I like to help Mom as she is doing things around the house. I’m just not sure she always appreciates the things I do as her helper. This week she was changing the sheets on the bed. Once she had the blankets off, I sat on the sheets so they didn’t get pulled off with the blankets. She picked me up to move me off the bed twice! Then I thought she should at least hold me for a few minutes when she picked me up.

When she started to put the fitted sheet on, I wanted to make certain that she had it all of the way on at the corners. Next she added the top sheet right over the top of me. Because it was chilly that day, I thought that maybe I’d just stay snugged in there for a while. When she put the blanket on, it was too much so I crawled out and sat on the blanket. She kept moving me so she could spread out the blanket. If she would have just let me do it, I’m sure I could have gotten it smooth rather than bumpy like she had it before she started to put on the quilt. I really do like to help.

I even sat inside the duvet cover as she pulled it over the quilt. She pulled me out and handed me to Dad when he came in the bedroom. I like to be half on his chest and then half on his back with my tummy over his shoulder. Of course I do need to use my claws a bit to stay there. He asked Mom to take me off his back. She sat me on the duvet cover. I should have just stayed there to help her more. I knows she really needs my help!

Mom helped me start this blog 6 months ago because for most of 2023, I’ve had a health issue. I wanted to share that information with all of you yesterday, but Mom said that after a late night working the election (she didn’t get home until 11:15) she was too tired to help me write. She also muttered something about me reminding her to get up by 6 AM. Anyway we didn’t post yesterday. Today will work.

Early last January, I developed a cough. It didn’t start out as an everyday thing, but just occasionally. Then the cough got worse. I would cough until I would throw up. Not fun or pretty. Mom took me to the vet, but that was a day where my cough wasn’t bothering me. Mom and the vet discussed that I might have an allergy. Mom said that I reminded her of how she acted when her seasonally allergies set off her asthma. The vet gave her some pills for me to take. I tried to tell her to save her money. There is no way she is going to get one pill into me let alone a daily pill for 10 days. I am proud of my ability to wait a minute and then cough that pill out and leave it on the counter.

Mom read on the internet that cats can have asthma, and that it usually a response to allergies. She also read that the same inhalers that she uses can be used for cats. She even found a mask that covered a cat’s face to allow the inhaler to be more effective. She was smart enough to not buy it! She did use her inhaler to blow it into my face. I didn’t mind, and it seemed to help for a while.

Over Memorial Day weekend, I got worse. I started to gasp for a breath and the inhaler didn’t help. I was one sick kitty. On Tuesday, Mom to me back to the vet. She was afraid I had heart issues. Both she and the vet were surprised that ex-rays showed that my heart and lungs were fine, but that my intestine was irritated (all that throwing up.) That is when the vet said I had some type of obstruction in my throat. Mom said that I didn’t eat birds or chicken bones. The vet decided on surgery and Mom agreed.

The obstruction was a lima bean sized tumor. The vet took it out. 11 staples from my chin to my breast bone and I was ready to go home. Mom cuddled me a lot over the next few days. The worst part was that they expected me to like eating canned cat food. Yuck! All I wanted was my dry kibble. I’ve eaten it all of my life. It tastes much better than the 2 dozen types of canned food Mom tried. Sophia, however, loved that stuff. Now we wait for the pathologists report. That tumor could be cancer.

Not only did the vet tell Mom that I needed to have soft (canned) food, but that I was to live a quiet life for the next ten days. Now if she meant I shouldn’t talk, that would not be an issue. I rarely share my thoughts out loud. I have trained Mom to read my mind. She does it with Dad and his aphasia all of the time. I don’t even purr out loud. I consider that a personal thing. No, Dr. Gray meant that I wasn’t to jump or run. When I first got home, I had such a sore throat and a headache all I wanted was a nice long nap. By the second day, of course I intended to jump up. How else could I see the world as a cat should? I didn’t have a case of the zoomies. I usually only run if Sophia decides to chase me. I’m happy to walk with a purpose. I am a male cat!

Dr. Gray also sent home a whole bag full of medicine. This presented an issue. I refuse to take pills and with the staples in my neck Mom can’t really be mean and hold the scruff of my neck. I also did not want her shove that nasty tasting antibiotic into my mouth. I really good at spitting that back at her. There is also the injections she needed to give me twice a day to reduce any pain. For that she asked for help from the cat lady next door. We got through that with only a bit of effort. After about 4 days, I saw the cat lady coming and decided to hid. Enough is enough. Mom did take me back to the vet’s office for a big shot of antibiotic. That hurt.

We still had to deal with the nasty canned food. Mom bought at least a dozen kinds. Yuck, yuck and more yuck. I know she had some kind of powder she was stirring into the food. She thought I didn’t like the powder. She finally tried some type with gravy. The powder mixed in just fine. I ate the gravy part and left the chunky part for Sophia. It isn’t that I can’t swallow the chunky part because I do eat my kibble. I just don’t like the taste. She really needs to just find something that is 99% gravy.

Now it is nap time as I wait to get these staples out of my neck and Mom waits for the pathologist report. That will determine how long I need to keep eating the gravy with the powder. Let’s hope it is only a few more days.