July 8, 2008: Fatcat the forlorn

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Carer Diary

July 8, 2008: Fatcat the forlorn

Marianne Talbot's mother, who has advanced Alzheimer's disease, is away on the Kent coast awaiting a nursing home place and her cat is pining for her

Poor old Fatcat. She misses mum terribly. She even stretches out her paw to me. She must be desperate.

Every afternoon at around 3.30 when mum used to come home from day care, Fatcat asks to be let out. Once out she’ll sit alert and ready, looking at the road. You’d swear she was waiting for the bus. She also butts me in the leg the way she used to butt mum. I try to fuss her, but not half as much as mum did. It’s not surprising Fatcat misses her.

What’s to be done about Fatcat?

The simplest thing would be to maintain the status quo. But if you’ve been reading this blog, you’ll know that Fatcat and I are not the best of friends.

It’s partly her peeing on the carpet. But now mum has gone I can shut a door and be sure it’ll stay shut. This means I can keep Fatcat out of the study and mum’s room during the day, and pen her in at night. So she can’t get to her peeing spots. She has enough manners not to do it anywhere else.

But it’s also that she’s so fat she can’t wash herself. So she sheds her fur all over the place, and unlike Oedipus she’s not sleek and shiny. She’s sort of greasy. Yuk! Who wants to stroke a greasy cat?

I could put her on another diet now mum’s not here to sabotage it. But could I bear to deny Fatcat her food? She has a look I’m sure she reserves for me; a malevolent ‘you can’t get me’ look. I suppose it’s reasonable after five years of my threatening to throw her out. But it doesn’t endear her to me. It certainly doesn’t encourage me to worry about her health.

One manifestation of Fatcat’s missing mum is that she has taken to chasing Oedipus. Regularly I now see Oedipus streak past with Fatcat in hot pursuit, tummy wobbling, at about half the speed. Perhaps her weight will sort itself out?

There is a charity, the Cinnamon Trust, devoted to caring for the pets of the elderly. I checked it out on the web. I am not sure it is suitable for Fatcat because it seems to require that the cat and its owner form a relationship with the Trust before there’s a need. Nevertheless I shall email them.

I have, of course, considered taking Fatcat to the vet. But after all her years of devoted service to mum that strikes me as a betrayal too far.

I may not have been able to care for mum until the end, but at least I can do it for her blasted cat.

Saga and caring

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