Cocheezie has a bucket list, and it's huge. In the past 10 months, I'm seeing behaviour that I've never seen in the 4 1/2 years that we've had her. In her 13 previous years, she did not exhibit anything like this. Her previous owner was my step-mother-in-law who talked incessantly on the phone about her. I knew a lot about her before she came to live with us. She was a scaredy cat. She spent her first 13 years living under the bed of her previous owner. The husband never once was deemed worthy by Cocheezie. He never once was allowed to touch her. She spent her first year with us living under the bed, coming out in the dark to eat, sit in the window, and use the litter box. She's gone from being a one room (my bedroom) plus a bit of the hallway cat to being a howling banshee adventuress.
I think we've had only one night, maybe two, away since we came to live with us because she was always so dependent upon us. In 4 1/2 years, she only ventured down to the first floor once on her own. Now she spends the entire night down there, happy as a clam, looking out the living room window, coming up only to eat and use the litter box and howl to go outside at 3 a.m. She's never asked to go outside. It's always been my idea, and she would hiss and grumble and want to go back inside until she was out long enough that it had become her idea to be outside. Now she stands at the front door many times a day and during the night and howls to go out. If she wants something, she howls (she's deaf by the way so she howls instead of meows in an attempt to hear herself - the howling is definitely not a sign of pain or illness). If I don't respond to her howling, she goes and finds my DH and howls at him. She's showing interest in things that she never showed interest in before.
She's pounced on a mouse in the bushes and made it squeak (mainly indoor, declawed cat), scared herself repeatedly in a curious kitten fashion by something imaginary at water's edge, totally demolished the catnip patch (walking calmly past a total stranger who is doing some yard work for us to get to the patch), gone places inside and outside the house that she wouldn't dare go before, used the dirt outside instead of a litter box, constantly sticking her nose into the bushes in hunting mode. She spends entire days on a second story balcony that I cat proofed for her. In the past, just opening that door off the bedroom would send her under the bed in terror. She nonchalantly passes by our other cat. She's avoided him like the plague in the past. She's drank from his water bowl. All these things are new. Her world is broadening every day and us humans have been working hard to figure out what else is on her bucket list and help make it come to pass. Tonight is the last warmish night we are going to have. I'm deliberately staying up way past bed time so that she can hang out on the balcony as long as possible.
But here's the thing. I'm attuned to this cat. We've basically shared one room for 4 1/2 years. My work office was originally a dressing room off the bedroom. Since she's been sick, I wake up countless times during the night just to check her. For 3 1/2 years, she slept on me (the first year was spent under the bed). Now she's in the living room all night. I'm still waking up to check on a cat who is not in the room, and waking up when she is in the room eating and using the litter box. She's become incredibly independent. She doesn't sleep with me. I'm not howled at to come to bed. Grooming sessions have gone from multiple times a day to two sessions, sometimes only one. She no longer has afternoon naps on my lap. While I applaud her new independence, it's much harder to make those constant assessments that one makes when one has a dying cat. (I must admit that I have been out of favour for the last few days because she's recently decided that she doesn't like the medication and sub-q process, and it's been a bit of a struggle, but the behaviour changes started well before.) Her meds have not changed in the 10 months with the exception very recently of switching from Pepcid AC to ranitidine. Initially, I thought it was the bedroom she was avoiding because that was where she is medicated. I now medicate her wherever she happens to be. It hasn't made a difference.
I'm forever grateful that for the 10 months in which we've known about the tumour, she's shown few signs of real sickness. It's a very rare thing and a gift for all of us. I know this cat, and I can't, for the life of me, figure out this shift in behaviour. It's not about finding new hidden places to lay low and be sick. She's not looking for a place to die. She's having the best summer she's ever had in her entire life!
I'm trying to adjust to not being siamese twins anymore. I need to honour this newfound independence, but I also need to continue to monitor. So I need to find ways to passively hang out in her new spaces on occasion. On the balcony, reading a book for a bit (although the weather is changing with a vengeance this weekend). Perhaps spending the odd night sleeping in the bed in the living room (yes, it's an actual bed and every living room should have one). Gradually begin grooming sessions in her new places. Most likely, she'll not want to go out onto the balcony or the backyard once fall and winter begin to hit hard. I wonder what she'll do then? In true cat fashion, she'll probably howl at us to make the snow go away and the temperature rise (as if it is within our capabilities).
