[ February 21st, 2010 at 9:36 pm ]

A song for Twinkie: “You’re such a lovely animal, we’d like to take you home with us, we’d love to take you home.”

[ December 4th, 2009 at 1:27 pm ]

The most incredible thing happened! I was sitting on the couch, minding my own business, when suddenly Molly began to heave and retch. Then she puked on the carpet nearby. This is not unusual in itself, since Molly vomits about one every two weeks, on average. What set this particular vomit occurrence apart from all previous vomits was its sheer volume. It had to be seen to be believed. In fact, I wish I’d taken a photograph. It probably consisted of more than a cup of partially-deconstituted Prescription Diet cat food. Molly’s puddle of vomit was approximately a foot wide, and six inches across — a massive ovaloid pile of cat puke significantly larger than most human pukes that I see in the alley behind my building.

And then… and then… she puked a second time, and the volume was almost as huge! How is this possible? How could her stomach hold so much food? Indeed, I think this last question gets to the heart of the matter — Molly’s eyes were way bigger than her stomach in this instance, and she literally ate until she was stuffed… overstuffed, actually. I hope the experience was uncomfortable enough that she’s learned a valuable lesson about gluttony.

[ August 13th, 2009 at 10:11 pm ]

Twinkie has pretty eyebrows! I don’t know why I’ve never noticed that before.

[ July 26th, 2009 at 4:19 pm ]

Cats are basically like small children who are forever making messes because they don’t understand what tidiness is, much less why or how to clean up after themselves. And so you must go around sweeping the floors and picking up their poop. Such is the life of a cat-parent.

[ June 15th, 2009 at 12:01 pm ]

The other morning I awoke to find my two cats coming at me from both sides, as if they were a pair of lionesses on a hunt, stalking their prey. Twinkie was on my left and Molly was on my right. Instead of going at my jugular vein, however, they sat down next to me on the bed and began to purr.

[ May 26th, 2009 at 10:34 pm ]

I asked Molly if she wanted to sniff the groceries. She did.

[ May 2nd, 2009 at 1:58 pm ]

As I was eating egg salad, Molly, curled up on the top level of the cat tree, opened a single eye to peer at me. When I peered right back, she averted her gaze, feigning disinterest. I know she covets my egg salad.

[ April 22nd, 2009 at 8:09 pm ]

I tested my smoke detector just moments ago, pressing the button and listening for the “all’s well” tone, which it dutifully produced. The tone itself was piercing and shrill. Immediately afterward, I heard a small, plaintive meow from under the bed: Molly. The poor thing, she does not deal well with loud noises. Sneezes, movies with explosions, and drunken street kids in the alley are additional examples of noisy things Molly dislikes.

[ April 15th, 2009 at 2:55 pm ]

Twinkie and I learned a few things at the vet the other day.

1. Cats get acne too! Specifically, older cats apparently sometimes suffer from blackheads. To an untrained eye these may look like scabby sores that never seem to heal. Luckily the problem is much more benign than that. My vet shaved Twinkie’s chin, cleaned up the inflamed area, and gave me some topical zit cream to put on it. Problem solved.
2. If your cat has more earwax in one ear compared to the other, it could be a sign of an ear infection or an injury. In Twinkie’s case it was just earwax.
3. Twinkie may have a thyroid gland condition called hyperthyroidism, common in older cats. (In fact, Mia, the temperamental Siamese cat who was my childhood pet, had a pretty bad case of hyperthyroidism that eventually left her skeletally thin and even more temperamental by the time she died at 18 years old.) Blood tests can highlight a thyroid problem, but other symptoms to look for include an increased appetite and decreased weight, along with more vomiting and random meowing in the middle of the night. Treatment could involve orally medicating the cat for the rest of her life, or alternatively there is some sort of radiation therapy that’s effective. The jury’s still out on whether Twinkie really has a thyroid problem, but I’ll know more in a couple of months.

[ April 7th, 2009 at 10:13 pm ]

Here is the phrase that comes to mind every morning when Molly begs for cheese crumbs as I make my lunch:

Thanks, Hergé!