cats – Tiffany Shearn

Baxie’s Adventure

Here is a short adventure in honor of live creative day.

Homecoming

Baxie grew up sheltered in a quiet neighborhood. She was adopted at a young age by a nice couple during a time of widespread illness. It had been challenging to connect with potential adoptees because they did not come in often. Some of those with her were shy and didn’t interact much with the people who came. She was one of the lucky ones, to be adopted.

Her new parents introduced her to her favorite person in the whole world when they arrived home. His name was Peter, and they had adopted him so many years before he was practically a grumpy grown-up. Initial attempts to invite Peter to play with her were met with derision and more than a little sniping at her, but she could tell he was lonely and kept poking. Eventually, he pounced back and ran around with her. They would snuggle up together for naps after their races.

People visit the family. While Peter loved meeting and talking to the guests, Baxie remained scared of them. She preferred her quiet family to herself. Those strangers could stay in their own homes as far as she was concerned. However, as she stared out their back window into the vast woodland surrounding their home, she wondered if something in nature might offer her more.

The Wild OutBack

Her parents and Peter roamed around in the back woods. She watched them from the doorway, listening to the tweeting of birds and the chittering of squirrels. Oh! How she wanted to go out and romp with the forest animals. It seemed safe enough for the rest of her family, but every time she started to paw outside quietly, a louder sound reverberated through the trees.

Winter turned to another spring, and the days grew warmer with the sun peeking out between the clouds and the rain. It was her third year with her new family, and Baxie knew she wanted to take a risk. She wanted to – finally – bask in the sun and chase bugs or birds in the fresh air.

Baxie stepped forward onto the back stoop. Her nose twitched at the scents assaulting her senses, and her ears flicked fore and back on alert for the slightest sound of danger. The world was quiet. A gentle burbling of water and a breeze rustling the leaves. She kept moving, slipping between two trees flanking the perimeter of the open area where the family cooked.

The tree smelled good, so Baxie stopped to take a nibble. It tasted different than the food she normally ate, and the branch was still connected, so it whapped her in the nose when she let it go. The feeling of it against her whiskers made her huff a breath before continuing.

Freedom!

Exiting on the other side, she froze in place. Massive trees rose above her. Water rushed to the left, and a small hill trailed to the right. A rush of wings above claimed her attention, and she crouched low as her eyes narrowed on the object of her desires. Her heart rushed, and she felt her jaw move, making a quiet clicking. The bird sang, oblivious.

Baxie crouched. She wiggled her back legs, positioning them perfectly to pounce in an instant. The bird sang, then fluttered its wings before grooming them with its beak.

So close, she thought, I just need a step to get up there.

The thought was no sooner in her head when the bird took off from its perch and flew toward the water. Without hesitation, on instinct, she bolted after it. Their chase lasted mere seconds. It disappeared between the leaves of another tree, so she halted her fast pursuit and took up a stalking position. In the distance, someone called her name, but she ignored whoever it was, intent on her prey.

Step.

Another.

Soft paws. Quiet paws. Slowly.

The bird took off again for another tree, and she threw herself forward after it. Her name was called louder this time, but she again ignored them. Behind the waterfall and across the field, her claws dug into the soil and she bolted forward like a supreme hunter. Excitement flared in her chest as she pulled up beneath the next tree. She stalked at the base, assessing her best path to the top.

“Baxie, you crazy cat,” Mom said as she approached.

No! No! No! You’ll scare it away!

Her pleas fell on deaf ears as she was plucked off the ground and into welcoming arms.

“You can’t chase birds, silly. You’ll run out of the yard and get lost.”

Baxie had no idea what the words meant, but she stared back at the bird as she was carried back inside, her eyes narrowing on her prey. I’ll get you next time, she promised.

Cat’s Eye

The last few weeks were filled with multiple vet appointments. Big Cat turned nineteen years old at the beginning of the month, and he has developed an eye ulcer. His right eye started to develop an odd spot on it. He wasn’t rubbing at it or squinting, but, as it got bigger, I sent in a picture to the vet.

She was worried it was hurting him, and we did some eye drops for a couple of weeks. The spots shrunk a bit, but the vet wanted me to take him to an ophthalmologist. We are now trying a couple of different eye drops, and I’ve been able to reduce his pain meds. The eye doctor doesn’t think it is hurting him. Unless he starts squinting, I’m lessening the pain meds to what I have found to be optimal for his arthritis.

