So, a cat shows up...

And you feel you have to say no to that cat because you really want to get your work done on the computer and you don't have it in you to cuddle and do your work, so he plasters himself to your side so you have to rest your arm on his head and feel like a heel..

and then your other cat comes and you say no, just no, and try to deter him away, and he is not deterred and proceeds anyway, and you say no, and he doesn't listen to you and parks himself on your belly because your computer is on your lap (and frankly he only sits on me like this when I have a computer on my lap, if you were to take it away he would totally leave) and then he licks your hands, driving you up the wall, and you want to send him away because a third and fourth cat are showing up, but you know he is fifteen and the days of his sitting on your lap and being obnoxious are almost over..

and then his magnetic key falls on top of your laptop and shuts it down. And your little ray of sunshine has decided to present you with every single toy she can find and must pronounce it very loudly..

#lifewithcats




Remember this from yesterday? I challenged you to guess what they are

These are the buds on my wisteria vine. I can't wait until they bloom, There is a ton of them!

Life with Cats

The "groundhog" might not think spring is coming anytime soon, but my cats totally disagree. The shedding is pretty spectacular. I spent Saturday combing the cats and trimming claws and cleaning ears and giving everyone a once over. Some make it easier than others.

After I had finished grooming everyone I noticed Fleurp was quite insistent that I give her a can of canned food in her 'special place' (I will supplement with her canned food when her spring anemia pops up) so I broke out the scale and weighed her and noticed that her weight had dropped a few ounces. I dug out the Furminator and was the horrible mean momma and did the first of several combings that I've started doing each spring.

This might be impressive to you, but let me put this in perspective..

The smaller one in front on the left is what I took off Jack and the one on the right is what I got off Muffin. I'll probably comb Fleurp again in a couple of days and then next weekend, and probably every weekend after that. If her weight doesn't come back up in the next couple of days or drops even lower I'll probably start her back on prendisolone.

Jack had a bit of a health issue a month or so ago. It started with some diarrhea and then some vomiting. I took him to the vet and there was nothing that popped up in the blood work and he didn't seem painful at all so we decided to watch and wait. The vet mentioned that it could be a side effect of too much thyroid meds (which he is on because when he had his I131 it killed off too much of his thyroid so now we have to supplement it) so I took him off his thyroid meds - partially so I didn't have to pill him when he was feeling miserable. He recovered pretty quickly but I didn't start his meds back up again and over the past few weeks he has slowly started putting weight on so I have started him back up on it. He is responding nicely and doesn't mind being pilled at all.

Muffin's leg is still wobbly. Regardless of what we try, I have a feeling it is just going to be what we have to deal with for the rest of her life. I'm saddened by this, but other than her not wanting to walk down the stairs it really doesn't impact her life... so I follow her lead and don't dwell on it.

Eli is doing well. He will occasionally run around the house like his tail is on fire and two or three times he howls the most pathetic howl that hurts to hear, but each time I check in with him he seems fine so I am learning to disregard it... it is not easy.

Twee is good. Her eyes are watery and I'm not happy about it. I took her to the vet and they were less watery that day and he said 'oh it's just watery eyes not much we can do about it', which didn't amuse me in the least.

Skippy is Skippy. He is nearly six years old and his teeth still look like those of a much younger kitty. The benefits of being on a raw food diet your entire life.

Just an aside.. don't try to make cat food the day before the "big game". The store we went to was out of wings, so the rest of the chicken was horribly picked over and not on sale. I'm guessing that tomorrow it will all be on sale..

****

I'd also like to take a moment and talk to you all about Rupert. Several people expressed dismay with me that I didn't follow-up with the shelter to see exactly what happened with Rupert. I am sorry you feel this way. On some level, I can understand your desire to know exactly what happened, but you have to realize that this is not a perfect world. In order to know exactly what happened to him, I would have to contact the shelter and ask. I know that many of you think this is an easy thing to do, but I said my goodbyes to him when I brought him back to the shelter and I said my final goodbyes to him when I found out that he had taken a turn for the worse. To ask and find out he was euthanized means I would have yet another set of goodbyes.. (even talking about this hurts and I'm in tears at my family's house while they are all jeering at the big game). I would also be interrupting the shelter staff from what they are doing and asking them a very emotional question and force them to face that again. I can't imagine this was any easier for any of them than it is for me. I know you all came to know him and love him through my blog and I have no doubt that the idea of his loss tugged at your heart... but if I were to find out by some miracle they were able to pull him through the chances of him really making it would be infinitesimal, and we would all be forced to live through this a third time.

