Lotus Blossom (called Blossom for short) is a very pretty dark tortoiseshell and Birman cross with bright blue eyes. . Lotus Blossom might seem like a pretty elaborate name, but Birmans are the holy temple cats from Thailand and I felt she needed an oriental name. It had to be a Chinese one, anglicised, because I know no Thai names.
She came from a stable yard so she was very smelly and rather ill on her arrival. She was very lethargic and had little appetite. Her eyes didn't appear to have completely opened and will probably always be a little small. I took her to the vet and after a single dose of antibiotics she's a truly changed kitten. A week later she is almost completely recovered with various medications which she hates. We've even solved the little matter of the litter tray - she was keen to use it, but couldn't always quite find it. Often she got quite close, but no cigar.
George, of course, said uncharitable things to her when she arrived, so to a lesser degree did Archie. I fact on her first evening I just dumped her down in the middle of the two boys while they were milling around for dinner. George appeared not to believe his eyes and then jumped about a foot backwards. Now she and Archie are firm playmates and despite being four weeks younger than him she has Archie's measure. I think life in her litter must have been very rough and tumble, because she holds her own against Archie and even bests him, even if she has to resort to screams and tantrums. George still can't really stand the sight of her, but I'm confident that within a month I'll find them all sleeping together in a fairly large pile. I'm not sure what she had done to them the other night when George and Archie both came galloping into the living room in search of their funk holes. She sauntered into the room a few seconds later looking quite serene.
Her eyes have opened much more and are a stunning green colour when you can see the iris. Normally they're slightly closed and as they're rather closely set, so she has a rather appealing button-eyed appearance. Early mornings just after their breakfast is their noisiest time - heavy footfalls on the stairs, screams from under my bed, crashes from the bathroom and muffled thumps from anywhere - I'm surprised they're not black and blue. But then, they're cats, so who knows - I find them all quite impenetrable.
Tuesday 25th November. Lotus Blossom has been with us for just over a week now and has just finished her antibiotics. This has transformed her beyond all recognition. She's now a confident kitten who marches across the middle of a room, rather than hugging the walls. She's eating the most enormous amount and is taking on the form of an animated powder puff.
28th November
I took Lotus Blossom for her first inoculations yesterday. She travelled wrapped up in a spare jacket of mine since the only carrier I have is enormous enough to accommodate George. We had to go to the bank on the way, where she was a great hit with both the queuing customers and the staff. Her ear mites are still a problem and her ears were very dirty indeed. I'm now out of favour with her because I keep putting stuff in her ears. She might have transmitted them to Archie, too, during their wrestling matches so they both had an application of Stronghold which works on them. Her various infections have cleared up and she's eating an enormous amount - they're averaging ten sachets of Whiskas a day between them. She's also got a few days' treatment left with Vermicel (which stimulates her immune response) so that she doesn't pick up Archie's persistent sneeze. She's very well on the mend and will probably not need any more medication after the end of next week.
One thing that will remain with her for the rest of her life, though, is that she has a congenital abnormality to both eyes. Her eyeballs are different sizes, set very close together and smaller than normal. Moreover, her irises do not contract to the normal vertical slit, but to a diamond shape in very bright light. This probably means that she's very long sighted indeed and sees nothing clearly. This could account for her relative timidity. We'll have to monitor this closely to ensure that as she grows she doesn't get further problems with different parts of eye growing at different speeds. This could lead to a condition similar to glaucoma and she may possibly go blind. I've met bind cats before who manage very well indeed.
15th December
Lost in her dreams amongst the cushions.
Blossom in the flowers
