Published: April 06, 2008 12:18 am         

Siamese seniors Sed, Tib make themselves at home, finally

You may remember that my husband and I decided to adopt a pair of Siamese cats from an online rescue program about two and a half years ago.

We had lost the last of the three cats we’d had for nearly 15 years and though we weren’t planning on getting any more ... things happen. In this case a mouse happened, one that I spent an entire day trying to relocate without success. He was determined to move in despite all my attempts at dissuading him.

We agreed that since we had never seen a mouse during the entire 15 years the cats had been part of our lives, we needed another cat.

We got two.

Sedona and Tiberon, Sed and Tib for short, are half brothers who came home with us from the Virginia shelter where they had spent about three weeks after being evicted by their previous owner.

At first, they definitely were not happy campers.

Sed crawled under our bed and stayed there for nearly four months before venturing out to investigate his new surroundings except when no one was home. He wouldn’t have anything to do with the human occupants of this strange abode though we realized when we were out he not only explored but also played with toys and with his brother.

Tib, on the other hand, is an in-your-face kind of guy, who would climb on your lap and insist on being petted. If petting didn’t occur in the time and mode he was seeking, he bit. This habit lasted for several weeks gradually tapering off as he realized he didn’t need to take such drastic measures to get attention.

They hated the travel carriers by which they came to live with us over that 65-mile drive and once we arrived with them we put the carriers away because if they saw them, they would hide and could not be coaxed out.

It was nearly a year before we could get them back into the carriers to go to the veterinarian for a check up. Physically, they were fine though, Dr. Gustafson said they appeared to be prone to gingivitis and I should dab their gums with a peroxide soaked Q-tip on a regular basis.

I did as he suggested for a while but they seemed to dislike it so much I kind of got out of the habit.

As time went on Sed decided we weren’t so terrible after all and ventured out to talk to us and even occasionally sit on one of our laps.

Every day, he and Tib climbed onto the bed when the alarm clock went off to keep us company through our morning coffee and newspaper time.

The routine also included feeding them their breakfast before we went off to work.

They were much more relaxed about playing with each other and chitchatting with us as Siamese are wont to do.

Tib was always up for an adventure, usually following me into a room or someplace where I didn’t want him to be, like my closet. His favorite sleeping place is on top of my clothes.

As a result, he would find himself shut into a room or closet. That didn’t bother him, but Sed would be highly disturbed if he couldn’t find his brother. When that happened, he would seek me out and yell in his loudest Siamese voice. I would have to follow him to where Tib was and open the door so he could come out ... then all would be well with Sed.

A few weeks ago I noticed that Tib was losing weight and didn’t seem to be as active. He appeared to be eating, but not a lot.

It didn’t take too long to realize Tib just wasn’t himself and I was getting worried.

I got out a carrier and we made a trip to see Dr. Gustafson, who did some blood work and checked him out. Luckily the blood work showed he didn’t seem to be suffering from any of the biggies like kidney or heart failure but there were some other concerns.

The main problem appeared to be infected teeth. With Tib under anesthetic, he took out the two infected molars ... do cats have molars?

Tib came home a day later ... 24 hours during which Sed yowled at both of us and kept a vigil for his brother.

Then when Tib did come home, he smelled like animal hospital and Sed wouldn’t have anything to do with him for a day or two, something Dr. Gustafson warned us was likely to happen.

Tib gets prescription cat food, an antibiotic and vitamins twice a day and seems to be getting closer to becoming his old self. He’ll go back to the vet in a couple of weeks for follow-up blood work but I expect our furry senior citizens (they are 12 and 13 years old) to be with us for quite a while yet.

I just need to pay closer attention to their diet and, in particular, their teeth.

Contact Mona Ridder at mridder@times-news.com.