Scratcher of heads, rubber of bellies
Sam has taken to this south-facing window where he can lie with the sun warming his belly, all with a view of the quail and doves and woodpeckers in the backyard. As happens in life though, sometimes a neighbor moves in and blocks your view, or climbs into bed with you for a snuggle. C’est la vie.
Sam got his stitches out yesterday and his mouth has healed nicely so he was given the all clear to eat the hard treats I give them after dinner, which made all the cats happy as I cut out treats for all while they were forbidden for Sam. You can just see a few of the stitches in this picture in the shaved area behind his shoulder.
When Sam came home after his surgery the other cats weren’t quite sure what to make of him, Boo would hiss at him and Trixie mostly avoided him. We saw this years ago after Templeton’s surgery when Scout hissed at him at first, I’m guessing it’s the different smell when they first come home. Once his wound healed enough that we could take off his onesie and he could give himself a bath, Trixie recognized her hero once more and buried her head in his belly as he slept on my legs. He gave me a look and I was poised to move her lest she bump his sore mouth or shoulder but she instantly fell asleep. He decided to tolerate her affections despite not feeling well, curling up around her and joining her in slumber.
The vet reported that the cyst that suddenly appeared in Sam’s shoulder was a reaction to his steroid injection so while it will change the way he gets his shots in the future there’s no other underlying issue we need to worry about. He’s healing well from the shoulder surgery and will get the stitches out soon. He’s also healing well from his dental surgery and will be able to enjoy evening treats again, as will the other cats as I’ve put them all on hiatus until Sam can join us once more. Here as he sleeps on my legs he was still wearing his onesie in the early days after surgery but he hasn’t had to wear it for a while now.
I’m not the only one recovering from oral surgery as Sam went in last week and needed four teeth removed, including three of his front teeth. Making matters worse for our twelve year old, they discovered a cyst in his shoulder they hadn’t noticed on his previous visit (we hadn’t either) so that was removed and we are waiting on results of a biopsy to learn more. He has stitches running behind his right shoulder so the vet suggested we get a baby’s onesie for him to wear at first while the wound was healing. He seemed disappointed it wasn’t adorned with Jedi Knights or Boba Fett but otherwise put up with it tolerably, here he’s resting on my legs.
Sam and Trixie rest after an afternoon of birdwatching at the window. With the heat finally breaking we can open the windows, Trixie, Sam, and Boo are watching quail outside my window now. It pains me on many levels that Emma died young and never made it to Arizona, all of the cats loved watching wildlife but none as much as Em. I suspect we would have had to put her in a straitjacket as the antics of the large families of quail that come to feed would have overloaded her with excitement. What sounds she would have made to welcome her visitors!
Taken last spring as the oldest member of our pride adapted to his new desert home, learning to nap and snuggle in this arid landscape. Shot with my iPhone as Sam curled up on my legs as I relaxed on the couch. There are only a few of today’s technologies that it pains me we didn’t have in my youth, having a capable camera in your pocket is one of them.
I’ve been a bit worn out this past month and haven’t been hiking in a couple of weeks, we’ll see how this weekend goes. I’m not completely exhausted like I was when we moved and during the last weeks of Ellie’s life, and I haven’t had to work long hours, rather it’s just that there’s been a lot going on, a lot to learn, and it’s taken a bit out of me. It hasn’t helped that this past week the night owl has been reasserting himself, if only I could sleep like Boo! Thankfully while he was pretty stressed after Ellie died our resident philosopher has been doing better lately.
“Can’t we watch one more episode of Doctor Who?”
“Are you sure Boo? It’s getting late, you won’t be too tired tomorrow? I’ll happily wait until we can watch it together.”
“No, no, I’ll be fine! Bring on ‘The Monster of Peladon’!”
Cut to the next day …
I loved her eyes.
I loved the way they lit up when she stuck her head around the door when I arrived home from work. I loved how much more expressive they became when the gray spread to her eyebrows. I loved the way she looked at me on our walks. Multiple people over the years stopped us to tell me how they loved the way she looked at me, how could I express how much I loved it too?
I loved how they showed the character of the dog beneath.
I loved how she’d look at me, then shift her eyes towards the closet where her treats were, then back to me. I’ve often wondered when she started doing it, how long it was before I realized she was doing it and how much longer before I understood what she wanted. She did it until the very end when I was a little more generous with the charcoal treats she wanted, as she could eat them even when her appetite for regular food was waning. She couldn’t move her legs very well but those eyes never had any trouble darting towards the treats.
Here she’s curled up beside me on the couch in the fall of 2013 as I watched football on a Sunday afternoon, the gray spreading across her face. How old she looked to me then, how young she looks to me now!
Boolie 