Rest in Peace Fred

It is with a very heavy heart that I write this.  My dear sweet Fred passed this morning around 2am.  He became sick this past week and declined very quickly.  The vets did what they could for him, but it was his time.  He was a very Zen kitty, a simple soul and one of the sweetest cats I have ever known.  I will miss him.  He was almost completely deaf when he came to us, but he still had one heck of a meow.  I will miss his talking.  I'm having him cremated and will get his ashes in a box with his name on it.  My other cat, Jasmine, is being very sweet and giving me lots of love.

Fred Update

I had a major break through with Fred last week.  Since we found him on our doorstep a little over a year ago he has been a sweet boy, affectionate, purring, but he didn't come looking for attention.  He would sleep in the spot that I had set up for him on the daybed, and sometimes I would catch him looking at me as if he wanted to come over and get some love but he was afraid to.  And when I would reach out to pet him he would turn away, almost shying away.  It was pretty heartbreaking to see that reaction.  It made me wonder about his past treatment.  I kept at it, giving him scritches and kisses and nuzzling him and he has really started to respond.  He actually has started to arch his back when you stroke him instead of going the other way.  Then last week he came over to me while I was sitting on the daybed and he curled up next to me and he has been doing that consistently ever since.  And this past Tuesday I was out in the kitchen looking at a recipe and I felt a bump against my leg and there was Fred.  He had head butted me!  And he is finally understanding and believing me when I pat the bed beside me or pat my chest.  This evening he was looking at me sitting on the day bed and I patted the bed beside me and up he came up using a different path then he usually does and once he got up on the bed he almost got up on my chest.  I could see that he wanted to but didn't quite have the nerve so I picked him up and he lay curled on my chest purring up a storm.  He's curled up next to me right now, and when I'm gone during the day he curls up in my spot (see the photo above).  He is such a sweet boy, I really don't understand how someone could have just thrown him away.  I'm so glad that he found us.

He and Jasmine are getting along pretty well too.  He's still a little afraid of her, but she has gotten pretty curious about him and twice this week I have had book end kitties while I've been sitting on the day bed - one curled up on each side of me and both aware that the other was there, but totally cool with it.

Fred Update

I think that I've mentioned that Fred's fur is a challenge to keep tangle free, and I have not been successful.  I didn't think that having fur matts would cause problems, but they did.  Almost two weeks ago, Friday May 30, I noticed a nasty bloody thing on Fred's hind quarters.  I took a picture and sent it to my sister Liz, the vet, and her diagnosis was "gross, get medical attention".  It turned out to be an abscess under a fur matt.  We spent the next morning at the vet's getting him taken care of, and then I had to take off for Bead & Button the next day, leaving Fred behind with Bruce.  Today we took him back for a follow-up.  I'm happy to say his abscess is almost completely healed, and while he was there they gave him a bath and trimmed his fur.  See how beautiful my little lion looks?  His trimmed fur is velvety soft.

Fred Update

Fred is doing quite well, now that I know that I have to trim his claws regularly.  Jasmine keeps hers in great shape with her scratching pads, but I have yet to see Fred scratch his claws, and they had gotten so long that they were growing into the pads of his paws.  Poor thing!  Now that his claws are trimmed and his pads are all healed up he is a new man.  Here he is watching kitty TV, with Jasmine chilling in her tower.  Jasmine is pretty tolerant of Fred, and he would really like to be friends with her.  Sometimes he follows her, talking to her.  She remains aloof.

Here is another shot, so you can see his adorable face.  He is keeping an eye out for Jasmine.  I am still working on keeping his fur groomed.  It seems to be a constant battle, but he is getting better about letting me work on him and I am getting better at getting the mats out without hurting him.

Fred Update

Fred is doing well and has pretty much integrated himself into our household.  Here he is curled up on the daybed right next to my spot.  This is the first time he has done this, although he has been seeking more attention lately.  We've been taking him outside, which he really enjoys, and he has proven himself so trust worthy that we even let him out on his own.  Mostly he likes to sit on the deck and enjoy the sights and smells of the outdoor world, but sometimes he likes to take a walk around the house.  This afternoon he sat in a sunbeam for a while.

