Tag: Sentinel

Backyard Excitement at The Orange Door: Cat Version

Antares was very interested in being on the catio, and after squinting a bit, I saw what was capturing his interest.

There was a black cat sitting on the fence.

And a calico cat sitting on the porch roof.

Sentinel also wanted to have a look, but from inside.

As with most cat encounters this one ended with the cats wandering off. But it was fun to have four cats in sight.

Two Cats

Back when we were a single-cat household, Sentinel gave me all the signs that we should be a two-cat household. He cried to go out every time he saw a cat outside—and it was, I want to be friends! not, I want to kill that cat. When my aunt’s cat came to stay while she was on vacation, they got along well.

And so a year later we brought Antares home and ever sense I have wondered off and on what kind of mixed signals Sentinel was giving me. Because Sentinel, now that we are a two-cat household, doesn’t really seem to be into sharing space with Antares. You can see here his foot placement. It’s more Go away! than Hooray!

He puts up with it, because he’s that kind of go-with-the-flow cat. But it’s usually Antares who wants to do social grooming and Antares who wants to sleep curled up together.

Maybe Sentinel just wanted to be the kind of cat who made the rounds and stared at all the other neighborhood cats until it was time to come home to his own place? Regardless, they’ve been living together for 13 years now, and I’m guessing it will be Antares who next experiences the single cat life. I wonder how that will be for him?

Overly Cautious Pharmacy

Sentinel’s medicine comes from a compounding pharmacy in Wilsonville. This hits the trifecta of things I’m not overly thrilled about: 1) Having to use a special pharmacy to keep my elderly cat in somewhat good shape 2) Not being able to use a pharmacy in the neighborhood and 3) The amount of energy it takes to transport a tiny vial of pills to me (they do this via courier.) (It does seem to provide a steady job for the courier, who is the same one every time and a very nice man, so that’s a plus.)

Usually the pills come in a floppy plastic envelope (another thing I don’t like). Today, with record-breaking heat forecast, the pills came in this.

Which unpacked to this:

I was initially very confused by the packaging as I don’t refrigerate this medication, but I see that they were worried about it not being able to maintain room temperature.

After removing the pills and the paper, I put the ice packs and the Styrofoam container out with a free sign and it was snapped up by someone who presumably needed it.

Older Cats

As other writers have observed, welcoming a pet into your life gives you companionship and also regular reminders about the life span. My two cats, ages sixteen and twelve, have both entered the elderly stage. And it’s the younger one who isn’t doing very well with this phase of life.

While Sentinel has been aging more or less gracefully (he’s taken prednisone for years to help with his vomiting) Antares has catapulted himself into some sort of herpes thing that has left him sickly and sad and in need of a lot of expensive medication. Plus, he has to start medication for his thyroid.

Having sick cats isn’t fun. Hopefully these medications will have him feeling better soon.