cats Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

Stormy after Midnight

solo cat

How is our remaining cat Stormy after Midnight passed away? She’s doing OK, but she’s changed somewhat. She used to be much quieter and out of the way most of the time, but now she seems to have taken on some of Midnight’s attributes.

Specifically, she’s very loud when she wants food or even when she’s been fed. Midnight used to start on his food, then go over to hers, and I had to intervene. She doesn’t have to fight for her meals and tends to graze most of the day.

Her diet is also changing; she is, after all, 11, and so she’s an older cat. She used to eat dry foods plus moist foods (shreds), but now she’s also eating the pate she and Midnight both eschewed when they were kittens. I alternate between shares and pate.

Also, she’s often in the way in the doorway in the entryways; this is something Midnight used to do all the time. Now that he’s not here, she seems obliged to take on this role. The good thing is that she tends to move out of the way when I walk towards her, unlike Midnight, who would remain underfoot.

Becoming my cat, too?

Another interesting thing is that she would never come to where I sat on the sofa. She would sit on my wife’s lap or next to my daughter. But she would never do this with me because she perceived me as Midnight’s person. Now, if I scratch the sofa cushion, she’ll jump up and sit beside me. “That’s different,” my daughter correctly observed.

My daughter believes that Stormy realizes I’m mourning and wants to hang out to make me feel better. I think she was wary of Midnight being around that he might supplant her on the sofa, and she didn’t want to deal with the possible conflict. These both could be true.

Even before, she would often come up to me and rub her head against my leg or on my foot, although she does the same to chairs, the corner of the kitchen counter, and other surfaces.

I’m glad she’s still here. By the way, the banana picture was taken by my daughter about a year and a half ago. The reason it’s here now is that, though I was unaware of that photo, I put a banana on Stormy’s head, and she looked just as silly as she did here. She doesn’t seem to mind it terribly. What does that say about her, that she’s bananas?

Midnight Green (1/22/2013-6/29/2024)

my cat, I suppose

Here are the last weeks of Midnight Green. After I posted that Midnight wasn’t eating very well, some folks suggested we take him to the veterinarian. Easier said… We had taken him to the vet in September 2023, and they determined that he was “Screw-loose crazy,” which we already knew, and he resisted treatment, let’s say.

Still, we kept changing his diet giving him sundry food items that we had never given him before in hopes that something would strike his fancy.

Midnight liked to go into the bathtub and hang out there. Occasionally one of us would turn on the spigot and he seemed to enjoy getting himself wet, which was very unusual for him from his past. He liked drinking the water from there, even though he had full bowls of water downstairs.

He had this weird tendency to stick his paws into the bowl and knock them over. Moreover, his paws were almost always caked with cat litter which would get into the bowl, so we had to change his water three or four times a day.

Testing

Ultimately, my wife and daughter took him to the veterinarian again in late June 2023. They noted that he still had that personality, though now physically weaker. After a series of tests – expensive ones, I might add -they relayed that he had three major problems. One was that he was anemic. Another was that he was diabetic, with a glucose level twice what the maximum ought to have been. The third was that he had pancreatitis, possibly cancerous. The family talked and determined that there was no need to pursue any further treatments and would probably have him go to the vet to be put to sleep.

On Friday night, my daughter and I talked about death and experiences that I had had dealing with the passing of cats and family members. We discussed the fact that people can say really stupid things when people or animals die which are not particularly useful, such as “It’s all for the best.” We’re not feeling that at the moment. The talk seemed to make her feel a little bit better.

Decline

It was painful to watch him get weaker and weaker. On Saturday, I put him on the base of the fireplace. He slipped off and he couldn’t find his way back up. A couple of hours later, I was lying down in bed around noon and my daughter screamed “ROGER!!” with a curdling cry. I knew either she was in grave physical harm or that Midnight had died; it was the latter.

She was crying and she wanted her mother, who was off shopping. When her mother returned, I got a box for him to be in, using up unmatched socks to line the bottom. She and her mother cleaned the cat because his paws and tail were filthy. My daughter petted the cat for a good while she cried. My wife cried and then my daughter said she wanted me to read a blog post I had written about Midnight in 2021, which I did.

We started a playlist for Midnight, which of course included Midnight At The Oasis by Maria Muldaur and Midnight Train To Georgia by Gladys Knight and The Pips, the latter a song that she has recently purchased. Also, Green Tambourine by the Lemon Pipers, tied to the fact that when Midnight would get crazy and decide to attack me periodically, I had a tambourine on the kitchen counter to fend him off. He did not like the sound of the tambourine or the vacuum cleaner, for that matter.

