Unhappy Cat...is VERY unhappy...

or...

I am in ur kichin...plottin ur death.

About a week ago, I noticed Dobby shaking one of his rear legs - cat owners know The Shake - like when a piece of litter is stuck between toes or a foot is wet. I checked (which is difficult with a squirmy kitty like Dobbs) and didn't see anything.

A few days later, still with the shake - just occasionally. And he liked to clean it (you know, when cats do the nawmnawmnawm on their feet). This time I looked and saw a wee bit of redness between his paw pad and his toe pads. With our rough hardwood floors, the cats sometimes land wrong when jumping off of the bed (or couch, or table, or chair, or lap), and they get a little boo-boo. Just a little redness, definitely tender, but no shards of glass or splinters, thank goodness. I'll just keep an eye on it.

Here it is, a week later, and he's still shaking and cleaning the foot once in a while. I check again - this time more red. I got a last-minute appointment with the vet (Joe thinks I'm such a worrier), and she confirmed that Dobby probably just had a little irritation that he has since made worse by over-cleaning. So he gets antibiotics. And ointment.

And a satellite dish.

This is the reason why, when Joe's out of town one of these days, I will slip while descending the steps, knock myself unconscious, and my cats will eat my face.

He's still not quite sure of what's going on - with limited peripheral vision, he doesn't move a whole lot. And he freaks when the other cats "sneak" into his line of sight. And it was really pathetic this morning when he sneezed, landed a huge boogey in the collar, and looked at me as if to say, "This is it. Life does not get any lower than this moment right now. Bitch."

I'm so sorry, sweet Dobby - maybe if we can keep your foot out of your mouth you'll be back to yourself in no time. In the meantime, guilt-ridden mommy will keep feeding you ham...