• Announcements

    • Robin

      Welcome!   03/05/2016

      Welcome, everyone, to the new 910CMX Community Forums. I'm still working on getting them running, so things may change.  If you're a 910 Comic creator and need your forum recreated, let me know and I'll get on it right away.  I'll do my best to make this new place as fun as the last one!
Sign in to follow this  
ProfessorTomoe

Loudmouth's Journey Inside

Recommended Posts

The previous pic is part of Mrs. Prof's semi-nightly ritual. When she gets home with enough time, she'll go through an entire scratch & pet session with Baker. He loves it when she scratches him under the neck. It almost looks like he's achieved cat nirvana.

 

 

When I scratch him under the neck, I put my hands at risk.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Just now, CritterKeeper said:

He's handsome and he knows it!

*singing*

If you're feline and you know it, groom your paw!
If you're feline and you know it, groom your paw!
If you're feline and you know it and you really want to show it
If you're feline and you know it, groom your paw!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Mrs. Prof tells me that Loudmouth did several things while I was passed out from the Lyrica this morning. First, She took a nap and Loudmouth got up on the bed with her. Second, he found the cat water fountain  that we have. He didn't figure out how to drink from the waterfall part like Baker does, but he did drink from the "pool" around it. Finally, our problem with figuring out what he likes to scratch was solved when he jumped up in my music computer chair and started scratching the back I lean against.

No no no no no. That last one's got to stop, and it's got to stop NOW. I'm setting up the Ssscat cans so that he can't get near it, if we ever decide to let him out of the cat room at night.

Vaguely related to that subject, Loudmouth's most definitely using the litter box in the master bedroom. There hasn't been a bed pee incident in a day. In fact, I think he yowled this morning for us to come and see what he'd done. Either that, or the vet missed something and it's hurting him to pee. I hope it's not the latter.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Loudmouth is a bit on the sick side. He has occasional sneezes and has barfed a couple of times. Mrs. Prof captured a photo of him before the barfing began:

large.Loudmouth_20170802_sneezy_01a.jpg

However, we now seem to be having problems with Baker. He is freaking out over Loudmouth to a degree that we haven't seen before. Even the briefest trips outside the room can become problems. He runs up to Loudmouth, who turns and stands his ground with a full-on male-sounding hiss. (Only rarely has Baker ever hissed, and it sounds juvenile because he was neutered as a kitten.) Eventually, Loudmouth gets fed up with it and goes under a bed to get away from Baker's harassment.

Baker is in full-blown jealous mode. Case in point: both cats in the master bedroom, Loudmouth on the master bedroom corner near the door, Baker on a cat tree near the window. If I walk past Loudmouth and go to Baker, he'll let me pet him profusely. However, if I give Loudmouth any attention at all before going to Baker, Baker will try to bite and/or scratch me.

Mrs. Prof is going to pick up something for Baker from the vet (not sure what, but it's not Lorazepam) to try and calm him down. I am physically not capable of chasing after two cats while Mrs. Prof is on a work conference call. We need some help. Honestly, we thought Loudmouth would be the problem, but it's turned out that Baker is the neurotic one.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Loudmouth is a bit on the sick side. He has occasional sneezes and has barfed a couple of times. Mrs. Prof captured a photo of him before the barfing began:

large.Loudmouth_20170802_sneezy_01a.jpg

However, we now seem to be having problems with Baker. He is freaking out over Loudmouth to a degree that we haven't seen before. Even the briefest trips outside the room can become problems. He runs up to Loudmouth, who turns and stands his ground with a full-on male-sounding hiss. (Only rarely has Baker ever hissed, and it sounds juvenile because he was neutered as a kitten.) Eventually, Loudmouth gets fed up with it and goes under a bed to get away from Baker's harassment.

Baker is in full-blown jealous mode. Case in point: both cats in the master bedroom, Loudmouth on the master bedroom corner near the door, Baker on a cat tree near the window. If I walk past Loudmouth and go to Baker, he'll let me pet him profusely. However, if I give Loudmouth any attention at all before going to Baker, Baker will try to bite and/or scratch me.

Mrs. Prof is going to pick up something for Baker from the vet (not sure what, but it's not Lorazepam) to try and calm him down. I am physically not capable of chasing after two cats while Mrs. Prof is on a work conference call. We need some help. Honestly, we thought Loudmouth would be the problem, but it's turned out that Baker is the neurotic one.

Loudmouth looks like he has gained weight from the 1st set of pictures.  Living indoors seem good for him.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
10 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Loudmouth is a bit on the sick side. He has occasional sneezes and has barfed a couple of times. Mrs. Prof captured a photo of him before the barfing began

Gorgeous cat, as always!  Sorry to hear he's been havign tummy trouble.