Aftermath

That night, I fell asleep in the chair in my office. When I woke up, I was really tired but also very sad and I cried about Midnight when I really hadn’t done so before.

We tried to get Stormy to have her bowl where Midnight’s bowl used to be but she wouldn’t have anything to do with that. She kept looking over her shoulder, expecting him to pounce on her or push her out of the way. His place was in the back of the kitchen, while hers was in the front. Moreover, she’s now eating the pate we fed him in the latter months, so her diet may be changing, too.

We’ll miss Midnight, of course. Conversely, guests in our house won’t be terrorized by him. And someone else can feed her when we’re away.

It’s a weird thing. Despite all his strangeness, he seemed to be my cat. He would sit on my lap or he would sit next to me and put his paws on my lap. That was comforting and fine when he liked me, which was about 95% of the time. Until the last week or so, he remained an aggressive food eater. He would invariably get under foot, even running between my legs when I was trying to feed him and I would almost trip over him, occasionally stepping on him despite my attempts not to do so. It was a very challenging thing to try to give him food; he was obsessed with food until he wasn’t.

I’ll miss you, Midnight Green, Middy, That Darn Screw-Loose Cat.

Recently deceased rodent

mighty hunters?

I got up Monday morning. There was a small, recently deceased rodent at the top of the stairs, it seemed; the lighting was terrible there. The two cats were both hovering about a foot away from the creature. It was slim, no longer than my cellphone.

First, what was it? It wasn’t a mouse because the tail was way too short. My wife said it was a mole. Or a vole. What is the difference anyway? It was definitely a mole.

The rest of the narrative is less clear. Which, if either of the cats found the animal? Was it alive when they found it? How did it get into the house? It was mighty cold outside, and it’s a century-old building. Our felines are indoor cats. The cats are 10 and 11 years old. This behavior has never occurred before.

Occasionally, one acts as though something behind our kitchen stove fascinates them, but I’ve never seen anything. I assumed it was an insect or arachnid of some sort.

The Instinct to Hunt

From here: “Cats are born to hunt. Even if domesticated cats know they don’t need to catch their own food to survive, they cannot resist the urge and often enjoy the hunt and chase. Some cats that catch prey will bring their owners the dead animals—or, perhaps even more unpleasantly, sometimes ones that are still alive—to show off their prized catch for later consumption, as a teaching aid, or as a gift.”

I’ve read about cats and dogs bringing their owners animals, some of them alive. Google “dog brings owner live rat,” or better yet, don’t.

This is a new side of our furry friends’ personalities. I’m hoping we don’t don’t see any more presents.

The faux hunters

They are are also hostile to the neighborhood cats. In fact, when I was taking the dead rodent to the trash, there was a cat on our front porch who I had to block from coming into our house. THAT would not have been pretty, based on the hostility that Midnight still shows Stormy occasionally after a decade together.

Sunday Stealing – Surveys

L.L. Bean

This week’s Sunday Stealing is Surveys. But isn’t it Saturday? Why yes it is.

Before that, I want to do some light kvetching. There’s a walkway between our house and the neighbor’s. Two Wednesdays ago, there was a bunch of trash on the ground. I figured it might have blown over – it has been occasionally windy – and it would be picked up by Thursday night with the city garbage pickup on Friday morning.

But it was still there Friday afternoon when I took this picture. Fortunately, it was disposed of by Saturday morning, but now there are TWO shopping carts, one from Whole Foods, the nearest one of which is four miles away. Since there are at least four apartments in the building, I don’t know who to ask, and there’s enough turnover there that I don’t know anyone there presently.

I can’t talk to the absentee landlord because he is a piece of work. He scraped my wife’s vehicle with his rusty pickup truck last month, white paint from our car on his rust bucket. Moreover, there are two witnesses to this.

Where were we?

. How long was your last phone conversation?

About a half hour, with my baby sister.

2. Have you ever dyed your hair?

Not ever.

3. What do you have on your feet?

Slippers. It’s always slippers if I’m at home. Maybe socks if I’ve been out covered by slippers.

4. Do people ever mispronounce your name?

It’s a pretty easy name. Still I’ve been called Robert and, most often George; I think it’s the consonant thing. When I was waiting to read at the Ironweed marathon reading, I heard the announcer say, Next up:, Roger Breen” or something that wasn’t my name.

