Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Kitten Cam


It is grainy, it is slow, and it is out of focus, but I find myself fascinated with it. Even though I can't tell the difference between Buff and Oz, it is fun to see what they are doing when I'm not there.

This morning Zander wanted to keep playing past their normal nap time.  Buff/Oz is sleeping.  But Z kept walking over and trying to entice in play..
 Then he gave up
Then this afternoon they were back in the cage.. I just LOVE that belly shot..
yea yea yea.. hard to tell.  too much going on.. Does this help?

Probably more visible to me because of the context of watching the kitten roll around.

Monday, June 28, 2010

The crew


Jack and Ollie having a meeting.. should I be worried?
I often refer to this as "dead kitty syndrome" when all of my cats lay around looking like an explosion of kitties just occurred.  I'm sure all kitties do this, but when you have three or more doing it in one room at one time, it is a little disconcerting.  The hotter it gets, the higher the incidence of DKS and the less likely they are to come out of it when I walk through the room.  I know it sounds morbid, but I figure if a dog can play dead, then I can joke about this..

I'm not sure why my cats play DK, as they have access to the basement which is always MUCH cooler then the rest of the house..

Ollie is still doing ok.  His weight is holding steady, but I think one of the lumps is getting bigger.  He's also starting to tell me that the two hours we do his treatment each morning is a little too long for him.  He will willingly show up for the first hour of his treatment, but after that he walks down slower and slower, if at all.  Sometimes DH will carry him down for me if he is home.  Today he disappeared and I have always said this is about his *quality* of life.  I am not going to force this on him - because he will be miserable and grumpy and that is no way for him to end his life, nor is it any way for the other cats to live with him. He's started getting grumpy again in the AM - smacking the other cats for getting in his way or breathing the wrong way (or what ever other "rule" they have broken anywhere near him).  But this weekend I did get a nice sweet surprise.  He climbed into the bed and gave my cheek a little lick.  I can't remember the last time he licked me out of love... heck I can't remember the last time he licked me.

I guess they like the cage


I let the kittens out full time this weekend. They've done very well, although Zander does have some issues with very loose stools (and had it all over himself and then wanted to come cuddle with me - leading to another bath for him!) But when I checked on them this afternoon, this is what I saw.
 Door open, but all three are in the cage.. Silly kittens.

Zander is an absolute love bug.  Loves being patted, and cooed upon.  Buffy is the moderate love bug.  She likes a good pat, but she's still unsure of totally giving into the pleasure of a good belly rub.  Oz is the most stand-offish.  I was laying on the couch with B and Z, and he was on the floor taking a nap.  He will seek out attention, but he's not a slave to it.

As I said, Z got another bath.  It was quite humorous in the way it transpired.  He had his "accident" then came out of the litter box and jumped up on the couch, and laid down belly up on my legs.  Almost as if he knew he was stinky.  I got one whiff, and then one look, and knew there was no leaving him like that.  His bib and face were already covered with food - which I was hoping someone would clean up for him.  I grabbed him belly up and a towel and face cloth and headed upstairs.  He was fine traveling like that until we hit the bathroom at which point he wanted down.  I plopped him in the dry sink while I moved a few things on the side of the sink.  He had fun figuring out what the sink was all about.  I used the face cloth to clean his bib and face.  I then lifted him out of the sink and filled it.  I put him in it, and the debris on his legs seemed to just fall off, so I swished him around a little, then drained the sink and then put him under the running water.  He wasn't all that sure about it, but he trusted me, and just let me do it.

He really did like being bundled up in the towel and being carried back down into the basement.  He hung out with me bundled for a while, purring.  Finally he got up and walked a few steps and attempted to dry himself off.  He seemed perturbed for a while, but then forgave me and came back for more cuddled.

After our nap, I locked them up while I cleaned the floor.  There had been other litter box accidents, resulting in a few stains on the floor.  The floor in the litter box box was a mess too.  Thank goodness for Swiffers.  Made quick work of the mess.  The kittens were quite fascinated by the fact that I moved things around and that it smelled a little different and had a fun time re-discovering the room.

lolCats


funny pictures of cats with captions
see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Crazy wildlife


So I've mentioned the rebel chipmunks that play dare on the back deck.  And the misguided chipmunk living under the front deck, but now I've got birds trying to get into the house!!

