Cats and Chaos, War and Children

 I had three cats,  Sake, Haiku, and Taki.  I can't say that they were friends, the best I can say is that they tolerated each other.  They could not all 3 sit on the sofa at the same time; two at most, and at best.  The one place all 3 could share, besides the kitchen at meal time,  with separate dishes, was the bed.  They could not sit together, but they could share the bed.

And, they shared something else.  I don't know if they learned this from each other, or it is just something they had in common, but they would become anxious when I stripped the bed to wash the linens, and did not make the bed quickly enough to suit them.  They did not like to sit on the mattress. I think that was a hold over from when I had a waterbed.  But when I stripped the bed, I would make the comforter available to them, on the mattress, or elsewhere in the bedroom. And sometimes, when I did start to make the bed, they liked to play with the linens and hide under the sheets and comforter.  For a short while.

The only cat left is Taki. She is learning disabled, but functional for the most part.  She forgets how to pull a door open some days, but never forgets how to push a door open. She forgets that playing with claws extended, and biting are not allowed, or just cannot control her impulses. She also is not much of a snuggler, but will sit adjacent, and even likes to hold my hand in her front paws!  She likes to eat where I eat:  in the kitchen when I am in the dining area, in the computer room, when I am there.   If her dishes start in one area, and we move to another, she seems to forget where her dishes are.  But she knows the words "kitchen, breakfast and dinner."  She has not learned the word "commercial" but she knows that when there is a  break in the action, or a change in tempo, I will get up and try to tend to her requests (if I can figure them out)

So, all the to say I washed linens today, which set Taki off a bit, because that is usually a Sunday chore.  I was slow at getting the laundry dried and remaking the bed.  Meanwhile, Taki took up residence on the comforter that was piled at the end of the bed.  She was not resting peacefully, but keeping a careful watch on the bed. And that is when it struck me:  This is a common weekly occurrence in our house, which is calm and quiet for the most part, (except during sporting events.) History in her life indicates the bed will be made and we will have a bed again!  Although I can try to explain this to her, and I do, her vocabulary is not as good as Sake:s and Haiku's, so I do not think she really gets even the general idea of what I am saying.

And this brought me to what I am seeing on the news about the events in Ukraine, and how it is effecting the civilians. Especially, the impact on children, who may not really be able to grasp what is going on, or are too young to have any idea about what is going on.  I do not wish to demean the children of the Ukraine in anyway.   I have never had children, only fur babies.  But if an unmade bed can create an anxiety reaction in my cats, can you imagine how the noise, explosions, fires, destruction impact the children of war.  How being bundled up, leaving home behind with only what you have on your back, with crowds of strangers, usually only one parent, and minimal provisions on a trip in an uncomfortable, crowded truck, bus or train.  Not knowing how long the trip will be. Not knowing what will be waiting at the destination, which probably is only an interim destination, before repeating the processing to yet another unknown destination.  

And, this is just the beginning of the trauma.   There may or may not be a safe haven at the end of the journey:  relatives who are lovingly eager to take you in, or shelters that are waystations until some other plan can be made for you, by someone you do not know, who may or may not be able to accommodate your preferences..  In a different country, with different customs, languages, and expectations.  With discrimination possible and even likely, once the novelty wears off. 

As one individual, there is only so much I can do to help:  I can pray.  I am a firm believer in the power of prayer, and the more united the prayer, the more powerful.  I can attend vigils, solidarity demonstrations, and educational presentations about the events of the world. I can donate goods, funds or perhaps even services.  I can advocate with my legislators regarding my concerns and viewpoint for these world issues. 

And, so can you!

  

 

A Gratitude Post #1

Today, I had a very good day.  I was able to go to work and accomplish a lot, which always makes me feel well.   I had 3 patients who told me I helped them with something, and 2 family members who expressed gratitude for my contacting them.  One disliked what I was telling her, but still acknowledged having a contact was better than not hearing anything at all.

