Sorry, Sorry, Sorry

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

Sorry, I should have posted an update, because you’re probably all worried about Circe.

I do actually have news on Circe, but they’re good. (Does this mean I’m going to stop worrying? Do you know me? Of course, not, but I’ll worry less frantically.)

But mostly the day was completely crazy, with three can’t avoid appointments, one for Circe.

I’m still halfway in awe that we got to all of them. And two of them were very good news. (Dan maybe, might, perhaps need further surgery. We don’t know yet, and probably won’t for a couple of months.)

We took Circe for an appointment with another vet, mostly because our vet is booked weeks away, but also we wanted a second opinion/second eyes on the kitten. And this is our son’s vet (Now you know, our son is secretly a lion shifter) and he’s highly impressed with her.

Anyway, so this vet thinks Circe is perfectly healthy, just recovering from some infection. She thinks possibly herpes, which she says is rampant in kittens. (Who knew? My kitten gave me herpes?)

Anyway, she is acting better, though right now she’s exhausted from going to the vet, of course.

So, apparently I sleep like an anime character with my hand near my face, palm up. I found this out because last night Circe came and curled up in it, and tucked her little wedge-shaped head under my chin. And that’s how we slept last night. She left as I woke up, but it must have been only a box visit, because she came back and was bumping my chin and wanting to play.

Anyway, she’s eating more, and apparently drinking more, so she no longer looks as much like a bag of bones.

And in compensation for keeping you in suspense this late, I’ll tell you the funniest cat story EVER. So, as far as Indy is concerned, we brought home six of his little siblings, and then we took one or two out periodically in a carrier, and they NEVER CAME BACK.

So he was alarmed when we took Circe out in a carrier, and tried to follow us out the door.

Then when we came back, he was very happy, but also puzzled. So Dan said, “They didn’t want her, so we brought her back.”

And because I never thought he’d understand, I said, “Yeah. They wanted an older male. So we’re taking you. Get in.”

He looked up at me, looked really sad, and this cat who never voluntarily goes in a carrier, started to get in.

I was so shocked he understood what I said!

Of course I pulled him out, cuddled him and told him we’re never giving him away. And he’s fine, playing with mini-me and the Siam-Muse.

And that’s it for now. Real post tomorrow.

68 thoughts on “Sorry, Sorry, Sorry”

  1. Awwww, poor confuzzled kitty.

    I was playing with my super-smart livestock guardian once and asked “well, what do you WANT??” He stopped scampering, walked sedately to the door, flipped his leash with his nose, sat down and waited. A bit too abstract of a thinker for my comfort, that dog.

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    1. Yes. I have.

      Even funnier is same orange cat attacking that really long snake and confused when it suddenly stopped the dog. (Long line attached to dog. We were practicing long recalls. Funny face on dog too.) This was Thump. He showed up every single time I had Pepper out in the backyard. Miss Thump.

      Glad Circe is perking up, eating, playing, and cuddling, with both you and Indy.

      Indy makes me laugh. Yes, I can believe he understands, everything. Which is so many ways scary. Good thing he doesn’t have opposable thumbs. Hopefully all the door handles are round ones, if levers, you are in for soooooo much fun. Not! Seriously. Not! Bad enough our cats have no problem opening bifold closet, or cabinet, doors, and drawers, without using the handles (cabinet doors and drawers, don’t even have handles), without them opening the room doors uninvited.

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      2. We had a cat who would turn on the faucet- he preferred drinking from a running source rather than a bowl; the only problem was that he wouldn’t turn it back off.

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        1. I’ve known a cat that would do that. Turn the faucet back off.

          She also negotiated doors, door locks, drawers, cabinets, the electric heater switch (warminator, according to relatives who speak cat), blankets, childproof caps (she wanted the cotton, not the pills), came when called, and would remind you when the alarm didn’t go off in time (feeding time was right after).

          Had fourteen kittens that lived, that one. Only three got even a smidge of her intelligence. One of the others, well. That cat was dumber than Doofus on his silliest day.