This weekend I was taking care of the fosters when my husband calls down to tell me we have a problem.  He's not freaked, just concerned. I considered ignoring it since he wasn't very forth coming with details, but I figured I'd go check it out, thinking that one of the younger cats got into something they shouldn't have and has made a mess.

Turned out a small black bird had flown into the garage and was perched on the bike we have hung up on the wall.  It couldn't figure out how to fly down under the garage door to get out.  It kept trying to fly up, but kept hitting the ceiling.

You could tell the poor thing was freaked, which is why I didn't stop to get a camera, but immediately went to the broom to try to herd it out.  I kept telling it to fly down, and pictured it flying out the door, but it just couldn't seem to accept that down was it's salvation.

It was banging it's head on the ceiling so hard that it was embedding it's feathers there, and several floated down on top of the cars.  At one point it perched on top of the garage door, so I hoped that if we quietly released the door and manually shut it that it would force the bird out, but the second we touched the latch it flew back up to the bike.

I finally got in the way of it getting back on the bicycle and it perched on top of the door to the house.  Still up too high.  I got between the bike and the door and got it to fly again.  It landed on a two foot table, and seemed quite exhausted.  I thought I might be able to put a box over it and rig some way to get the bird in the box out the door, but as I came at it with the box it flew away from me - which was towards the garage door.  Fortunately it started out low enough, so that by the time it reached any sort of height it was under the garage door and was able to make it out.

My husband stood outside watching me trying to herd the bird out the door, laughing at me for trying to explain how to get out.. but hey, at least I got it out in under five minutes.. Would imagine that if left to it's own devices the bird might have taken a very long time to figure it out (possibly after dark?) and he probably would have just freaked the bird out to no end if he had tried (which he fully admits)

the cats made no notion they had any idea how close they came to a bird..

Monday, June 21, 2010

Zander learned to growl


this morning Zander freaked DH out. We were sitting in the media area of the basement, and he heard a whining growl. He went to investigate, and while nothing was wrong, Zander was most definitely upset. I got up and checked on him. Both he and Buffy were puffed up with the "broken tail" stance that kittens take on when they are trying to be bigger. They love dancing around at each other like that. They didn't seem overly upset at one another though when I intervened.

I think he just learned he could make that noise and was very content to make it.

Zander

Buffy.  For size comparison - you can see the Wii remote in the background.
 Oz - and here are a few from last Friday.  I brought them to work.  Oz had a lot of fun attacking the flowers.

GFS



You knew it was coming, didn't you?

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

I know it is wrong


to sit at work and watch fuzzy video of the kittens playing, but I can't help it. I just like seeing them so active.

and front yesterday

Gratuitous cat shots


Ollie
Skippy
Kit
Skippy - doesn't he look so comfy!!
Twee

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Wild and Crazy Chipmunks



I've posted before about the daredevil chipmunks that live around our house.  They delight in sitting outside of windows that my cats can not get through.   We had a pair of them playing dare last year on the back porch.  Well apparently this year we have one camped out on the front porch.  A closer examination revealed that the chippy has made his (her?) home under our porch.  I'm sure I shouldn't be thrilled with this, but I think it is adorable.  He sits on the porch, and Fleurp sits in the window staring out at him - as if two star crossed lovers.  I tried to get a good photo of it, but in doing so I attracted the attention of a couple of other cats..

Arts and Crafts


Now I've said this before, my cats are talented.  But, I can hear you know, I'm sure you think I'm a little bias on the subject..

Well how do you explain this??
I found it in the stairwell the other day.  Took me a lot longer to figure out what it was then I'm sure you can do with the good lighting of the photo.  I can't help but wonder WHY my cats found the need to shove a mouse in a cap, but then I got to thinking it must have made a really cool noise when tossed down the stairs.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Sunday Scare


So the kittens have been home since Thursday. There has been some watery diarrhea so I went to the shelter and got some Albon on Saturday. Other then that they were doing pretty well. I named the long haired kitten Zander as it just popped into my head when looking at him, and that meant the girl was to be Buffy and the short haired boy became Oz. There is only minute differences in the look of the boy and girl. Oz is a little bit bigger, and darker. Buffy has some ticking on the end of her fur. So I can tell them apart, but it takes me a minute.

So Sunday I went down to give them breakfast, and all three were huddled in the corner. Buffy and Oz are much more outgoing and have been since day one. Zander has been more reserved and unsure of things, and does not like to be held at all. When I sat down in front of the cage, Buffy and Oz walked slowly towards me, waiting for breakfast and attention. Zander sat in the back of the cage as was his normal routine.

