Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Cat Tale


Same-same as last night, y'all. I just can't rationalize sitting down and writing a long post while my darling is here as that would be time away from her. I am already teary, thinking of her leaving tomorrow.

But here's a little story.
Yesterday Maurice ran into the house, rubbing her cheek or mouth or something with her paw over and over. Stopping every few steps to do that. And then she hid herself away. Before we went to bed, Mr. Moon found her in the dining room under a bookcase and he picked her up and she let him look at her, touch her face, but she would not eat. 
Disturbing. 
He said that he'd seen some sort of cat fight from a distance in the yard yesterday so what had happened? Had the other cat injured her mouth? Had she swallowed a bee? Gotten bit by something? 
This morning she still wouldn't eat. I scratched her sweetly and she let me but her tail twitched in that very-unhappy-cat way. I cut up some deli-sliced chicken, her favorite, and she wouldn't eat that and I mixed up some milk and nutritional yeast which she does like but she wouldn't drink that. She'd go to the food bowl and just stand there and then walk away. 
Mr. Moon and I discussed whether or not we should take her to a vet. Which we never do. 
But we were willing. We decided to wait though because if it was a bite or sting, it would just take time. And within half an hour, she was crunching friskees, cautiously, but crunching and swallowing, nonetheless. 

We have no idea what happened to her but I did throw out the theory that she'd choked on one of the feral cats' eyeballs and had spat it out. 

Who knows? 

Not me. 

Love...Ms. Moon

17 comments:

  1. Maurice is a lovely cat. I've had ginger cats in the past, uninventively named Ginger. I'm glad she is eating again, perhaps when she heals a bit more you can look near her mouth and see if you can spot what the problem was. My Lola is an inside cat (it's the law here) so whenever she won't eat I know she has a headache.

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    1. Why do you think Ginger has a headache instead of oh, maybe a stomach ache? I ask this because I never in my life thought of a cat having a headache. But I suppose they do.

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    2. The Gingers were my childhood cats. Lola is my current cat and she has allergies which bring on the migraines which make her hide under the bed where it is dark and quiet, the light hurts her eyes and head the same as it does for me when I have a migraine.

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  2. Maurice could have had a bit of sharp plant material (thorn, burr, etc.) that worked its way out. But do keep an eye on her-- cats are very prone to abcesses (their skin heals fast, sometimes before a wound has finished draining), and if she had a tiny abcess in her mouth that burst, it could re-infect. But if she's fine, she's fine. An unnecessary vet trip would be more traumatizing (for Maurice, not just for the vet!) than helpful.

    Oh my, I do hope you NEVER have to medicate her. Imagine getting pills into that animal....

    Isn't it touchingly sad the way cats hide away when they're hurt? (Though I've known some hyper-social ones who seek comfort from their person.)

    I once called Maurice a "nutcase". No insult intended-- she simply is. I am her fan.

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    1. Well, Maurice is sort of a nutcase but she's OUR nutcase and we do love her. She seems super fine now, back to eating without obvious difficulty and doing her crazy Maurice things. I am SO relieved. A trip to the vet would have been so traumatizing- you are right.

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  3. Hmmmmm...mysterious! Obviously something was causing her pain but it sounds like it's subsiding -- or she just got hungry enough to get past it.

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    1. Yeah. I think whatever it was just got better. She's fine now.

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  4. She's probably just jealous of all the attention you're giving Lis!

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    1. I doubt that. She doesn't seem to really like much attention. Sometimes when I scratch her head she looks at me like, "What in hell are you thinking?" and gives her warning meow. I back off.

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  5. Poor Maurice. Whatever it was, hope it’s gone for good. Vet trips are very traumatizing, especially now when you can’t even go in with your pet. Enjoy every last second of your Lis time, women who love each other so deeply always makes me happy. It’s necessary maintenance for the soul.
    Xoxo
    Barbara

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    1. I'm pretty sure that in Monticello they'd let me go in with her to see the doctor. Covid doesn't seem to be believed in much in Jefferson County although I will say we have a high vaccine rate which is good. But yeah, Maurice seems fine again.
      And you are so right about soul maintenance.

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  6. Perhaps the other cats in the neighbourhood tease Maurice because she has a boy's name and it has finally become too much for her. Wouldn't it be kinder to change her name to Olivia - currently the most popular girl's name in America? I mean, just as an example, how would you like to be called Donald?

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  7. You know, that's funny. I have indeed "gotten messages" from cats that they need to be renamed but Maurice is not one of them. It's actually a fairly normal Southern custom to give women what are usually thought of as "boy" names. Plus, I really thought Maurice was a male when she first showed up because most ginger cats are. She is an unusual cat in many ways. I do like the name of Olivia though.
    And yes, if my name was Donald, I would definitely get it legally changed.

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  8. I wonder what got in Maurice's mouth. Good job it didn't pierce her throat or sting her windpipe. She's such an interesting cat, needing to know everything and why it's there. Mighty nice of her to let you know she was OK by stopping to eat.

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    1. She was hungry! In fact, last night I tried to pet her and then, as Owen said- she tried to eat my hand!
      There are scabs.

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  9. My sweet boy Georgethecat died this week, while I am out of town. Difficult for my husband who had to handle the details, and wrenching for me. He was such a good boy.

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    1. We had a cat named George a long time ago and we still grieve him. I understand. I'm so sorry.

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