After Dark All Cats Become Leopards

Our cat Boo sleeps slumped over the cat bed next to a clock that says 'After Dark All Cats Become Leopards'

We discovered early on that Boo had no bones, this was a common sleeping pose a couple of months after we adopted him in 2013. The clock with the translation of a proverb attributed to the Zuni I bought at an art fair in Salem years ago. Though it no longer works I keep it out as I bought it for the art not the clock.

Pupdate

Our elderly black lab Ellie sleeps on the tile floor of our house in Scottsdale, Arizona

Age continues to take its slow toll on our sweet pup Ellie but at fourteen or fifteen years old she is doing far better than I ever hoped. We found a good vet here in Scottsdale and the good news is her kidney disease hasn’t worsened. She’s lost about 10 pounds in the last 6 months but an ultrasound didn’t show anything alarming. A continuing trend and a symptom of the kidney issues is she is not as interested in eating her food so we have switched to a different food that has helped for the moment. She is still quite interested in the cats’ food but it has far too much protein for her.

She is feeling more pain in her back and hind legs so we are adjusting her pain medicines, there is some risk to her kidneys but at this point we want to make sure the remainder of her life is as happy as it can be. It seems to be helping, this morning she went on a 0.75 mile walk and kept a good pace the entire time, yesterday she went 1.17 miles! With the heat we don’t take her on evening walks but even in Portland it was getting difficult, I could only get her to go to the park and then she’d want to go straight home.

She loves sleeping both in her dog beds and on the tile floors although the tile is proving a bit slippery, we’re getting some booties that will give her more grip. Her attitude is one of joy as it always has been. Her hearing has been going for a while now, when I came home yesterday she didn’t hear me even as I walked up behind her but she happily greeted me when I rubbed her floppy ears.

Every day a blessing.

26 Minutes

Our cat Sam sleeps atop the cat tree in direct light

Two pictures taken 26 minutes apart as I tested out a new camera in March of 2017, Sam sleeping in my office in the late afternoon, first in direct light and then in diffuse light. The great snuggler is curled up beside me now.

Our cat Sam sleeps atop the cat tree in diffuse light