The Lion Inside the Cat

Our cat Tuffy never lived up to her name. She is a scaredy cat who slinks away when Marty walks around and always runs away from any hierarchy confrontation from our other cats. Tuffy let me pet her, hold her sometimes, but was never open to cuddling with me.

She is a tiny girl, weighing just 6lbs. She is actually very sweet and thinks the low throated growl she makes is a good sound. She doesn't know cats use that sound to give a warning before they bite or scratch.

Tuffy has long thick fur and won't let me brush her. She had matted fur, so I took her to the clinic Wednesday as a "sedate to groom". While intubating Tuffy, the Technician noticed inflamed gums and a mouth ulcer, the beginning signs of stomatitis. She suggested I get some dental practice and clean Tuffy's teeth. While doing so, I found a cavity in one tooth, a pretty large cavity.

Tuffy's Vet. felt it best to extract the tooth since she was already under anesthesia for the grooming and to prevent further gum swelling and infection from the bad tooth.

Tuffy went in for grooming but ended up with a teeth cleaning, a tooth extraction, sutures in the mouth and an ear cleaning...and a very short haircut.

This is Tuffy's new hairdo. When she stands, she looks somewhat like a lion with the mane and tufts of hair on the tail and legs. She actually looks like a Sci-Fi creature, very cute.

The odd thing is that Tuffy is now very loving with me. She lets me hold her and snuggle, she comes when I call her name so she can have her face rubbed. But alas, she still creeps off when Marty moves around.