No, we haven't missed the 'O' or put an 'S' on the en d- we can't go out so are confined to thinking of mice and other things as we look out of our den or the windows.
Your editor (our number one slave) has reached that stage in the writing and editing of the newsletter where he gets stuck for ideas, scratches his head and calls to us for some inspiration.
Each morning at least one o us sits on the window cill in the front bedroom to undertake neighbourhood watch duties, which include keeping an eye on the comings and goings of Tibbles, the black cat who lives opposite. He comes out and patrols his territory which, as we are confined to barracks, includes our front garden as well as those of our neighbours.
A few weeks ago, we were concerned by his absence which was not caused by him going to a cattery while his slaves were on holiday as they were still about - we eventually found out thta he has spent a few days incarcerated at the vets because he had contracted cystitis, which, as you may recall is what Prof & Tom suffer from.
Tibbles slaves told ours that his behaviour in the litter tray department had become strange and that he had suddenly started wetting the carpet, which he had never done before. A trip to the vet, who kept him in for observation, revealed the presence of Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD), commonly called cystitis.
He has been forced to change to a special diet, which he hates (we didn't find it too bad, although the tinned food was awful!) and he would love to go back to his usual meals of fish. Hopefully by now he should be on the maintenance diet and if he's like us he can have a daily mixture of coley, FLUTD maintenance biscuits and special pouches of chicken or beef food.
Quite what brought on the problem we don't know, but as Tom and I will vouch, it can be stress related (Tom's arrival didn't help Prof but they both tolerate each other - sykie), or equally be secondary infectionor idipathic (cause unknown). It is a problem that is becoming more common and in some quarters it is thought that modern tinned cat food is the reason. Neutered males are the ones most at risk. It can recur, but we hope for his sake that it doesn't as he seems a friendly chap whose only enemy is the neighbourhood tabby tom whom we dislike as well.
If your cat has cystitis, our slaves would like to hear from you as the more that is known about it the better. You can email them by clicking HERE
