Yayyyy! Tigger "went"!

Hallelujah, he went, he went! Our little Tigger finally went. He has been constipated for almost a week, and tonight he finally went. The downside is that he went...on my bed (sigh). I was able to get a towel under his bottom but this is the second time in a week that he has done this. He has never done that in the whole ten years or so that we've had him.

My nephew and I talked about it and we figured maybe the litter box I was using was so old that it is retaining some odors that we cannot detect but that Tigger can smell. That said, I just went outside and brought in the spare that I use as a container for small things outside, I dumped the old litter into bags, trashed the old litter box and set him up all nice and clean. I also changed my sheets even though he hadn't really dirtied on them but on the towel, just to be sure, and then I sprayed some Febreeze on the clean linens. Hopefully, the clean litter and the new box will be the answer. We calculate that the one I had been using is at least 4 years old. Cats scratch in there and eventually there must be almost invisible scratches in the plastic that can retain odor that we humans can't always detect.

I will also now watch and use the malt-gel at least once a day while I monitor his action, and I'll use the pumpkin whenever it seems to start being difficult for him.

We are SO happy.

We kidded, though, about another possible reason he finally went. I had brought out his pet carrier and put it in the living room. He has been glued to the top of the back of the sofa for days and he saw the carrier. We teased that maybe seeing that, and knowing he was headed to the Vet, must have scared the **** out of him (LOL).

He has lost weight. In the past few days, I cut out his dry food and I'll re-start that, but only in small amounts. I had also cut out the table food (just bits of chicken or deli turkey breast, etc.). We never gave him much at a time, but now that I look back, we were doing that oftener than in the past. We will continue, now, to keep that to a bare minimum. I can't wait, though, to see him get more sure-footed (he's weak) and a little more filled out.

Dear Father, thank you so very much for helping our little Tigger. We are so grateful. I am grateful, too, that this has taught me some things I must begin to watch when caring for our little companion, to help avoid this particular trouble in the future. Thank you for that knowledge and especially, thank you for ending Tigger's discomfort. And bless my friends who included us in their prayers.