And last weekend (the first time we let him stay out on his own) he took a bath in the sun (that's a leaf next to his bum).

He is a very fluffy kitty.

Fred Update

I'm happy to report that Fred is doing well.  I have him on wet food (Jasmine prefers dry) and he is putting on weight, slowly but surely.  He is also taking better care of his fur.  This past week I've been taking him outside on supervised walks around the yard.  Being deaf I think he gets very bored in the house.  When he goes outside he is transformed - alert and curious, sniffing and looking at everything.  Here he is taking a nap after a walk in the yard and a bath.  That is his catnip rat that he has his paws on.

Watership Down - Clue 3 Done

Clue 3 of the latest Unique Sheep Mystery Knit Along - Watership Down - came out last night.  It was a short one and I easily finished it before I went to bed, but waited until this morning so I could get a decent shot.


Project:  Watership Down by Janine le Cras
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Selene in Insecta
Needle:  US 3 (3.25 mm)

When I came back downstairs I had to take a picture of my two cats crashed on my daybed.

Fred (on the right) has pretty much taken up residence in that spot.  Jasmine (on the left) has lots of places she likes to sleep, but has staked out the other end of the daybed.  This puts her between me and my husband (he has a leather recliner out of the shot on the left), so she can get lots of scritches.  As you can tell, the daybed is my center of operations for all things knitting and crochet.  The little project bag on the back holds my Unique Sheep Crochet Block of the Month. And the little red stack to the left of that are my iPad, a notebook and my Kindle.  There are also eye glasses and a set of crochet hooks to the left of those.  And my computer in the foreground.  Everything I need close at hand.

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.

Fred Update - Making himself at home

We've been leaving the door to Fred's room open but he has not been venturing out on his own very much, until this weekend.  Our cat Jasmine has been partly responsible.  She has been keeping an eye on Fred, and he has been intimidated by her, even though they have not gotten into any fights.  In fact she doesn't even hiss at him any more and they have even exchanged meows.  I am amazed at her tolerant behavior.  Yesterday Fred ventured downstairs on his own and I set up a spot for him on the daybed with my old polar fleece.  His fur is growing back, but he still gets cold.  He spent most of yesterday curled up there, but I had to take him back to his room yesterday afternoon because I caught him peeing downstairs on the hardwood floor.  I chastised him for his behavior and he took it to heart and stayed in his room for a while, but in the evening he had rejoined us.  I fell asleep on the daybed (as I frequently do) and Bruce was busy puzzling and watching TV when we were roused by a loud yowling.  Fred has a set of lungs on him.  We went looking for him and found him sitting at the top of the stairs looking very pleased with himself.  He had gotten up and gone upstairs and peed in his litter box and he wanted to make sure we knew that he had done the proper thing.  Smart cat.  This morning when I got up he was not in his bed in his room.  I found him sleeping in his spot on the daybed.  It looks like he is starting to make himself at home.

Update on Fred

Fred suffered a little setback on Friday.  Maybe he overdid things on Friday morning, but he ended up sleeping all day and not eating or drinking, and in his already weak condition, he just can't go that long without food and water.  I did get him to eat some chicken breast Friday evening (part of my dinner), but he still wasn't drinking when I put him in his bed Friday night.  He woke me around 4 am on Saturday meowing.  He was out of bed and he was hungry.  He didn't seem interested in the dry cat food and we don't keep wet cat food in the house so I gave him the only thing I had - tuna fish in water. At first he just drank the water, and I kept adding more as he drank.  Every once in a while he would get a bit of tuna fish as well.  He was getting cold though, so I put his little shirt back on - the ladies at the vet clinic had given him a shirt to keep him warm.  He seemed to be settling down again so I went back to bed.  When I got up again around 7:30 I went to check on him and found an empty bowl and a cocooned Fred.  He had gotten his hind legs tucked into the shirt, as well as pulling his front legs in.  I guess he was trying to stay warm, but he was pretty stuck.  I took the shirt off and put him in his bed and tucked him in.  After breakfast and a shower I drove into town to get some canned cat food for him.  I bought small cans figuring one of them was a reasonable size meal for Fred, and I don't like dealing with leftover wet cat food.

