Quint: Under the Weather

Over the weekend Quint came down with what appeared to be a head cold. His nose was running and it was obvious that he didn’t feel well. He wouldn’t play with Carol on Sunday morning, instead all he wanted to do was lie in the sun and sleep. Of course, he’s a cat, so lying in the sun and sleeping is pretty much what he likes to do anyway, but when he won’t play with Carol, we can surmise that there is a problem. The sneezing and the headshaking and licking his upper lip were also unusual activities for him, and then he wasn’t eating much either. All bad signs.

I looked through my cat books for any advice I could find on what to do about a cat with all these symptoms. The book said that if the condition persists, take him to the vet. Well, by Monday he seemed to have improved slightly in that he was eating again and slightly more active. We watched him carefully, and since he was making progress toward better health we decided not to take him to the vet that day.

On Tuesday, he was quite a bit better, and though he wasn’t jumping around and playing chase, he was much more alert and active, and he was eating well. Great, he’s improving we thought, perhaps he’ll get through this without a trip to the vet. On Wednesday, though, he had a bit of a relapse and was back to acting like he had on Monday, listless and kind of drippy about the nose. Okay, I thought, he’s not showing further signs of improvement, if he doesn’t’ perk up by the time I get back from returning the videos to the video store, then it’s off the vet with us.

He was the same when I got back, so I called and got an appointment for Wednesday afternoon. In the meantime, I tried to keep myself busy doing some writing, but I was rather distracted and worried about the little guy and so the writing was not going well. Plus, I felt as if I needed to go and check on him every few minutes to make sure he was okay. He wasn’t getting any worse, but then, he wasn’t getting any better either. The time passed slowly as I waited and worried.

When it was time to leave, Quint got into the carrier without too much resistance which is another indication of how miserable he was. He meowed at me on the way to the veterinary clinic, but he was quiet while we sat and waited for someone to become available to see us. Quint watched the other animals, mostly dogs, come and go to their appointments. I read old copies of Cat Fancy. It was a busy day at the clinic with an emergency or two, but after a half-hour wait, we finally were called to an examination room with the assurance that one of the veterinarians would be in to see us soon. One of the vet techs came in, weighed him and took his temperature. He was up to 11 pounds and his temperature was about a degree high, so I was now guessing that he did indeed have the feline equivalent of a head-cold or a mild case of the flu.

When the veterinarian came in to see us, I described the symptoms as I had observed them while the doctor was looking at Quint’s nose and inside his mouth, listening to his heart and lungs and generally poking and prodding him to try and determine what the problem was. She decided that it was the feline equivalent of a head cold, like a mild case of the flu and called it an Upper Respiratory Infection, which I guess it is, technically. She also indicated that he was a bit dehydrated and could use some fluid. I thought that was all probably about right. It certainly agreed with everything I had observed and seemed to explain all the symptoms. I started to feel a little better. Quint was likely feeling a little worse since he was sitting on a cold examination table being poked and prodded by a stranger. He didn’t know that he would soon be injected with subcutaneous fluid, stuffed back into his carrier and sent home. He just knew that his toes were cold from standing on the metal surface of the table. The vet took Quint into the back of the clinic for treatment.

I went to the reception area to pay my bill, collect the prescribed medications, and wait for Quint to be brought out. While I was there, I looked over the display of collars. They have the best collars at this clinic, better than at the pet store, better than as Target, better than any I have seen anywhere. I bought Quint and Hedge new collars. They were still wearing their Christmas collars, so it was time to upgrade to something more appropriate. Quint got a blue one decorated with little red fishes; Hedge got a white one decorated with little black paw prints. Meanwhile, Quint was brought out in his carrier and we got back in the car and drove home.

My job for the next week or so, is to administer some nasty-tasting liquid antibiotic medicine to Quint twice a day, in addition, of course, to the regular tooth-brushing and fur brushing routine. Quint dislikes the nasty-tasting medicine, loves the brushing and is improving. He appears to be feeling a bit better today. Carol and I feel a lot better today. We were both horrified at the prospect of losing Quint to some mysterious and untreatable disease. It’s much better to know what is wrong and to be able to do something to help him. We love the little guy and hope to have him around to play with and enjoy for many, many years.

Hedge: Petting Him Into Submission.

Our ongoing campaign to socialize Hedge is beginning to show results. You’d have to know him well to see how much progress we’ve made, and those of us who do find it most encouraging. Where previously we were able to approach him and then pet him a bit before he ran away, now he hangs around and insists that we pet him until he decides that it’s adequate. Until recently he was unable to look at us while we were petting him and instead kept his eyes averted downward and his back to us. Now he looks up at us and squeaks his demand for attention. Progress is most certainly being made.