I tried to spur him forward, but he wasn't moving, so finally I went in and picked him up. I noticed immediately that his chin was all wet. I had washed his chin and foot yesterday night, but it seemed very unlikely that he would still be wet from that, so I looked him over. His cheeks showed he was drooling. Not a good sign, because kittens are prone to Calcivirus, which causes blisters in their mouths. I pried open his mouth and took a look and saw nothing but a healthy all be it very wet mouth. I gave him his dose of albon and put him back in the cage. He sat there, head down purring - which scared me immediately. I knew he wasn't purring because he was happy - not after being 'manhandled' and medicated. He had to be absolutely miserable so I ran and got dressed and rushed him off to the shelter.

Once there, he balked pretty strongly at being held. The tech wasn't sure what to do for him since he was so active. I asked that they take his temperature and the thermometer wasn't working so we didn't get an accurate reading on that. I wondered if maybe his temp was that low, and the tech didn't think he would be struggling so hard if it was. I asked that he get fluids, but he balked at that too, so he didn't get much. It was suggested I just take him home and watch him, but when I put him back in the carrier he did his head down purr thing that scared me, and it scared them and they suggested I leave him there to be watched. The reasoning that won me over was if he crashed they could get him to a vet faster.

Well after a couple of hours, they called me and said he was feeling much better and could go home. It was suggested I isolate him for a while and watch him but I had no where to put him immediately so I put him in with his siblings, and he immediately pounced on them and started wrestling.

We ate dinner, then proceeded to let them run around for a couple of hours while we watched a movie in the kitten room. Zander showed no signs that he was so sick earlier and they all enjoyed their free time. They are locked up when we aren't watching them because a) they are too small to not need litter boxes all over the room if they were free b) because they have liquid diarrhea and I don't want that all over the room and c) I didn't want to overwhelm them with the whole room right away. If they didn't have diarrhea at this point, I might consider letting them out. Maybe next week.



Thursday, June 10, 2010

*hangs head*


I hate it when I have fosters who don't adjust well to change.  When I brought the crew back to the shelter they were totally freaked out. 

I originally brought them in to work, Shakira once again went into her "you can't see me" mode.  Rue did really well, came right out of his shell and was playing with my boss.  Marty just couldn't contain himself.  He started out on my boss' desk, but kept falling off (apparently not by choice) and would run around and would come visit me.  He eventually fell asleep on my lap - which of course made me feel even more guilty.

When it was time to go, I swear they gave me the puppy dog guilt eyes.. to which my response is if I didn't bring you back I wouldn't have been able to take you in in the first place.

So I packed them up and brought them to the shelter.  I put the kits in one of my own carriers because Lillie was still protecting herself from them.  The manager put them in a new carrier so I could take mine home, and when I went to say good bye to them they hissed at me.  They were so freaked out.  :(

I ended up taking three new ones.  Two boys and a girl (this is sounding so familiar) and two short haired tigers and one long haired (no seriously, I didn't take them back home). 

They are about four to five weeks, kittens of a feral mom who was completely unhandlable.  They are a little freaked out, but were exploring at the office (I brought them in for a bit before bringing them home)  All three are tigers.  The long haired one is a boy, and reminds me a bit of Kodi.  I promised him I wouldn't name him Kodi unless he turned into a complete belly slut - at which point I just might be in some serious trouble.  The short haired tigers are one of each and the girl is slightly lighter then the boy.

They are not amused to be here.  I put them in the cage so they are limited in access until they relax a little (I don't want to have to drag them out from under the couch to check on them - and at this stage they need to be a lot closer to a litter box then just in the same room)  I put some canned food, and fluff boy ate.  Short boy used the litter box and had very watery diarrhea so I got out some benebac.  I hope to goodness that is the issue and I don't have to medicate them - but I will be keeping a close eye on that.  Because they are so small and I can feel their bones, I brought home some milk replacer and gave them all about 8-9 ccs of it.  They were all mightily impressed by it, but I thought they would have eaten more.  Will do it again in the AM.  It will not only get calories into their little bodies, but will give me an edge up on the trust factor.  Kinda hard to not trust someone who feeds you yummy foods :)

I took photos, but they are stuck in the camera.  Tomorrow I'll post them

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

More Kitty Oddities


You know, in the past I've said things about my cats, and low and behold they either prove me right, or wrong, in most spectacular fashion (ok when I type it like that it doesn't sound so impressive, but I hope you know what I mean)

I've been worried about Ollie.  He's been demanding lately.. walking up to me and meowing at me for something but I have absolutely no idea what.  When I wrote to his vet about his progress, I mentioned this, and the fact that he hasn't come into the sauna with me in quite some time.

