This is quite remarkable, even though Lucy is an actual dog. Up until now she has shown no interest whatsoever in various dog toys we have brought her. Cat toys, however, are a big hit, but we have to take them away from her because they’re just not made to stand up to those jaws.

Then one night this week, she picked up a sock off the floor, I grabbed the other end, and a game of tug-of-war ensued. The sock was much the worse for wear afterward, so I decided to see if I could find something more appropriate. We had gotten her a hard figure-8-shaped rope thing before, and Kevin and I had played tug-of-war with it in front of her, making play growly noises to try and get her interested. (It was surprisingly fun, too!) She was pretty excited about the whole thing, but we never could get her to join in.

But this sock business got me wondering if she’d like something softer, so I found a big, soft knotted rope toy at Wal-Mart, and it’s a hit. She is some kind of fur-covered tractor, by the way: I keep threatening to hook her up to a sled, because she can really pull.

Sad news this week about Laurence Simon’s cat Edloe.

I was reminded of an article that appeared in Guideposts magazine this past February. It examines Judeo-Christian Scripture for an answer to whether our animal friends join us in Heaven, and the answer is very comforting. Recommended reading for everyone with fur families, past, present and future.

Taz is still being a total pro about the whole thing, showing up cheerfully at feeding time, eating with gusto and completely failing to react to the shot. His glucose reading Friday afternoon was in the 280s, so the vet wants us to nudge the insulin up to 4.5 units twice a day. She said not to start on the weekend, though—wait till Monday in case of problems. Makes good sense.

Taz is one who gets in cuddly moods, and when he does, you find out by the large furry football that comes hurtling toward your chest. Last night he was in such a mood, but wisely decided not to try launching himself just yet. All he did was sit by me on the bed and give me the Big Blue Kitty Eyes. I’m no pet psychic, but I correctly interpreted that he wanted a cuddle, and picked him up. Purring ensued.

And tonight, a good sign, I think. Taz has always hated loud noises. On occasions when I have tried to practice violin or harmonica, he has sunk his teeth into my pants leg and ever…so…slowly tightened his grip until I stopped. He also hates it when Kevin and I conduct a conversation with me downstairs and Kevin upstairs. It’s not as bad as you might think—the acoustics in this house make it surprisingly easy—but it’s still too loud for Taz, who takes extreme offense and demonstrates said upon my person as previously noted. Tonight Kevin and I conferred briefly between floors, and Taz stood on his hind legs so he could put his huge claws on my thigh and get the noise stopped.

Taz, Suzie-Q and Mickie are home now, and tonight I flew solo on Taz’s diabetes care for the first time. Seems to have gone just fine. Now admittedly, the boy loves him some chow, but it’s still amazing to me that he doesn’t seem to even notice the tiny little needle stick while he’s face down in his supper. The needle is very small—nothing like the one we used to give our old girl Lyric subcutaneous saline infusions in her later years.

As previously blogged, Taz isn’t stabilized yet. His blood sugar has been up and down some (although the most recent reading at the vet in Chattanooga, taken Monday morning, was the best yet.)  The vet there feels that some of it might be due to the stress of being away from home, and within sniffing distance of the Chattanooga feline crew, whom Taz has never encountered before. He certainly does seem more relaxed now that we’re home, so who knows.

What I am more worried about is his hind legs. The symptom that really alarmed me when I first realized he wasn’t well was that his hind legs seemed wobbly and weak. There is a syndrome seen in diabetic cats where they walk “flat-footed” due to nerve damage, but the vet says he doesn’t think that’s what’s going on here, because Taz’s diabetes was caught early. He suspects arthritis, and I sure hope he’s right, because some Cosequin (and weight loss) might help a lot then.

Of course, I had to go looking around on the Internet, and found all kinds of worse things it could be, too.  Taz will see our vet here in Georgia for the first time Thursday AM, and we’ll see what they think it is. All good thoughts and prayers are appreciated.

Taz is still having some ups and downs with his blood sugar, though the symptoms that led to our concerns early last week—just before we left on our trip—seem to have cleared up at last report. Still, once we get ourselves and him home there will need to be twice-daily insulin shots. Meowch.

Chris’ Mom says the blood sugar flux is similar to what her Fred went through before they finally got him stabilized. And if I remember correctly Fred has been getting by on the special food for diabetic cats, and hasn’t been needing insulin shots since.

Taz, a.k.a. “The Amazing Seismic Kitty,“ has been diagnosed with diabetes, but the vet says it’s been caught in its early stages. He’ll be staying with Chris’ mom in Chattanooga during our trip because one of Marie’s cats—Fred, a.k.a. “Marvin the Martian”—is also diabetic so Marie has experience with stabilizing a diabetic cat.

Our dog, Lucy, and our youngest cat Mickie, were playing in our bedroom yesterday.

Mickie would pop out from under the bed, and Lucy would chase her back under.

Our dog and cat were playing cat-and-mouse.

One night at cat-feeding time, Chris was headed to the kitchen to do just that; she observed as she walked, that Taz and Mickie were sitting nearby waiting for her to get moving, but that Suzie Q was already “beating feet” toward the kitchen.

Out in the kitchen on the linoleum floor There’s a set of dishes we all know what they’re for They rattle out loud as the kibble comes pourin’ down! Here comes Suzie, Mickie, and big ol’ Taz That’s what our household has Is three feet-beatin’ kitties. Aw, heel and toe, dosey-do, come on kitties let’s go Beatin’ feet To the kitchen, ‘round the dishes, it’s all so delicious We’ll have some kibble Yeah, felines, see the signs, it’s suppertime Feet-beatin’ kitties!

Taz is weirding me out. A couple of times I have seen him grab Mickie by the scruff and, well, act like a tomcat.

Now, he was about a year old when we adopted him, and was still an intact male up to that point. I often wonder if there might be hissin’-and-spittin’ images of him still running around that neighborhood today.

But dang it, he’s been neutered for more than nine years now. And it isn’t as if he’s had any practice in the meantime.. the other (spayed) female cats who have shared his life during these years would not have reacted well, to say the least. (Two words: Taz confetti.)

Of course, our little Mickie has been initiating quite a bit of kitten-mischief-type physical contact, and she and Taz are official wrestle-and-slurp buddies. But we had her spayed a couple of months ago, before any signs of going into heat (she was five months old at the time), so I would have thought she would be spared the tomcat-and-queen scene.

Maybe I’m overreacting here… this is all probably quite normal… but eeeeeeewwww!

This fencing system supposedly contains both cats and dogs without the use of electric shock or any other form of negative conditioning. We’ve been wanting to give Lucy more room to run around for awhile now, and if the cats could safely get a little fresh air and exercise that would be a real bonus. Has anyone else heard of this? purrfectfence.com