WHAT DID YOU SAY

Hello again, I’m Maverick with another edition of “Cat Tales.” I hope everyone is doing well. I’m working late tonight because I took a much-needed catnap this afternoon. I just woke up a bit ago, so I thought I’d tell you about the doctor’s appointment I had today.

It was a check-up for my thyroid, and they tested my urine again to see if there was still blood in it, and there was. My mom and I were hoping that everything would be fine, but unfortunately, some blood still showed up. Previously, I had mentioned that I had been ill for over a year and that my last doctor ran blood tests. Last year, when the doctor called my mom saying the bloodwork was fine, my mom assumed it was. But we found out in December that a thyroid test hadn’t been done. I had lost three pounds, which is a horrible amount of weight for a cat to lose, and still nobody thought to run that test.

In December, my mom took me to a new doctor, and that doctor ran more blood work and did a thyroid test. That’s when we found out I had a thyroid problem. My thyroid level was 7.4 which is bad. But today, three months after that test, I am at 1.6. I’m smiling. The doctor wants me to keep taking the two pink pills each day that I am taking now, and I am to have my thyroid levels rechecked in six months, along with my urine. But if I start feeling sick and lethargic again, then I have to go back sooner. My mom and I also found out that the anti-inflammatory shot they gave me last time, usually only lasts 24 hours. My mom thought it lasted longer because I have been feeling better. That’s the shot that can’t be given often because it will cause kidney problems. So we’re praying that my inflammation keeps down, and I keep feeling better. I also have more good news. I gained a little over half a pound again. My doctor smiled at that, and so did my mom. I thought they were going to break out in a happy dance. I’m glad they didn’t because that would have been a little embarrassing, and I might have broken out in a case of cat giggles.

While in the waiting room, the house cat came over and checked me out. She was very sweet, and we just stared at each other. I was in my carrier so we couldn’t play or anything. But I wish we could have because the sun was coming in the window, and it was windy out, and it was creating moving shadows on the floor with the trees blowing outside. She was chasing the shadows all over. I thought I could do that when I got home, but we don’t have any trees at our place, so there weren’t any shadows to chase.

While I was there, four guinea pigs came in to get their nails clipped. There were two males and two females. I never saw a guinea pig before. They’re larger than I thought, and they weren’t happy to get their nails done. I don’t blame them.

In other news, my mom and I had a visitor last week. She’s my mom’s cousin Lynn, which makes her my cousin, too. But she’s old like my mom, so I think of her as Aunty Lynn, not Cousin Lynn. She and my mom were doing a lot of gabbing (my mom was doing most of the gabbing – she loves to talk) while I catnapped. It was one of those dark, dreary days, so it was a good day to catch some extra sleep, but I made my presence known a time or two.

FUN FACTS ABOUT CATS

• Cats are believed to be the only mammals who don’t taste sweetness. – Probably because we’re sweet enough.

• Cats are nearsighted, but their peripheral vision and night vision are much better than that of humans. – I can attest to this. I’ve seen my mom walk into a closed door in the middle of the night.

• Cats are supposed to have 18 toes (five toes on each front paw and four toes on each back paw). – I don’t know what I have. I haven’t counted mine.

• Cats can jump up to six times their length. – I can’t jump high anymore. My mom thinks I have arthritis, but I used to jump pretty high.

• Cats’ claws all curve downward, which means that they can’t climb down trees head-first. Instead, they have to back down the trunk. – We don’t have any trees at our place to climb, plus my mom doesn’t let me out of the house so I can’t try this out.

• Cats’ collarbones don’t connect to their other bones, as these bones are buried in their shoulder muscles. -That’s too much info for me to contemplate.

• Cats have 230 bones, while humans only have 206. – Go figure. How is that possible? They’re so much bigger than us.

• Cats have an extra organ that allows them to taste scents in the air, which is why your cat stares at you with her mouth open from time to time. – My mom has always wondered why cats do this. Now she knows. She just thought we were thinking that humans were amusing as if we couldn’t believe what we were seeing. Trust me, that is true sometimes.

• Cats have whiskers on the backs of their front legs, as well. – I didn’t know that. Nobody ever told me.

• Cats have nearly twice the amount of neurons in their cerebral cortex as dogs. – Okay, I’m not saying a thing. My mom and I love all creatures. God made us all, and nobody is better or smarter than the other.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
“What greater gift than the love of a cat” – Charles Dickens

I hope you found these cat facts interesting, and I hope everyone will have a healthy and happy week. Don’t forget that you can contact me at  maverick@eupnews.com, and be sure to check out my next column for more “fun facts.”

Love Maverick

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Maverick

My name is Maverick, and I am 11 years old, and this is my first column. My mom adopted me when she found me outside her home, underneath her car. Someone had shot me. When the doctor wanted to end my life, she told him if there was a chance that I would make it, then do everything possible for me. She wanted me to know there were good people in this world and know that I am loved. It took five months to nurse me back to health. I had congestive heart failure, too. At the end of the five months, I finally met my two brothers for the first time. Boy, did I love them and my new home. I am so glad my mom didn’t listen to that doctor. If you have any questions or want to comment, you can reach me at maverick@eupnews.com. I would love to hear from all furry and non-furry pets and their moms and dads.

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