Silly Willie

Heeeeeerrrrre's Curry:

"My brother Willie is a physical comedian.  I know, lots of us cats are good at physical comedy.  Actually, I don't do physical comedy, but that's by choice.  I don't think Willie has a choice.  He's just a big goof.  I mean, what kind of cat lets himself be dressed up as a cowboy?  That's Willie, all right.

Willie boy came to live with us about a year ago.  My 'uncle' John rescues a lot of cats and Willie was a stray.  He was a gangly boy in his awkward teenage phase when he came home.  He was weird immediately.  I really wasn't sure what to make of him because at first he was mean to Zorro, then he was mean to me.  Now he's only mean to me when he thinks he's protecting Grayson.  Willie gets along great with both Zorro and Grayson.  They are the Three Catsketeers.  I am Milady-Cat to them.  But I digress....

Willie is a klutz, plain and simple.  I've never seen a more physically inept specimen of felinity.  He tries to jump onto the bathroom vanity and completely misses!  This is an easy jump for most cats, especially young, fit cats like Willie.  He doesn't always miss, but when he does it's kinda funny.  Then there's Willie's drinking habit.  Like all of us, Willie loves to drink in the bathroom sink when our mom turns the faucet on just a trickle.  Even baby Grayson is adept at drinking from the stream of water without getting wet.  Not Willie.  He puts his whole head under the water and then drinks the run-off that flows from the top of his head.  What a weirdo!  He will sit there in the sink drinking for five minutes, getting soaking wet.  Then he shakes his head to dry it, and the entire bathroom, and anyone in it, gets a shower.  What a dork.  And THEN, there's Willie's running outside the apartment door.  He only started doing this recently.  Even though mom tries to block him, Willie slips out the door and runs down the hallway.  He stops after a few seconds and rolls over onto his back.  Just when mom almost catches up to him, he gets up and shoots down the hallway again.  This process repeats until Willie gets tired (not likely) or he reaches the end of the long, long hallway.  Sometimes Willie encounters people in the hall, and a couple times he's faced off with another cat.  Nothing fazes him.  What a freak I have for a brother."

Well, Curry might think less of Willie's physical comedy, but I think it's cute.  He can barely move his body without being funny.  His run is a wobbly gambol.  His manner of play with Grayson is childlike and entertaining.  His sleeping positions are contorted and somtimes indecent.  But he's very confident and game for anything.  I dressed him in the cowboy costume for Halloween simply because I could.  He has no shame; he does not get embarassed.  Willie should probably be in show business.  So, are there any animal talent agents out there reading this blog?

Do Not Eat

Yes, we all know that you're not supposed to eat silica gel.  Curry knows this too:

"So my mom gets a new backpack and as she's taking it out of the plastic wrapping, out falls one of those ubiquitous silica gel packets.  Only, mom didn't notice it fall on the floor.  Well, Zorro did.  Now, I love my brother Zorro.  He's my favorite brother and he's a real sweetheart.  But he can't read.  Therefore he didn't see that the packet was marked 'DO NOT EAT.'  So what does the boy do?  He chews the packet open!  That got our attention - mine and mom's.  When a silica gel packet is chewed open and all the little silica beads roll out onto a wood floor, it sounds like rain.  Yup, rain.  It took us a minute to get our bearings as the little silica 'bearings' rolled around on the floor.  They were tiny and difficult to see, but noisy!  And of course my dumb brothers start chasing them around the floor.  So mom goes into panic mode because she knows that these are poisonous.  (I know this too, so I kept my distance.)  Mom scares the boys away from the beads while she gets the vacuum and sucks them up.  She didn't get them all though.  Since that night, Grayson has been finding stray silica beads and swatting them about the floor.  I don't know how he can see them because it's like finding a needle in a haystack, but he does.  The good news is that they are loud so when mom hears him playing with one, she picks it up.  That silly Grayson kitten.  That's him in the photo; he's nine months old.  I'll share more about Grayson in the future.  For now, let's suffice it to say that he's an annoying little kitten who gets on my nerves.  Still, I don't want him or Zorro to eat the silica and get sick.  They just need to be smarter like me and Willie, and leave the beads alone."