At the beginning of the campaign I started by picking him up from wherever he might be napping and taking him into the dining room to brush him and rub some toothpaste on his teeth with my finger. When he started running from that, we stepped back a bit and started petting him whenever we found him in an accessible place. Carol will sometimes pick him up and carry him around the house while she pets him. He seems to like that. In the morning he will often sit in the bedroom window and do a bit of bird watching, at least that’s what he wants us to think he’s doing. Really, he’s just waiting for me to pet him. I’ll walk up behind him and start to scritch him behind the ears. He’ll allow that for a short while, but then he turns around and hops over onto the bed and insists on a more thorough treatment. If I stop before he thinks he’s gotten enough attention, he’ll look over his shoulder at me and give a little squeak. When he has gotten all the affection that he feels he can handle at the moment, he’ll jump down and trot off somewhere to take his morning nap.

I noticed over the weekend that his fear of strangers has abated somewhat as well. On Saturday night we had some friends over for a dinner party. Hedge, as usual, disappeared as soon as the first guest arrived and remained hidden throughout the evening. In the past, he’d remain hidden until well into the next day, and when he did come out, he’d be quite skittish for a day or two. After our guests left on Saturday, Hedge came trotting out to eat a late dinner and to scout the floor for leftovers. By Sunday, he was back to his normal routine.

It’s gratifying to see him holding onto his progress at this point, rather than suffering the temporary setbacks he had previously experienced. Given the positive results of our current campaign, I’m thinking that Hedge’s future holds more and more of the same sort of treatment. It’s a matter of rewarding that behavior which we want to see more of and not rewarding his shy and timid side. Ultimately, we are hoping his sweet nature and his desire to become part of the group will win out over his fear. I suspect that it will.

Write About What You Know

That’s what I’ve always been told. Write about what you know. Sometimes it’s a mistake to ask yourself what it is that you know. What if you come to the realization that you know nothing at all? Luckily, I found that I do know a little bit about a few things. At least there are subjects about which I know enough to write an interesting blog post or two, perhaps as many as three.

Before Christmas of last year, I got the idea that maybe I could write a story. I had an idea for one that involved a man and his cat, well, kitten in this case. I know a little about cats and I’ve learned a couple of things about people, plus I have some personal experience being a person. So, I set out writing a story. I had the whole thing visualized, more or less, I just needed to make the words describe what happened and convey the message I wanted to deliver. It wasn’t nearly as easy as I thought it would be, but I managed to get it written; and it turned out just about as I had intended.

I had done some of that sort of writing before, many years ago; and had almost gotten to the point where I might even have gotten myself published. Unfortunately for my writing career at that time, other events occurred and I had to set it aside for a while. Everything changes as time ticks along, that’s how we tell that it has passed. I changed, editors changed, doors closed, and other doors opened. The whole nature of how we get our information changed from words printed on paper to words stored on computer hard drives and flash memory and displayed on a screen. There are still stories to be told, though, and readers desiring to be entertained and enlightened, we have simply begun to change the methods we use to communicate with each other. In some ways, it is easier to find a reader now than it has ever been. It is also easier to get a story published, and because it’s easier there are many more stories available to readers than there have ever been. Anybody can write a story and with a little computer savvy can find a place on the internet to make it available to a reader. Of course, not everyone can write a good story, but that doesn’t keep anyone from publishing their story anyway. How do you sort out the good stories from the other sort? And how can you cause a good story be found by someone who will appreciate it? I suspect it’s a bit of a treasure hunt for the reader. I know it’s a dilemma for a writer. Since I’m your typical starving artist, I get my books from the second-hand store or the thrift store. They are wonderful places to find books, but it helps if you know what you’re looking for. Ofttimes I am looking for specific titles to fill in a series that I’ve been collecting, but sometimes I discover a new author and that really is the ultimate reward for this sort of treasure hunt.

When I made the decision to pursue writing as a career, forsaking all other endeavors, I had to start from scratch. I began with this blog, since, as I said, I know something about cats. Soon thereafter, I started a blog about my car building and repairing adventures; and then I needed to write about what was happening in my life on a more personal level and so I started a blog about me. I enjoy writing all the blog posts, but even though each blog has ads included on the page, they don’t generate any significant income, and therein lies one of the primary problems with this “career.” It just doesn’t pay well, which means that it mostly doesn’t pay at all. And then I recalled that, at one time, a few years ago, there was the possibility of selling some short stories. So, I decided to give that sort of writing another try. The result, so far, has been two stories, both about a man and his cat. Hey, don’t laugh, they tell you to “write about what you know.” After I finished the first story, which I called “The Christmas Kitten,” I realized that, because Christmas had nearly arrived, I’d either have to wait until next year to get it published in any sort of print medium, or I’d have to post it on the internet somewhere.