With the first can of cat food I did a repeat of the tuna fish, adding water to it, and he mostly just drank the water.  He would get a piece of cat food every once in a while, but seemed to be having some trouble with the size of the chunks so I chopped it up to make it easier for him.  That helped and he drank and ate some more, but then he got cold and tired and went back to bed.  I checked on him regularly throughout the day.  Around dinner time I took away what was left of that first can of cat food and got him a fresh can.  I chopped it up into smaller pieces and when I gave it to him he started eating with the enthusiasm he had shown on his first night with us.  I gave him another can before I went to bed, and he woke me again at 4am wanting breakfast.  He is definitely looking better and is steadier on his feet.  I've offered to let him wander, but he doesn't seem too eager to.  Maybe he realizes that he overdid things on Friday and is taking it a little easier this time around.

Catkin - Finished!

I finally got some small flat buttons to use in attaching my buttons to the shawl so my Catkin is finally done and I've uploaded a picture to The Loopy Ewe.  I've already bought my yarn and pattern for the third Camp Loopy project.  I am doing a top down sweater, but not one of my super simple, super quick, top down raglans out of Fiesta Boomerang.  I've done that for the last two years, and wanted to do something different.  This time I am doing Bloomsbury in Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage in Clematis.

Fred has become ambulatory.  He spent the morning snuggled on the day bed and when we went to take a shower I shut him up in his room.  He immediately started complaining about being shut up.  When I checked on him he was up on the bed.  After our shower we let him back out and he went right down the stairs and started exploring the first floor again.  After watching kitty TV (looking out the sliding glass doors) for a while he went back to the day bed and he is snuggled under the blanket taking another kitty nap.  Poor thing gets cold with no fur.

Pattern:  Catkin by Carina Spencer
Yarn:  Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in Blue Skies Ahead and Rosy
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Fred's New Home

We set up a spot for Fred in one of the spare bedrooms where we can keep him at night and during the day while we are at work.  I hate shutting an animal up, though, even if it is a spacious, comfortable bedroom, and I think he was getting lonely up there.  We are home today, thanks to the furlough, so I brought Fred downstairs with me.  He did some supervised exploring and sat in front of our sliding glass door looking out - we call it watching kitty TV.  He and Jasmine had a couple of encounters, but they were both pretty low key standoffs.  He hissed at her once, and she hissed and growled at him.  He is walking much better, although he is still a little wobbly, and he tires pretty quickly.  Now he is snuggled on the day bed having a kitty nap.

Introducing Fred

As we drove up to the house on Monday afternoon we noticed something laying in front of our garage door.  As we approached it didn't move, but I could tell it was a cat.  A very unhappy cat.  He was skin and bones and what fur wasn't missing was filthy and matted and he was covered in fleas.  I had to move him so we could pull the car into the garage, and after we put away our groceries I got out the cat carrier and we took him to the vet.  From the belly bulge we were afraid he was a she and she was pregnant, but it turned out to be feces.  He was a bit dehydrated.  After two nights at the vet, a shave, an enema and some medicine he is a new man.  We brought him home today.  Our cat Jasmine is a little put out, but she can tell that he is in no shape to challenge her, so her response has been pretty subdued.  A little growling and hissing, but no puffed tail, no aggressive moves.  He is still very weak, but he is also very happy.  I don't think he has stopped purring, not even while he was eating, which he does with enthusiasm.  As to his name, well, when we thought he was a she we were going to name her Ginger, given the coloring.  When they told us she was a he we had to come up with a new name, so I looked at my husband and said, "Well, if it isn't Ginger, it must be Fred."  For those readers who are not classic film fans, I am of course referring to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.