Mao

This little beastie scampered into our lives just 6 days ago. A stray rescued by the ASPCA and picked up by T. at an open house adopt-a-thon down in Prospect Park. Cue a lively, investigative, little, black furthang running around the apartment, purring loudly, if a little snottily, chasing string and blind cords, and waking us up at 4 or 5 AM with a paw in the cheek.

On Wednesday, the snottyness got worse, breathing more constricted, and poor MiniMao threw up a couple of times. His condition grew worse over the next two days and after a relatively prolonged battle to get to see our local vet, he was admitted in pet hospital on Saturday morning. Fears of a possibly-fatal virus, quaranteen, and the poor sod in an isolated cage with an IV in what we can only assume to be his shaved kitten leg. and a stressful start to the weekend. A call today suggests things aren't as bad as they first seemed, he's likely to have a feline immune deficiency (test results pending), and touching wood with a firm grip, he's out of the woods.

Amazing that after just 5 days of having this little, characterful beast in the home just how empty the place is without him already, how heartbreaking it is to see a cat so young is such obvious distress, and the attachment one experiences that's so instant when you find a pet with a personality that fits just right. Can't wait to have Mao back in the fold and back on form, chewing your laces, putting up with being worn as a hat, jamming his head in your water glass at dawn, etc. etc. T. first thought of getting a cat to distract her from her own on-going injury; having Mao in the kitty ER didn't really do the trick, but such goes life.