Sometimes in rescue, you do not get the answers you want, and sometimes you don't get answers at all. I know full well he was cared for, loved and that they are / did make the best decisions for him. For me, that is enough. If that is not for you, I'm sorry, but I will not put all of us through this again.

Another week without kittens

I will admit I'm a little lost without kittens. I'm not quite sure what to do with myself. Kitten fever is also burning pretty hard.  The Crew can be annoyed with me for grabbing them and kissing them silly and taking their photos all the time. As you can see, they have been rallying around my husband.

I'm not the only one who is lost and confused..

Where am I supposed to bring my toy now?

Eli, Eli, Eli.. you are going to give me gray hair

Eli and Jack are the two cats at Casa de Gato known to have urinary issues. Eli, fortunately, has never blocked, but he was peeing inappropriately and by the time we figured out who it was the urine was bright red.

Funny story.. we were lamenting how we were going to figure out how to figure out who was having the problems with Eli walked up on the bed and peed right on my husband's side of the bed right below his pillows. I was so glad that I finally knew who was having a problem, DH? not so much..

Anyway.. Jack pees in the master bathroom under the palm tree - right over the heat register (which we very much need to get replaced thanks to this habit) and Eli's place is USUALLY the laundry room or the guest room. Someone pees on the electrical components under the TV in the media room but we have never figured out who. We have also had problems in the basement near the door to the litter boxes. If that door is ever shut we will have problems - despite the fact that they can walk around the staircase very easily and despite the fact that right next to the door is a cat sized hole in the wall where we were going to put a cat flap so we could keep the door shut.

Jack has been peeing lately because I had increased his thyroid meds back up to the original prescribed dose in an attempt to help him lose a little weight and feel better. I had an itch in the back of my brain (one of those not quite formed thoughts) that I should back it back down when the peeing started again, in his chosen spot of "MOMMA I DO NOT FEEL WELL" urination. I have not seen him pee there, but once I stopped his thyroid meds, it pretty quickly tapered off and stopped... (just for full disclosure, his favorite spot is right in front of where Muffin's 'I don't want to walk down the stairs to go pee' litterbox is.)

Well, while we were dealing with this someone peed in the media room, and someone peed in the basement. I chalked this up to Jack but just in case I checked everyone out, no one seems to be having any new out of the ordinary issues..

Then..

Eli walked into the laundry room.

Yes, my cat walked into a room and I had a panic attack.

He stood there and looked at me when I rounded the corner to see what he was going to do. He squeaked at me and continued to look at me and I continued to look at him at which point he became paranoid and left in a very quick exit stage right maneuver.

Oh great.. it was Eli peeing in the basement.. I just know it.. and now he's paranoid, I'll never get him, and when I do get him he will be all tense and I will have no idea if it is because he is in pain or because is just completely freaked out that I am going to do something to him..

Yes, these are thoughts running through my head.. because.. yes, fine...

I calm myself down and reminded myself that he just walked into a room. I waited for another 'sign'. Later that day he cried out for no apparent reason. The boy does not like to bring attention to himself, so when he does this I worry. I decide to start him on the urinary supplement I like and hope I'm being over reactive. Catching him to give it to him wasn't fun, and it took my husband and I way too long to do it. Later that night he came up on the bed and insisted on belly rubs. His belly felt fine.. not guarded, he didn't flinch, he wasn't tense..

The next night, last night, Eli uses the 'Muffin doesn't want to walk down the stairs to go pee' litterbox. I think nothing of this because a) I have no idea who is using it and b) everyone uses it (and yes, that annoys me). A few moments later he walks out of the bathroom, plops himself down on the floor at the edge of the bed and lets out a very mournful cry.

wait, what?

Okay, so he didn't do it when he was peeing.. so.. what the what??

Eli sees me try to figure out what is going and he takes off like someone lit his behind on fire.

My cats have NEVER done poop zoomies, where apparently a cat feels better after pooping so they run around the house.

I am working on steadying my "MYCATISABOUTTODIE!!" nerves, and he turns around and comes running back into the room just enough to see me. He does another long cry.. a plaintive squeak that lasts much longer than his "hi I'm here" squeak. So, I sit up. This prompts him to turn tail and RUN!!

um.. kay...

