Thursday, January 27, 2005

A Cat Update

I have so far been able to resist the temptation of cat-blogging, that mild disease that crops up among bloggers, particularly on Friday, to show pictures of their pets. No guarentees that I won't fall prey to this, but for the moment I remain resolute. However, its Thursday and its been over a month since I mentioned them, so here's an update on our new arrivals Harley and Vic.

The good news is that they came out from behind the bookcase soon after the previous post. For most of the next two weeks, we kept the old cat, Emily, and the new (called collectively as "the kittens") cloistered in separate parts of the house, which is easier said than done because we have a relatively open framework. Now they are all getting free run of the house, and while there has been must hissing and some batting attacks between the major players, a heirarchy is setting up. Emily, the eldest, is in charge, though she distains the others mightily. Vic is the middle child, and the subject of much of Emily's ire as she keeps pressing the boundaries. Harley is #3, and generally oblivious to the fact that there is a heirarchy.

Harley is almost the most outgoing of the cats, following people from room to room, and the one most willing to play. The house is now littered with cat toys that she has batted into semi-impossible locations. Harley reminds me very much of Longshot, such that the Lovely Bride and I both get her gender mixed up with his.

Vic remains more timid, though her favorite spot is in my office, parked on top of the hot air vent. She warms to people slowly, but once she decides that your lap is hers, she is all over you. Harley and Vic are siblings, but miles apart in personality.

Emily, for her part, is an elderly woman deprived of her nap by the kids thundering around the house. She is, at best, tolerant of the situation. Though the interior doors are kept open, she has made it quite clear that the bedroom at night, where the owners sleep, is her turf.

The two new kids continue to have eye problems (A squint to right eye). Diagnosis A, which was to be fixed with eye drops, has been discarded, only to be replaced by Diagnosis B, which requires an ointment inside the eyelid and coupled with pilling the cats. Vic is impossible to catch, but once caught, very easy to pill. Harley is easy to catch, but fights and struggles once she is in captivity. I'm hoping the new diagnosis is correct, but Dianosis C is called feline eye herpes. (Let as pause as we, as a nation, join together to say "eeeeewwwww!").

So life goes on with them, and I make it a month without posting pictures of them.

More later,