Getting your story published on the internet is easy. Getting readers to pay for your story is not so easy. The reasons are legion. First of all, very few people know who I am and, thus, are not looking for stories written by me. Second, of the people who know me, only a very few would expect to pay for a story written by me. Third, most of the places on the internet that offer to publish your story, don’t offer a way for you to get paid by readers. The list goes on, but you get the idea. So, now I have to learn marketing, public relations, distribution, in other words, the publishing business. Help!! All I wanted to do was tell a simple story and exchange whatever value it has with someone who agreed that it was worth reading. That’s when I discovered Amazon’s Kindle.

I was aware of the electronic book as a product and knew that there are a few versions of the thing made by a several different companies. As I browsed around the internet, it looked to me like the Amazon product was the most accessible for someone like me. I looked through what others authors were offering and decided that I’d give it a try. I set up my account and then I discovered that each book or story offered should have an image to go with it, like the image on the dust jacket of a book. I’ve dabbled in drawing from time to time, so I decided to try to draw something that might work as a illustration for my story. I sketched out my idea, scanned the drawing into my computer and the cover for “The Christmas Cat” was done. I uploaded the whole thing, words and a picture, to my Kindle account and then announced the publication everywhere that I could: Flickr, Facebook, my e-mail signature, and, finally, right here. I haven’t sold too many, but I have sold a few and I’ve got lots of other story ideas. I’ve already written a sequel to “The Christmas Cat” called “The Lost Kitten,” and that is also available on Kindle.

And there you have it. I’m writing and publishing and promoting stories about a man and his cat. It’s something I know about, thanks to Quint and Hedge and all their feline processors. If you get a chance, and have an interest, you can find the stories at Amazon’s Kindle site. Just search for the titles and you’ll find them. There will be more stories to come, and more blog posts, too, here and on the other blogs. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.

Write About What You Know

That’s what I’ve always been told. Write about what you know. Sometimes it’s a mistake to ask yourself what it is that you know. What if you come to the realization that you know nothing at all? Luckily, I found that I do know a little bit about a few things. At least there are subjects about which I know enough to write an interesting blog post or two, perhaps as many as three.

Before Christmas of last year, I got the idea that maybe I could write a story. I had an idea for one that involved a man and his cat, well, kitten in this case. I know a little about cats and I’ve learned a couple of things about people, plus I have some personal experience being a person. So, I set out writing a story. I had the whole thing visualized, more or less, I just needed to make the words describe what happened and convey the message I wanted to deliver. It wasn’t nearly as easy as I thought it would be, but I managed to get it written; and it turned out just about as I had intended.

I had done some of that sort of writing before, many years ago; and had almost gotten to the point where I might even have gotten myself published. Unfortunately for my writing career at that time, other events occurred and I had to set it aside for a while. Everything changes as time ticks along, that’s how we tell that it has passed. I changed, editors changed, doors closed, and other doors opened. The whole nature of how we get our information changed from words printed on paper to words stored on computer hard drives and flash memory and displayed on a screen. There are still stories to be told, though, and readers desiring to be entertained and enlightened, we have simply begun to change the methods we use to communicate with each other. In some ways, it is easier to find a reader now than it has ever been. It is also easier to get a story published, and because it’s easier there are many more stories available to readers than there have ever been. Anybody can write a story and with a little computer savvy can find a place on the internet to make it available to a reader. Of course, not everyone can write a good story, but that doesn’t keep anyone from publishing their story anyway. How do you sort out the good stories from the other sort? And how can you cause a good story be found by someone who will appreciate it? I suspect it’s a bit of a treasure hunt for the reader. I know it’s a dilemma for a writer. Since I’m your typical starving artist, I get my books from the second-hand store or the thrift store. They are wonderful places to find books, but it helps if you know what you’re looking for. Ofttimes I am looking for specific titles to fill in a series that I’ve been collecting, but sometimes I discover a new author and that really is the ultimate reward for this sort of treasure hunt.

When I made the decision to pursue writing as a career, forsaking all other endeavors, I had to start from scratch. I began with this blog, since, as I said, I know something about cats. Soon thereafter, I started a blog about my car building and repairing adventures; and then I needed to write about what was happening in my life on a more personal level and so I started a blog about me. I enjoy writing all the blog posts, but even though each blog has ads included on the page, they don’t generate any significant income, and therein lies one of the primary problems with this “career.” It just doesn’t pay well, which means that it mostly doesn’t pay at all. And then I recalled that, at one time, a few years ago, there was the possibility of selling some short stories. So, I decided to give that sort of writing another try. The result, so far, has been two stories, both about a man and his cat. Hey, don’t laugh, they tell you to “write about what you know.” After I finished the first story, which I called “The Christmas Kitten,” I realized that, because Christmas had nearly arrived, I’d either have to wait until next year to get it published in any sort of print medium, or I’d have to post it on the internet somewhere.