I lay back down. He turns around again, comes trouncing in the room, he tells me that Timmy has fallen down the well and I had better come RIGHT NOW!!!

um.. kay...

I get out of bed, he RUNS!! I get to the hall and Eli is standing in the hall looking back to see if I am following him.

Have I mentioned this is a very paranoid cat who hates it when I follow him?? Do you see the question marks going off over my head yet?

All of this noise and tromping and wailing has gotten my husband's attention who watched him do this. I attempted to walk up to Eli again, he takes off running. I am not chasing him... I vowed not to do that years ago for a very good reason.

I want to give him more urinary supplement but he is nowhere to be found. I give up and go back to bed.

This morning.. he uses the box again, he comes out into the room again. He cries again. Flip you buddy.. we corner him in the office, he is tense and panicked and paranoid. I give him the supplement which he takes just fine. I bring him to the bedroom and shut the door. He hides under the bed certain I am about to cut his legs off.

I bring a plate and a can of food into the room. Muffin is BESIDE herself that I am not giving the food to her. I put the plate down, I pop the top, out pops Eli. He might be afraid I'm going to cut off his legs, but for a can of food he is totally willing to risk it. He eats the whole can in three bites.

um.. kay..

I give him another can.. He eats most of that too.

He is currently locked away in the bedroom with Muffin's litterbox (she can walk down the stairs, she just doesn't want to because it is uncomfortable for her right now) and I am fairly certain I am over reacting.... but I will not go so far as to say I am paranoid about this because I don't think you can if you have good reasons to believe that things are wrong.

Eli is probably lounging on the bed thrilled that no one is bothering him and he's got a nice mid-afternoon snack.. and he's laughing at how he has snowed me

but if he screams at me one more time, he is so going to the vet.. and I am going to have a nice fun time explaining why he is there.. "Well, see, he was playing Timmy fell down the well... " Update: he spent the day in the bathroom, went to the litter box once, deposited a nice normal sized urine clump. I'm calling him good, and myself paranoid.. and I'm completely okay with that.

Thankful Thursday - All your remote are belong to me!

Nine times out of ten, if we can't find the remote we simply have to look under Jack. Same thing with cell phones or tablets. It is like the cats are drawn to them and HAVE to stand on them then sit on them.

The remote thing is fun and cute, as long as the remote is pointed away from the tv and he doesn't change the channels while settling down... which he does... a lot.

Update on Em

Yup.. kitty life is pretty boring. Yes, I still want a seventh, but no I don't think I'm going to do that to myself or to them.

The other night I was using a heated blanket to warm up to go to sleep. I left it on, and ended up with six cats pinning me to the bed. Guess they like the heat too.

Em woke me up coughing the other night. I haven't heard it since. I can only hope that it was because she had a piece of fur stuck in her throat.

She's losing weight again. I missed a dose of her thyroid medication shortly after upping the dose. The new dose seemed to be working, and I had gotten her up to 11lbs 12 oz.. but now she's back at 11 8. sigh. She's starving all the freakin time.. I was going to give it one more week, but I missed last nights dose as well, so I'm going to wait another week and see what happens. Hopefully, she'll get regulated again and we can deal.. if not I don't know what's next. I've also decreased her insulin. we aren't giving her as much dry food, so hopefully a lower dose will help with the always hungries.. *shrug* who knows.

Btw.. my aunt's cat will not be coming to stay with us. She found it a new home. they travel a lot, and she thought it would be best. :( Oh well. Kitten season will be around soon, and if I'm that needy for new kitties, I can always start fostering again. I suppose I really should talk to the shelter manager (one of the co-managers) about my experiences with the other co-manager, and why my heart just can't take being told no - you can't get treatment for kittens..

why I cant have more cats

Because three of my current cats loved me so much last night they almost killed me. (there might have been four involved)

I woke up in the middle of the night to Jack and Emmy on my chest, and Muffin trying to muscle in to get on top of me. that is almost 40lbs of cat.. I finally realized what was going on, and the fact that I was having a hard time breathing, so I got them off me, and went to the bathroom. When I got back to the bed, Ollie was right smack where my stomach/legs would have been. I think he was there before, making that 50 lbs of cat

I kinda like living.

