This year he looked worse than usual and we really did worry. He was off his feed all this month. Usually he likes his "kitekat" dry cat food but he now would just nibble at the kibble. We buy fresh whole farm milk with lots of cream. He normally drank two dishes a day but now was just sort of looking at it. He followed us around meowing like he wanted something but he himself didn't know what.
Three days ago I gave him store bought milk. He drank two dishes. We bought a 14 oz can of Whiskas tuna cat food. For the first time in weeks, he smiled and his eyes sparkled. We spread it out over three days which he didn't approve of as he would have inhaled the entire can had we put it out in his dish.
Today he was sleeping in the arm chair. I opened the new can in the kitchen. He didn't move. I walked into the living room and stood in front of the chair. He didn't move. I stuck the open can of tuna under his nose. He moved. He could not have woke up faster if a mouse had bitten him on the nose.
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| Kuchma in late winter with some weight on. |
Allen, maybe your kitty suffers from hearing loss. All it took was a herring aid, and voila, he woke up!
ReplyDeleteI am madly in love with your cat!
ReplyDeleteWe, who are 'cat people' are in the service of our cats.
ReplyDeletethe Ol'Buzzard
Kuchma Kitty--how very beautiful!
ReplyDeleteBrian, thanks. So that is what it takes to get a comment from you. an opportunity for a dreadful pun. Garry would be proud.
ReplyDeleteViolet, You have a lot of competition. He has many females in love with him. All the neighbourhood koshkas, in fact.
Ol'Buzzard, you called it.
Linda, Kuchma is named after Leonid Kuchma who was president of Ukraine at the time of our cat's birth. They have the same colour hair.
A nicely written blog and a lovely photo....I am glad you did not post one with the bite marks, scratches and missing pieces of hide.
ReplyDeleteI cannot restrain myself from asking one question.....Is Kuchma neutered?
If not, why not? (yes, I know that is a 2nd question, but the simple act might save Kuchma's life and hide.)
Sorry if this offends you. I just love animals.
No, He is not neutered. Nor are my dogs but they stay on a leash or locked up in a big yard.
ReplyDeleteNeutering of animals is not practiced in Ukraine. Bulls are not castrated but are raised to slaughter weight intact. Cats and dogs are definitely not neutered. Consequently there are huge numbers of homeless dogs and cats making their way through the world as best they can. Many unwanted litters are born that do not survive. Neutering costs money, who will pay? rounding up and disposing of strays costs money. Who will pay.
Our vet will not even put down a pet that is no longer wanted. Do it yourself or as more often happens, turn it lose to fend for itself.
I do not understand the culture that lets animals suffer but many of the people are only somewhat better off themselves. People on the whole, always respect and treat animals less well than they themselves are respected and treated by society.
I have seen how animals are treated in China and it makes me sick. But I consider how people are treated and the conditions of poverty under which they must live and it makes me sicker.
Thanks so much for your answer. I do understand. I know you do your best by Kuchma and he is very lucky to have you. Bless you all.
ReplyDeleteKuchma is 8 or 9 years old and a pretty good scrapper. He will retire when he gets beaten often enough or someday he just won't come home. He does spend time in the house but is not a house cat, having no clue what a litter box is for. If we had him neutered now, he would just become a consultant and likely still get in fights.
ReplyDelete