What does he do the next time I sauna?  20 whole minutes.

Even got Fleurp to join me as well (apparently she likes to sauna with DH)

Still don't know why he's having words at me though.. Hopefully I can be half as smart figuring out what he'd like as he was at figuring out I wanted him to come back and sauna with me.

As for Ollie's growth... the lumps feel unchanged, but an area around it flat and slightly smaller then my palm has thickened and feels like a disk with lumps in the middle.  He is showing NO signs of fighting cancer.  He's active, still completely in charge of the rest of the cats, and looks great.  One day at a time right?

Oddly enough...


Rue did the best with being neutered.  That night he was pretty much his old new self, playing and interested in things - all be it a bit more sedate then what he's been doing lately.  He purred very loudly for me, and ate well.  This morning you wouldn't have known what he went through the day before.

Marty was not well last night at all.  He kept crawling up into my lap and sitting uncomfortably.  I tried comforting him but each time I did he would run away until it dawned on me that when I went to pick him up he cried out, so I could only assume he was in some sort of pain around his chest area.  I can't figure that one out - as all the important stuff either happens around his nose or his scrotum.  *shrug*  He ate, so I tried hard (ha ha ha) not to worry to much and let him be.  This morning he seemed fine.  He had forgiven me, and let me snuggle him a bit before running off to play.

Shakira was her leary self.  She let me hold her for a few minutes and pat her, but then she walked off all huffy as is her normal way.  This morning she hung out in the bed they have claimed (it is a blanket in a box but they like it) she let me look at her tummy and nibbled on my fingers - so typical her.

Lillie seemed OK yesterday.  She sat on the dresser for most of the day, and that night was down and interacting with the kitlets, but in the AM she was shoved into the smallest corner of the room looking mighty miserable.  I assumed she picked that corner as it was easiest to fend off the unwanted attention of the kittens.  It had a few boxes and cans on the floor, so it couldn't have been comfortable even if she wasn't miserable, so I did what I could to help her out.  She came out to investigate what I put down for food, and when she did I pulled everything out and put down a soft blanket.  Well she decided she was going to sit in the carrier.  The kittens thought they could check her out in there, so I put the door back on but not latched (I had taken it off when I got them home so they could come out at their own pace and not worry about the door) so she could stay in and the kittens would be unable to get to her. I was able to get a look at her belly, and nothing seemed amiss.  No swelling, no redness. She didn't feel very hot - not that I wanted to bother her to take her temperature but I will tonight if she's still off.

Unfortunately I can't tell for sure if she is still in there or not all these hours later.  It looks like she might be, but it might just be a trick of the light.
there is just a plain white towel in there.. so it is possible.  Not quite sure I want it to be her though, which means she hasn't gotten up an eaten (no one at the canned food I put down this morning, but since it wasn't the chunky food they had been eating for the past couple of weeks, I wasn't completely surprised) or used the litter box.  They are supposed to go to the shelter tomorrow.. don't know if I can do that if she is this miserable..

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

and surgery is over


I don't know why I was so reluctant to post that the kittens were at the vet for surgery, but I was avoiding it.  I think I feared for Rupert.

But, they went, they did exceedingly well, and they are home - oh so glad to be back in familiar territory.  These are not a group of wanderlust kittens that is for certain.  They are quite reserved when they are here visiting work and catching Shakira when she saw the carrier come out was quite intereting.

I have them until Thursday.  I'll bring them in for a quick visit at work, then at lunch time or so I'll bring them to the shelter and pick up the new set waiting for me.  The shelter has some too young to test kittens from a feral mother.  It takes a special home to take kittens with such an unknown status.  Most foster homes aren't willing to invest the emotional commitment - and I understand that.  I also accept that with out homes that are willing to step up, these kittens wouldn't even have a chance.  So if they are positive, then they will have known love, a warm place to sleep, and a full belly before they go.

wow, that got sad fast.. back to the vet trip.

