Damn Cat

If you've come in contact w/ Shelby, our magnificent cat, then you've probably felt his teeth. As a kitten he is better described as an agile crack addict with an unusually short attention span. When Shawana and I got back from MS (The happenings of that trip are still being told, stay tuned!) we picked up my Rav4 from extended parking at the Tampa Airport and headed to Ocala. My mom and sister was gracious enough to play host for Shelby while we were both out of town. I would get daily reports of Shelby's crazy behaviour and antics. But all his actions and habits are expected because that's our Shelby. Though we get tired of his constant playfulness we were glad to see our cat again, and we saw an eyeful of it. My mom's house is significantly bigger than our apartment, stratch that it's UGE. He was running wild across the furniture, chasing unseen objects back and forth across the dining room and kitchen. With a little trickery we were able to swoop him up in his carrier and exit Ocala. The trip back to Tampa is always the same with Shelby in the car. He meows until he passes out, unfortunately it takes him an hour and a half to do so. And turning up the music just pisses him off more and he begins to raise his meows to a "cat in despair" level.

Its saturday and we are all unpacked and looking forward to some rest after a long day of travel, Shelby included. Come Sunday, after a good night of much needed rest back in our own bed, we awake to feed Shelby and start the regular Sunday activities: doing nothing. Something is different though. Shelby is not himself today, sure yesterday he traveled and we didn't expect too much from him, but today he was the same, non-moving, non-playing cat.
Our minds start to wander, what's wrong with Shelby? He spent the week at my mom's house so maybe he is just tired from running around that house. Or could he be depressed, our apartment is small and Shelby seemed to be enjoying himself at my mom's. Or did he eat something that has him paralyzed. My mom has a room full of various plants and a big window. We called it the green room when I was growing up because the walls are a light shade of green with matching carpet. Shelby found this room interesting, but I surely didn't find that to be great after he threw up his food after eating a leaf from a plant in the room, and Omar got caught cleaning it up. What is wrong with him! We called people for advice and we had him under observation for the day. He just slept and slept. You would throw his favorite squeaky mouse and sure he would chase it, but then he would fall asleep where he caught it.
Back in November we got Shelby fixed. A tech at the vet's office told Shawana that it would take about a month for all the testosterone to run out of his system. We thought that could be the cause for his current state, but how could his playfulness drop-off to zero in less than a day. We were completely puzzled. Monday resulted in alot of conversation between Shawana and I about our cat's welfare. By the time we got home he seemed a little bit better and by Tuesday he had reclaimed his helion status. So Shelby is okay and we are back to offering him to anybody who will take him. Call 352.....