Toby's Naughty Knees

Today, though there is nothing majorly serious going on with him, we'd like to ask for some light purrs and prayers for our housemate Toby. Those of you who have known us awhile or visit us regularly will probably know Toby. He is my sister's cat, and both he and she live with us. Toby is the strawberry-loving, big, fuzzy house panther who I struggle to photograph because I'm still honing my black cat photography skills.

A few years ago, after some lameness and crying when walking, Toby was diagnosed with patellar luxation. For anyone who doesn't know, that essentially means that sometimes Toby's kneecaps dislocate. He's had a few bouts of lightly dislocated kneecaps over the years, and as is common in cats with luxating patellas, the kneecaps go back into place pretty quickly with a simple shake or move of his legs. Since his case was a mild one, Toby has only ever been prescribed some basic joint health and omega-3 fatty acid supplements, and he was told not to jump too much. Which is great, because he's a cat.

Well, last night poor Toby had his worst ever bout of patellar luxation. Even after it seemed that his kneecaps had sorted themselves out and gone back into place, Toby just couldn't get comfortable. This is not uncommon for Toby, as he is notorious for having essentially zero pain tolerance. So, even when his kneecaps were back in place, he was sore and unhappy. This time his soreness and stiffness lasted far longer than it ever has before. I spent a good chunk of the night checking on him and cuddling him since he was so irritated and sore, and luckily this morning he is acting much more like his normal self.

My sister is taking her Toby to the vet very soon and will discuss some further options to help him when this happens. I'm hoping the vet will prescribe some pain medication to have on hand for him. The sad thing is that Toby went over a year without any noticeable episodes of his patellar luxation, until last night, when he had his worst one ever. Though Toby is doing much better this morning, he still is a bit sore and sad, so if you have any spare purrs and prayers, we'd appreciate it.

Happy Caturday, friends!

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Tip of the Day

We have just a couple more tips in our series of pet parenting hacks. As for today's hack of a tip, do you have nooks and crannies in your house where all sorts of cat hair, litter, and other fubaby debris settles? You know, those nooks and crannies where the vacuum and broom just can't reach? Let's move on to another question. Do you know those pointed, open-tipped lids that are often used on ketchup bottles at cafeterias or restaurants? If you get your hands on a lid of this type, you can trying placing it on your vacuum's hose attachment and use it to help suck up the pet hair and other debris that can be found in difficult to reach cracks, crevices, and corners throughout your home. This may very well be a weird and random tip, but perhaps it will help you keep your home clean from top to bottom and from corner to corner.