Poor Morty!

Last night, Morty was rolling around on his donut bed and I saw this pink patch on the inside of his foreleg. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that he had licked off his fur and the first layer of skin so badly that it was almost scabbing over. I freaked out and tried to figure out what was wrong. Is he developing OCD and going to lick himself bald with his need to be clean? Then I thought he could've developed feline hyperesthesia syndrome, where they groom to the point of mutilation. Apparently, symptoms include skin twitching, tail lashing, sudden bursts of activy, and darting around wildly. My cat does all those things!

When I got to work, I called the 5th Avenue Cat Clinic, but there were no appointments until Sunday. On my second try, I called Animal Kind Veterinary Hospital, where I got Morty an appointment for 4:30. So Josh did his fatherly duty and took Morty to the vet as soon as he got back from an exhausting day of teaching.

The vet says it isn't ringworm (I knew that) or fleas (where would he get those from??), and that Morty probably got a mosquito bite and the itchiness drove him bonkers. So now Morty's got to wear that elizabethan collar for 7-10 days and take some antibiotics.

Poor Morty has been slinking around the apartment pathetically all night. He keeps bumping into things and got stuck on the vacuum cleaner as well since he can't use his whiskers to support his peripheral vision.

I'll also have to take Morty and Eli back to NJ with me for Turkey Day instead of leaving them here for Amber to check on. I can't ask Amber to give my cat a pill and ointment every 12 hours! So it'll be really interesting. My mom's really excited to meet her grandkitties and has already purchased them a bed shaped like a couch. Hoo boy.