Taki woke me up this morning.  She wanted breakfast, but when I was getting ready for work, she sat on my clothes. A sure sign she did not want me to go to work.  I thought she might be upset by the possibility of storms.  We had some showers this morning, but the storms came tonight.

For those of you who do not know, Taki is slightly developmentally delayed, so some things upset her more than others.  She was potty trained quickly as a baby.  However, some days, she has problems with making her mark, if you will.  Tonight was one of those times.  We had an electric squall blow through, at about the time Taki needed to use her litter dish. The storm was pretty much over head. She missed the litter box.  That upsets her, and she scratches, and scratches and scratches.  I think that is left over from when Sake schooled her about litter box etiquette, and did not hesitate to tell her when she violated that etiquette.  However, when I assure her she is okay, she is able to settle down.

The thing is, we do not always know, and often do not at all know what things will impact those in our world.  As Taki's life companion, I can predict some things, and sometimes, read the signs when I am missing the predictions.  And  Taki is persistent but patient.  

But we are all different, and something that impacts one of us, may not even have an effect on another of us. We cannot know.  But this is one of the skills of a social worker, to be receptive and open to the messages our clients give us that inform us of what is impacting their life and adding to their distress. Social workers start where their clients are: this may be physically, or even environmentally, but more often socially, emotionally, and psychologically. 

Oh, my gosh.  So I am thankful for my patients and their families, and for Taki, and her insecurities, but also her willingness to accept assurances from me.  These folks allowed me to address them where they were and gave me the indicators I need to address their needs in the future. 

Wow, I would consider that a highly positive day!

A Short Week at Work

I am blessed to have a supportive supervisor and wonderful co-workers. I am taking Friday off, to have a 4 day weekend. The problem with that, that I never identified until I was in my 40's, is that I try to get 40 hours of work in the lesser time.  This week felt the same, but I had to let some things go.  I am not allowed to work overtime (although I would, willingly paid or not, to a certain extent) so I have to be realistic about what I can accomplish.

On the other hand, I am looking forward to a 4 day weekend.  I do not have any special plans, although I might go to the street fair 4th of July Parade, although my original plan was to watch it on TV.  

I also have some errands to run the next few days, including taking Haiku to the vet for her yearly vaccinations.  

Taki Likes to be Brushed

Earlier this year, I purchased two brushes for the cats.  One was for Haiku because she had become terribly matted.  She is still terribly matted, and hates being brushed, but the brush (or comb) does help with the mats.

What surprised me was that Taki loved to be brush.  She has thick, short hair, which really does not mat, but sheds incessantly.  Brushing has helped with the shedding.  Taki would sit on my lap and let me brush her for an hour or more, unusual for her.  She started wanting to jump on my lap, so I could brush her, even when, some days, little fur comes off of her.  She has also started just wanting to sit on my lap.

The other thing that has happened is that she is more social.  She used to hide away when I had someone in the house.  Now, when I have company, Taki comes out to visit the company, and sometimes, even smells them and lets them pet her.  Haiku has been good about that, and I am glad to see Taki being more social. 

I am not sure what brushing her has to do with her increased socialization, but I am pleased by it. 

Clean Clothes in the Laundry Basket

Taki and Haiku enjoy climbing into a laundry basket that contains warm clothes out of the dryer.  Today, early afternoon, I brought a basket of warm clothes into the house, and Haiku claimed the basket.  I ran errands, and when I arrived home, Taki was in the basket.  That makes sense, because if Haiku left the basket, the clothing would be warm where she had been lying. A while later, Haiku was back in the basket.  This has happened before, and sometimes, the cat in the basket stays there until late in the evening.  Mostly what is in this basket is bed linens, but there are other items in there also.  It would not be the first time that I have slept on the sofa because the cats slept on the bed linens in the laundry basket and it was too late to make the bed. 

Taki and the Key Board

Taki has taken to jumping on the computer desk recently.  Sometimes, she gets on the computer key board.  I am not sure what this about.  She has done this on rare occasion in the past, when I had something interesting to eat, and she wanted to check it out.  But this recent set of behaviors has no pattern.  I am not ignoring her when she sits at my feet, I am not eating anything, she has food.  It bewilders me.  But, Taki bewilders me, anyway.  Sometimes, her behaviors are just different.  But she is a  sweety and I do love her. 