          The dang Maine Coon sized fuzzball was convinced he could swim. Right up until he couldn’t. Darn near downed his self I don’t know how many times. Girlfriend at the time had to up and charge out into the lake to snatch him back out the oncet.

          He nearly electrocuted himself twice. Got caught in the dryer several times. Survived a hundred and twenty mile trip in the engine compartment of an 87 Silverado… In February when the breeze was blowing -35. Survived a five story fall. Got his fluffy tail caught in a spinning fan. Lost a fight with a skunk. Then a snake (non venomous). Bit by something that made half his face swell up something fierce. Tried to attack a living cactus (hedgehog)… one time. Tried to make friends with the fireplace. And so on…

          Poor old Blasphemy was a weird one, definitely not a bright one. Could have been the crease in his tiny skull from when he got shot as a kitten. Could have been just natural low intellect from the get go.

          Good cat for keeping a body on their toes, though. Training wheels for toddlers. If that cat didn’t have at least one near death experience a day, it was a rare gem.

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        2. None of our current cats turn on faucets, but we’ve had cats in the past do this too. More recent cats would only drink from a running faucet, but didn’t turn one on. Had to have a steady stream running. Didn’t that run up the water bill! Got a pagoda water fountain that mimics the faucet water, and it is carbon filtered. Solved that problem. Six months and it was paid for. Now I have that pagoda fountain, plus 2 Pet-Safe Hy-drate by Drinkwell, that moves water around. Got first one locally, needed a third water bowl and had to search for another one. I don’t like the ones where I have to use a tiny long brush to clean out tubes. Neither of these have that problem.

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      3. Miz Kitty is a fierce predator of laser dots, milk jug rings, plastic golf balls, and the occasional stringy thing attached to whatever.

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        1. Our cats are also great hunters of the red dot (now that I’ve found not only rechargeable but not-hold-button-continuously on versions). Also chase Pepper around when she is dragging leash (getting ready to go out, not training). One of our cats goes out of his way to find ropes to pickup/unravel and drag wherever (he is also the great garter snake hunter). I have to keep Pepper’s leashes where he can’t find them. Funny when you catch him doing it. Bit unnerving when he drags them up over the bed, and you, at 3 AM. Found him a rechargeable owl that makes noises and flaps wings. Started out playing with it a lot, throwing it, packing it around. Now he doesn’t. Have bird cat toys (no noise) that our tuxedo goes nuts over. Also have a caged bird that makes noises that the tuxedo manages to get her head trapped in. That one the noise is dying (not rechargeable) so not played with much. Another caged mouse makes mouse noises which died, but got a replacement, but they don’t play with either, at all. Cats.

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    4. Our 140 pound Great Pyrenees/German Shepherd/Walker Coonhound mix (see my avatar) used to drop down low and sneak up on me. On a sidewalk. In broad daylight. From half a block away. While holding eye contact.

      Not the sharpest spoon in the silverware tray, Bear was. But the best big lug of a dog you could ever want.

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  12. We have to take everyone to vet together, even if only one is being seen. Even with Sauron(his tail name), it keeps everyone happy to know what’s happening with their siblings.

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    1. We used to take all the pets to their vaccinations together. If only because after paying for the first 3 shots, all other shots were 1/2 cost. Since we were always looking at up to 18 shots for 6 animals, the savings added up very, very, fast. Not true anymore. There is a loyalty program, comes under “better than nothing” but could be a whole lot better (less than 1% return).

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  14. Indy’s reaction is equal parts hilarious, heartbreaking, and heroic. He’s a clever cat, obedient when called upon- and amazingly brave to accept his fate as decreed by the alpha queen.

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  20. Once upon a time, I had a huge handsome red/orange Maine Coon mix, about 15 pounds of solid muscle, and attitude to match.

    He would get up on the fridge behind boxes, and lurk. When you reached for a box, BAM! he would swat your hand from ambush, hard, but no claws. Scared the p-word out of the housemate, multiple times.

