery..

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