Cross contamination

Great. I just start to get Teddy's eyes cleared up, and what do I find.. my own cats are getting sick. My husband just doesn't take hand washing seriously.. and will continue to wear clothes that have had kittens crawling all over them. I just got a good look at Eli's eye, and there seems to be a cloudy film on it. It is weird, though, like a piece of litter got in his eye and "melted" over it. I noticed it earlier and put a few drops of saline in his eye. I just checked it again with no change.

Eli is my tear duct blocked, paranoid because he spent the first six months of his life being medicated and getting his eyes treated.. He just started to trust me to pat him.. this is going to ruin all of that if I have to medicate him.

*sigh*

Jack vs the Bladder

So the other night I was half asleep trying to convince my bladder that it wasn't full, and I could go back to sleep and not get out of bed when along comes Jack.. He was in the "OH Mommy, I LOVE YOU" mode. rolling around, snuggling in, acting uber cute.. shoving his face up against mine, pushing into me, in other words, there was no way on earth I was going to get up, he was just TOO CUTE.. but of course my bladder had its own opinion on the matter.. Fortunately Jack gave up before my bladder did.. and I didn't have to throw him off.

But what is it with cats and full bladders anyway?? Em used to be the QUEEN of finding a full bladder with her tiny feet. I swear they know how uncomfortable you are and just want to see which is more important.. your comfort or theirs.

I also had a nice bonding moment with Bri (the rabbit). I have been feeling like a bad bunny mum since I couldn't find ANYTHING (besides food) that she liked. Well she's molting now.. and she HATES it when I try to help her, so I went in search of unused cat brushes, and found one she likes. She came hopping up to me tonight to be brushed :)

The rain is driving the cats nuts again. (wait.. how can I tell.. they are usually nuts!?!?) I have no idea why this is.. they don't go out.. so why on earth do they care?? ***20 minutes later*** it wasn't the rain.. it was the bag of treats I brought home.. they found it, and chewed it open. I just went into the kitchen to find four of them sitting in the chairs around the counter, and a fifth one up on the counter fighting his way into the bag..

Em is doing very well. She has NO idea how much stress she puts me through. She just goes about her day being her same ol self, vomiting when ever she pleases, peeing on the floor.. has no distress about it at all. Me on the other hand.. that is a completely different story. I think I'm stressing for the both of us. I need to relax. She gave me a nice surprise the other day.. she found her way up on to one of the cat trees. Yup.. I said UP.. first level only, and it was kinda sorta in line with the arm of the couch, but she's not done that before.. so she is expanding her horizons.. :)

I had an idea what to do with her "when the time comes" Before I worked at the vet clinic, I was fine with letting them deal with the bodies.. but now that I have a better idea of what goes on, I just couldn't stomach that. Which is silly.. since a private and a public cremation are exactly the same, just that one you get the ashes back. I know I have the option of burying her myself, but I don't see us living in this house forever (although my husband does) and would hate the idea of moving and leaving her here. I don't want her cremated and having the ashes in the house.. so I was kind of torn as to what to do. I came up with the idea of making a memorial stone with her ashes. Not an urn, or a decoration.. but a stone of some sort.. This way I can put that out by my favorite tree, and no one but me (and those close to me) will know what it is, and I won't be faced with all sorts of awkward questions. They do make cat shaped urns for just such a thing, but could you imagine.. I'd end up with a cat army out there after a while. Hopefully when the time comes I can find someone to help me, cause I just can't see me doing this myself.

Surprise

I went to the pet store to get some more food for Emmy, and I went over to see who they had in the satellite adoption cage, and surprise surprise, it was Myla!! :) They brought the little story I made for her too.. She's been there since Thursday. She's such a nice kitty, I'm surprised she hasn't been adopted (she almost was that Saturday, but the people who wanted her walked out)

Eli got to go on another jaunt today. Hubby went out the back door and didn't shut it tight. I was in the bedroom and looked out the window (good thing the shades were open) and noticed a black and white kitty in the yard. This was an odd thing since there are no kitties in the neighborhood. I called out to the hubby to come look, and the kitty's ears perked up. Sure enough. So DH went down and got him to come in. It was fun to watch him bound across the grass. I so wish the world was safe enough so they could go out and chase bugs and mice and leaves, but sadly, it is not... so they must be content to chase leaves and fur pompoms and each other in the house - oh yes, they are so deprived :D

Hug your Cat Day

I missed posting about Hug your Cat Day. It was the 19th.. But I'm sure I didn't do anyone a disservice did I? I mean you all hug your cats daily don't you?

