Welcome back to Whisker Wednesday! There’s a good chance you’re here because you want to know more about Floofenstein. But, if you’re new, I’m sharing our newest family member’s story from how he joined us until he has fully integrated into the clowder.
April 16
Last time, I left off with Floofenstein back home after his misadventure. Unfortunately for me, it was my “in-office” day, and I couldn’t change it on such short notice. Jim kept me up-to-date, advising me that Floof was stinky — makes sense, as who know what much he got into outside — and that he seemed cranky — possibly due to pain from his injuries.
I called our vet to:
- confirm the dry skin ointment was still waiting for him — yes — although he wouldn’t need it until his new wound healed.
- request some more of the cleaning solution, since it worked so much better than warm water.
- ask how long we had to wait to retest him for parasites (30-60 days) and FeLV (60 days).
- ask if I should still bring in a stool sample that Friday to see if the giardia treatment had worked — yes.
I also emailed the photos of Floofenstein’s new wound I’d taken before and after cleaning, in case the vet had any questions about it. This resulted in a call asking me to bring Floof in as soon as possible to see if his wound needed stitches. With some creative planning, Jim and I were just able to get Floofers to the vet before they closed for the day.
As I expected, his wound had already healed enough around the edges that it didn’t make sense to stitch it closed. But we discovered several puncture wounds — almost certainly from large thorns — including one behind his left ear that showed signs of infection.
To help with keeping everything clean, our vet shaved around his infected wound and a section of fur at the edge of his scar that was getting into the new wound. Floof also got a long-acting antibiotic shot.
I verified that he’d still be OK to get neutered on the 22nd — yes — and we scheduled another spa day — AKA grooming appointment. Unfortunately, they didn’t have a grooming appointment available until May 6.
Once we got him home, I gave him some gabapentin, which really helped with his mood. The pills had been dosed for Bumbledore at 9.5 lbs, so they weren’t enough to knock 13.5 lbs Floofenstein out, but they were clearly enough to make him not care about — or notice — the pain
He got more gabapentin the next morning, since he was cranky again, but didn’t need it that evening. His infected wound had sealed overnight, and his big wound was looking better, too.
To get him through to his spa day, I wiped him down several times with cleaning wipes, which got the surface dirt off of him and helped with the smell.
April 17–May 6
Integration
Over the past few weeks, Floofenstein has been trying very hard to integrate himself into the Crawford Clowder. We have learned that he is a very social boy, and doesn’t seem to understand why Athena, Dante, and Ritz aren’t equally eager to befriend him.
He has been overly pushy, attempting to use his size and negative reinforcement — pouncing after growls — to convince Ritz and Dante to pay attention to him. So far, he’s only succeeded in scaring them. Dante, especially, will scatter the moment Floof appears.
Surprisingly, he’s been more gentle with Athena, spending a lot of time looking at her and making friendly sounds. While Athena has occasionally shown some interest in his overtures, she has given him warnings to not get too close. Thus far, Floofers has mostly paid attention.
This behavior supports Jim’s and my belief that Floof is a gift from Bumbledore. He would have described Ritz as affectionate and playful and Dante as pushy and uncaring of personal space — hence Floof’s attempt to play with them. But Bumbledore likely would have described Athena as standoffish and not to be messed with, so Floofers is giving her space.
I’m hopeful that as Floof spends more time out of his bathroom around the boys, they’ll get more used to him. But every time he pounces on someone, he gives them more reason to avoid him.
New experiences
Floofenstein has had multiple new experiences in the past few weeks. Or, at least, new with us.
Treats
Floofenstein has developed a love of treats. However, he doesn’t really understand the concept. I’ll generally give our cats 1 or 2 treats at a time, unless it’s a specific reward for good behavior — they get 1 treat per paw of trimmed claws. Floofers will keep looking everywhere after he’s gobbled down his treats, convinced that there are more.
He also got to try cat mousse — also often referred to as “tube” for its packaging. He didn’t really understand it, either. Rather than lick the mousse as I pushed it out of the tube, he started biting the tube, making it impossible to dispense. All future tube treats will be served pre-dispensed in a bowl.