The moral of the story, folks, is to watch out for those silica gel packets when you're unpacking new things.  Those little packets can escape, and pets can chew them open.  Please be careful!

Zorro's Allergy Trials

Poor Zorro! He's had allergies as long as I've had him, and probably for his entire life. Shortly after I adopted Curry and Zorro I noticed that Zorro had a propensity toward itchiness. He regularly scratched and over-groomed the fur near the base of his tail. It was so bad that he developed a temporary bald spot there. Of course, as a good cat owner I consulted my veterinarian. Because Zorro was new to my household, the doctor first thought the over-grooming was a behavioral issue and prescribed, of all things, Valium! It was a very low dose, and it chilled him out, but it did not prevent Zorro's over-grooming. Next, the vet gave Zorro a steroid shot (depomedrol) to see if that would control the itching. Voila! It did! But Zorro needed these shots every 6-8 weeks and I had to take him to the vet each time. We did this for more than a year, but this was clearly not sustainable. The vet was concerned about the health consequences of prolonged steroid use (namely, diabetes...so Zorro still has to have his blood levels checked annually).

The solution was for me to take Zorro to the veterinary dermatologist! Yes, there are vets who specialize in dermatology and allergy treatment. After a mild sedation, my boy was tested for allergies via the old-fashioned needle-prick skin testing method. Groggy Zorro was delivered back to me with a rectangular bald patch on his torso, showing the evidence of his allergy testing. Curry has some thoughts on this:

"My mom took my brother out in the carrier so I thought he was going to the regular vet for his usual steroid injection. But they always came back from that pretty fast, and this time mom and Zorro were gone for hours. Later I learned that the special vet was very far away, and that Zorro had been 'put under' and poked with needles. Well, all I can say is that he was a sight with his fur shaved and spots of blood. I would have laughed if he wasn't so pathetic looking. I was actually very concened about this, and Zorro smelled funny too. What indignity! In the end, I guess it was OK because instead of getting that nasty steroid shot, Zorro gets a custom allergy vaccination for his specific allergies (as it turns out: ragweed, pigweed, three kinds of mold, and house flies - and no, we don't have flies in the house). My poor, sensitive brother."

Curry's account of Zorro's diagnosis is accurate. He was tested for some 60 allergens including cat dander and human dander. I'm happy to report that he is allergic to neither. After getting Zorro's first vial of vaccine and a set of syringes, I had to begin giving him allergy shots daily. Then we tapered to every few days, then every week, then eventually to every three weeks. Poor Zorro, he was still too itchy. After a lot of experimentation with dosage and timing, I now give him an allergy vaccination once a week. He still sometimes itches in between doses, but we're all happy that we got him off the steroids.

Curry's closing thoughts: "Zorro gained a lot of weight from using the steroids and he never lost it. He looks fat to some people, but then when they get close to him they realize he's very muscular. I don't make fun of him because my brother Zorro is the strongest cat I ever knew, and I love him. But he is a bit squeamish with the needle, so mom needs help giving him his weekly shot. We have to have a neighbor hold him down firmly while mom injects the vaccine into the folds of skin around Zorro's shoulders. It's very quick, and the needle is very small, but Zorro fights it all the way. Man, I'm glad I don't have allergies!"

Cat-Rearing

In Curry’s own words:

“Cat-rearing is unlike child-rearing. In the latter, the parents do most of the hard work in raising a human child. In the former, the human parent thinks they are raising/training/house-breaking the cat, but the cat is also training the human. That’s the part I want to focus on. I was already six months old when my mom adopted me, but I wasted no time training her.