5. Where did you get the shirt you are wearing?

My wife bought it from L.L. Bean, which was the Final JEOPARDY response in the game I lost; I was the only one to get it right, taking me from third to second place.

6. Does any part of your body hurt right now?

My feet. My knees, which are bone-on-bone. The left one is particularly exhausting.

7. Do you drink hard liquor?

Very seldom. But I have a LOT in my house for guests. But we don’t havce a lot of guests, mostly because we have a demented cat.

8. Have you ever read a book in one sitting?

Other than children’s books, perhaps many years ago.

Felines

9. Do you like cats? Why or why not?

As noted, our male cat is demented. The female cat is skittish but nice. I tend to be pleasant to the neighbor cats. There was a calico cat on the front porch this week and I talked nicely to it. Related: there was a dead mouse on the walkway to our sidewalk this Wednesday; I kicked it onto our lawn, intending to pick it up on Thursday night for trash night, but it was gone. Friday morning, there was that dead creatrure on our front porch and ANOTHER dead mouse on the back porch, presents, I believe, from the calico cat, who was in our backyard. Oh, cat, you SHOULDN’T have – really, you shouldn’t.

10. Do you like the ocean?

Sure. Looking out from the San Diego area is particularly lovely.

11. Ever think you might have seen a UFO?

Perhaps.

12. Do you type fast?

Not at all.

13. How long are you usually in the shower for?

Ten minutes, maximum.

14. Chinese food or Mexican food?

Yes. But I’ve had Mexican food recently, whereas it’s been possibly pre-COVID since I had Chinese food.

15. Do you read and believe your horoscope?

A friend of mine got me a very detailed horoscope probably four decades ago or more. It took into account my time of birth, the location, etc. It seemed pretty accurate It’s around here SOMEWHERE, but it certainly has not informed the way I lived my life

A Sedingerian ARA post

the rules of curling

Kelly Sedinger asked a slew of questions for Ask Roger Anything. And he’s not even from New Jersey. (An old SNL reference.) This makes this a Sedingerian post. Or a Sedingeresque post. You decide.

What do you think of Spam? The actual food product! (I’m still stunned at how beloved it is in Hawaii; you can get Spam at McDonald’s there!)

When my then-girlfriend/now wife went there in 1995 with her parents, she reported the same phenomenon. By the way, I ended up going to New Orleans for work at the same time.

I’m sure I used to eat Spam when I was a kid, maybe in my twenties. As I recall, I liked it. But I’m not sure I’ve had it in the past four decades. I’ll have to try it again.

BTW, from the SPAM FAQ: The true root of the island’s love for SPAM® products goes back to World War II, when the luncheon meat was served to GIs. By the end of the war, SPAM® products were adopted into local culture, with Fried SPAM® Classic and rice becoming a popular meal. The unique flavor quickly found its way into other Hawaiian cuisine, from SPAM® Fried Wontons to SPAM® Musubi, and SPAM® products became a fixture for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Today you’ll find SPAM® dishes served everywhere from convenience stores to restaurants, reflecting a demand that is unmatched by any place in the world.”

Timeshare

For whatever reason, you are required to spend one week someplace that’s no more than an hour away from home. Where are you going?

There’s a timeshare in western Massachusetts that we’ve been to perhaps 25 times in the past quarter of a century. It was initially my parents-in-law’s place, but we’ve taken it over in the place few years.

Once, we were there when our then-baby daughter got a splinter, and we couldn’t get it out. So we took her to a doctor in Albany, then returned to the timeshare the same day.

Sports report

Do you understand the rules of curling? I do not. In fact, I’m not convinced the whole thing isn’t an elaborate prank.

I looked at the rules for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. And I STILL don’t understand them.

Favorite obscure sport?

Foot archery, of course. It is something that I could never do.

Food eating contests: your feelings? (I loathe them, but that’s just me.)

It’s fairly revolting, gluttony as sport; it’s on ESPN! And yet I know Joey Chestnut’s name.

What’s one lesson you learned from any one teacher you had as a kid?

My fifth-grade teacher, Miss Oberlik, taught us to count to 19 in Russian. I can still do that.

Milk as a beverage: Yes or no?

Yes and no. Yes, when served with cookies or, I suppose, pastries. No, when on cereal.

Why is my cat such a doofus? (I doubt you can answer this, but it’s been much on our minds of late)

One of my cats is a doofus. When I come in from outdoors, he runs to the door like he wants to go out. About four years ago, he did go out, and he was terrified when he finally returned over an hour later. Many felines are doofi.

Two more questions will be answered forthwith. Or with forth.