Carrot’s world must be a wonderful place to live: always playing, lots and lots of furry friends who love you, and lots and lots of humans who adore and smush you. It’s not bad at all!
I was walking through the lobby recently when I spotted all this commotion going on in Suite B. Usually when that much commotion is going on, it’s not a good thing. It usually means someone is mad at someone else, and it has escalated into a slapping, running, angry craziness that seems to get many of the cats involved. Such a mess needs a human to run in and break it up before a fight breaks out. This time, however, it was quite different. The commotion was a very happy one. It was a Carrot commotion.
Carrot was running over to Tabs, touching his paw playfully and running off in another direction. Then Carrot ran over to Chelsea, jumped over her and playfully tapped her. Next Carrot ran up the ladder in the room, jumped down, and ran over to Gherkin to play. What happened next was a whole stream of chasing, wrestling, and playing between Carrot, Tabs, Chelsea and Gherkin. It was adorable! Carrot really brings out the playful side in everyone, and Suite B has been a lot happier, and much more fun, since Carrot’s arrival.
Carrot is looking forward to a surge of fan mail now that he’s been featured as the quarterly “New Beginnings” cat in the Tabby’s Place newsletter. I hope the fame doesn’t go to his head. 🙂
As he continues to settle into Suite B, Carrot’s health is stabilizing, too. His weight has leveled off, and his urine (which we test periodically, since incontinent cats are prone to urinary tract infections) is perfectly normal.
The only time Carrot is slightly challenging is when it’s time to express his bladder. He still doesn’t like being expressed and puts up quite a fight. I use the word “fight” loosely with Carrot, because he’s certainly not a fighter, but he still squirms and flails while being expressed. It’s a hot topic of conversation among the staff: what is the best way to express Carrot? Staff member Jess said she had a great way to do it: hold him in front of yourself, stand in front of the litterbox, point him away (this point is very important) and express his bladder that way. The first time I tried it, I had success! It worked! The second time I tried it, I ended up with a gash down my cheek. He didn’t try to hurt me, but he flailed and caught me with his claw. So, back to the drawing board. One day we will find the perfect way to express his bladder without any blood loss.
That’s all the Carrot news for now. Thank you so much for your support of our fun-loving boy. Carrot is a very happy boy who loves everyone, and everyone loves him.