    He got treats for catching critters and bugs indoors. One day, I see a big mosquito bopping along the frame above the door. He was staring at it, scrunched up to jump, making his rrrrr-rrrrt “I’m gonna git you sucka!” noise. I said “Don’t be silly you cant..” LEAP! BOP! Squashed it on the frame over the door. (Sits proudly grooming paw) “MrrrrRRRRT!” “Here. have a bunch of treats…” MrrrRRRRRT! (omnomnom)”

    He would sit on the headboard of my bed, and if I started snoring, he would reach slowly down and BOP! my lip and then do the “Who me?” thing.

    Miss the big jerk….

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    1. Our current cat is our best cat. She’s very soft, very considerate. Like, she deliberately throws up on the linoleum. Still reasonably playful for her age. Great cat.

      But the second best cat I had was Colossus. 32″ and 23lbs when he was young and in good shape. He was not very bright except when it came to getting food, and he never got enough food.

      We hid the food in a cupboard…he opened the cupboard. We hid it over the refrigerator…he could jump from the floor to the top of the refrigerator. (Also, doorframes. He loved to jump to a doorframe, sit there, and bat at people’s hair when they walked by). We put the food back in the cupboard with a baby lock…and he chewed through the plastic. We put it in the cupboard with a chain and combination lock…and he didn’t ever get into it again, but he would spin the lock dial and pull on it.

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  21. Glad to hear Circe is ok, If she’s had herpes it may come back when she’s older (like Herpes Zooster aka chickenpox in humans coming back as shingles). In an adult cat it usually manifests as one or both eyes being kind of sticky. Various vets we’ve had recommend adding L-Lysine to their diets when you see this. Apparently this replaces something the virus needs and blocks its reproduction cycle. As for your intelligent boy he seems quite intelligent, maybe he has ALL the brain cells the other orange cats aren’t using :-) .

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      1. Indeed our genius cat, Spike was also Orange (white socks and mittens and white chest and chin). Able to figure out MANY things, also very good at object permanence and counting. Tended to count noses before he bedded down near elder daughter. If one of the girls was away on a sleepover (Especially Elder Daughter) we would get a several minute harangue as he led us to the unoccupied bed to illustrate his issue. In many ways on a par with a very smart dog or a young toddler. I’ve had other smart cats, Gray, current void cat but none of them seemed to rival Spike’s intelligence combined with a gentle spirit.

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  24. I’m glad your little furball’s feeling better! I get to meet my middle daughter’s kitty for the first time next week. She and her husband have named it Dingus, apparently.

    On a side note, if you’re a man and have been dispatched alone to the local Ulta store, I’ve found the “clueless husband/father” approach works pretty well with the sales associates, as long as you’re polite and have a notion of what you’ve been sent in for (“I’m supposed to find something called Tony Moly masks. Do you have them here? You do? Oh thanks so much!”).

    And I did ask one associate if she ever had to stop a husband from buying the obviously wrong thing, and she said yes, more than once,

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    1. Somewhere on the internet (or maybe somewhere in person), I saw I sign that went something like: “Husbands buying paint must have a note from their wife.” Yeah; I’m your basic 8-bit color guy like someone wrote eons ago.

      I’m glad to hear about little Circe. Long may she pounce.

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          2. While VGA would let you display up to 256 colors at once (depending on the graphics mode), those colors were chosen from a pool of 262,144. You’d need 18-bit vision to be able to distinguish between all of them.

            Of course, I realize I might be over-analyzing a joke here…

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      1. Ulta is a chain store that sells fancy cosmetics, hair styling things, bathtime stuff, and the like. About 95% of the inventory is marketed toward women. Stuff for guys might occupy a single set of shelves. Fortunately for me, youngest daughter flew in last Sunday, so she’s been advising me on what to buy for my wife.

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  25. Love the stories, and I’m glad to hear your second opinion was so positive. It it sounds like if zingy ever starts figuring out how to use a computer, you should be VERY worried. He sounds like someone who could be quite capable of purchasing his own catnip treats.

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  27. > “I was so shocked he understood what I said!”

    Didn’t you say once that you had a similar problem with your son Robert when you joked about him being repossessed as a kid?

    Maybe you should just avoid jokes like that. Whether it’s cats or humans, you seem to attract the dangerously intelligent and perceptive.

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