Tig update: Is he or isn’t he?

When the going gets tough, the tough get—cat pictures.

Nothin’ but Tig for now.

This one is from yesterday. Sarah and I gave Tig 100 ml of sub-q a day after he got 200 ml of sub-q fluids. He seems to be acting more like his old self. His meow is louder and firmer. He ate all the tuna (he gets his phosphor-binding powder with a forkful of Sheba tuna fillet), instead of just licking the gravy off it. And strangely, he tried to go through the railing and walk on my Chinese screen, which would have been an utter disaster. The screen is an inch thick, and Tig is too ill to be able to balance on that. It’s also six feet tall. And, uh, an antique, and the last thing I want is a cat grabbing it all the way down, particularly when that cat hasn’t had his claws trimmed in, hm, let’s see, how long have I lived in Richmond? Right. More than six years, probably.

I can’t decide for sure if he’s feeling better. The signs are there, but I thought he was feeling better last week, and he went right back down again. I can tell you he that his eyes seem more alive. I can tell you that he’s eating more. I can tell you that he seems stronger. But I told you all that last week, and then he seemed like he was at death’s door. I suspect it’s going to be an up-and-down thing, but Tig is in pretty bad shape by the numbers. If he continues to eat more, he’ll have a chance. But if he keeps losing weight, it’s only a matter of time before I call the vet for that final shot.

That being said, here’s a picture hot off the presses, taken just a few minutes ago:

You can’t see it from the image, but his eyes are more alert than they’ve been. He’s currently lying in his “nest,” the foliage right next to the AC unit. It’s been a little less than 24 hours since his last injection of sub-q fluids. Sarah’s coming over later this afternoon.

And let me take the time right now to tell you how great this woman is. The reason she’s coming over every day is because her husband just had major surgery and is recovering in a hospital in the West End. She passes right by my apartment complex on the way, but still, she’s going out of her way to spend an extra few minutes helping me give Tig his sub-q fluids. Yesterday, she had all four kids with her (probably today, too) on their way to visiting their dad. It’s service above and beyond the call, when a friend takes time out from a stressful event in her life to help you through a stressful event in yours. Even when you’re so loopy from just waking up from a nap that you see her children at the door and say, “But they’ll scare Tig!” without thinking that Sarah can’t leave them out in the cold in the van. (I put on Cartoon Network, they were happy, Tig was happy, we were all happy. Except Gracie, who ran away.)

Anyway. Larry is recovering nicely, and we’re very happy with that. But Sarah deserves a kol hakavod for this week. What a great friend.