StrangeRanger

I'm Sure...

...that the burning question on everyone's mind this week has been...

..."What is Maddie reading this week?"

Fear not, I have the answer.

First, I should review Maddie's reading habits.  She is, after all, a widely read cat.  

Here she is reading a book, nay...say rather a tome about Cats.  Highly imformative.  I think Maddie regards it as either a natural history of her species or a field guide to the enemy.  Remember, she hates other cats.  And the book is well constructed and quite comfortable.

She enjoys fiction as well as non.  Here she is reading a volume of the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brien.

Maddie might be a bit too much of a princess to be a good ship's cat, but she certainly enjoys a rousing sea-yarn.  I can not recommend these works highly enough!  Historically accurate, highly readable, humorous and vivid.  Comfortable, too.

 This brings us to this week's read.  

Maddie is thoroughly enjoying her second reading of the third volume of Shelby Foote's Narrative History of the Civil War.  Seeing as we're coming up on the 150th anniversary of Appomattox (woohoo!)(hey, I only live in the south.  I am, by no means, a confederate!) Maddie (Maine Coon and Union!  Huzzah!) and I thought it would be a great idea to read this fine trilogy again.  A novel-like flow couples with painstaking research to produce a wonderfully readable work about the pivotal moment in American history.  And it's comfortable, too.

So there you have it.  You'll have to do a lot of reading if you want to catch up with *this* cat.

And I'd like to leave you with a teaser for an up-coming post:

That's right!  Cougar Kitten!  I've been to the zoo again.  More to come later.

Have a lovely week, all.

Blah

Blah blah blah.

I'm tired.  If you'll excuse me, I'm going to join my cat.

She's always such a good example.  And floofy, too!

Have a good week!

Trauma!

Well, Maddie fans, it's happened again.  One of Maddies claws grew so long that it punctured her pad.  Again.  A really deep claw impaction this time.  I don't know how the old girl walked on it without any sign of pain, let alone discomfort, but she did.  I noticed it during tv time.  Whilst Lady and I range out on the couch, Maddie naps in the desk chair.  She's close enough for the casual pat and when she sticks her paws out, I get a look at them.  After counting and coming up one razor-sharp claw short I went looking through the toe fur and found the wound.  

Well, out came the clippers, tweezers, old towel, peroxide and post-operative treats.  Then we used the only tool we have that allows us to get through such operations:  the muzzle.  All three of us hate it, but little miss is such a fierce creature that it's necessary.  After a few minutes of trauma, the claw was out and Maddie was leaving little bloody footprints on her blanket and enjoying her treats.  There don't seem to be any after effects and she's walking about fine.  

The one difference the day after?

She decided to nap on the coffee table.  Never done that before.  Hasn't done it since, either.  But, as long as she is doing well we're not going to complain.  We promise to take better care of her.  Weekly foot inspections from now on!

Flopping

Maddie flops a lot nowadays.  

She's not quite as good as the dramatic professional soccer-flop, but she's pretty good.  She has taken to telling us when she's getting up or down.  Usually a meow or chirp upon rising.  When she lies down on the bed, she doen't lower herself gently anymore.  She checks her landing area and just, well, flops down on her side.  We think her knees aren't what they used to be.  That, coupled with senior kitty-ness, must make her a bit uncomfortable bending.

This being the case, we try to make her flopped-ness more entertaining.  

 

We try to move toys into the sunpuddles.  Warms *and* entertainment!

It does look like fun.

And when plays are over, she has a comfy pillow for a warm nap.  We do the best for her that we can.

enh.  you're not awful.

Thank you, sweetheart.