Everyone who sees him still says he looks good for his age. Considering that a cat half his age would still be considered almost geriatric, that is not saying much. He promised me at least twenty years – we had a heartfelt cat-person conversation. I would be happy if he at least makes it through this next summer. Since he can’t run away as much now, I’ve been taking him outside in good weather, and he has loved lounging in the sun.

Big Cat has been my companion for nearly half my life. He moved out of my parents’ house with me. He cried and laughed with me through my relationships. He accepted my husband when we all moved in together, winning him over despite his reluctance to become a pet owner. I want to make sure he is as comfortable as possible for however long he has remaining.

Lots of cat love to all!

Brain Mush

My brain is a bit mushy today. I think it is from running in a hundred directions the last few weeks. Maybe it is getting to do more people stuff again. Either way, this post will ramble a bit so I can give you some updates across many of those hundred directions.

Cats!

The vet recommended I look into a shot to manage Big Cat’s arthritis. Based on how he acts, I am holding off for now and keeping that on the back burner for later pain management. However, the research I did made me think of getting him a bed for the winter months. With it getting colder, I wanted him to have something warm to sleep on at night. They warn against using heated blankets and such for people, so I went for a heated cat bed.

I got the large one in case Little Cat tried to join him so she would not push him out.

He loves it. Not more than my lap (thankfully), but he often ignores the metaphorical dinner bell now to stay curled up in it until he is hungry and gets up to pester me for food. He is super adorable in it, and I’m glad he took to it right away.

Health

A couple of weeks ago, I got my updated COVID booster, and yesterday I got my flu shot. I have mentioned before that I continue to work through a needle phobia. Both vaccinations went off without a fainting problem, so I count those as two wins. The one from yesterday might be contributing to my brain fog today, but the side effects are relatively mild this time (another win).

I’m doing what I can and crossing my fingers that I can avoid any additional illnesses as we head into the colder seasons.

Grandma

Something I have been spending more time on lately is helping my grandmother look for a new independent living facility. My mom’s side of the family used to split between us in the Auburn/Federal Way areas and the other half in the Puyallup area. Before my grandfather passed, they also lived in Puyallup, so it made sense that when she decided to go into independent living that they would look for something there as well.

Time moved on, and the Puyallup half has now moved to Florida, and she wants to be closer to those of us still living in Washington. I have been researching places closer to us, and we toured some a couple of weeks ago. We did some thinking and negotiation, and she signed onto a new place this week. We will be helping her move into it at the end of November, and everyone is excited that she will be closer to us for visits and events.

Miscellaneous

We started up our Halloween parties again. I called this one Zombie Halloween because we were essentially trying to resurrect the events of old. It turned out to be a great time. I brought back one of my old costumes. My sister and I made it together about twelve years ago, and it mostly still fits with some strategic cape placement. For the event, I also made some spooky deviled eggs. I am a Miracle Whip person, while my husband prefers mayo, so I did half of each kind. The MW ones looked like mummies, while the mayo looked like pumpkins.

This is the She-Ra (OG 80’s cartoon) costume my sister and I made. I bought the skirt, boots, and sword.

Another fun thing I tried out this week was making butter (main photo)! I first saw an old butter churn on TikTok, then I saw that you can do it with a mixer in about fifteen minutes. The latter seemed easier, so I went in that direction. It was cool seeing it firm up and the buttermilk getting washed out. This morning, I chopped some garlic and homegrown basil and mixed that in for some homemade garlic-basil butter. I’m freezing it for later use, and I might make some more butter and other varieties to give out for Christmas.

Thanks!

That is all of my brain mush for the moment except to say that two more ratings came in recently on Amazon, so that puts me at thirty-three total between the two books. Seven more, and I will add that deleted chapter to the website! Thanks for all of your support, and I hope you keep reading.

Cat Check-Up

It is that time of year again, time for their annual check-up. Big Cat again had some additional tests to see how his kidneys and other old organs fare. He has had some issues recently: kidney, stomach, and joint.

Big Cat

Big Cat has been doing much better since he started the medicine for his arthritis. He had been struggling to eat and keep food down, losing a lot of weight. I was worried for a while that he would not recover. The medicine helped, though, and he has regained a good portion of the lost weight.

Big Cat posing during cuddles. This is his happy face.

