Rock star

My oldest cat's name is officially Bones. Not because he was a skinny runt, even though he was. He was named by an ex-boyfriend, after a mobster in the movie Get Shorty. The same ex-boyfriend talked me into getting a kitten, even though I really didn't think I was much of a cat person. We got the kitten to entertain his 5-year-old daughter. This seemed like a good plan at the time, but then 6 months later we broke up. I was a wreck, mostly because I missed the daughter. Every time I looked at Bones I thought about her, and for awhile thought about trying to find another home for him. But then I suddenly became a cat person. Sort of, because Bones is really more like a dog than a cat at times.

I had to feed him diluted baby food through a dropper after I brought him home from the North Richland Hills Animal Shelter. He is the only one of my cats that was properly weaned from his mother, but that didn't stop him from getting an infection in the kennel. He quickly recovered and became the cutest, healthiest and prettiest kitten. He and Stanley made fast friends, which I was relieved to see. After I had him a year he seemed to really want to go outside, so I started taking him out on a leash, much to his horror and embarrassment, I'm sure. But he got to know the yard, and before long I could leave him out and not worry about him running off or getting lost.

As each new cat was brought into the house, Bones became less and less tolerant of them. Henry was grudgingly accepted, and Bones even became a surrogate mother to him. But Zoe made him a little angry and standoff-ish, and Fred pushed him over the edge. He has never liked being around them, but at least doesn't fight with them. After Fred, Bones wanted to stay outside more and more, especially in the nice weather months. He's always come in at night, though, since that's when most cat fights occur. People tell me that after a cat is neutered he will either become a ruthless hunter or a fighter. Bones went the fighter route. It's hard for me to believe now that during all the years at the Cooks house, he never got sick or very injured, even though a couple of times he came home limping and once had a small chunk taken out of his ear.

When we moved to this house, we kept him in for six weeks. I knew it would be hard, but somehow we got through it. I had a week off after that and started going out with him for longer and longer periods of time until he had enough of his scent in the yard to be able to find our yard if he wandered off. He still didn't really like being in the front yard because he was used to the old house being really far away from the street and any traffic. He quickly claimed the garage as his "get away from it all" territory. He comes in during really hot or cold weather, but not for more than 3 or 4 hours, then he wants back outside or in the garage. We have all been accepting of this arrangement, although Bones has never seemed as happy as he was in the woods around the old house.

Several months back, we realized we were hearing alot of cat fights and decided to make sure Bones was locked in before dark and not let out of the garage until full daylight. But one cat has been hanging around our garage door (we keep it cracked so Bones can go in and out, and also for ventilation), even during the day.

Three weeks ago, I noticed Bones eating less and less, and finally not at all. I had originally assumed he was just acclimating to the heat, but then I got worried. When I took him to the vet he had a fever of 105.3. The vet said that 105 was his cutoff point for testing for infectious diseases, only he didn't come out and say it like that. It took me the rest of the appointment to realize that something pretty bad was happening. We've always kept up with Bones's vaccinations since he's an inside/outside cat, but there are no vaccines (or cures) for FIT (Feline Infectious something or other), or Feline A.I.D.S.

He tested positive for Feline A.I.D.S. So then we agreed to sending the original blood test for detailed testing (which cost us an ungodly amount of money) that would tell us if he was just a carrier or if he had the full-blown virus. Either way, the vet encouraged us to make him stay inside or in the garage. Either way, he would be a threat to the other cats if they fought and blood was exchanged. As I said earlier in the post, none of our cats have ever had a serious fight with each other, but Bones has a tendency to get destructive when he's kept inside for too long. I kept thinking that at least he's nine years old now, and maybe he's mellowed and this won't make him too unhappy. I started cheating and letting him go out in the backyard while Gabriel and I had breakfast in the mornings, or just to hang out for 20 or 30 minutes at a time. I spent to week of waiting trying to accept that this happened and figuring out an arrangement that would make Bones happy somehow.

The vet called and told us that the test came back negative. As in he doesn't have Feline A.I.D.S., or anything. The first test was a false positive. Something about antibodies in his system, but now they're gone, or something like that. I don't really care as long as he's ok. And now I don't feel like we wasted that ungodly amount of money, because Bones is back outside part-time and we are all happier for it. I am keeping a closer eye on him, however, and trying to prevent him from wandering too far from the house so that we won't have to go through this again.

The really good thing to come out of this is that we're spending more time with Bones, who was easy to take for granted. He is our "welcome home" guy, because he pops out from under the garage door anytime we come home or someone comes to the house. Gabriel and I are continuing our bistro breakfasts because of Bones. He really is a sweet cat who loves to hang out with us outside since there are no other cats around vying for our attention. I'm so glad he's ok.

Oh, I almost forgot the reason for the title of this post. Bones has lots of nicknames. Bonesey, Mr. BonesJangles, and the one Jav and Sandra gave him because of his mane of hair, the Rock Star.