I also wanted to post about Tweedle. She is becoming an exceptional kitty. Quite the artist that one. She works with materials that are laying around the house. This time, it was a milk bottle ring and some of the bunny's hay. She ate the former than the later, then hurled it all up so it looked EXACTLY like a slug. I freaked till I realized there was no way a slug could get in the house. Seriously, though, Twee gives pica a whole new twist. Apparently, she'll eat anything! I don't know why.

Em is ok. Her numbers are still all over the place. Not quite sure what to do. The timed feeder we bought is working out very nicely, though. However, my previous pandering to her has made her beg for food every time I look at her. It's getting frustrating to get her back on a schedule. She's holding steady at 12lbs 12 oz. I was hoping to get her back up to 14.. I'd even settle for 13.5 but it looks like I'm going to have to be content with just shy of 13.

be careful of what you say to kitties

So last night I had another parade of kitties tell me that I was sleeping too long. at 12:30 AM. Um.. hello.. I had only been 'gone' for like three to four hours.. So tonight I made a decree. I said to my kitties.. "Anyone, INCLUDING you Emmy, who wakes me up in the middle of the night is going to be thrown against the wall" Ok, so I would never really do that... well I did it once, when the bed was right up against the wall and muffin startled me... and didn't I feel HORRIBLE afterwards..

Anyway.. I tried to sound all mean and menacing... I think it worked because I was just awoken by some very strange noise. I can't figure out what it was. I thought maybe it was Emmy grinding her teeth (that is a HORRID noise that she makes apparently when she has nausea.) So I woke up to find out what was going on.

Big mistake.

I awake to find a ring of kitties around me. Em is right next to me, head near the pillows. Jack and Ollie are on the footboard, and muffin and tweedle are on the kitty stairs at the foot of the bed. We made stairs for Em when we bought the new bed so she could get up there. She can still make it on her own, but it is very difficult for her.

Its a good thing I'm not paranoid about my kitties, or I would wonder.

Eli was hovering by the door... ready to take my threat seriously maybe? He seemed very happy that I was up, but very concerned at the same time.

I could almost hear the kitties saying "Oh.. Your up. Well, that's good. we so missed you. (but we didn't do it, we are good kitties!!!)" Em couldn't stop licking me and being very happy I was awake.

Did I mention its 3am?

One of these days I am going to have to get and stay grumpy at these cats. I mean come on.. I have to get my sleep. Its just so hard when they are so happy to see you.

The kittens. They are getting a little more than a little obnoxious. Mipsy found my toes and can't stop biting them. I hate to wear shoes when I go in the kitten room as they are always under foot and I want warning if I am about to step on them. They also totally enjoy chewing on my fingers. At least they are good about that, but it still stings.

kitty conspiracy

Muffin: "Em.. Emmy.. Go lick Mommy's nose"
Em: "why"
Muffin: "Cause its time for her to get up now"
Em: "really?"
Muffin: "YES REALLY" - exasperated sigh
Em: "well if you are sure" - licks nose
Muffin: "Yes, I'm sure. Lick it again, and I'll step on her bladder.. that usually works"
Em: "ok" lick lick
Muffin: "JACK! Get in here.. Step on mommy and whine a little"
Jack: "ok" whine "Why am I doing this?"
Muffin: "cause its time for Mommy to get up now.. I mean come on.. its almost 5:00 AM!!"
Jack: whine
Muffin: step
Em: lick
Eli: squeak
Mommy: "Ok Ok.. geeze.. IM UP!"
Jack: whine
Muffin: step
Em: lick


Actually had to get help this morning getting them off me. It was obnoxious!

In other news, my kitties have been bad bad little kitties. They have been stealing toys from the kittens. Now if you were able to talk to them, I am certain they would tell you that the kittens are GIVING their toys away.. but I know better. Yesterday though I just about flipped out. I gave the kittens a toy on a string attached to a pole. I found the pole with about one inch of string left. I figured the kittens just chewed on it. But then I found the toy at the base of the basement stairs. no string anywhere. I'm sure it is IN one of my kitties. (arrrgggh!)

The kittens were utterly adorable this morning. They have been finding new and exciting places to sleep. Each morning it is a new spot. Today it was inside one of the drawers that I have to hold kitten supplies. I bought one of those plastic storage drawers.. it was open slightly, and they had crawled in.. it was so cute it almost hurt. :D

four more ounces to go and they'll be going back. Probably sometime next week.

