Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
This morning when Donna came home from work, Sultan played with her for the first time since he became ill. He even did his patented "EEEK - A MOUSE!" leap. Wish I got it on video, but here (below) are stills from the video of his old leap at the Museum. Note the ferocious catnip mouse that caused it...
Definitely back to his self and definitely needs a scratching post --- as my friend Fernando said, "right now he's still shy and not asserting himself. When he finally feels at home, watch out for your furniture!"
Sunday, July 29, 2012
DAY SIX...
Tonight I came home and saw Sultan enjoying his own private throne on a separate couch we have. I watched him faithfully wash his back paw and then realized HE'S WASHING HIS BACK PAW --- NO BANDAGE CAST! Donna had left a note that the little guy had yanked off his long tight and seemingly-secure bandage -- and half of the fur on his upper leg with it -- leaving it on the stairs where he could make a political statement about "freedom". So she replaced it with a new one but he yanked that off immediately, saying, "LADY --- the days of this bandage being on my leg are OVER."
He seemed so proud of himself. He is now both feeling better and getting less shy about the house. He's exploring, checking out the house, and becoming a bit more demanding - in other words, more like his old self.
As he looks to fit in, he is now enjoying his thirty-fourth sleeping location around our home, making it a challenge to know what to cover or where to clean up his shedding fur next. Hope he picks one soon!
Tonight I came home and saw Sultan enjoying his own private throne on a separate couch we have. I watched him faithfully wash his back paw and then realized HE'S WASHING HIS BACK PAW --- NO BANDAGE CAST! Donna had left a note that the little guy had yanked off his long tight and seemingly-secure bandage -- and half of the fur on his upper leg with it -- leaving it on the stairs where he could make a political statement about "freedom". So she replaced it with a new one but he yanked that off immediately, saying, "LADY --- the days of this bandage being on my leg are OVER."
He seemed so proud of himself. He is now both feeling better and getting less shy about the house. He's exploring, checking out the house, and becoming a bit more demanding - in other words, more like his old self.
As he looks to fit in, he is now enjoying his thirty-fourth sleeping location around our home, making it a challenge to know what to cover or where to clean up his shedding fur next. Hope he picks one soon!
DAY FIVE...
Sultan is
getting better, and therefore occasionally restless. Bought him some
toys and I just created a perch by the upstairs window
for Sultan, thinking he might be better off observing from a distance -
he LOVED observing up high from trees at the Museum - but he simply
hopped off and went back downstairs. Still seems a bit warm to me but
took his medicine better last night.
Pam, Sultan's best friend and God Mom from the Museum came by to see him and apparently left a bag of cat nip. When I came home, Donna was sound asleep and behind her the coffee table and floor were covered with cat nip and a smiling cat who had torn the bag open. He nuzzled into my hand to get a fresh "high" from some of the catnip and was happy as can be....
Pam, Sultan's best friend and God Mom from the Museum came by to see him and apparently left a bag of cat nip. When I came home, Donna was sound asleep and behind her the coffee table and floor were covered with cat nip and a smiling cat who had torn the bag open. He nuzzled into my hand to get a fresh "high" from some of the catnip and was happy as can be....
Yes, day four was a nightmare - for all of us. Sultan had to go back to the Vet's which is further away than ours would be. We have become exhausted dealing with this "new baby" and didn't know the tricks for getting him into a carrier. Donna got scratched, then I almost shut the carrier door on his little leg (not the hurt one, fortunately). I had forgotten my parents' trick of covering a cat's basket when traveling with him and walked poor Sultan into a tiny waiting room with seven dogs including German Shepperd's. Not fun for any of us!
Luckily they took us in very quickly. Sultan's wound required a fresh bandage, and he was on his way, but the poor little guy had a trying and stressful day. I will never again let my poor Buddy go through such a thing without knowing every possible way of keeping him feeling less stressed.
DAY THREE...
Sultan was weak and seemed to have a fever when I found him, and Pam came out from the Museum and helped me get caretaker Dave over with his meds. We all agreed my wife and I might just have a better chance to help him recover and start a new life than Dave could, so I drove my poor little buddy to his new home.
Sultan from yesterday after he staggered out of the woods with no collar but his bandage cast intact:
Sultan was weak and seemed to have a fever when I found him, and Pam came out from the Museum and helped me get caretaker Dave over with his meds. We all agreed my wife and I might just have a better chance to help him recover and start a new life than Dave could, so I drove my poor little buddy to his new home.
Sultan from yesterday after he staggered out of the woods with no collar but his bandage cast intact:
Friday, July 27, 2012
Sultan the Museum Cat's Story, and Day Two...
Sultan can appear unassuming at first. Indeed, some people at first ask if he is a "feral cat", as they see him outside so often.
He has "worked" at the Pasadena Museum of History as its Official Mascot (after all, it says that on his collar, which he wears proudly); Official Greeter, Security Guard, Mouser, Muse, and All Around Nice Guy. And he's done that for more than TEN YEARS, crossing a busy city street each day and somehow avoiding coyotes at night before going home.
