By Adam Stewart
From the Newsroom
The past few weeks have been an adventure with our cats.
At the same time that I was hoarse from a long-lasting sinus infection (that I finally appear to have beaten), I noticed our outdoor cat, Pumpkin, lost her voice. She would visibly meow, but no sound would come out.
Other than losing her voice, she acted pretty normal by her standards. She still had energy, she still had an appetite, so Michelle and I waited a few days to see how things developed. But after I heard her coughing and wheezing—or what sounded like the cat equivalent, at least—we made the call that she needed to see a veterinarian.
The strongest sign that she needed to see a veterinarian is that it wasn’t a struggle getting her into the cat carrier. Michelle lured her two-thirds of the way in with wet food, then nudged her in the rest of the way. By this time, Pumpkin had gotten a little bit of her voice back, but she didn’t sound anything like a cat, and she complained the entire time on the drive to the veterinarian. What she didn’t do, though, was struggle and try to force her way out of the carrier.
Once we got Pumpkin to the veterinarian office, she was a perfect angel—another sure sign that she wasn’t feeling like herself. She made things very easy on her veterinarian, a first since we adopted her around three years ago. He diagnosed her with laryngitis, gave her a pair of shots, and sent her home to recover.
That’s been about two weeks ago, and I’m happy to report that Pumpkin sounds like a cat again, even though she doesn’t quite sound like herself yet.
We also temporarily moved Pumpkin into the house Sunday night, in case Monday night’s storms were as bad as they had the potential to be. Of course, after we made the decision to bring her in, she went missing for a few hours, showing up uncharacteristically late to supper and leaving us worried she had gotten stuck somewhere again.
Pumpkin eventually showed up, after we had time to make sure she hadn’t gotten stuck in the same place she got stuck last fall. We brought her inside until Tuesday morning after the storm passed. She had to be confined to Michelle’s office, formerly our guest room, because she is aggressive toward Minnie anytime they’re in the same space. Pumpkin was calmer this time than last summer, when we brought her in out of the heat, though, so we hope to revisit that this summer.
Not to be outdone for attention, Minnie has started pulling out little tufts of her hair in the past couple of weeks. She has occasionally done this before but in much smaller amounts, and we’re trying to figure out what the cause could be.
Searching online for answers about cat behavior is only marginally more helpful than consulting a Magic 8-Ball. The cause could be seemingly anything ranging from physical issues like skin irritation or pain to mental issues like stress, anxiety or even boredom.
I’m hopeful that we can sort Minnie’s issues out soon enough. She has given herself a couple of small thin patches so far. I certainly don’t want this to drag out long enough that Minnie gives herself a big bald spot on her back.
Adam Stewart is the assistant news editor of The Hutchinson Tribune. He can be reached at adam@hutchtribune.com.