I made sure my mom knew that even though I was a cute, soft kitten, I liked to be touched on my own terms. No picking me up and carrying me around like some kind of prize. That was too undignified for me, even in my kittenhood. I let mom know in no uncertain terms (squirming like a fish and back-talking her) that she was not to pick me up. This doesn’t mean I don’t like affection, but it has to be when I want it and how I want it. For the record, I like to sleep next to my mom, but not touching her. And I love to get kisses on the top of my head.

I also trained mom that she needed to stick with a regular schedule for cleaning our litter boxes. I mean, who wants to go into a dirty box? Yuck!! Mom is supposed to clean our boxes once a day on schedule, and I’ll loudly tell her if she’s late to the task, while I lead her to the litterbox area and point out the obvious.

Maybe the most important thing I taught my mom is that what she thinks is hers is really mine. This is particularly true with the laptop. I will walk across the keyboard anytime I want. Mom shouldn’t be disturbed if it causes extra “words” to be typed or windows to be closed. She used to get upset about these things until she realized that I was the boss. Nowadays, I still walk across the keyboard whenever I want, but I make my mom type the blogs for me. I couldn’t be bothered to do all the work myself when I have more important things to do.”

So, that’s Curry’s report on cat-rearing. She really is the boss. I did, however, need a little additional help in raising her and the other cats, especially once Willie came to live with us. Poor Willie was a very dominant stray and while he was lovey-dovey with me immediately, he was not very nice to Zorro and Curry. I found Pam Johnson-Bennett’s cat books to be invaluable resources in getting a new cat started in the home, introducing him to the existing felines, and solving behavior problems. I highly recommend checking them out on Amazon.com and I have listed them in the Curry’s Favorites box on this page.

That’s all for today. Please stay tuned for more from Curry. She has lots of ideas for future blogs including a Siamese heritage interview with her human cousin Christine; her brother Zorro’s misfortune as an allergy-ridden feline; an introduction to her favorite cat-sitter, our neighbor Carlos; and some contemptuous pieces on her pesky little brothers Willie and Grayson.

The Crazy Lady Cat Strikes Out

No, not the crazy cat lady! The cat lady is sane…it’s the cat who’s crazy! I'm Sandy, and that cat is Curry, my beautiful Siamese girl. It was only a matter of time before she had her own blog (she’s been on Facebook for awhile now). Curry may be ambitious and crazy, but she’s still a cat. Therefore, she can’t type (or is it that she won’t type?). Therefore, I’m her servant and will be writing this blog on her behalf. So, how about some introductions…

Curry is a ¾ Siamese mix who was rescued near George Washington’s home Mount Vernon in Alexandria, Virginia. I adopted her and Zorro, a handsome black and white male, in 2003. The moral of the story is that I can never, ever, foster cats again. The reason is because I was only supposed to have Curry and Zorro for two nights but I couldn't let them go. My soon-to-be sweethearts were up for adoption through my local Petco. I passed the cage that served as their temporary digs and noticed a sign: “dear Petco customers: all of our foster homes are full…we need a home for Thanksgiving this year…it will be dark and lonely here in the store…would you please consider watching us for two nights?” What could I say to that? They were staring at me with puppy dog eyes (yes, cats can have puppy dog eyes), and the adoption lady was right there, just waiting to talk me into it. I caved. Sure, I could watch them for two nights. It would be fun and easy. I would return Curry and Zorro to Petco the Friday morning after Thanksgiving so they could move on to their next foster home. Long story short, I went in Friday morning with no cats, and check in hand, asking “what’s the adoption fee?” Curry was only 6 months old and very petite; Zorro was 1 ½ years, gorgeous but shy, and doted on his “little sister” as you can see from the photo of one of their first nights with me.

We’ve been through thick and thin since then. We’ve said goodbye to some of our other feline family members, and have welcomed new ones. Curry’s current cat family includes Zorro, 2 year old Willie, and 9 month old Grayson. Curry plans to blog regularly, so please keep reading. You probably already know that, as a Siamese cat, she’s incredibly smart. She has a lot to share, and she’d also like to hear from you!