Like Herding Cats...

Zipper, (pictured above, left)  has been a little under the weather these last couple of weeks.  He has been classified as "elderly," now, having been my "baby" for the past 17 years.

When his little wheeze recently turned into something more serious, I had to wrestle him into the cat carrier and haul him off to the vet.  Despite all best efforts, it is quite difficult to put ones hands on him. I realize that he is 17, but he has been in pretty good health and is stronger than an ox. It took two vet tech's and a laundry basket full of towels to hold him down. The vet says that his best guess is a respiratory infection.

We are treating it as such and I was sent home with antibotic drops and kitty prednisone to give him.  I have been reminded on a daily basis why I named him "zipper."  The marks on my arms look like a Union 76 road map of the US.

Anyone who has ever owned cats know that there are only two things that cat owners dread: bathing a cat and giving him meds.  I have done both this week.

Depsite only being up the road a few miles, Zipper always craps in the carrier. Nervous response I guess. He was covered in crap when we got home. I had no choice. I couldn't have "shitty kitty" running around my house!  The yowling alone sent JB, my tuxedo, (above right) diving for the safety of the cluttered garage.

Giving him his meds involves catching him in a large towel, insuring that all appendages are contained within, all with one hand, while trying to pry his mouth open and squirt the meds in with the other.  Zipper is surprisingly strong in his advanced age. I have taken to employing a method my grandmother used with her little dog Toy...smearing it on his lips for him to lick off.

W says he is amazed by my tenacity. amused by the display, but unwilling to help me. "It's a cat" he keeps saying, "just a cat. Why can't you let nature take it's course?"  W is obviously a dog person. Zipper always climbs up in his lap when he is at the house and lets him scratch his head. Even the first time W came to the house, which is neaerly unheard of, he hopped right up on the couch between us. Zipper Approved.  

I am dreading the day that I come in to discover him gone on to The Great Catbox in The Sky. He is a totally indoor cat, which extends their life considerably. I am hopeful that he will be with me many more years, as my neighbor's cat growing up, a toothless calico named Mimzy, lived to be 24.

I am told that cats do not go to Heaven bececause they have no souls, but I hope that the Lord allows them just because we do.