For Scooter

Well, I'm still here, and I've nicked Luvbug's laptop:)
Scooter is in the kitchen tonight, on mouse duty. We haven't had a mouse in the kitchen since the winter, but he has a long memory :)

Anyway.... look what I found! This is a poem about Scooter that I wrote five years ago...

I watch my friend rest

at my side, paws curled in sleep,

eyelids tightly closed.

A flicker of tail,

a shudder ripples through the

fur, betraying dreams.

What night-thoughts does he

see, that stay out of my reach?

Mice and birds and hunts?

Perhaps it was just

a shiver of old age, a

warning to me: be

ready for the time

when I shall search for movement

through tears, and in vain.

Never mind. Rest now.

I will not let that future

sadness soil this peace.

And so, I watch him

stretch, yawn, pad, roll, sigh, curl back

into precious sleep.

I wish I had known in 2007 that I would have at least another five years to share with Scooter. I'm glad to know that I told myself to enjoy him while I can and to focus on the present..... the poem is painfully relevant now.

Meanwhile, I have spoken to the v-t. He said that it sounds like Scoot is having a reaction to the prednisolone (steroid). He advised I cut the dose of one tablet (5mg) a day right down to a quarter. So, this is what I did today. He still had a bad reaction. He cries out as though in pain, he limps, he goes very lethargic (not the usual 'sleepy cat', something else, can't quite put my finger on it). I think the steroid is making his joints hurt worse. I know steroids did that to me once. I had them after a bad asthma attack years ago, and my joints grew swollen and painful while taking them.

So, I'm not going to give him any more of it. The v-t said that there is another steroid he could try, but I can't remember the name of it. He asked me to call and let him know how things are going, so I shall call him tomorrow and ask if we could try a couple of the alternative he mentioned.

Thank you again for all your love and support........

**** *** **** *** **** ***

Love, tea & cake,  
Helena