I haven't really had time for this bunch.. so I'm thinking about taking a little time off. I say that from time to time, but I rarely do.

*tearing hair out*

Ok, so Ollie didn't have a BM in 24 hours, in fact it was closer to 48, and that was AFTER I force fed him (which was NOT pretty) I've been brushing his teeth daily with baking soda and peroxide (I keep waiting for him to vomit, but he doesn't) I think he knows it is helping and doesn't fight me - which is nice. I let him out of isolation after the BM, since it looked normal except the fact that it was orange due to the pumpkin I forced him. So he's out for a couple of hours when BOOM, the power goes out for 36 hours. Yes.. no power, no heat, no water, no internet access for 36 hours!! it was so frustrating. Especially since it was below freezing out side, and at the end the house was only 46 degrees. If it hadn't come on soon, I was considering evacuating the kids, but had no idea where I would bring them. Oh well.. doesn't matter at this point. I know that if worse comes to worse we'll just live in the car. Something we can do for a few days.. Not that I'd have to as I know I have friends I could "impose" on.

So, for a day and a half, the last thing I could really focus on was what was going on with the kids. I just wanted to make sure the had enough food on board to keep their temps up. When the power came back up, you can bet I turned them all up to 75!! :)

The freezer seemed okay, but the ice cream was melted. The fridge seemed ok too, but the whipped cream was solid (canned version) I tried testing Em's BG's this morning to see if the insulin was working. We only had a drop of 50 points in four hours. Not good, but then I remembered she was on junk food for the past few days, so that MIGHT have something to do with it. I'll keep testing her AM sugars, and will do a curve in a couple of days to make sure that she gets back on keel.

She's currently frustrating me too. She has been begging me all day for treats and food. I wouldn't due to the high BGs. So now I've feed her, I have to keep pointing out the food to her. One time she even left the food to nibble on a piece of debris on the floor! Grrr.. eat the good food you silly kitty.

I swear they know that raw is eventually coming, and they are just going to be annoying till it does. I don't believe I am going to find anyone to grind for me, so I have to get off my duff and order a grinder. Hubby agreed to grind for me. (cause frankly the whole thing just gives me the willies). I can buy ground meat on line, but the cost of shipping just doesn't make it worth it to me. That and one of the most popular meats at this place (and the name of the site says it all) is rabbit, and I just can't do that. To me that is akin to feeding ground cat to a dog. Yea yea yea.. the rabbits lead a good life up until, but I can't.

So I need to get Em's weight again.. need to get back on board with her sugars, need to make sure Ollie's teeth are okay, and I NEED to buy a grinder..

bad dreams

I had a bad dream last night, that involved two different co-workers from two different past jobs, a previous job of mine, and flaming debris falling from the sky right before a major down pour. It was more disturbing than frightening. I woke up, and there were a few kitties on the bed, then there were a few more. Usually I have several on the bed, scattered through out, some by the foot, some on the other side, Muffin on DH's pillow.. but this morning, they were all up at the head of the bed with me.

I'm sorry, you can't ever convince me that cats don't know what we are feeling. Sometimes they don't give a da**, but they know.

Okay Ollie, you have reason to be grumpy

I have been giving him "happy pills" that we got from a holistic vet, over the past couple of days due to his excessive grump, and today I realized that the small teeth right behind the canines are totally inflamed. Well yes, a sore mouth is reason to be grumpy (not that he really NEEDED a reason)

I do have to get the kids into the vet for vx and check ups, so I should get on the stick and make the appointment. Technically Jack and Twee don't need to go, but I'm considering bringing them in anyway. Jack has been showing signs of UTI again - so we put him on s/d as previously recommended - and Twee is just being herself, but she wheezes and sneezes and snores, so I wouldn't mind if he listened to her chest again... but do I REALLY want to bring all six cats in on one day?? Seriously, the answer to that is NO FREAKING WAY, but its cheaper on me - since I only get charged one office visit - and I like getting it all out of the way.

