Cowboy Kitty

When we first got Peter, he was a tiny fellow. We saved his life! At over 1 year old, he was about 6 lbs and had a horrible upper respitory infection. The first day he was home, he curled up on the couch when we were heading out to a movie. Three hours later, we came back to find him in the same place. He was so skinny that when he walked around you could see the curves in his hips. He had bowed legs and looked like he'd spent his whole life on the back of a horse - like a cowboy. So, I started calling him Cowboy Kitty.

We really got worried when he wouldn't eat. We took him to the vet and she gave us antibiotics for the upper respitory infection and then gave him injections of fluid to help him recover from dehydration. We kept a close eye on him, but still he wouldn't eat. So, back to the vet and she gave him valium - which is an appetite stimulant - and told us to buy human baby food, the pureed meat.

After we returned home from our second vet visit, we put him down in front of a plate of warmed pureed meat. Peter started eating with gusto and after finishing the food, started rubbing his face and entire body all over the plate. The valium worked! Unfortunately, it just kept on working because he just kept on eating and eating and eating. Is there a valium antidote that we were supposed to take him in for?

By 2001, after 6 years in our care (and the care of my brother who pitched in when we moved to London), Peter had reached the size of a small ocelot. He was 23 lbs. Yes - twenty-three pounds. Gone were the cute bowed legs - they were hidden under his huge girth. And gone was his Cowboy Kitty nickname.

So, he went on a diet. The vet advised us that we'd need to go slowly. He would need to lose less than 1/4 lb a month or else run the risk of kidney damage. Over the next years, he gradually slimmed down to about 15 lbs before we came to Dubai. For a cat his size, this seemed a healthy weight. But since we've been here, he has continued to slim down to the point where we were worried about his health. A couple of weeks ago, he weighed 10 lbs.

We took him to the vet here and he diagnosed a parasite that seemed to be gone, but was still causing some pain on Peter's chin (there was a raw spot under his chin that seemed to itch and would bleed when scratched). At first, he asked us to see if it would heal on its own, but it seemed to just get worse. Peter would scratch it and he was bleeding all the time. But when it didn't get better, he gave us some medication. He said, "I didn't want to use this, but I guess we will." We would soon understand the reason for these ominous words.

I don't know what the official name is - but unofficially this stuff should be called "Cujo Transformation Salve". When we swab a small amount of the salve on the raw spot on his chin it instantly produces huge gobs of saliva and drool. Instantly! (Warning: Cover your eyes if you're squeemish). Like a rabid bull mastif, the gobs of drool hang from the corner of his mouth in huge gooey strings to the floor. He cowers in a corner (poor thing) and breaths rapidly while pools of slimy spit form around him. The effects seem to last for about 30 minutes.

We've administered this medication twice. The first time, Russell was alone and I wasn't there to witness. Later, Russell told me, "I don't like that medication. It makes Peter drool." That's it. Drool. But it seemed to work - so, I insisted on putting it on a second time when I could see that Peter still had a few raw spots that were bleeding. This time, I was there to witness the transformation. WOW! Drool?!?! Yes - he's drooling all right. I tried to catch some of the gooey strings with a paper towel and Peter swatted me. Ohhh boy was he mad!! So, that's it for the Cujo Transformation Salve. No more of that.

In the meantime, skinny Peter's back to being called Cowboy Kitty again. And he's eating again. And we're feeding him as much as we can - trying to get him back up to a healthy weight.