The Trials of Tigger: Tigger's Trials Are Over

Oh, how much do I love THIS? After the posts by a few people to the effect that some assisted living communities allow pets, I asked my brother if he had inquired about it. He had apparently never even considered that it might be a possibility, so his answer was no, he had not brought it up. So he asked them.

And Mom is allowed to have a pet! I'm so thrilled I can hardly stand it. Mom keeps trying to get out of it now, telling me that Tigger likes me and my brother better than her (because the cat likes to sit on visitors) and when that doesn't work, she says she doesn't want to have to deal with the cat litter. I tell her that someone is paid to clean her apartment every week, and that cat litter will be part of that. She says it's not fair to the "hired help" to clean cat litter, and that they won't be expecting this to be part of their duties. I tell her that yes, it's fair, and they probably clean litter and walk dogs for other residents all the time.

Whatever. At one point I actually looked her in the eye and said, "Nonsense." She stopped trying to talk me out of it. She always throws up the strangest barriers to things that would actually make her happier if she would let us enact some of them. So I'm pushing, and if Mom really, truly hates it, I'll take Tigger away.

But I'm pretty determined. This cat has been with her for something like 13 years, maybe more, and she will be something that is both familiar and alive, something to talk to when no humans are around, and something warm to be on the sofa or the bed with her or lie in the sun and purr. I'm thrilled that this is possible.

Found some wonderful photos yesterday. Here's Tigger as a baby:

Tigger as she was perhaps six or seven years ago, at her healthy prime:

And my favorite shot of her, ever, as a playful kitten:

Yay! Good news!

Isn't it?

Yes, it is!

And, why don't we have a heart emoticon--those kitty photos are so precious.

That is terrific news about a terrific looking cat.

A heart emoticon would be wonderful, yes it would.

Nan, if you could see a full-body shot of Tigger now, you might be a bit shocked. She is skinny as a rail, but tough as nails. Somehow, despite many medical problems and a pathological loathing of vets (which I saw in action yesterday -- terrifying!) she is still alive! But she has lovely eyes and can be very sweet. My Dad used to call her his "little buddy."

Happy news indeed.

flugermongers said:

BG9 said:

Its shown that elderly are greatly helped by having pets.

Is it too late to change her assisted living facility? Sunrise assisted living allows the keeping of pets by their residents.

http://www.sunriseseniorliving.com/

Oh that would be fab

Thank you both for raising this possibility, by the way. It was not possible to change to a different community, but it got me to ask the crucial question.

Joanne, I am packing her binoculars (large and small, in case the big ones are too tiring for her hands) and hope the administrators don't die of shock when they see how thin Tigger is. I had her blood work done and hope she doesn't have any kind of illness, and she's had her rabies shot, for which I have documentation. Fingers crossed that this is enough -- it's what they asked for, so I'm hopeful.

Yay !!

Such exciting news - and if Tigger meets the standards (it seems she does) then, it's a home for her as elderly kitty, too!! (Your mother might want some Feliway for Tigger to help her settle in the new home: some of her reluctance to have the kitty may be the worry/fear of resettling her or of having to care for her in a new place where they are both uncertain)

I REALLY like (read: my cat REALLLLLY likes) SmartyKat brand organic catnip. Super potent. I get it at Target. SmartyKat also makes some very intuitive toys.... one of their scratching things is now one of my baby's faves... it's shaped like a lying down S

Well, there's been a rather large hiccup in our plans to move Tigger to assisted living with Mom... Mom took a VERY bad fall yesterday, breaking her nose and gashing her forehead. She also dislodged some of her dental implants. She was airlifted to a hospital, where they found she also had the beginnings of pneumonia.

Long story short, after every test in the world and immediate treatment with antibiotics, she's doing better and will be released on Monday after she spends the weekend gaining some strength. From there, she will go to rehab in CT to work on strengthening herself overall and particularly improving her walking ability. No cats in rehab, obviously.

So, Mr. PeggyC and I will be giving Tigger a home while Mom is in rehab, but when Mom's ready to move into the apartment, we will deliver Tigger to her and help her get settled.

What a time it's been. But I think we are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.

So sorry. She is lucky to have you.

Ay-yi-yi! Good luck with all that and sending PVs for your mom's quick recovery!

Thanks, Fluger and SAC. I keep reliving the accident, trying to figure out what I should have done differently so she wouldn't fall. *sigh* I know that is pointless, and the circumstances were such that I probably couldn't have done anything better, but I still keep seeing it in my mind. Definitely from the department of things I wish I could un-see.

