Rothko

So! This is my first post in my new blog. What better to write about than my adorable, mischievous, way too smart for his own good, annoying, crazy kitty Rothko. He also has no concept of meowing, and generally grunts in response to all inquiries, so his more often used name is Grunty. He responds to either. When he wants to.

Rothko is just about a year old now, we got him when he was 4 months old from the humane society of Pierce county. He'd been living around a Jack in the Box in Spanaway. I know this because we ran into the people who'd brought him in. The woman wouldn't stop hugging me because the shelter had said he was too unsociable and they'd have to put him down. Her husband was crying, and he was a seven foot tall Viking.

They ran his bloodwork and they found he had Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV), which is an autoimmune disease that usually shortens a cat's lifespan to a couple of years, depending on how their bodies combat it. A lot of times they end up getting lymphoma or leukemia and tend to get sick a lot more often than other cats. Also it's rather contagious, so it means no contact with other cats and no buddies at home. I had to sign a ton of papers, but we decided to bring him home with us no matter what.

About a week and a half after we brought Rothko home he suddenly got very ill and we had a late night rush to the emergency vet. He had a respiratory infection and was very underweight and hadn't been eating or drinking. The vet said this was rather common for shelter animals, and we hospitalized him (and he had to be in quarantine, with the FeLV) for a couple of days.

When we did bring him home, he was so happy to be there he followed at our heels and has been generally underfoot ever since. At his two week checkup after his hospitalization, he had doubled in weight, and he's been gaining weight ever since. We take bets now on how much he'll weigh each time we go to the vet (recommended every 6 months instead of every year, because of the FeLV).

And look at him now! Just ignore the unfolded laundry in the background. I know it's just three pictures, but I'm new to this! And my internet is so slow tonight it's driving me batty.