To me, his story was almost legend --- the first owner who rescued and adopted him while at a movie location shoot; his obsession with the History Museum and its parking lot; located across from her condo complex; that original owner's leaving him behind with Museum staff when she moved away a year or two later; and his subsequent caretakers who fortunately lived in that same complex allowing him to continue his Museum role for year after year.
Then there were the infamous Sultan acts --- how he would see (and smell) food arriving for a Museum event, and drop off a dead mouse or rat as his contribution to Pasadena's elite; the time his curiosity got the better of him and he was left in the Museum, setting off its alarms leading to the arrival of the authorities (he still hates sirens...); and many more.
But HOW had this cat survived such a daily schedule involving a dangerous route, dodging cars constantly in the parking lot, and avoiding dogs and coyotes in an area by the Arroyo Seco that is known for both?
DAY TWO...
I got very little sleep thinking about the little guy after hearing he was back at his caretaker's, knowing he would probably try to escape.
Sure enough, the next morning I got word that he already had escaped. I spent a good part of a very hot afternoon looking for Sultan around his keeper's condo complex and the Museum. Thinking he might venture further, I expanded the search into the nearby neighborhoods. It was possible someone had seen his injury and turned him in to Pasadena Humane, so I even asked there, and at a nearby office building where he sometimes visited the security guards.
Three things worried me: his injured foot, the disability it would cause him in defending himself, and the possible smell of blood on it. I wanted to find him before he tried to spend another night out doors, as he had been doing the past few weeks.
When he staggered out of the woods later that afternoon, seeming weak and confused, I was elated my buddy as all right.
He has "worked" at the Pasadena Museum of History as its Official Mascot (after all, it says that on his collar, which he wears proudly); Official Greeter, Security Guard, Mouser, Muse, and All Around Nice Guy. And he's done that for more than TEN YEARS, crossing a busy city street each day and somehow avoiding coyotes at night before going home.
To me, his story was almost legend --- the first owner who rescued and adopted him while at a movie location shoot; his obsession with the History Museum and its parking lot; located across from her condo complex; that original owner's leaving him behind with Museum staff when she moved away a year or two later; and his subsequent caretakers who fortunately lived in that same complex allowing him to continue his Museum role for year after year.
Then there were the infamous Sultan acts --- how he would see (and smell) food arriving for a Museum event, and drop off a dead mouse or rat as his contribution to Pasadena's elite; the time his curiosity got the better of him and he was left in the Museum, setting off its alarms leading to the arrival of the authorities (he still hates sirens...); and many more.
But HOW had this cat survived such a daily schedule involving a dangerous route, dodging cars constantly in the parking lot, and avoiding dogs and coyotes in an area by the Arroyo Seco that is known for both?
DAY TWO...
I got very little sleep thinking about the little guy after hearing he was back at his caretaker's, knowing he would probably try to escape.
Sure enough, the next morning I got word that he already had escaped. I spent a good part of a very hot afternoon looking for Sultan around his keeper's condo complex and the Museum. Thinking he might venture further, I expanded the search into the nearby neighborhoods. It was possible someone had seen his injury and turned him in to Pasadena Humane, so I even asked there, and at a nearby office building where he sometimes visited the security guards.
Three things worried me: his injured foot, the disability it would cause him in defending himself, and the possible smell of blood on it. I wanted to find him before he tried to spend another night out doors, as he had been doing the past few weeks.
When he staggered out of the woods later that afternoon, seeming weak and confused, I was elated my buddy as all right.
Week One with an Injured Iconic Cat
A few days ago we took on the (initially?) enormous responsibility of caring for a cat that is not only an well-known public personality of the Pasadena area of Los Angeles, but also likely one of the only animals of his breed to have survived more than ten years of near total freedom to roam when and where he liked around Pasadena. This is the story of our shared experience, his history, and how he copes with with this new chapter of his life without his beloved parking lot.
On Monday, I found Sultan, an eleven-year-old charcoal and white tuxedo cat, injured with a bleeding rear foot and apparent missing claws at his "work-place", the Pasadena Museum of History. While he did not seem to be in excessive pain, I immediately contacted Pam, his God Mother and former caretaker at the Museum. She got in touch with his current caretaker, Dave, who has been struggling with Sultan's current wave of uneasiness and night roaming due to recent racoons attacks and the man's absence while of of town. Dave took Sultan to the vet, but the sly kitty escaped from his cone-collar that night and forced his way out the cat door.
Little did Sultan know this act would change his roaming lifestyle in ways none of us quite expected....
DAY ONE...
On Monday, I found Sultan, an eleven-year-old charcoal and white tuxedo cat, injured with a bleeding rear foot and apparent missing claws at his "work-place", the Pasadena Museum of History. While he did not seem to be in excessive pain, I immediately contacted Pam, his God Mother and former caretaker at the Museum. She got in touch with his current caretaker, Dave, who has been struggling with Sultan's current wave of uneasiness and night roaming due to recent racoons attacks and the man's absence while of of town. Dave took Sultan to the vet, but the sly kitty escaped from his cone-collar that night and forced his way out the cat door.
Little did Sultan know this act would change his roaming lifestyle in ways none of us quite expected....
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