He's one of those cats you see but never get to touch. He was an older kitten I caught at Ford Hall (the music school) at Ithaca College many moons ago. How many moons, I hadn't actually paid attention. His brother Mozart tamed up in two short weeks and was off to a new home in no time. Schubert decided he didn't think much of human affection, and here he still is.
Schubert is a great big robust guy who, unlike all the other cats in the house, has never had a sniffle, a sneeze, or a winky eye. He went to Dr. Volpini in Newfield as a young cat (who pronounced him one of the most handsome cats he'd ever seen, but for some reason did not let me pawn Schubert off on him), and had a check up three years later at Ithaca Small Animal Hospital. At the time ISAH did not have treatment rooms, just stalls, so I asked them if he could be examined in the enclosed surgery in case he got loose. But Schubert isn't an aggressive cat. He never offers to bite or scratch, but he's strong, and he can do serious damage if he tries to run over the top of you to escape.
Last week I noticed Schubert coming into my office for water during the daytime when I normally never see him. Many times. Many many times. This is not good. This generally means diabetes or kidney issues. I was feeding a cheap crap urinary diet (to remain unnamed) due to money issues, for the past two weeks. When I went to scoop his two litter boxes, which had just been entirely dumped and washed three days earlier, they were saturated. Now we had high water intake and high elimination. Definitely not good. So I made an appointment for Schubert at the vet, and wondered whether he would let me catch him.
True to cat form, as soon as I made the vet appointment, he stopped drinking gallons of water. I had also switched off El Cheapo Crapo food and got the cats back on Chicken Soup of the Cat Lovers Soul (please don't laugh, it IS good food). But I knew he was way behind on his vaccinations, so I kept the appointment. If I couldn't catch him, I figured I could bring in Norma or Cricket, who both will soon need their boosters.
Well, I needn't have worried. I went into the middle bedroom and latched the door, then leaned a trunk against it (he breaks through latched doors). When I checked the closet, there he was, which was a miracle in itself. He ran out of the closet to the door, realized the door wasn't an option, and ran under the desk. Surprisingly, he just sat there frozen, and let me pet him and push him into a pillowcase. He must have been smart enough to realize there was no where to go.
From pillowcase to cat crate, cat crate to the vet. We took the top off the crate and left him right inside it for his exam, tooth scraping (beautiful teeth, just some tarter that popped right off), no ear mites, no fleas, good heart, good lungs, he had his vaccinations, and I had them do a blood panel on him, since we had him there, to rule out diabetes, kidney issues, or thyroid problems.
He's 15.2 pounds and he's not overweight. Big kitty!
And he's thirteen years old!
Thirteen years? When did that happen? The poor cat hadn't been into the vet since 1997. And he was totally, glossily healthy.
I brought him home, vacuumed his closet, gave him a clean bed, got the cat fur off his little brown plush hidey den, and brought him some new toys.
I figured I could get a nice shot of him in his crate for you all, but I got one lousy picture before he ran over the top of me and disappeared.
Nice to see nothing has changed. But he's street legal now. I have the rabies certificate to prove it.
3 comments:
Schubert is handsome. Glad he is street legal... giggles. Time goes by quick!
I pray the blood work finds nothing wrong with him that will require pilling.
Schubert is a good lookin' kitty, I hope his panel comes back clean!
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