Saturday, February 20, 2010

Mystery Solved

A few weeks ago I noticed a bare spot in the middle of Ashes' back. Right along her spine. She had tangled with Casey the day before and my first thought was that Casey had bitten her.

After checking it out I realized this was not a bite, it was a small skin irritation. I checked her all over and there were no other signs of anything so I decided to keep an eye on it and watch the others too.

Within a day or so we noticed the fur all along her spine was thinning and the skin beneath was pink. She was still eating and drinking fine, had tons of energy, and did not seem bothered by this new fur style. I again decided to give it a day or so before making the panic call to the vet. After all no one else was having fur problems.

We had recently changed laundry soap, dish soap, and hand soap (we got them when we bought the new water softener) Even though she does not wear clothes, do the dishes, or wash her paws, I considered for a brief second, an allergic reaction. However,if it was allergies it seemed to me that all her fur should be thinning or her skin would be showing signs of irritation in other places then her spine but she wasn't. She even let me give her a good brushing.

It was a little over a week later that I saw all the cat fur caught on the insulation around the pipes in the basement. A perfect swatch right where her spine would be if she were to walk along the boxes. Sure enough yesterday I caught her sleeping up on the boxes pressed right up against the insulation. She was all snug and warm with the pellet stove right below her. A perfect place for a cat to nap. Except for the insulation that is taking her fur off.

When she got down to eat I barricaded the area. Rearranged the boxes so there is no place to lay down and moved the pellets so she has nothing to climb on. I'm sure she is not happy with me and will probably find some way of getting back at me, but she needs to let the reverse mohawk grow back in and ease the irritation. It's time to order another bottle of Skin and Coat and get her beautiful white fur back in shape.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi Ann, I sure know what you mean by talking to yourself in writing blogs.

I love this story and I'm glad it wasn't something serious!

We have to keep marching on even if we think no one is listening!

Take care,