[Magdalen] chomp

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

Max, our oldest cat, is also quite remarkable.  He came to us with such
terrible teeth that we had to have several of his teeth removed.  There was
a very strong odor, probably from necrosis, when he got in our lap.  He
also would give us kisses, and then seemed to get carried away and would
give us bites.  His fangs were intact, and he sometimes drew blood.  We
both knew that he didn't mean any harm. For one thing, if he actually
wanted to, he could easily rip a chunk of flesh out, and his bites were
generally "pulled punches".  He would go after my beard and would give it a
good munching and sometimes would pull some hair out. I would let him know
if he was hurting me, and he was sensitive enough to stop, but it seems so
instinctive that he cannot unlearn this behavior.  We do not want to swat
him, and the feeling is it would just upset him and he still would not
stop, so we just try to fuss over him whenever he's doing appropriate stuff.
Then he lost some of his fangs, and his bite seems a lot less severe, and
he seems to do it a lot less.

Still, I wonder if I could do something to improve his quality of life in
some way.  He often seems to cry as if he were hungry, but his food and
water are intact, and he isn't interested in playing.

How these little fellows work their ways into our hearts.

Today I put food out for him (regular feeding time) and he looked at it,
but in a few moments he was in my lap, butting my head with his, touching
his paw to my face. Then, chomp. Then he seemed to pull back, a la "oops,
not supposed to do that, eh, Dad?"  I took down the pull toy, which
sometimes interests him, but he paid no attention.

He seemed to want something, but I don't know what it might be. That I
can't understand what he needs upsets me greatly.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better
for people coming behind you, and you don’t do it, you're wasting your time
on this Earth.”  -- *Roberto Clemente