Ive been reading up on feline diabetes, raw diets, and now FIP again. My brain is absolutely fried. One website I went to implied that vaccines caused the FIP. I read it twice and realized they were saying basically that it lowered the immune system and allowed the FIP to take hold. I don't think I like either option. Yes, I'll admit, some vets are totally and utterly over vaccinating (the all mighty dollar is pretty powerful) but to say vaccinating your pet could cause FIP seems totally irresponsible in my mind. FIP is a mutation. An anomaly. And I KNOW way too many vets take the FIP route cause its easy. The only way to definitely find out if a cat has FIP is after it has succumbed to FIP. I know of a cat who had an underdeveloped brain. It was diagnosed as such - and was so cute as it stumbled while it walked , not sad and pathetic as you would think. the cat was put up for adoption as such (okay so it was a kitten) and the new owners took it to a different vet, who immediately said it was FIP and put it down. Well it wasn't. I also know of a vet who took one blood test for a cat that was showing very vague symptoms, and declared it FIP, and so the owner went back to the breeder to get another kitten. She brought that one in as well, and he put that one to sleep too. The cat looked and acted healthy. I could have hit him.. (but I worked for him at the time so I couldn't) He also believes FIP is contagious, which it is not. It only seems that way due to the genetic make up of catteries.

Old information on this subject is highly out dated. Most info on the web is more than five years old. its frustrating... and incredibly sad. But I'm ranting again.. so I'm going to toddle off to bed.

flash of light

The other day, the hubby and I were in the kitchen putting things away, when something shiny caught some light and made a flash on the wall. Em got SO excited. Flashes of lights have always been one of her favorite toys. So I dug out the laser we bought her, and it didn't work. She knew what it was and asked that it be turned on. So I opened up the battery compartment, and changed the order of the batteries, and it came on. Oh, she was thrilled. It is so funny to watch this log slam the floor with her paws going after flashes of light.

Em doesn't like to play with others, so when some of the other cats tried to get involved, she gave up. I ran them off on to the other side of the room (by flashing the light that way) and then walked Em over to the rug - cause watching her try to scramble on hardwood was hard to watch. We played a bit longer, but then she got tired. We used to play this game for hours. Even got her to play Jeanie in a bottle, but having her come up and rub the flashlight or laser three times to turn it back on. She's old, she's out of shape, but it was so nice to see her play.

She's also put some weight back on. - did I mention this? 13lbs 3 oz to 13/13. Very exciting. I need to do another curve on her. Neither one of us likes it, but she needs it.

I am contemplating another food change. I started feeding them all Felidae several years ago. Jack particularly loved it, and would chew through the bag to get to it. Recently they haven't been eating as well, and since Jack and Eli now need to be on special food, and Em needs to be on a low carb food, I'm actually considering going to a "raw" diet. Ground up chicken with supplements. I need to find someone who will grind it for me, cause I have a hard time touching raw meat, let along grinding bones. We have a couple of butchers in the area, I'm sure they would be glad to do it for me if I ask. Also going to feed Innova Evo for when doing the raw isn't convenient. I got a sample pack and gave them all some. They all liked it. Jack a little too much, cause he's not eating the other stuff now.

The advantage of multiple cats.

Em: Mom.. this food is gross! I wouldn't eat it yesterday, I won't eat it this morning.. it's GROOOOSSSSS!!

Jack: Food? I like food..

Muffin: Yup... she definitely said food.. let's check it out

Jack: Muhead mof myou *crunch crunch crunch*

Muffin: Get out of the way you hog.. give me!!


Em: Hey, that's mine *pulls out of way with paw and eats*

I had to share

I found this when doing some more reading on diabetic cats....

Chuckles was a 9 year old "sweet" kitty whose work on earth was completed in November, 2005 when he graduated to Heaven.

cat walking across your keyboard a problem?

A more high-tech solution is PawSense ($20), available from BitBoost
Systems (www.bitboost.com). The PawSense computer program recognizes
the patterns of a cat walking across the keyboard. The program
prevents further input once it launches, puts up a screen-saver and
has the computer emit a noise to annoy the cat into walking away.

Ok, this just amuses me to no end..


Anyway. Let's see. Em is still getting excited over treats, and ate more this morning than she has in the past couple of days. We offered her wet food again, and she turned her nose up at it. Dry food works for her, but she stops after only a few bites. I'm considering forcing her again. I hate doing that. It stresses her. I am also considering getting her human food that might tempt her... but would that do more harm than good? If I spoil her on human food, will I ever get her back on cat food. *considers that since I'm doing quite a few updates per day I have probably told you all this already - if so I'm sorry*