Surprises Of All Kinds

[xifeng]

dethorats, I got your package! We've been enjoying the delicious goodies, and Alan Moore is always a pleasant surprise (though you may have given that one to me already; I'm not sure. HELP I'VE TURNED INTO ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO DOESN'T KNOW WHICH BOOKS SHE HAS). Thank you! ♥

So the kitten had a vet's appointment this morning.


First of all, X-chan and I were mistaken in our initial hypothesis, and this also rather neatly explains why we couldn't settle on a name that seemed to fit the kitten. (The vet's office put us down for a checkup for NEW KITTY.) I've been referring to the kitten as "she" and "her"--turns out, HE is a male whose testicles hadn't descended, which is why X-chan thought he was female. (And now they never will, because he either got fixed today or will get fixed tomorrow.) We still haven't settled on a name, though I'm leaning towards Raisuli (after Sean Connery's character in The Wind and the Lion; Mom thought it would be funny to have two cats and call one Mrs Perdicaris and the other Raisuli, since in the movie Sean Connery tells Candice Bergen, "Mrs Perdicaris, you are a great deal of trouble!" Also, TR's famous line, "Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead!").

The kitten's tail will need to come off pretty close to his ass; the vet said that it was completely dead, and the wound actually hadn't healed as fully as X-chan thought, because it had become infected and pus was involved. (Which also explains why the kitten didn't smell very good.) Since he's been out, or is going to be out, to be neutered, they'll just take care of that at the same time. (Your own tasteless joke about Insta-Manx goes here.) He has an upper respiratory infection (thus the nasal and ocular matter that keeps oozing out of his various orifices) and fleas. Antibiotics ought to take care of that, though he'll be pumped full of them, poor little thing.

The bright spots in all of this are that a.) he's going to be okay and b.) he doesn't have FeLV, which would have rendered all of the above totally unnecessary. (And he's getting his vaccinations, too, so now he'll never get FeLV.)


One of my Christmas presents from the lolmom was a membership in the Orange Mug Club, which supports public radio and the very funny news show Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me, and which also entitles members to free coffee at some of the locally owned coffee shops for a year. One of these shops is on Main Street in Evansville, just a few blocks from the RMUTA building, and I was very excited about COFFEE. Unfortunately, it's only open from 7-4. (For downtown Evansville, this actually makes perfect sense, and I don't blame them at all. Despite what Evansville would like you to believe, it does NOT have a thriving and vibrant downtown; downtown is largely a business district and is pretty much dead before 8 a.m., after 5 p.m., and on the weekends.) I'll have to start getting up early a couple of mornings a week. :D

Uh, that's pretty much it for me, I think. How are you guys?

Comments

[pixelation.livejournal.com]

Your poor kitteh!!!! He has been through so much at such a young age. Sounds like he will be in tip top shape soon enough though. <3

Free coffee ftw! I catch Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me on NPR once in a while and it's always so much fun. :)

Sounds like you're having a great holiday. :D

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

I know--we think he's only about 3 or 4 months old! The tail thing was probably the result of an accident or an altercation with something--we don't think it was deliberate abuse, because he knew that hands are for petting when he started stalking X-chan. :D (He hasn't got feet and being underfoot figured out though, yet, which has resulted in Cat vs. Uncaffeinated Lee and the consequent Vigorous Swearing and Pleas for Forgiveness.) He seems to have been socialized, so X-chan wonders if he was the kitten someone couldn't find a home for and subsequently dumped. Ugh, people are bastards.

Free coffee RULES ALL. :D We play NPR all morning on Sunday, and now I have Sundays off indefinitely and can enjoy it properly.

It's a working holiday for me, but I'm not complaining at all; I'd far rather do RMUTA busywork than Lol-Mart busywork. Also, they let me wear my own clothes! :D

[duokinneas.livejournal.com]

Your kitten of the night looks just like our rescue case, Captain Jack, who is also a male tuxedo cat who came bearing fleas, but fortunately for him hadn't been so brutally abused by life and circumstances. Your poor little monster. Every time I looked at those photos of him today, I had to force myself not to tear up at his little tail! It's sad he has to have it amputated, but is it wrong of me to think it will be cute in the end?

I hope all goes well with the vet appointment, and that he fits in well with your family and has a long, happy life. ♥

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

Hey, it's the Mieu icon! :D IS THE UKE AN ADORABLE CHEAGLE NOW~

The kittens of the night, what beautiful music they make! XD Our poor kitten can't even meow; he opens his mouth adorably but nothing comes out. We hope this facility will be restored to him (also, being able to play; he hasn't been playing a whole lot, probably because he feels bad). At least he hasn't been abused by people (that we know of; we think the tail was probably an accident or an altercation with another animal); he certainly doesn't act like it, and he has no shame about exposing his tummy for a rub.

Hee, I was just writing to X-chan to let her know how things were going and to warn her to check the SpastiCat in case she passed kitten fleas to her, and I mentioned that he's going to have to wear a cone after his surgery to stop him pulling stitches out of his butt. I said, "[This] will be interesting and probably hilarious." I wish he didn't have to have his tail off, but you know how cats kind of short-circuit when presented with new situations? Yeah.

He'll be cute no matter what--he's a kitten! We intend to give him the longest, happiest life we can; he has a loving family to look after him now. He seems to have warmed to me; he likes to follow me around, though he hasn't cottoned on to feet and being underfoot yet and thus doesn't know that this is how little cats can be accidentally stepped on or kicked.

[samanosukesgirl.livejournal.com]

I figure you'd go with Hideyoshi?

The day I get a boy and a girl cat, they WILL be named Samanosuke and Kaede.

My cousin had a cat (female named Garfield) who's tail was cut off by some sadistic asshole.

[shake-the-stars.livejournal.com]

No. Too long, and my mother wouldn't get it.

But what will Osiris think?

Oh, poor Garfield. People are bastards.

[samanosukesgirl.livejournal.com]

Monkey? If anyone asks, just say "Donkey Kong".

When I get both cats, Osiris will be.. will be.. BUT I SURE HOPE NOT!!

She was a kitten when that happened.