Getting your story published on the internet is easy. Getting readers to pay for your story is not so easy. The reasons are legion. First of all, very few people know who I am and, thus, are not looking for stories written by me. Second, of the people who know me, only a very few would expect to pay for a story written by me. Third, most of the places on the internet that offer to publish your story, don’t offer a way for you to get paid by readers. The list goes on, but you get the idea. So, now I have to learn marketing, public relations, distribution, in other words, the publishing business. Help!! All I wanted to do was tell a simple story and exchange whatever value it has with someone who agreed that it was worth reading. That’s when I discovered Amazon’s Kindle.

I was aware of the electronic book as a product and knew that there are a few versions of the thing made by a several different companies. As I browsed around the internet, it looked to me like the Amazon product was the most accessible for someone like me. I looked through what others authors were offering and decided that I’d give it a try. I set up my account and then I discovered that each book or story offered should have an image to go with it, like the image on the dust jacket of a book. I’ve dabbled in drawing from time to time, so I decided to try to draw something that might work as a illustration for my story. I sketched out my idea, scanned the drawing into my computer and the cover for “The Christmas Cat” was done. I uploaded the whole thing, words and a picture, to my Kindle account and then announced the publication everywhere that I could: Flickr, Facebook, my e-mail signature, and, finally, right here. I haven’t sold too many, but I have sold a few and I’ve got lots of other story ideas. I’ve already written a sequel to “The Christmas Cat” called “The Lost Kitten,” and that is also available on Kindle.

And there you have it. I’m writing and publishing and promoting stories about a man and his cat. It’s something I know about, thanks to Quint and Hedge and all their feline processors. If you get a chance, and have an interest, you can find the stories at Amazon’s Kindle site. Just search for the titles and you’ll find them. There will be more stories to come, and more blog posts, too, here and on the other blogs. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.

Hedge Gets Brushed

How I Brush Quint's Teeth

Decorating the Ceiling

The main thing about cats is that they are insatiably curious. Anything new must be sniffed, tasted and poked to find out of what use it might be. Usefulness for a cat falls into three categories: sleeping, eating and playing. Thus, any new object must be immediately placed into one or more of the categories of usefulness. For example, I would fall into all three categories since I provide warmth when sleeping with or on, I supply food upon demand, and, not only am I the provider of toys, but often the animator of them as well, in that I toss them about for the kitties to chase. This makes me very useful to Quint and Hedge.

Newness for cats can be either a newly acquired object that has been brought home from the store, an item that has never previously been part of the household, or it can be a toy whose existence has been conveniently forgotten and has now been rediscovered. In the case of the former, the categorization process must be engaged immediately. For the latter, the category has already been established, but newfound delight can be experienced as a result of the rediscovery process.

All of the previous information is quite pertinent to the upcoming season, that being Christmas. Over the years that we’ve been together, Carol and I have acquired a great many Christmas decorations, including a lovely artificial tree and lots and lots of decorations, some handmade, some purchased and a few that were received as gifts. Some of these decorations are quite unique and delicate. At Christmas time we enjoy unpacking all these things and using them to create a festive atmosphere in the house. Two years ago, when we first adopted Quint, we decided not the put up the tree so that he wouldn’t get himself into trouble by behaving in a way that is natural for kittens. The year after that, Hedge became part of our household, and so we applied the same logic and chose to forego the tree again. This year, we decided, once again, to take the pro-active, preventive route and left the tree in its box. At this point, we’ll probably continue this strategy indefinitely, more because we like our solution to the problem then for any mistrust of our now fully-grown cats.

Two years ago, I had this brilliant idea. Since our house has quite a high ceiling which is spanned by lovely wooden beams, I thought it might be interesting to decorate that ceiling, putting all the delicate decorations out of reach of the curious kitties, but still allowing us to enjoy them by simply looking up. It has worked out wonderfully. We like our decorated ceiling and the cats don’t get in too much trouble over the holidays. It’s also a challenge to find new and interesting ways to create that festive atmosphere, and still maintain our kitty-safe environment. Part of our responsibility in living with cats is to let them be themselves as much as possible and, yet, still maintain a shared environment that works for all of us. Decorating the ceiling has proved to be a nearly perfect solution to what could have been quite a problem. The only drawback in the scheme is that I have to be very careful not to fall off the ladder while I’m putting up the decorations. So, far, I’ve succeeded.