10 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Mrs. Prof is going to pick up something for Baker from the vet (not sure what, but it's not Lorazepam) to try and calm him down. I am physically not capable of chasing after two cats while Mrs. Prof is on a work conference call. We need some help. Honestly, we thought Loudmouth would be the problem, but it's turned out that Baker is the neurotic one.

It's not unusual for the cat whose territory is, from his perspective, being invaded, to have a problem with the situation,  Something to help reduce his anxiety sounds good.  There are several meds commonly used; let me know which one your vet is trying!

8 hours ago, mlooney said:

Loudmouth looks like he has gained weight from the 1st set of pictures.  Living indoors seem good for him.

Just be careful not to overshoot the mark!  Google "Body Condition Score" and look at some of the charts to see how heavy is too heavy and how thin is too thin.  :-)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, CritterKeeper said:
Quote

Mrs. Prof is going to pick up something for Baker from the vet (not sure what, but it's not Lorazepam) to try and calm him down. I am physically not capable of chasing after two cats while Mrs. Prof is on a work conference call. We need some help. Honestly, we thought Loudmouth would be the problem, but it's turned out that Baker is the neurotic one.

It's not unusual for the cat whose territory is, from his perspective, being invaded, to have a problem with the situation,  Something to help reduce his anxiety sounds good.  There are several meds commonly used; let me know which one your vet is trying!

It's called Amitriptyline (a.k.a. Elavil), and it's a bear to get into him. I had to exert my entire force against his 20 limbs. Once we got it inside him, he did stone out a bit. Loudmouth was already in bed in his room, though, so we couldn't tell if it did any good.  We'll get until 2:30 p.m. CDT tomorrow to find out if it did him any good on the first dose (most likely not).

4 hours ago, CritterKeeper said:
13 hours ago, mlooney said:

Loudmouth looks like he has gained weight from the 1st set of pictures.  Living indoors seem good for him.

Just be careful not to overshoot the mark!  Google "Body Condition Score" and look at some of the charts to see how heavy is too heavy and how thin is too thin.  :-)

Trust me, with his barfing, he's not overshooting the mark. Mrs. Prof started him on some antibiotic last night so he wouldn't barf any more.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, we *think* it was Baker who did the barfing this morning, based on the location. I hadn't seen Loudmouth come into the computer room, which is where the barfage was located.

A little while later, I heard meowing noises from both of them, coming from the master bedroom. I went back and saw something very backward: Loudmouth was sitting in the center of the bed, while Baker was sitting on the night stand next to Loudmouth's favorite cushion stack. There was no indication of a kerfuffle. I turned around and left, only to hear loud sneezing as I reached the end of the hall—sneezing coming from Loudmouth. He felt a bit warm, so it's a good thing he's on antibiotic. It's also a good thing that Baker's on Elavil, since he tolerated me touching Loudmouth before I touched him.

Oh, one complication: Mrs. Prof has to cut the Elavil in half and shove it down Baker's throat with a water chaser. That makes for a less than pleasant dosing experience.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

A little while later, I heard meowing noises from both of them, coming from the master bedroom. I went back and saw something very backward: Loudmouth was sitting in the center of the bed, while Baker was sitting on the night stand next to Loudmouth's favorite cushion stack. There was no indication of a kerfuffle. I turned around and left, only to hear loud sneezing as I reached the end of the hall—sneezing coming from Loudmouth. He felt a bit warm, so it's a good thing he's on antibiotic. It's also a good thing that Baker's on Elavil, since he tolerated me touching Loudmouth before I touched him.

Glad the meds seem to be doing their job, then!

3 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Oh, one complication: Mrs. Prof has to cut the Elavil in half and shove it down Baker's throat with a water chaser. That makes for a less than pleasant dosing experience.

Try wrapping the half-pill in a very small amount of Pill Pocket, or even just mush a tiny bit of cheese, turkey, butter, anything that would both taste better and smooth off the rough edges of the half-pill.  You definitely do need to follow a cut pill with water; cats have been known to get pills stuck in their throats and end up with esophagitis.  If pilling is too difficult, they might be able to order a compounded flavored liquid instead, just might cost a bit more than pills.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
5 hours ago, CritterKeeper said:

Try wrapping the half-pill in a very small amount of Pill Pocket, or even just mush a tiny bit of cheese, turkey, butter, anything that would both taste better and smooth off the rough edges of the half-pill.  You definitely do need to follow a cut pill with water; cats have been known to get pills stuck in their throats and end up with esophagitis.  If pilling is too difficult, they might be able to order a compounded flavored liquid instead, just might cost a bit more than pills.

Mrs. Prof has a jar of Pill Masker for Cats. We tried that last night. Did not go well. She forced it down, anyway.

