Yesterday, I stroked The Old Man's back and realized that ~ for the first time in a long time ~ I was not able to feel all the ridges of his spine...
It's remarkable. Only a week & a half ago {when we started the hyperthyroid medication} he was quite bony; now his face looks round & full, like a Campbell's Soup Kid. His fur feels more soft & plush. Maybe it's my imagination, but even his purrs seem throatier & more content.
I know this sounds really silly; but it used to be that when I laid hands on him, the energy in his body felt... hm... it's difficult to describe such an enigmatic thing... deadened? Hollow? Stagnant? At a low ebb? Where the other cats felt like running water, he felt inert; yet at the same time he was restless, in constant need of playtime interaction... writing cheques his body couldn't cash, as they say.
And now it seems his body is thrumming, almost crackling with renewed life energy ~ it's like putting my hands on a tiny feline Van de Graaff generator, makes me all goosepimply.
The medication hasn't turned him into a Stepford Pussycat or anything like that; he still gets grumpy with the other cats, and he still wrawls in the bathroom. But it has mellowed him. Whether that's due to him feeling better or more lethargic, can't say for sure...
Who knows? Maybe in his own mind he thinks he's finally getting the extra~special attention he deserves: kitty treats twice a day, just for him & only him; and his very own food at mealtimes, no sharing with the other cats.
And maybe we'll get another decade & a half out of him.
Posted by edgar at November 19, 2003 08:58 AM