I am catsitting our neighbor’s cat again. As many of you know, her name is also Frankie.
She has had a cat door for several months now, but she only goes out it, she will not go in through it for some unknown reason unless someone holds it open for her. The last time I took care of her she was always at the door waiting to come in when I arrived between six and seven in the morning. This time she has been nowhere to be found the last couple of mornings, including this morning.
The photo above was taken while Rose and I were out walking our Frankie well after eight. She was hanging out at a neighbor’s house. I think it was around eleven when she was ready to come in.
Here are photos of my mother-in-law’s cat from January 2017. Pumpkin passed away two or three years ago, and my wife’s mother passed in February. Rose’s sister adopted her two cats so, at least they still have a good home.
I know it is hard to see but there is a small bird on the bird feeder. I opened the door this morning to let Frankie onto the catio and the bird didn’t move. He stopped eating and watched, but he stayed put (I use “he” in a generic sense because I don’t like “it.”). Then when Frankie jumped onto the storage box, I thought surely the bird would fly away, but again he stayed put. I left to get my phone and was certain he would be gone when I came back but still, he stayed, even after I opened the door again to get the shot.
On another note, does anyone know if Pam from One Spoiled Cat is okay?
Google automatically backs up my photos, and they informed me my drive was full, so I was looking for pictures to delete when I came across this picture of Chris and Floki. It was taken August 22, 2024, and is the fourth from the last photo I have of Chris. I thought I would share it.
I brought Floki to the vet on Wednesday because his groomer, who normally trimmed his nails, went out of business. Since Floki is a category 5 tornado when it comes to doing anything halfway unpleasant, the vet was the only nearby option. Since he was going to the vet, my wife thought it would be good to have the bumps on his neck checked out, so we scheduled him for a checkup as well as a nail trim. It was the first time either of our cats have visited the vet since before we moved here almost two years ago.
His appointment was at three, but my wife had to get on a conference call at two-thirty. Since I needed her help to catch the tornado, we managed to get him in the carrier five or ten minutes before her meeting.
I drove the ten minutes to the vet and was there twenty minutes early. About ten minutes after three, they put me in a room and then made me wait there with Floki for ten minutes shy of an eternity. I wished I had brought a razor.
Eventually they took Floki to the back and a while later the vet came in to talk to me. He told me his flea collar was causing the bumps on his neck. He said Floki was probably irritated by it and was scratching his neck near the collar. He told me he was not a fan of flea collars for that reason. He then said that he couldn’t do an exam on Floki because his three-year rabies vaccination had recently expired and state law forbade him from examining an unvaccinated pet. I thought the requirement was stupid for an indoor cat. I also wondered how he examined him to determine the cause of the bumps around the neck, but I didn’t ask.
It is here where I need to explain why we started using the Serresto collars. When Floki got the rabie’s vaccination, they also applied a topical flea medication to him. When he returned home, he walked around the house like a drunk sailor. He even fell over a couple of times. It was concerning but we didn’t know if he was reacting to the flea medication or the vaccine. To be safe, the next time he needed a flea treatment we switched to the collar.
I told my concerns to the vet. I said I hesitated to get him vaccinated because I didn’t know if that was the cause of his reaction. The vet suspected it was more likely the vaccine than the flea medication. He suggested a one-year vaccine which is less potent. I felt backed into a corner, so I agreed to the vaccination.
They took Floki away for a while and when the vet tech came back, she said Floki had an ear infection. They cleaned his ears, which was almost impossible because he was like a little twister. It’s funny she said “twister” because we use the same word to describe him. It is why we have to have someone else trim his nails. She also mentioned problems with his teeth and suggested we bring him in for a dental cleaning.
They gave me the medication and said I needed to put it in Floki’s ears every day. I told her there was no way we were going to be able to hold him down to put medicine in one ear. Two ears would be out of the question. She said if he were a dog they had a long lasting antibiotic but they didn’t have it for cats.
I called them the next day to learn about the teeth cleaning but the person at the desk didn’t know what I was talking about because it wasn’t on his chart and the vet was in surgery all day. She eventually got back to me saying we should brush his teeth every day. Really? The vet said that after experiencing him firsthand?
She did say we could bring him in for a cleaning which starts at well over $600 and could go higher if there are issues. There are always issues.
We did find out that they do have an option for a one-time antibiotic for his ears and we have an appointment for him Wednesday morning for that treatment. I also ordered a couple of treats designed to clean teeth. I know it is not the same as brushing, but we can only do what we can do.
I didn’t have a picture of Floki at the vet except for the one I already used so I thought I would post one of Frankie and Floki that I haven’t used yet.
My newest book titled For the Love of Chris is out now. It is about Chris’s life but told from the perspective of Chris himself.
Technically, the book is fiction because, well, cats are not known from their ability to write non-fiction. Also, the first part of the book, which talks about his early life, is pure speculation based on hearsay and the few early documents that I have. If you are interested, the book is available on Amazon here. You will also be able to get it on other retailers soon.
Here is a snippet from the book:
A couple of days later, Rose and Chuck showed up again. This time I showered them with ear licks and nose bites. It worked. They took me to their home.
They opened my carrier in a room that seemed designed for cats. It was similar to the shelter, only smaller. I stepped out of the carrier and jumped onto the big cat tree near a window that overlooked a pond. That seemed interesting, but I had more important things to do. I needed to survey my new territory.
A big ginger cat lay on the floor, watching me. I left the room and checked out the rest of the home. There were more rooms like the one I was in, but those had big beds in them and no cat trees. I examined every room and found more cats who just watched me. None of them wanted to challenge me. This home desperately needed an alpha cat, and I was ready to fill that role.
I soon learned that Chuck and Rose were my new mom and dad. Of course, they were not cats, but they acted as if they were in charge, like my cat mom did. The major difference was that with my cat mom, I was more inclined to listen and even sometimes obey.
You can read more about the book from my personal blog here. Let me know what you think.
I am here with Floki at the vet for the first time in quite a while. I had been taking him to a nearby groomer that went out of business to get his nails trimmed but now the only place that will do it nearby is the vet. I figured it wouldn’t hurt for him to get a checkup while we’re here.
We haven’t seen the vet yet so I have nothing to report but I’m sure he’s fine.
Yesterday was the two-year anniversary of Chris’s passing. I wanted to post something about it yesterday, but I lost track of time and didn’t think about it until today. I also wanted to publish the new book about his life on that day, but my cover artist’s mother fell ill and the cover was delayed. It arrived this morning.
I added text to it and formatted it, which I will show you when it is ready, perhaps tomorrow. What do you think?
I thought a lot about Chris while writing the book and I hope this keeps his memory alive. He really was special and is missed very much.
Bad Cat Chris 