I asked that they take a special look at Rue, since he spent so much of his life being quiet and reserved.  Since he has the kinked tail, I feared something additional might be going on inside him, but they said they didn't find anything, and he came through the surgery just fine, so if there is anything, it is not severe enough to present itself.  I'll probably make note on his adoption brochure (that I make up for all the kittens) just in case. 

The vet said that Lillie was in "raging heat" which I couldn't help but laugh about.  She was presenting herself to pretty much anything that moved.  He said she could relax now - which I can only imagine how uncomfortable that ever present need to mate is.  If you have never seen a cat in heat, it is very uncomfortable to watch.  They are constantly on the move, rolling around, rubbing on things, trying to walk around while presenting the business end of being in heat.   I would imagine it is similar to getting yourself all hot and bothered and then trying to go about your day while constantly in that state of being.

Since I'm at work, I was only able to run to pick them up and drop them off.  I took a peek at the girl's incisions so I know what they look like now (and can monitor for changes) Boys are much easier, and so I didn't bother them.  But the spay incisions are always different looking depending on how they are sewn and glued back up.  I put down half a meal for them to nosh on.  Sedation can leave a kitty nauseous nauseous.  nauseous  nauseous.. ugh.. I'm never going to learn that word.. anesthesia and nauseous are two words that spell check are always going to catch for me.  that and emergency - since I always want to put an A in it. 

so now in the hour since they have been feed, it looks like they might have eaten half of the can.. they usually polish off two cans right quick, so they are obviously not totally recovered.  I am having a hard time telling if they are in a sedated playful mood or if they are just restless.  I can't see Rue in the room - the light is too bright to see on the window seat, but Marty and Shakira are wandering around the room.  First on the pet bed, then on the pillow.  Shakira tried out the box for a while.  Marty sniffed the ribbon toy (it's fleece).  They are just wandering around exploring.. which might be restlessness.. but they don't seem unsteady which is good.

Mom.. just too funny.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Mexican Jumping Kittens


This stage is so much fun to watch.  They aren't much into cuddling or lovin, but are into running, jumping, pouncing and wrestling.  They are so active and so full of themselves, what they can do, and what their new little bodies can do, that they don't seem to stop, and just randomly jump up in the air and land on ... well where ever they come down.  Sometimes it seems to have a purpose - to pounce on someone - sometimes not.  I so need to get a video of it all.

Rupert is definitely much more active now which is good.  Hopefully all of my concern was for naught.

six cat morning


last night was annoying interesting.  DH is dealing with a pretty aggressive cough (he went to Dr this morning) and has had little sleep over the past few days.  As a result, I haven't had much uninterrupted sleep.. I remember being either asleep and dreaming or in that twilight stage of being awake and being very content.  I felt very in touch with myself, with nature, with the world (I must have been asleep) and I remember thinking / saying how in sync I was and wondering how I was going to leave this state.

at which point someone jumped off the bed at a full run and tore down the hallway to parts of the house unknown.  My brain could only think of the rare (it's happened twice) time when a cat would get it's head caught in a plastic bag and they would run like they are being attacked.  I ripped myself out of that dream world to the real one to save my kitty.. (who? no idea.  No one would confess but I'm sure who ever it is got a nice pat on the back from the others as I had to give treats to count tails and make sure everyone was OK)

Ended up back in bed, and in and out of sleep until the Today show came on.  At which point Skippy had worked his way up to my chest.  I've been making it a point to pay attention to him when he shows up (treats given if there is anything yummy to eat and patting if he is with in reach) as I'm still not sure he feels 100% comfortable in the house.  I just get the impression he feels like he is going to have to go back to the shelter at some point seeing as I sent him back there three times, and his other home sent him there once.  I think we are making headway though.

Everyone else showed up for a little mommy time save Kit and Fleurp.  Kit isn't much into group displays of affection (group begging for food she's all over though) and I think Fleurp just bides her time waiting till the other kitties move away to make her move, because as soon as everyone else was gone, she came up for a little lovin of her own.

I know I've posted this type of occurrence in the past, and I'll do it again, cause I just love it when I'm surrounded by cats..

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Kitten picts


So yes, the webcam is a total time suck. Here is a short video of mom nursing. Yes, it is low quality, yes it is choppy, but you know your going to watch it :)


and here's a still of them













Then this morning Shakira and Rue were fighting for a comfortable spot on the scratching post



























Here are some shots from the other day.  Getting them to sit still for photos is not the easiest thing as you can see..   They are getting close to size, so they will be going next week to be neutered then up for adoption..








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