Smudge is thriving. He weighs about the same as the last time I reported, but his coat has lost a lot of the brown twinges we were seeing due to CRF. A note of advice to anyone who has a Black Cat. Because it is chemically impossible to affect a True Black in nature, the closer an animal, who is supposed to be black, can sustain that mirage the better the apparent health of that animal.
Smudge, during his worst episodes, was showing brown at the fringes of his coat. His health was such that he could no longer maintain the mirage of "True Black".
I am happy to say that for the last two weeks he has lost all sign of brown in his coat. But, I am sad to have to report this next update.
Grandma told me that Smudge has been waking her up in the middle of the night. He pulls the blankets from her face and places his paw on her cheek. I know that Grandma reads the blogs so she sees all the goofy things I write about myself, her daughter and the the cats. But I don't know if she ever read Smudge's Tail of Devoshun.
I do not know if she understands the significance of Smudge's paw on her cheek. She is not specific as to what paw it is but I know which one it is. When the world is quiet and still, Smudge has been softly pulling the covers back from Grandma's face, and he has been placing his right paw on her cheek.
Smudge is trying to tell her in his own way that he loves her. The way he used to tell me.
As soon as she told me what Smudge had done, I knew what he was trying to tell her. I took me 8 years to figure it out. I thought about telling her my thoughts on Smudge's Two Paws, but I know that she will figure it out for herself.
I am no longer Smudge's Purrson.
With that knowledge, I turn ownership of the House Panthers to Huggy Bear, Turtle, Grr, Midnight, Cocoa, Buzzerbee and Meep.