Cat Snuggling Places

Haiku and Taki like to curl up on the bed propped up against pillows or mounds of blankets.  I often do not make the bed, but push the covers in a mound so Haiku can curl up against it and against the pillow.  I have been off work this week, and one morning, I pulled the covers up on the bed, and straightened them out.  No mound to snuggle against.  Haiku was funny. She sat on the bed, quite regally, blinking her eyes and looking around, crying.  There was no snuggle place.  I moved the covers and made a mound, and she was very happy to snuggle against the mound and take a nap.  

Taki's New Habits

The last few days, Taki has taken to getting on the slide out on my computer desk, and playing with items on the desk.  She likes to sit on the keyboard (a no no) and chews on things on the desk.  There is a small medallion that came in the mail from some organization, and she likes to bat it around and knock it to the floor. Today, she did the same with my Goldfish crackers.  When I told her "no" she stopped, which is unusual for her.  Later she was playing with the medallion again, and would grab my fingers in her mouth. I told her "No biting" and she dropped my fingers.  Maybe, she is learning something. Later, she was trying to scrape a decal off the laptop.  It was fun to watch, but a little sad, because she did not "get it."    

The Closed Door

The other morning, as I was getting ready for work, there was a whooshing thump.  Haiku heard it too, and looked towards the computer room in the house.

I continued getting ready for work, which includes feeding the cats and cleaning the cat pans.  I often feed Taki in the computer room, and there is a cat pan in that room, also.  So about 20 minutes later, I went to the computer room, and the door was closed tight.  Taki was in the room when I opened the door.

Taki was not too concerned.  I was, because she is not very door savvy, and sometimes, can not remember how to pull a door open.  She knows how to push a door closed, which is what I expect she did that morning.  

I was especially concerned, because sometimes, when I sit in the computer room and use a space heater, I pull the door partially closed, and I had done that the night before this event. So, I have been careful to be sure that when I am done with the computer room, I leave the door open enough that Taki can get out without her accidentally closing the door, and closing herself in.  If this were to happen, it would not be the end of the world, but I would feel horrible if she were shut in all day, or over night. 

The Grocery Shopping ListI

I  have taken to doing my weekly shopping on Friday afternoon after I leave work.  I do most of my weekly shopping at Wal-Mart and today was going to be no exception.  Unfortunately, I had left my shopping list at home.  I realized that on my way to work, but chose to not turn around, as I knew most of the items that were on my list. 

There was one item that I could not recall that was on my list.  I had put it on my list early in the week and I just could not recall what it was.. During my work day, I would think about my list and what that one item might be. Finally, after I left work and was on my way to Wal-Mart, I remembered what that item was.  Unfortunately, Wal-Mart was not stocking it.  That was not unexpected, and I will go to Pets Mart over the weekend to purchase that item.

Can You Believe It? I CannotI

I was thinking about it tonight.  Haiku was born in the spring of 2002, so she is now 16 and a half years old.  She ate turkey tonight, early on, and ate a lot. She joined us in the computer room, where I had the space heater on.  It really was not that cold out, and the whole house heater was not running, but we wanted it warm in the computer room. She slept contentedly for quite a while. 

About 9:30 PM, she cried aloud, as if she were in distress.  I offered her liver and turkey, and this time she chose the liver.  Then she went to bed, but Taki was on her pillow platform on the bed.  I showed her an alternate pillow platform, and she settled in there.  Just checking, some 40 minutes later, neither Taki nor Haiku are on the bed. Taki is back in the computer room with me, but who knows where Haiku is.  

Celery Leafs

Whenever I buy celery, Haiku expresses an intense interest in the celery leaves.  I usually save them and dry them, to use as celery flakes in cooking.  I put them in a plastic dish I put on top of the microwave.  One morning, that dish was on the floor, most of the celery leaves in it gone.

