Fred Update

Fred gave himself a pretty thorough bath this evening, which is good because I was going to give him one this weekend.  This is a big deal.  It means that he is starting to really recover because unhappy, unhealthy cats don't give themselves baths, but healthy, happy ones do.  Of course his previous lack of bathing may also have had something to do with a lack of fur.  Thankfully his fur is growing back in and he is a lovely golden color, a nice contrast to Jasmine who is a cat of a silvery hue.

We still have a ways to go, however, to be fully recovered.  He still walks a little awkwardly, and occasionally wobbles, rather than moving with the fluid grace typical of cats.  He has started showing an interest in toys and catnip, which is good.  He and Jasmine talk to each other, although we're not sure if Fred can hear, we think he may be at least partially deaf.  They also have the occasional spat where they swipe at each other and hiss, but thankfully no knock down drag outs.  He is spending a lot more time downstairs and even exploring the house on his own.

I'm also trying to get his gut working consistently.  When we first got him he was constipated and the vet gave him an enema.  He was fine for a little while but then got constipated again.  His belly was bulging and he was in such distress, really straining to use the litter box, that I took him to the vet and they gave him another enema.  When he got constipated again about a week after that, despite the fact that I had switched him to some food that was supposed to help, I got him some tuna fish in oil.  That got things flowing again.  He is back on his regular food, with the addition of pumpkin, which he really likes.  Hopefully we'll get his plumbing working consistently soon, but he has been very good about using his litter boxes (I have two set up, one upstairs in his room and one downstairs).

Here is a more flattering photo of him sleeping.