Any ideas as to the reason for this major shift? Bucket list suggestions very welcome indeed. This cat has decided she's going to go out with a bang.
Sorry, as usual for the long post. Thinking out loud session concluded.
I think we've had only one night, maybe two, away since we came to live with us because she was always so dependent upon us. In 4 1/2 years, she only ventured down to the first floor once on her own. Now she spends the entire night down there, happy as a clam, looking out the living room window, coming up only to eat and use the litter box and howl to go outside at 3 a.m. She's never asked to go outside. It's always been my idea, and she would hiss and grumble and want to go back inside until she was out long enough that it had become her idea to be outside. Now she stands at the front door many times a day and during the night and howls to go out. If she wants something, she howls (she's deaf by the way so she howls instead of meows in an attempt to hear herself - the howling is definitely not a sign of pain or illness). If I don't respond to her howling, she goes and finds my DH and howls at him. She's showing interest in things that she never showed interest in before.
She's pounced on a mouse in the bushes and made it squeak (mainly indoor, declawed cat), scared herself repeatedly in a curious kitten fashion by something imaginary at water's edge, totally demolished the catnip patch (walking calmly past a total stranger who is doing some yard work for us to get to the patch), gone places inside and outside the house that she wouldn't dare go before, used the dirt outside instead of a litter box, constantly sticking her nose into the bushes in hunting mode. She spends entire days on a second story balcony that I cat proofed for her. In the past, just opening that door off the bedroom would send her under the bed in terror. She nonchalantly passes by our other cat. She's avoided him like the plague in the past. She's drank from his water bowl. All these things are new. Her world is broadening every day and us humans have been working hard to figure out what else is on her bucket list and help make it come to pass. Tonight is the last warmish night we are going to have. I'm deliberately staying up way past bed time so that she can hang out on the balcony as long as possible.
But here's the thing. I'm attuned to this cat. We've basically shared one room for 4 1/2 years. My work office was originally a dressing room off the bedroom. Since she's been sick, I wake up countless times during the night just to check her. For 3 1/2 years, she slept on me (the first year was spent under the bed). Now she's in the living room all night. I'm still waking up to check on a cat who is not in the room, and waking up when she is in the room eating and using the litter box. She's become incredibly independent. She doesn't sleep with me. I'm not howled at to come to bed. Grooming sessions have gone from multiple times a day to two sessions, sometimes only one. She no longer has afternoon naps on my lap. While I applaud her new independence, it's much harder to make those constant assessments that one makes when one has a dying cat. (I must admit that I have been out of favour for the last few days because she's recently decided that she doesn't like the medication and sub-q process, and it's been a bit of a struggle, but the behaviour changes started well before.) Her meds have not changed in the 10 months with the exception very recently of switching from Pepcid AC to ranitidine. Initially, I thought it was the bedroom she was avoiding because that was where she is medicated. I now medicate her wherever she happens to be. It hasn't made a difference.
I'm forever grateful that for the 10 months in which we've known about the tumour, she's shown few signs of real sickness. It's a very rare thing and a gift for all of us. I know this cat, and I can't, for the life of me, figure out this shift in behaviour. It's not about finding new hidden places to lay low and be sick. She's not looking for a place to die. She's having the best summer she's ever had in her entire life!
I'm trying to adjust to not being siamese twins anymore. I need to honour this newfound independence, but I also need to continue to monitor. So I need to find ways to passively hang out in her new spaces on occasion. On the balcony, reading a book for a bit (although the weather is changing with a vengeance this weekend). Perhaps spending the odd night sleeping in the bed in the living room (yes, it's an actual bed and every living room should have one). Gradually begin grooming sessions in her new places. Most likely, she'll not want to go out onto the balcony or the backyard once fall and winter begin to hit hard. I wonder what she'll do then? In true cat fashion, she'll probably howl at us to make the snow go away and the temperature rise (as if it is within our capabilities).
Any ideas as to the reason for this major shift? Bucket list suggestions very welcome indeed. This cat has decided she's going to go out with a bang.
Sorry, as usual for the long post. Thinking out loud session concluded.
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sorry I don't know what happened to the quote box.)
