Saturday's news

Gatto's blood work was all negative, so the vet suggested some x-rays, in case she has a tumor or something else that is not yet palpable. But after I described the way Gatto had yesterday reacted to her food, taking a slurp then quickly backing away from the dish, it was decided that the next area of investigation should be her gum inflammation and ulcers.

She got penicillin and a long-lasting steroid . The vet also gave her 100ml of water, by subcutaneous injection, to address her dehydration for now. We are to watch her and report in on Tuesday afternoon.

Later this morning, Shadow appeared on the front porch. He entered about halfway into his now less spacious box, but apparently found it not to his liking. I pulled out the quilt and replaced it with an old wool sweater.

Also visiting this morning were the as yet unnamed black cat and our next door neighbor's newest addition, Booger. Although he is already well named by his eleven year old owner, in any discussion I usually append the words "the cat who bit me "

Gatto sees the vet

The vet confirmed Gatto's substantial weight loss: from 13.2 pounds last June she is down to only 9.7 pounds. We will get the results of her bloodwork tomorrow, so musing over the possible causes isn't helpful (or cheerful) tonight.

She has become such a recluse lately, either hiding under our bed or disappearing into the laundryroom in the basement. She used to make such a pest of herself, parading back and forth on the computer desk, demanding our attention.

Shadow's box

Today I upgraded Shadow's porch box by adding a small quilt to supplement the closed cell foam insulation. While I'm sure that it will be warmer now -and just in time for the predicted Arctic intrusion this weekend- I'm concerned that I may have left too small of a sleeping space even for this little cat. I haven't seen him on the front porch since early this morning.