PeggyC, sometimes falls are an indicator of the beginnings of a neurological problem (not always). With my mom, she took two or three bad falls in the 3 or so years before we started seeing signs of dementia. We worried about what we could have done differently, too, but she was living alone and treasured her independence. Luckily, those falls didn't result in broken bones.

But, since she's been in assisted living, she has still taken some falls. This is a very protected environment, with grab bars, no scatter rugs, no doorsills - and still, she falls (usually during the night - they cannot - by law - use bed rails or any sort of restraint to keep the residents in bed until an aide can get to them). She's broken her hip, and cut her head. You can only do so much to protect against this sort of thing.

I'm sorry your mom is injured and I hope the rehab goes quickly. My mother recovered very well physically from the broken hip she sustained at 94 (that was 2 years ago). Good thoughts for you and your mother.

Cody, that's what I'm afraid of. We had her scheduled to see a neurologist, but then we got the go-ahead to move her into assisted living, and my brother didn't want to start a bunch of neuro stuff down here that would have to be halted and restarted with a new doctor in CT. She needs so much medical attention now it makes my head spin. And I'm so frightened I can hardly think straight.

Keeping your mom (and you) in my thoughts.

Get lots of dr opinions.

She will be in rehab for awhile, not sure how long. She needs to gain strength and learn some safer walking techniques and ways to keep herself safe. She also needs to heal (broken nose and stitches in forehead) and recover (cough) in a supervised medical environment. While she is there, I'm sure the staff will be examining her closely in many ways, but it won't be possible to ferry her to numerous doctors for a neuro work-up. That will have to happen after she's in the assisted living place.

Right now we are holding our breath to see whether there's a repeat of Sundowner's Syndrome and whether Dave can get her safely landed in rehab. I'm trying very hard not to walk all over the house while I wait to hear from him.

Back on the Tigger front, Mom's cat is rather happily ensconced in our guest bedroom. She's quite comfortable in there, but a bit nervous about the paws and noses she can see under the door. Last night Mr. PeggyC slept in there with her so she wouldn't meow for company, and he says she spent a good part of the night lying on his chest with her whiskers up his nose. She can be a very sweet girl. She positively leans into us now for a tickle or a chin scratch.

oh, the mental image of a guy with a kitty on his chest, whiskers tickling his nose! How sweet - and how sweet of him to comfort her like this! Seems to augur good things in the very near future. (There isn't a fingers-crossed emoticon)

Best news in months: Mom is at the rehab facility, safe and sound, albeit exhausted. So now the whole family can get on with healing across the board.

Your hubby is a keeper. How sweet.

PeggyC said:

Best news in months: Mom is at the rehab facility, safe and sound, albeit exhausted. So now the whole family can get on with healing across the board.

So, back to the integration of my mother's cat, Tigger. (I'm leaving the situation with Mom herself to my blog and the caregiver's thread).

Tigger has been becoming more and more comfortable with the second bedroom, where we had her closed off from the other cats, and we introduced her to Mischa a couple of days ago. There was some hissing on Tigger's part, but Mischa was very mellow and curious.

This morning, I opened the door so Tigger and Mischa could see each other again, and there was no hissing. When Mischa took a few tentative steps into the room, Tigger did nothing but meow a couple of times. I then let Anya and Niki in, carefully supervised. They strolled around the room, sniffed the litter box and the carrier Tigger arrived in, then left.

So we're trying a little experiment. Tigger has the run of the ground floor, which she is carefully exploring. The other cats are strategically placed (OK, hiding) in various rooms. Tigger keeps coming back to me, where she will walk across my lap in one direction, complaining loudly, then walk back the other way across my lap, complaining. Then she wanders off for a bit more exploration.

Mischa tried very hard to touch noses, but Tigger had a hissy/growly fit. Eventually, Mischa got nervous enough to hiss back, at which point I removed him to a high place where he could see but not touch. Everyone calmed down and Tigger stalked off.

Tigger is still wandering the ground floor, and so far there's no more growling. I'm sure it will be a work in progress for awhile, but I think we are off to as good a start as Tigger's crotchety personality will permit.

SmartyKat Organic Catnip. Quality $hit. My cat (and the dog too) flip out.

My only doubt about using catnip is sometimes I've seen it make cats aggressive, so I'd be cautious about that. But I think it's a good time to get Feliway. Wish I had thought of that yesterday when I was at PetsMart (PetSmart?).