Caturday turned out to be an adventure, to clean it up for general audiences! The fire alarms (85 dB) in my apartment started going off after I made an omelette for breakfast. It took most of the day to end this ordeal of alarms going off – manually stopping the alarms – alarms going off again in ten minutes.

It’s hard to say which of us was more stressed, the kitty boys or me. They, however, didn’t get to say really blasphemous and naughty words to try to make the stress go away! Nope. They were perfect gentlecats! (So I gave them some kitty treats ~ twice.)

See how Dougy’s left eye is swollen? Conjunctivitis.

As mentioned this week, Andy and Dougy have been fighting over the recliner. It was beginning to concern me because it seemed Dougy was the main instigator. Then I noticed his left eye…. I tried to get him in to see his veterinarian Friday afternoon, but he was gone. I eventually got a call from one of the other veterinarians (the new guy), and we decided Dougy should come in anytime Saturday (Caturday, rather) if the eye looked bad still. It did, and I called to let the clinic know Dougy was coming in for an examination.

The new veterinarian impressed me with his thoroughness, his compassion, and his interest in Dougy and his problem. I thought the new veterinarian was easily as good as the boys’ regular veterinarian, something that encourages me in case I have no alternative but to use another one instead of my preferred one. Yes, the new guy is just fine! (Dougy was good with him as well.)

I’ve put these in Dougy’s eyes when he had problems years ago. 

So Dougy has an eye drop prescription that I give him twice a day for five days. Lucky kitty! (Lucky me! Doctoring two kitties!)

So, when I came back from the veterinarian’s, the alarm was blasting off. Poor Andy! No knowing how long he endured that racket! I picked him up and cuddled and talked calmly to him. Later, I gave him that second helping of treats I mentioned earlier. He earned it! 

I called the landlord and calmly (um… “tersely and with menace”) explained the toll the alarms were putting on the kitties and me, how my physical limitations made the process of poking them with the broom handle physically stressful, how I was thinking of moving into a motel with the kitties till the problem was fixed (and charging it to the landlord….!), etc., etc., etc. I plastered it on thick and specifically! There was no way I intended to stay in that apartment all weekend until the maintenance person on duty during the week came to work Monday.

Andy “hid” from the racket here and on the bath mat by the shower. Poor kitty!

So, a new maintenance person was sent over. I think he figured the problem out. One of the alarms was apparently defective. It triggered all of the other alarms to activate. Also, he discerned that the problem might also be dust on the units. He used an electric leaf blower to blow them clean! After this treatment and the removal of the one he suspected was defective, the alarms stayed off. It’s been nearly two hours since he left, with no reoccurrence of the alarms.

Oh, yes. Since the treatments began on Dougy’s left eye, there’s been peace in the house. It seems he was cranky because of his eye. At least I hope that’s so!