Tyler Turns Twelve

Happy birthday bad boy, happy birthday bad boy,
happy birthday to you 

Bet you think that’s mean right? Well, Tyler is not a cat who will let you sleep. I decided since it was his birthday I’d try yet again to let him sleep on the bed. I haven’t slept in several nights so it was a bad idea. At 5:42AM he started playing the lingerie chest. What do I mean you ask? Well, the drawers have metal handles on a metal backplate, like a door knocker. He gets a hold of them with his paws and lets them drop back against the metal. It’s loud. Might be funny when you’re not trying to sleep. So, my first words to birthday boy in my semi-awake state where NO! Get out! but he’d already woke me enough to start the coughing. Got up. Shut him out. Got a few more hours of not restful sleep then gave him his favorite freeze-dried chicken treats on his breakfast. As I sip my coffee and type this he’s back snoozing away.

Now that it’s 80 degrees, I’ve got a cold, I just coughed AGAIN while typing this. I just got a dirty look with the ears back AGAIN. Bet hubby would make the same look if he could. Trust me, I’d love to stop it and actually get some sleep. I’ve also been keeping my thoughts to myself, because when I talk it starts the coughing. Surprisingly hard to do for someone that usually speaks whatever comes to mind. I did loan him my arsenal of sound reducing items I’ve collected over the years of trying to drown out his snoring. I’ve hacked so long my ribs hurt. I realized I haven’t had a cold since Trinity passed. She would chatter at me when I coughed or sneezed. She was probably fussing but I just said thank you to her like she said “bless you mama” instead of “would you stop it already”—that’s the benefit of humanizing our furbabies, we can interpret the chirps, twills, and chatters however we’d like. Notice I didn’t say meows. My cats just don’t use that language.

I worry over my boy more than I should. I know his next echo should be scheduled and I think I’d like to see if they can do a proper dental x-ray. One that actually shows his teeth and gums in detail. The dental he just had that left him with three fewer teeth than he went in with, doesn’t seem to have fixed it looking like his mouth is still bothering him.

He has been so needy and chatty since we got back from our short anniversary vacation. Such a sweet boy and cuddly boy he is most of the time. He has always drooled when he’s happy and the puddles and drips soaked many a shirt for the first few days after we got home. It’s like he is so happy he forgets to swallow. He’s done it since he was a kitten.

Okay back to my boy’s birthday. I can see the age on him a bit now in his gait and how he moves. In human years he somewhere 59-65 depending on where you look it up. The vet said his arthritis was worse especially in his back left leg. I upped the Cosequin and padding on all his beds. I added steps to places he likes to nap and took off some of the tallest perches on the cat tree. I contemplated adding padding walkways across our mostly hardwood floors. He will still run through the house, run across every dining room chair seats, thump the table legs, ask for rug rides, grab my camera strap, play ball and throw around his toys. His nerves getting him have intensified. He still has what looks to be nightmares when he sleeps. I’ve got a post that has been in the works for a long time on that. He has started greeting me at the mudroom and he now gets a bite or two of fish or chicken without spices if we’re having it. Skeamer lived to be 17 and ate all sorts of people food her entire life. My vet said he’d call me back with CBD oil amounts. He has not. His eyes have been bugging him ever since his dental too. Not constant and not the same eye. He acts like the soothing drops are battery acid. I learned the hard way to not take any days for granted with anyone you love. Human or feline.

My birthday wish for him is to be as pain-free as possible and feel happy and loved. No cute outfit photos this year. I’ll just let him be himself. The one above was from yesterday. Need more coffee and cough suppressants before I capture any today.

4/28/19 update. I created a Viewbug Dear photograph challenge if you’re interested here’s the link. https://www.viewbug.com/challenge/then-amp-now-dear-photograph-past-amp-present-photo-challenge-by-kiminwnc

Can be people, pets, places but must include the ‘old” photograph held in the pic of the new.

If you enjoyed this post, my cover design or photography -please share. If you’d like to follow my blog, (which includes pet food recalls) and get an email when I post, just click on the “follow” button in the bottom righthand corner of the page or on the homepage.  You enter your email address, and you’ll receive an email confirmation in return. I do NOT share email addresses. To learn more about my book cover design, photography or the books I’ve authored— my first homepage on this site has all the links.