There is a town in Tales of Vesperia that has flower petals falling the entire time you’re there. One of my two cats, Lucas, will hop up in front of the TV and try to catch them. It’s heart-breakingly adorable.
It says something fundamental about the futility of existence.
I love that guy. What a brilliant and well-spoken PhD.
So the little ones were spayed on Friday and were back to pretty much normal by Sunday. That said, Daphne is a little ornery toward Chloe. Prior to the surgery they always played together and often laid together, even cleaning each other. Since the surgery (granted, it’s been three days) Daphne doesn’t seem to enjoy Chloe’s company too much. For instance, we went to put Daphne on the bed to sleep last night and she saw Chloe was up there already, hissed, and jumped down. This, after they both slept on the bed the previous night with no problem. Daphne also has been hissing at Chloe if Chloe tries to share the food bowl with her. They’re still able to be around each other in a general way without any trouble, but it’s upsetting to see them go from being very close any playful to one of them being very standoffish. Have any of you guys ever had this happen? Did your cats go back to normal in a few days?
They should go back to normal. Some cats blame the other cat for the vet trip.
I’d rather she be pissed at me or Kellie. They’ve both been surprisingly loving since their return from the vet. I thought we’d get some cold shoulders for a while. That first night home on the day of surgery they were very ornery and upset, including with each other. We kept them each in their own transport bag (nice and open with a plush little bed) but didn’t realize they should have been in separate rooms. Once we separated them, they really calmed down. Chloe seems to have forgotten all about ever blaming Daphne, but Daphne is holding a grudge.
It may be anthropomorphizing, but I’ve always interpreted that behaviour as saying “what did we do wrong, daddy? We’re sorry!”
And yeah, she’s blaming the other cat. They will probably settle down, but I’ve also seen siblings that just grew apart as they grew up, and eventually didn’t want to associate with each other. Its a bummer when it happens, but it usually doesn’t affect their relationship with the humans.
This is by far the worst part of having to take them in for surgery. It would have been so much better if I could just have explained to them that I’d be back to get them in a few hours. I always feel awful about dropping my animals off at the vet, because apparently to them, I’ve just abandoned them to strangers.
If it makes you feel any better, a cat’s brain is maybe the size of a walnut and they probably aren’t actually feeling much of anything that you think they are. I’m almost as bad about projecting onto mine (though the shelter cut their nuts off before they even let me take them home, so we didn’t have this particular issue), but I find it helpful to remind myself of the fact that almost all animals are unfathomably, unconscionably dumb at times like that and I feel a little bit less terrible.
I also haven’t had any problems with them blaming each other for the horrors of the vet’s office. They still share everything pretty much the way they always did, even after that horrible five minute fecal probe expedition that I’m absolutely sure Face did not enjoy. Should I be separating them after I do something uncomfortable on them? I mean, BA pushed Face directly into a tub full of water in what sure looked to be a very deliberate act and neither of them seemed to hold a grudge afterward. Maybe they’ve just identified me as the enemy and are secretly plotting my death. Or just trying to figure out how to rip another curtain rod out of the wall.
Whenever we take Dickens and Lucas to the vet, Dickens chases Lucas around for a while once we get home, holding him responsible for both cats getting poked and prodded by the vet. Later that evening, they’re back to trying to occupy to same physical space in the laundry basket and purring. They should be fine.
Your post cracked me up Brian! Plumbing the depths of a cat’s brain, however shallow, is still fairly well impossible. There are certain probabilities to plotting their behavior, but one never really knows what they’ll do next and certainly not why. Even if they’re as dumb as you say, they still understand pain and they know who we are and where home is.
Y’know, if you take out the references to the vet and to you, this reads almost exactly like an episode of the A-team.