Most of the day has been harmonious. Very quiet, no issues, save one: Mrs. Prof thought that the litter box in the master bedroom was now a communal litterbox. Not so. Result = bed pee from Loudmouth. It seems he doesn't like to share.

I'm not looking forward to the repeat of last night's wrestling match with Baker. I don't think he'll trust either of us tonight.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I tried a bit of an experiment this morning. Baker was perched on his cat tree, while Loudmouth was on the bed. I decided to pay attention to Loudmouth first and see if yesterday's calm was a fluke. Baker got a bit agitated, but not much. Then I picked up Loudmouth and carried him out of the bedroom. When I returned, Baker was on the edge of his tree. I put Loudmouth down on the floor. Baker came down after him. Loudmouth jumped up onto the bed, and Baker followed up with a claw extended. I had to intervene.

Yesterday's calm was a bit of a fluke after all.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The recent lack of bed pee may have been a fluke as well. We're still putting Loudmouth in the cat room at night, because we can't trust what he'll do to the bed (or what Baker will do to him). The past couple of days, we started noticing an odor that smelled like burnt Feliway. Mrs. Prof investigated and found bed pee in the cat room, of unknown duration. She's attacked it with enzyme and is washing the bed materials down now.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On ‎08‎/‎05‎/‎2017 at 9:34 AM, ProfessorTomoe said:

see if yesterday's calm was a fluke

 

3 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

recent lack of bed pee may have been a fluke

Sounds like you're Floundering.  Put your Sole into it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Mrs. Prof led me back to get Baker for his Elavil half-pill tonight. We couldn't find him at first, until we went into our son's old darkened bedroom. She gasped, with no explanation. Failing one, I stuck my head around the corner and saw Baker and Loudmouth sitting on the bed, side-by-side, like friends. Seriously, it was almost too good a scene to disrupt.

Unfortunately, there was bed pee tonight, so we're back to square one on that.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Mrs. Prof led me back to get Baker for his Elavil half-pill tonight. We couldn't find him at first, until we went into our son's old darkened bedroom. She gasped, with no explanation. Failing one, I stuck my head around the corner and saw Baker and Loudmouth sitting on the bed, side-by-side, like friends. Seriously, it was almost too good a scene to disrupt.

I wish you had gotten a picture. Oh, speaking of, thank Mrs. Prof for all the trail camera pictures she has been kind enough to share. They are adorable, especially the ones of your feral colony feeding :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

I wish you had gotten a picture. Oh, speaking of, thank Mrs. Prof for all the trail camera pictures she has been kind enough to share. They are adorable, especially the ones of your feral colony feeding :)

Thanks to a certain someone for making them possible. :D I feel like she hasn't been using it enough lately. She may have reason now—two of the neutered males have become allies, based on what she's seen through the window. One is a tabby we call Big Tom. The other is a black cat with a white tuft under its chin—we call him Trouble, for all the trouble he gave her in the trap cage. I'll see if she can get photos of them.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A rare shared picture:

large.Both_20170808_01c.jpg

Loudmouth (foreground) and Baker (background) sharing a moment on the master bed this morning ... with the waterproof cover on the bed, of course.

I have learned that Loudmouth is a nuzzler. Baker never has been—he's an "I *might* let you touch me" cat. Loudmouth seeks out human contact when it's nearby. Baker's jealous as hell over this, of course.

P.S.—Baker just barfed his breakfast in the middle of getting treats. Sigh.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Found more bed pee, this time on Loudmouth's mattress. Don't know when it happened, but Mrs. Prof thinks he did it right after she prevented him from making a dash outside. He was pretty pissed at her (hands /me the list). I got him to calm down and slow blink at me.

BTW, on the subject of nuzzling, Mrs. Prof says she's never got Loudmouth to nuzzle her. Then again, Baker is really her cat, while Loudmouth is turning out to be mine, affection-wise.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
24 minutes ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

He was pretty pissed at her (hands /me the list). I got him to calm down and slow blink at me.

BTW, on the subject of nuzzling, Mrs. Prof says she's never got Loudmouth to nuzzle her. Then again, Baker is really her cat, while Loudmouth is turning out to be mine, affection-wise.

/me makes a notation.

Both of "my" cats started out as rescues that my then wife did.  Vickie was some what less than thrilled about her doing all the work of bringing them inside and they decided that I was their human, not her.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

We're not sure if we got Baker's pill down inside him last night. Seems like we didn't, because Baker has been stalking Loudmouth all morning long. I've had to get on Baker's case for swatting at Loudmouth once already. I can't track them like this all day. I hope they tire each other out.

Yes, Mrs. Prof is working from her office today. That's how I inherited cat watching duties. I *think* I just calmed Baker down a bit with some treats ... or powered him up. Not sure which.

... aaaand Baker just barfed up his treats, along with everything else in his stomach. No more treats for Mr. Baker.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this