Wednesday, I was cutting up celery for the Thanksgiving dressing.  It was a new package of celery, and I was stripping the leaves. I was sitting at the table.  Haiku got up on the table and started snuffling through the celery leaves.  So, that dish of celery leaves became hers.  Every once in a while she has been chewing on the leaves in that dish; they are actually disappearing quickly.  

Turkey

Some time ago, I bought some turkey from the deli, and Haiku was very interested in eating it for a few days. The next time I bought turkey, Haiku was not really interested.  Today I but a turkey and cheese sandwich from Subway.  Haiku was very interested in the turkey  and I gave her some off the sandwich..  I bought a foot long, and ate half for lunch and half for dinner.  I took all of the turkey off the dinner sandwich to feed to Haiku, but tonight she ate a good serving of liver.  I will offer the turkey at another time, or if she wants a snack later on, which is possible, if she did not get her fill earlier.  

Haiku Would Not Eat

This has been a horrible week. I could not get Haiku to eat liver, even a little bit.  She would eat a little bit of dry treats, and the Special Kitty dry food that I feed to the outside cats, but she would not eat anything else.  She licked a little bit of gouda, but that could not sustain her.  I was so worried.  Because she is eating dry food, I have to think she does not have the infection of gums that Sake had.  I cooked a chicken breast one night. She slurped up the juices but ignored the tiny pieces of chopped up chicken in the dish. 

I thought she might have a hairball, and I had some gelatinous hairball remedy that is salmon flavored.  She did not object to my putting it on her paws, and cleaned it up and sniffed the tube, so I let her eat some from the tube. I did not want her to get sick, so I limited the amount. It was late at night, so the next morning, I made a trip to the grocery store, before I went to work, to get some salmon based foods, but she turned her nose up at those! This was really frustrating.

The next night, she lapped up the hairball remedy on her paws, and ate some more from the hairball remedy tube. She took some Gouda, but she does not eat little bitty bites of Gouda.  She only likes to lick it from a piece, so I cut it in small chunks, and hold it for her to lick. She ate some dry food.  

I finally got smart, and fed the outside cats the rest of the container of liver she did not like, and defrosted another. She ate that well, on Thursday morning and Thursday night, Friday morning and Friday night.  The crisis has past.  Almost. On Friday night, I went out, so when I got home, she wanted more liver, which she got, twice.  But she wanted me to go to bed with her at what would be a normal bedtime for me.  But because I was out, I am still winding down.  She finally decided to come sit on her chair in the computer room, next to me, so I can pet on her while I am on the computer.  Hopefully another crisis has passed. 

Who is Pestering Whom?

Usually, I see Taki picking on Haiku, and sometimes, I scold her for it, but not always, because I do not know what kitty taunts may have preceded or followed such behavior.  Today was an example.  Haiku wanted to be in bed about mid-morning, but Taki was on her pillow shelf.  I climbed into bed with Haiku, and pulled up the covers.  Taki slapped at us, and I did scold her, but that did not deter her, and she drove Haiku away.

Mid-afternoon, or so, Haiku wanted me to join her on the bed again.  The pillow shelf was empty and Taki was propped on the body pillow in the middle of the bed. Did Haiku get on the pillow shelf at the head of the bed?  Noooo.  She plopped down against my pillows, with her butt and tail posed to overlap Taki.  I talked to Haiku about the fact she was asking for whatever retaliation Taki wanted to enact, but she did not move until I got up and started taking pictures. 

Lie with me, Lie with me

I have been off work the last 3 days, and Haiku has repeatedly asked me to lie with her on the pillow shelf on the bed.  I have, a few times, but these requests usually come when I am engaged in doing something else, including cooking.  She will sit with me if I am on the sofa, but she no longer likes to sit with me in the computer room.  I don't get that.

Last night, a cold front blew through, and the house was cooler than it had been, but even if I had turned the heat on, it was not cold enough for the heater to start.  Haiku wanted me to go to bed, and it was late.  I was tired, but my mind was racing, and I did not think I could sleep.  But I did add an afghan to the bed covers, in case it got even colder, and crawled in bed, pulling up the covers.  Haiku moved from her pillow shelf to under the covers next to me. She seemed very content at first. Then she became restless, and finally she left. I am not sure she returned to the bed all night.

