Category: Piper

Piper loves to lay on the daily paperwork that flows from my fax. Sometimes it lands on top of her and she uses the temporary cover to meditate on cat things…

Piper insisted on being outside yesterday because it was a beautiful day. I knew I would be gone longer than normal so I left food and water out for her. When I got home, she bypassed the gravy food I’d set out and went straight to bed. I just figured she’d had a full day and was pooped.

She stayed there all evening which is unusual as she normally comes to my office for some playtime. She was in her bed (which sits at the foot of my bed) when I retired. I woke up in the middle of the night and scrunched down to her, falling back asleep with my hand on her butt.

She didn’t get up with me and then I knew something was wrong. I had to get to work but I returned early morning to check on her. She was still in bed so I carried her to her food but she just walked on by and plopped down on the family room floor.

You know, it’s an interesting thing that I refuse to spend a dime on my own health care but I didn’t hesitate a second scooping her up and taking her to the vet hospital. I dropped her off and then continued my route.

The vet called and said she had a temperature of 105 and he wanted to do blood work. I spent all afternoon fearing the worst with tears welling up occasionally and I realized how much I care for my baby cat! She’s been my partner these last few months, bonding together night after snowy night.

I got the diagnosis at the end of the day: blood looked good! She has a bladder infection and after antibiotic and steroid injections the prognosis is good and the vet said she should be returning to normal. She’s in bed now. I’ll be giving her some oral stuff twice a day for a while. I am very relieved to say the least.

But what caused it? I think I may have figured it out! When I brought her food and water in I noticed the water looked funky, kind of dirty and oily and I thought what the hell! Some animal had messed with her water, and I think it was a bird. Because she was out there longer then normal she was thirsty and drank her water anyway.

Lesson learned. The birds don’t have my sympathy this summer. I have a cat.

And a gun…

Next morning update: She’s much better, wants to go outside (I’m not letting her…) and unhappy with me for squirting pink stuff down her throat with an eyedropper :-)

Friday update: She’s relapsed and I took her back for blood work. She got a big shot of stronger antibiotics, and got hydrated. Back tomorrow morning. The vet also scrapped my bird theory saying cats eat birds and there’s nothing there to harm them. Which means she has something viral going on.

She’s sleeping soundly in her bed, on the floor, because Steph is finally coming to bed, tonight.

I’ve been enhancing my HotNewPins app, doing laundry, and playing with Piper today.

This video I just shot seems to sum it all up: Computer background noise, dryer clacking around, and Pipers teeth grabbing the playtoy balls.

The crayon art in the video is from a couple of my guys from the gang. Better than mangling company paperwork I suppose…

Piper is not a vocal cat but I’ve noticed that when I give her the morning gravy fix (she doesn’t eat the food but loves to lick the gravy) she lets out this little moew of anticipation. I decided to try and capture it this morning:

It’s really soft and hard to hear so I isolated and amplified it a bit:

On another note: I went into the veterinary clinic today, where Piper used to go. After they made a quick call to Megan to confirm I really was Pipers new owner, I filled out some paperwork and she is now officially mine. We’re getting her vaccinations up to date in a couple of weeks, and now I know her age. 6 years old!

How is it that an animal can give themselves totally to you? There is something going on here that we humans don’t understand. Piper appeared like magic on my deck months ago and I chased her off, but she said no. She’s now my girl!

Cats really need a home they can own. They want no competition from other animals. They need a lot of heat in the winter. They need to hunt, whether it’s a hand under the covers, or a naive bird in the yard.

I let Piper out onto the driveway today and she gave me a mangled dead bird as a result.

She may be an overweight kitty that sleeps and eats too much, but she managed to grab a bird in a land covered in snow, rip it’s head off, and present the parts for my approval.

I’m so proud!

I was playing with Piper tonight and her three main toys got tangled up. My neurological damage prohibited me from untangling them, so I just created one toy.

She likes it!

This is my new nickname for Piper. It’s weird how nicknames evolve, it’s just what I started calling her. Here’s a cute little Video I shot yesterday while soaking up rays.

Site work: Added a new category called Utilities on the right and moved the new stuff down there off the Menu. Also added a Calendar to the site. Now off to make Adobo and maybe attend a Super Bowl party!

Piper has access to my cave whenever she want’s it, all she has to do is knock at the door. Sometimes it’s hectic in here: toys get used, daddy gets scratched, photos are taken…

Much to Pipers dismay, I slung her toys over our chandelier for a quick photo shoot.

From left to right:
 • Her newest fluttery feather toy, still has the strings separate.
 • These little guys used to be separate toys, but have now entangled into one.
 • The original feather toy, well used and mangled.
 • A new, very soft little feather toy.

I had all four toys going today in my office. I felt like a puppeteer as each one was snagged by a claw while she laid on her back with her wild eyes open wide…

Update: Shot this quick little video while playing with her this morning!

We have a lot of well built doors in our house. Quality wood, great frames. When we close the doors now, we leave a one inch crack called the Piper Space.

Our cat Piper has a strong arm. She can throw the doors wide open with a single swipe. Tonight I saw our bedroom door open and yelled to Steph, Pipers gone to bed!

I then restored the door to one inch.

Before the snow came she could open the family room screen door, exiting out to the deck, and go outside when she wished. Never could teach her to close it though…