Couch 228--The Wellness Couch

She is only black and white and someone at the shelter referred to her as a tuxie so I'm not sure if that is what she is or not. I'll have to ask her vet when I take her in for her shots. Maybe some cat lovers on here will know if your cat can still be a tuxedo cat if they have front legs white but the rest of them is black except some white on the chest and face.

She’s a tuxedo if she’s bicolor/piebald black/white.

She’s a very adorable one too!

Thank you @@ I thought you might know. So it's settled, Helen is a tuxedo cat. I looked up the term and I thought she was but I wasn't sure. She is a cutie that's for sure. Thanks couchies for letting me fawn all over my new cat all over the couch! I'm suppressing the urge to call my Dad and check on the cat. But I might end up doing it anyhow. Like an anxious Mama!

It makes sense that you want to know whether Helen is OK, Kit. *hugs*

I'm sure my parents would call me if they thought something was wrong. I just feel better calling to check up on her. I did end up calling my Dad and he put my Mom on the phone and she talked about how she went in and tried to feed Helen but she didn't seem hungry. I don't know what her usual appetite is like so I don't know whether to be concerned that she hasn't eaten very much yet. I'll give it a day and then call the vet just to make sure everything is fine. She might still be having nausea from the surgery. I was reading about it online because both of my other cats came fixed. This whole recovery after spay surgery is new to me. I want to do the best by Helen that I can.

Absolutely, Kit. You seem to be an excellent pet parent, though.

Thanks, @LostOnTheTrail--that means a lot! Kit

The cat has had a stressful few days, is in a new and strange environment, and just needs time to heal and adjust. Take a breath and try not to be anxious around her.

Thanks stopdog. Good advice. I'll make sure to take some deep slow breaths before going into her room today when I get off of work. I don't want her to know that I'm anxious about her not eating much. I want her to feel as secure as possible even though I know it must be a whirlwind for her. Leaving the shelter, going to the animal hospital, coming home to a new home with new smells and sights and sounds. I'd be stressed too if I were Helen.

Senior cat and junior cat were both tuxedos. New cat is a tuxedo tabby (white and tabby markings). She has white paws, white chest, and a white belly with a little tabby cummerbund across the middle.

Apparently I’ve got a thing for cats in suits.

I am a tiger stripe cat afficianado sort myself. I grew up with a tuxedo -she was a good cat

Esther was Russian Blue and I really like the breed. She was a rescue and she had something else mixed in but the Russian Blue traits were prominent. Amelia is a Snowshoe mix and she definitely has some of the snowshoe traits. Helen is a Domestic Short Hair which I think means "mutt' in Cat speak.

Rascal (diabetic cat) is a flame point siamese, his brother Stormy is an american shorthair they are both almost 15, and Penny of course is a calico probably american shorthair too. I think she's 5 now, I have already forgotten. I need to look up when we got her...

Different kind of animal, but both my guinea pigs are American shorthairs. I think Lexie is technically a tortoiseshell because she has orange/tan and black markings (her face is kind of half and half). Amelia is all orange except for a tiny spot of white on top of her head.

Taking them to my parents' place at the beach tomorrow for a few days (H and D got down there a little bit ago), and I'm nervous because Lexie hid and wouldn't really eat for the first day the last time (guinea pigs pretty much have to eat all the time to stay alive). I'm trying a different transport container this time, so hoping they'll be less freaked out. Plus hopefully they'll remember the place. (I have no idea if they have long-term memory.)

My fluffbutt is a black smoke so he has grey fur with black tips so he looks all black. Also in the sun you can see faint brownish tabby markings on him.

Survived my writing group’s discussion of my poetry. They were useful.

And apparently I write “dark” stuff. Who knew?

Hugs, if wanted Lemoncake

Had similar issues with my pet rabbits when I was a child (traveling always seemed to make them nervous and as soon as they were nervous, they wouldn't eat). Slightly different animal, but I googled it and the same seems to be true for guinea pigs:

When my rabbits wouldn't eat, they most often would still accept wet cardboard. And they are allowed to eat that, same seems to be true for guinea pigs. So you might want to try that. We usually just took a few inches of not too thick cardboard (without ink on it of course), soaked it in water for a short time and offered it to them. Sometimes they would nibble on it and sometimes not, just offer it every 15 minutes or so, each time wetting it again before.

If they accept that, at least they have something in their digestive system, which is important so their intestines keep moving.

As for traveling with them, we never really figured out a perfect way to do that, it would always freak them out a bit. But important parts were covering the whole transport container so they wouldn't see outside (we always used a blanket), trying to keep the container as steady as possible while driving, and we'd always put on meditation music during the ride as well (which they seemed to like).

They did sort of remember the place where we usually brought them during longer vacation times. But not completely, it'd still freak them out a little bit, but much less than the first time.

Thanks, CNS! I'll keep the wet cardboard trick in mind. I had a rabbit as a kid, but we never traveled with him--now I'm trying to remember what we did with him when we went away--I guess we had someone come feed him?

Perhaps I'll try some meditation music and covering the carrier--I think I had figured they were more freaked out if they couldn't see, but maybe they'd rather not know!

Another thing that just came to mind is maybe take a few things that they have at home with you? Like a small house where they usually hide or something like that. We were told by the rabbit hotel place that they will feel a bit more at ease, since they know that hiding place and it smells like home. Might be worth a try.