He has more energy and runs around like a crazy cat again. He may not have as much energy as in his prime, but he looks pretty spry and active for a cat pushing eighteen. If only arthritis did not make it difficult for him to squat when peeing, things would be perfect.

Alas, the potty problems persist. I even switched to the biggest litter box available; one in which his whole lanky body fits. Even if he fails to squat, he usually hits the inside wall. It is not as easy as the automated box, but I can handle the extra work.

As far as the tests went, one of his kidney numbers spiked. While it does not appear to be affecting the rest of the things kidney problems can cause, the vet has recommended I bring him in for a BP test. She also suggested I look into Solensia. The medicine is a monthly shot to treat joint pain, and his back legs are definitely tender constantly. None of this is a surprise for a cat his age.

Little Cat

Not much change for Little Cat, which is good since she is only two. She is still a cute ball of fluff with adorable ear tufts. Her favorite pastime is staring out the back door at the squirrels foraging outside. I have started their diet with nuts from our pantry so they come around more often.
She stares out back and chitters at them and the birds. I have been leaving the windows open so she can sniff the fresh air through the screens (during the day). When the weather finally turns—over 70 in October?—she will be so disappointed that I have to keep the windows closed.

Sleepy paws and bedhead. Little Cat is out for her afternoon nap.

Medically, she is all caught up on her vaccinations and free of any concerns. The vet says we should watch her food intake so she does not gain more weight, but she is good. We will keep Little Cat healthy so she can keep pestering and running around with Big Cat. Someone needs to keep him young.

Little Cat Adventure

Last weekend, Little Cat (LC) had herself a furry freakout. While I worked on Hidden Sanctuary all day, my husband decided to take the time to tackle our pond out back.

It is a lovely addition to the yard and provides a soothing sound when we run the waterfalls. Unfortunately, water evaporates by the gallon in the summer. In the winter, it collects leaves and pine needles and then turns it all into algae and frog eggs in the early spring. We try to take all the eggs to a local wetland before the draining and cleaning take place. This year we relocated a frog along with them. One final pouch of eggs is still in a bucket out back—it was found late in the process.

I say “we,” but all of this work was 99.9% him working over about eight hours. A few patches of pond armor are still needed, but it looks amazing. We have a skimmer and a new vacuum, so we are hoping we can keep it sparkling this year.

Little Cat Explores

LC has some squirrel friends she’ likes to watch during the day as she sits in front of the back sliding door. My cats are indoor cats, but every now and then we let them into the backyard to sniff around, usually with the harness and leash on.

As much as she loves the backyard, she is terrified of people. Whenever friends or family stop by—or even a delivery person—she bolts from whatever sunny spot she found to go hide under a blanket. We have no idea what drives her to be so afraid, but we let her calm down in her safe place.

On Sunday, her split personalities collided in spectacular fashion. After finishing with the pond, my husband found LC in front of the screen door, sniffing and listening to the outdoors. Mowers and trimmers were going, our pond vacuum had been on and off for hours. Despite all of that, she remained interested in the yard.

We put on the harness and leash and led her out back to show her the nice clean water. The trickling of the waterfalls raised her anti-water hackles, so she started pawing off between a couple of bushes. Everything was normal, calm… then the neighbor behind us yelled at his dog.

LC freaked the fluff out. She bolted so fast that the leash pulled out of my husband’s hand. Leaping over the grill, she was halfway up the window screen by the time he reached her. He caught her as the screen pulled out and away, starting to fall, only to have her scratching his arm up in her panic to bolt yet again.

She sprang away from him and climbed nimbly up the screen door, clinging to the top as the two of us worked to hold onto her while gently peeling her off her perch to bring her safely back inside.

Finally, she came loose. I had her scruff and bent to set her gently inside the doorway. The moment she saw her safety blanket through the opening, she decided to use my face as a springboard. Her back claws pierced my cheek and lip as she tore forward.

The leash caught her again, but inside she held still for me to remove it and take her to another safe spot upstairs. LC calmed quickly after that, and we three—including Big Cat—sat with her for a few minutes as she peered around cautiously. I palpated for bruises, finding no pain response. A half-hour later she was back downstairs, once more staring out the back window.

No permanent harm. The harness and slightly elastic leash kept her from hurting herself or running so far that she got lost. Her trust in us kept her from being traumatized. My face should heal fine, and you can bet your bum we will be scouting for stranger danger before she gets to sniff around out back again.

Don’t worry, I live to fight another day!