Catnip spray
He also got to experience catnip spray. He reacts to it as much as our boys do. It took him a moment to realize what he was smelling, but then he flopped onto his bed and started rolling around in joy.
Game time
Floofenstein seems to enjoy game time almost as much as Bumbledore did. But he wanders more. He doesn’t just stay with me. He’ll jump down from the sofa and flop on the floor for a while. Then he’ll go look out the glass door. Then he’ll sniff everything. And then he’ll come back to me for a bit — if he doesn’t try to escape upstairs.
Red dot
Floof has also been introduced to the red dot — AKA “laser” pointer — and loves chasing it. We’ll see how long it takes for him to discover that I control the red dot, and if he gets mad at me for it.
Belly rubs
Floofers does not like to admit he likes belly rubs, but I have proof he does. If he’s relaxed, I can start rubbing his belly, and he gets really into it until he realizes what he’s doing. Then he looks at me as though I have betrayed him.
Floofini
You’ve likely noticed that he’s only wearing a harness in some of the photos I’ve included. That’s because he’s learned how to get out of one in about 3 seconds if he decides he no longer wants to wear it. So putting one on him is virtually useless. If anyone has any suggestions for actually escape-proof harnesses, please let me know!
General health updates
Because of his misadventure, Floof has extended his semi-isolation by an extra two months. We found out on 4/18 that his initial round of medicine worked and he was parasite-free. Unfortunately, we now have to wait those 60 days to test him again. His appointment is scheduled for June 17; he’ll get a basic infectious disease test to check for FeLV, and another parasite screening.
I’m as positive as I can be that he didn’t catch FeLV in his short time outside — but it’s good to be 100% certain — and I sincerely hope he didn’t get reinfected with parasites. It’s getting harder and harder to keep him semi-isolated, and a reinfection would extend that by a month, at least.
In that “just in case” vein, I’m also working on getting Floofenstein used to having his teeth brushed. He’s done very well with the exterior faces, but I haven’t been able to get to the interior faces. I need to look for a tutorial or two on YouTube.
Healing
Floofenstein’s new wound healed quickly, filling in and closing completely in just 18 days! I had a light scratch that scabbed that took longer to heal.
This second wound pulled the scar tissue in as it closed, so he now has a scar more like a starfish than a blob. It’s quickly fading in color, although I don’t know if cat scars ever fade to the same almost-white of their skin.
I can’t wait until all of his fur grows back so I can see how much it will cover his scar. Perhaps it will grow faster now that his wounds have all healed (again).
No more testicles
As we’d planned, Floofenstein was neutered on 4/22. Everything went fine, and he was surprisingly alert when I picked him up.
Because of his jaw wound, I brought Athena’s orange slice donut with me, since it would be gentler than a cone. The vet approved using it instead. It was supposed to stay on for four days. Ha! After about four hours, Jim let me know there was no point keeping it on since Floof was licking his bits.
I kept a close eye on his wound for the first two days since he didn’t have a cone, then switched to a more general watch, just in case. He healed without any issues.
Floofers didn’t really react to losing his testicles. His behavior hasn’t changed; he’s still a super-cuddly boy.
Second spa day
By the time Floof’s spa appointment happened, he barely needed it. Between brushing, betting, and grooming himself, his back and head were pretty clean. His belly fur, though, still left my hands feeling a bit dirty, and his tail had an oily/greasy patch.
And, anyway, the bath and dry would help with shedding and removing any remaining little scabs from his misadventure.
Once again, he was very well behaved, and he came home super soft, shiny, and sweet smelling.
My last post in this series will be after we’ve gotten the results of his FeLV and parasite tests. After that, posts will be far less frequent, possibly quarterly for a while, then yearly unless there are major updates.
I hope you enjoyed part six of seven about Floofenstein’s rescue and incorporation into our household. Thanks for reading to the end. Make sure to subscribe to my blog or follow me on Instagram so you don’t miss any posts. I generally post at least once a week.
