Tortietude

It's been a while since I've written in my blog, but that's because I was sick. This is such a big deal that I'm going to share this entry with Dee Dee. It all started early one Sunday morning when suddenly, out of the blue, I coughed a couple of times. I'd never done that before.

That's right, Kayla was walking around the bathroom floor when she hunched over and did this weird cough. I thought it might be a hairball cough because that's what Sam used to do occasionally.

Well, I was fine for most of the day, but that night I had a couple more coughing episodes. I didn't like it at all.

I started to get a little concerned, so I went to the pet store and bought some hairball remedy -- Petromalt, Sam's old favorite. I brought it home anticipating that Kayla would like it as much as Sam.

OK, this is where things get a little dicey. Dee Dee gets home, loves me up like usual, and then squeezes something onto her finger out of a tube and puts her finger under my nose. I sniff this thick, brown goo and then, quite reasonably, turn away. She follows me, sticking her finger under my nose again. "Come on, Kayla," she says, "this is yummy!" Yeah, right.

Kayla is not like Sam. Kayla appears to hate hairball remedy, whereas Sam was so addicted to it she would corner me in the kitchen every the morning until I gave it to her. I tried putting a little of it on her mouth, but she kept moving her head back and forth. So, I finally smeared some on her paw for her to lick off.

She put the nasty brown goo on my paw! I tried to shake it off, and some of it flew against the wall, but most of it stayed stuck in my fur. How undignified is that? I finally licked most of it off, but I could hardly stand it. What did I do to deserve this?

The hairball remedy on the paw did not go over well, but I tried it again the next day because Kayla was still coughing, but now she was getting more lethargic and definitely did not have her usual attitude and energy. This time she wouldn't even lick it off of her paw -- she just sat there, her head slightly down, looking sad and dejected. I felt awful!

I was very sad.

Wednesday morning I was so worried about her that I could hardly eat. She was listless and just loafed on the floor or in her tree, and she kept coughing more violently. But the worst part was her expression -- she didn't have the bright-eyed Kayla look; she just looked sad and uncomfortable. It reminded me of when Sam was sick, which of course scared me to death. I finally made a last minute vet appointment for her that afternoon.

I was feeling so bad that I didn't even mind going in the car in that stupid crate. I did meow a couple of times, but my meows came out hoarse and quiet. This is not the way a tortie should be.

To make a long story short -- Dr. Uhler, my favorite vet in the world, said that Kayla didn't have a hairball after all -- she had some kind of respiratory irritation, and she was actually coughing because her bronchial tubes were irritated, almost like an asthma attack. He gave her a shot to help open her airway and prescribed some pills that would also open her bronchial tubes. I felt AWFUL for trying to force her to eat hairball remedy!!

She should feel awful! That hairball remedy was NASTY. Why couldn't she tell I was gasping for air? Oh well, I didn't know what was happening either, but of course I'm a CAT -- my brain is the size of a walnut! I did start to feel better after the one she calls "vet" gave me the shot. I started to feel the beginnings of my old tortietude.

Yes, between the shot and the pills I gave her, Kayla started to act more like her old self. It took a few days, but early the next week she finally had a full blown tortietude moment when she raced around the house in her old Stitch-like fashion. I was so happy!

Life is good again. No hairball remedy, no trips in the crate, and lots of running around and torturing the dog. I even jumped on the vanity in the middle of the night again to bat a few things around.

And I was never happier to hear her rattling around in the dark. My tortie was back!

I've got a new Tortietude!