I'm Sorry, Old Boy

Mrguy and I have been joking for a while that our oldest boy is "post grooming". At *almost* 21 years old he spends a lot of his time in his heated cat bed, and he doesn't wash a lot. 

 
He has arthritis, and needs motivation to go most places. He's mostly deaf and calls to us when he can see us from his heated cat bed. On occasion, he'll wander out to the kitchen, get halfway to where we're sitting in the kitchen den, meow at us once, loudly, turn around and go back to the cat bed, which is in the bedroom. Actually there are four cat beds in the bedroom, and he moves to a new one every few hours during the afternoon, always in a clockwise manner.

This morning he actually joined us in the living room, which requires him to come downstairs (with great effort). But it was sunny by the window and he wanted to bask in the sun. Then he started grooming! Old habits die hard, I guess. He even got around to his posterior, which probably hadn't been visited in quite a while. He kinda got stuck there with his leg in the air, but managed to get his back leg under control again eventually. It seemed a shame to do what I was going to do, but I'd already told him that he had delights in store later today.

By which I meant I was going to put him in the sink and wash him. Poor boy. So undeserving, but his feet were really filthy and his tummy fur was matted, and after a while it probably isn't very comfortable to be unwashed, even if you're a cat. 

So I did this:

An amazing amount of fur was caught by the little sieve I put in the drain. Thank you Daiso for that clever little item!
 
And then I fed the old boy some Mon Petit Crispy Kiss which is an imported delight from Japan that the cats are INSANE for. I think I bought it at the 1000 Yen store or Lawsons or something and brought it home for them in September. When I ran out in December I panicked, but a friend going home to Okinawa for Christmas hooked me up. Thank goodness for Mon Petit Crispy Kiss (which, of course, I had just bought for the name) and my friend.

After a bit more afternoon drama he calmed down, and now is pretty soft. Tummy fur still needs a trim, but in general things are ship-shape.