This is Part Three of my story, "My Cat With Three Names."
Part One can be found here: https://steemit.com/story/@whatisnew/my-cat-with-three-names
Six months later, winter arrived. Poor Pachino. This was an extra long winter for him. He never had much time to be alone because Ollie was his shadow. He followed Pachino everywhere, and Ollie even learned some of Pachino's tricks to get what he wants. My favorite one is when Pachino knocks on the door when he has been outside and wants to come back in. Yes, it is an actual knock; with one paw. Pachino knocks three times on the storm door and it sounds like a human knocking on my door. Three times only; no more and no less. And Ollie does the exact same thing now. I never know who is knocking on my door any more.
THIS IS PACHINO.
Ollie is such a lovable cat, but it was difficult for me to get close to him in a physical way because his breath was enough to knock you over. It was actually beginning to make me sick to my stomach. Suzi came over to visit Ollie daily during his first winter here because he didn't go outside much. She couldn't take his breath either. "It must be his bad teeth that the vet told us about during Ollie's first visit. Time to call the vet," I told Suzi. I made the appointment to have teeth extracted. The vet told us that she didn't know exactly how many teeth would need to be pulled until she was able to get a good look at them. Definitely three; maybe more. She asked Suzi and me for permission to extract others if needed.
After nervously waiting all day, we finally received the call from the vet. Surgery went well and Ollie was now minus nine teeth! Poor thing! Can you imagine what Ollie must have been thinking? We changed his name three times. We took him to the scary vet once already, who gave him painful shots. He wasn't allowed to sit on my lap. I had to put him on a diet which he hated; and now he was back at the vet, in pain and missing nine of his teeth! Oh, my goodness. "If he doesn't hate us now after all of this, he never will," I told Suzi.
LOOK! I ONLY HAVE FIVE TEETH LEFT!
Two days after Ollie's dental surgery, he was allowed to come back home; just not my home. The vet put Ollie on pain medication and told us that he needed rest for two weeks. She also told us to separate him from my cat Pachino, during this time. Poor Sassy, (Suzi's 13 year old cat) had passed away a couple of months prior to this. Since there were no other cats living in Suzi's house, I told her that she needed to take Ollie into her home now, for him to recuperate. This was the easiest solution for everyone involved.
Before Ollie's dental surgery, his tongue would hang out constantly. And boy, could he snore. Now his tongue is back in his mouth where it belongs, and he did stop snoring. However; with all of the weight he has gained, Ollie is back to snoring. He sounds like a freight train passing through. Sometimes I have to wake him up just so I can get some sleep.
I would visit Ollie daily and nightly at Suzi's house. Ollie looked like he was in pain for the first three days and could care less about the world around him, but he did seem content because he now had two laps to lie on during my visits. And Ollie's breath didn't stink any longer, so we could love him even more. One day after my visit with Ollie when he was feeling better, he followed me to the door and gave me a look as if to say, "Why can't I go back home with you?" It broke my heart to leave him, but I knew he was in good hands with Suzi.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Image Source: 100% own work.