Our basement Old Cat infirmary.

It's been a long, Long, cold, COLD winter in NW IA, cold weather and old animals don't mix. The first cat to end up in our basement was our old, old Callie. I'm not sure of her age but she is Tiger Woods sister from another litter and he would have been 17. Callie was in the barn one day staggering around so I brought her in the house and installed her in the back room of the basement since she has never been a house cat. I thought I was bringing her in the die in peace, she fooled me! After a few days bed rest, Callie lobbied to be allowed upstairs during the day and this is how she spends most of her time.

She finds a quiet place to snooze, whether it is a chair under the table, the couch, or with Bruce on the daybed for his daily nap. Callie is old, thin and kind of grungy looking but she is happy and healthier in the house. At night she has to go to her room in the basement but she no longer tries to beat me to the door, she accepts her fate and settles in her bed for the night.

Tigger has been spending the winter in the garden shed with Bonnie, I could tell she was not feeling well but didn't realize how sick she was until I took her to the vet. Tigger had a bad respiratory infection and was dehydrated, I took her home after she got a long lasting antibiotic shot. I put her in the basement by the corn stove and went down several times a day to coax her to eat and drink. 

Bruce thought she was really old until I told him her mother, Tigger Mama, is the tortiseshell cat at the farm and she is a glowing picture of health.

After a couple of days Tigger was getting stronger and eating better so I thought she was over the hump, until this morning. I noticed she was wobbly and one eye was rather swollen so back to the vet we went. The infection triggered a problem in her eye that is causing the fluid to build up, much like glaucoma. Steve said she can't see out of that eye at all and he doesn't think she sees well out of the other eye, that is the reason for her wobbling. He sent her home with eye drops twice a day, the fact that she eats and drinks is a good sign and she does make her way around the basement. He said blind cats can get along pretty good as long as they are in a familiar territory, don't switch the furniture around on them.

Tigger finds her carrier when she is tired....

....and she is grooming herself which is a good sign. All we can do is try and I think they deserve the chance, I had a hard time getting away from her after taking a picture. 

She kept following me to the stairs. Now that the word is out among the other outdoor cats that some have made the leap into the house, the rest are lobbying for equal treatment. They complain that it just isn't fair and there should be equal treatment for all. They are staging protests and walking the picket line outside the back door.

OMG!! I've raised Democats!