The Cat Still Lives

I know that you are all dying to know how Lady Arbuckle is doing. And please notice that she has gone from Miss to Lady since we last wrote about her. Actually, she has not seemed to precisely fit any name; I mean, nothing rolls off our tongues with any consistency — except Cassie by times, Cassie being a cat we endured more than 20 years ago. Facially, our Lady resembles Cassie to some degree although there the resemblance ends as they are not similar in girth or temperament, Bella outdoing Cassie in both categories and by a wide (ahem) margin.

We came close to losing Miss Lady Arbuckle already as she has severe elimination problems. Several enemas and rehydrations later along with twice daily laxative supplements, she is doing much better: for now anyway, for she is old, 16 as opposed to the originally thought 15 years. So, basically, she is the human equivalent of about 85,

After the vet visits on Thursday and Friday, she retreated to her blanket, and we almost expected her not to wake up on Saturday. But she did, and for her (all things being relative after all), she was perky and friendly and happy to eat. Our main wish with her is to give her as many good days as we can. Maybe there will be weeks or even months, We have now had her for two weeks, and all but 2 days seemed to be pretty good for her.

And now for a few pics.

These are two of her sleeping places: on my den chair and on the couch downstairs. To get up on either, is quite a task, but she does manage. I would love to get a video of the procedure some day.

She is very round.

She is a lap cat although she usually needs help getting up there. Sue and I typically eat lunch and supper watching tv, and she is often anxious for lap time with me once I finish eating — well she's actually anxious before I finish eating. Once there, I think she would stay for hours if I were to let her. I can squirm and reposition myself and/or her, and she just goes with the flow.

One day, she surprised Sue by jumping (I use the word lightly) up on her own when Sue was trying to rest.

On most afternoons, I have a short siesta or at least I attempt to, but I didn't sleep on this day for some strange reason. Fortunately, her visiting me in this chair at this time of day is rare.

She is a really nice cat, and as I said already, I do hope that she has a nice stay with us although I don't expect it to be long stay.