Cornelius Week 6: A Sad Week in Our Cat Family

Cornelius' 6th week has been a bit of a blur. Our oldest cat Shelby fought a bout of what we thought was colitis over the weekend. Not really a big deal, he's dealt with it all his life. This time was different. He'd been treated for very arthritic hind legs for the past few years. This weekend,  he lost strength and couldn't even hold himself up. By late Tuesday a trip to the emergency vet was warranted. By Thursday, we decided it was time to take him in to be put to sleep. What a roller coaster of  a week. Our vet was very gentle with the whole process. We decided to bury him at home in our new flower garden and next spring he will rest under a new bird bath.

The scruffy old bear in his younger days.

Shelby 1992-2014

My sister wrote this piece in tribute to the very old and very young feline relationship we had in our house:

Transition

August 8, 2014

     Shelby contacted the Mother ship. His replacement had arrived. The transition protocol was set and his departure was imminent.

     He wasn't sure that Cornelius was ready. The kid was a natural, but he didn't have a lot of focus, like most young officers these days. Crumpled paper. It was a weakness, but you couldn't let it distract you from the job at hand. Hopefully the kid wouldn't find out about catnip until he was a bit more integrated into his new position. That stuff could really put the project back for weeks.

    That being said, he'd never seen the "Road Rescue Integration" trick done so successfully. Using the parents as the receptors was pure genius. Risky, to be sure, one is never completely about the loyalty of new vets to the cause, especially emergency room vets. You just never know how they will handle the information on the scans.

    Looks like it worked itself out though, and about time. Shelby stretched and flopped to his side. This had been a long assignment and he was ready for some rest.

     The future was safe. For now. As long as the kid kept his focus. Focus. Shelby laid his head down. He could feel the pull at his astral self. It was all up to the kid now. Cornelius, wasn't it? The transition protocol started the final phase.

     The kid would learn the ropes. After all, Shelby thought to himself, I left him a handbook with all of the things he'd need to know. In the basement. Or was it upstairs?

     Shelby felt the heavy thought of 'legs' slip away. He lashed a flickering snap of an electric tail and jumped for the stars.

Shelby was notorious for dragging about errant socks and dirty clothes that were left out on the floor- usually accompanied by a howl-meow-f combination. I don't have many Week 6 images of Cornelius, but I did catch him carrying around a sock in Shelby-like fashion.

Cornelius 6 Weeks from Amy Newhouse on Vimeo.

The Rest of the Cat Family

Sometimes cats just happen. If it weren't for the special circumstance, we wouldn't be socializing a kitten into our household. We have three other adults cat who are all very pleased with the way things are.

Our oldest is a Himalayan (Shelby) who reached the very respectable age of 22 this spring.  He's old and arthritic, but still knows where to find food and the litter box. He has to travel two flights of stairs  from his spot on the landing to get to the litter, but he does it without expecting us to help him.  He purrs the moment he knows you're looking at him.

Our middle cat (Sofie) was adopted through the SPCA.  She's a bit shy around strangers, but very vocal and social with us. She's very gentle and I'm predicting that she'll be a mama-cat to Cornelius, once they are properly socialized.

 Our third cat (Claudia) was also a rescue kitty. She was feral and fostered by a former co-worker.  Her tail and one of her hind legs were injured when she was very small. As a result, she doesn't have the spring in her jump like most cats do nor does she have any control in her tail. She's a gentle cat, as well, but spends time time scoping the windows and guarding us from intruders (squirrels, neighborhood cats and birds).

So far, there has been very little growling and mostly just hissing from the adult cats.  We are keeping the socializing to a minimum until Cornelius' health issues are resolved. 

Little Kitten. Big World.

Meet Cornelius.

He came into our lives because we're softies suckers for a hard luck story. We already have three adult cats, one of which is the ripe old age of twenty-two.  My parents found Corny in the middle of the road  a short drive from their home one Sunday morning. He was filthy and his eyes were matted shut. A trip to the emergency vet determined that aside from the eye infection and other curable issues, he was a healthy kitten.

Forty eight hours after rescue and twenty-four hours after the start of antibiotics and a little human TLC, he was a different kitten.


Cornelius 4 weeks from Amy Newhouse on Vimeo.

Seriously, could you resist this little bundle of energy?

Adding a tiny kitten to an established cat household has its challenges. Check back as we tell Cornelius' story. Watch as he grows from a fur ball with sharp little teeth and a ferocious adorable hiss to a happy member of our cat family!