Several times today, she has asked me to lie with her.  Sometimes, I did.  Sometimes, I did not.  I am not sure what this is about, but she seems to want me to lie in bed with her as much as I can.

She will be disappointed when I go back to work tomorrow.

Sunday is Linen Laundry Day

Sunday is the day I usually wash the bed linens and towels. Today, I planned to do that, but Taki spent most of the day on the bed, and when I approached, she seemed concerned, as if she felt she had done something wrong.  So, I decided to give her until 7 PM before I disturbed her.  

She did get off the bed once to eat, in the afternoon, but I missed my chance.  

Haiku spent much of the day in the closet, but came out several times to eat.  I know she wants to eat, because when I get up from where I am (sitting, usually) she heads for the kitchen.  Well, tonight about 9:15, she came looking for me, and when I followed her, she went to the bedroom and got on the bed and cried.  She was ready for the bed to be made.  

This is her thing.  She gets nervous if it gets late and the bed is not made.  Last Sunday, as I was making the bed, she burrowed under the covers for a while. (The way I have the covers spread over the pillows, the covers are not tight and there is a "cave" under the covers she can lie in.)  Tonight, she was lying on the bed as I spread the covers.  She did not stay under very long, and went back to the closet  I don't understand this, but it is her habit.

I should add that after a while, Haiku climbed on the fully made bed and settled down, quite content. 

Restless Kitty

Haiku has been very restless tonight.  She has been crying and restless all night.  She has attacked my back and my leg to get my attention, which is unusual for her. She acts as if she is hungry, but does not eat, or only nibbles.  She wants me to lie in bed with her, as she lies on her pillow shelf on the bed. But it is way too early to go to bed.  I lie down for a few minutes, then get back up. She has acted like she wants to get into the linen closet, but does not jump in.  I did put her in, and that seemed to satisfy her for a little.

I don't know what to do. I can't console her.  I worry about her when I can't console her.

Haiku Was Distraught Tonight, and Would Not Eat

Even though she was obviously hungry. Haiku would not eat tonight.  I tried dried food with treats, catnap, moist liver, tuna.  Finally I tried Special Kitty dried food, which his what I had used for the cats, years ago.  She finally ate.  I am so distressed when Haiku is distressed, wants to eat, but I cannot find anything that she wants to eat. 

I hope she is satisfied, finally.

A Most Inauspicious Trip to the Veterinarian

This was a trip to the veterinarian that I dreaded.  It was Taki's turn to get her annual vaccinations, and she hates going to the vet. But today was the day.  I secured her in the cat stroller while I got the cat carrier out.   She did not mind me taking her out of the stroller, but as soon as she saw the carrier, she started wailing.  The carrier was in the kitchen on the floor, and she resisted being put into it.  So much so it took multiple tries, and not until after she had peed on me and all over the kitchen floor.  I wiped up the floor, and sprayed myself with Lysol so I did not smell like cat urine, and went to the vet. 

We had to wait quite a while to get into the exam room.  Once we got into the exam room, Taki did not want to get out of the crate, but she finally did get out.  She cried and occasionally growled, until the technician poked his head in, then she started growling in earnest.  We did not take her temperature, and I told the technician I thought we could manage with just a towel.  The technician popped his head in twice after that, and Taki elevated her protests each time.  Finally when the vet came in, he and technician decided they needed towel and gloves.  We were able to hold Taki down, and she got her two shots, and jumped back into the carrier.  

No one was hurt.  

When we got home, Taki left the carrier as soon as I opened the door.  I cleaned the carrier, and until I put it away, Taki avoided the kitchen. That is typical for her, anyway.  She avoided me and hid for about 2 hours and then she came out and let me pet her.

I hate that this is such an ordeal.  I am glad no one was hurt. I am glad Taki has her annual vaccinations, and she is no longer mad at me.