Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad..

Elvin, I have a secret to share.. 

Twenty four years ago, on a very very foggy night.. (the mom should have known to be a bit more specific when asking for it to be 'white out' for their wedding) a man and a woman walked down an aisle.  Five apartments, two homes, 11 cats, 2 rabbits, 388 fosters later, one of them is posting photos of cats and an elf on the internet..

:)

Coming, Coming, home*..

Happy Bear is going to be very happy later today.. I got the okay to take the kittens home about half an hour before the shelter closed on Wednesday. Since the owner of the company I work for had just walked through the door I emailed back that I would be in for them the next day. I asked after them and was told they were eating pate and kibble and while they still had diarrhea and were still pale they felt comfortable letting them go to me - knowing I don't just let things get worse without letting them know.

I spent too much time cleaning up the kitten room.  I was quite fearful that the smell was going to be overwhelming, but once it had dried it wasn't bad at all.  Don't get me wrong, it was still pretty bad, but it was back to the 'bad kitten diarrhea' smell.. and that is totally manageable for me - heck I even find skunk smell manageable. There were a few spots of stool on happy bear, and I did my best to scrub it off and then soaked the spots in bleach water.. I'm seriously tempted to just throw out the towel that I used to clean the little one off.. I need to talk to the vet about how virulent these worms are, and if a hot water cycle in the washing machine will kill them all, because frankly I don't want to risk contaminating household laundry if it doesn't**. It is hard to track down information on how long parasites lives in the household environment, and if when it gets really cold if I just turn off the heat and open the windows can I freeze it if the bleach didn't kill it all?   Considering all of the cleaning I did, I'm guessing I killed it all.. but I do want to replace the cat climber scratching post thing now.. I wonder if I can find a company to donate one.. because it would be on the dropcam and featured in videos on my facebook page all the time.. it needs to be under 3.5 feet tall and it needs to be enough for mother cats to help keep them in shape. Ah well, I'll deal with it once these kittens go up for adoption and I've got a vacancy at Casa de Gato..  Maybe I'll find another one on Craigslist..


* Thank you Peter Schilling for the inspiration of the blog post title
** (oh wait, everything in there is bleachable, I'll just bleach it all)

Sharing her toys

Twee thinks Abby and Chandler might like to play with her toys, so she brings her favorite ones down to the door, but when it doesn't open she leaves them there and wanders off.

Some days you feel like a phony

And yesterday was just such a day.. 

I am a cat owner.  I own seven cats that all generally get along. I take a small measurement of pride in that people who come into my house do not automatically think I have a multitude of cats. I also take a small measure of pride in that my cats all seem to get along.  Occasionally Jack and Kit get into a snit with one another and squabble to the point where I feel the need intervene, but it is rare.  Occasionally Twee won't understand when the other cats tell her no when she wants to play with them and she gets beaten up.. 

But now that Jack is dealing with what ever it is that is bothering him and he is peeing in the bathrooms (yes, he is under the care of a vet) He did it a couple of days ago, then sometime yesterday so that I noticed it before I went to work, and then again before I got home from work.  It breaks my heart to know he is obviously not feeling well.  I mean I hate cleaning up cat urine as much as the next person, but I know full well it is not his choice.  I know what 'fixes' urinary issues in cats, as we 'fixed' Eli and had Jack 'fixed' for years, but what ever is going on with him is beyond my understanding, and I hate feeling so helpless.. 

Then, after sitting in the living room with my husband having our 'we got home from work' chat, I see this.. 

 

Now you very well may be asking "Connie, what on earth am I looking at".. yeah, sorry about that.  Twee was not all that amused at sharing this little mishap.  See.. this is her rear end.  If it was Jack's rear, I am sure I could have gotten him to lay down and spread 'em and gotten all the kittyporn shots necessary, but Twee is a little difficult.  She doesn't like to be put on her back *AT ALL* and she is even less inclined to let me take the camera to her private areas..   So lets edit that photo a wee bit.. 

Yes, the red arrow is pointing out Twee's anus. So apparently someone bit her on the butt and she over-groomed the entire area and that reddish patch south of her anus by about an inch is a scab. With the help of my husband I was able to examine it pretty well and it didn't feel hot or even overly warm.  It wasn't overly sensitive so I am pretty sure we avoided an abscess - but don't think I'm not going to keep a close eye on it. I put a little coconut oil on it to help aid healing so hopefully this is really nothing.. 

But really, just when you think you get a handle on things, and you start thinking you've got this thing down cats have this way of just knocking you on your tushie and making you feel a bit like.. 

I share to remind you (and me) that we are all human. Things happen and even if they all happen at once and you feel like... well for me it was a phony, but you might choose a different word... you shouldn't let it all get you down.  Pick yourself back up, go up there and get your award continue on.. 

Smedley needs medical help

I have been emailing and stopping into the shelter over the past few weeks trying to get some help for Smedley.

The whole lot of kittens, and Snow, had horrific diarrhea over the weeks they have been here.  First it was near white, which all the websites say means excessive bacteria in the gut, then it was liquid and peeling paint off the walls with the stench, and tests on it showed something that looked like a thread worm, and later coccidia.  We treated with marquis paste and albon and we gave some strongid to take care of any rounds since those are uber common in kittens.  Some of the cats cleared up, some did not.  Sometimes ones that cleared up would start up again.. Another test showed negative and I wondered if they might not have the new parasite they just found, since they had all of the symptoms,  but that was summarily dismissed because they say it comes from cow urine.  I don't know where these kittens come from and have no idea if they even looked to see what their history was.  I do know Snow had another litter before she showed up here with her kittens.. but where she came from I do not know.  I also know she had some serious dietary indiscretion by what she vomited up a few days after being here.

A threadworm was discovered in Snow's stool.  No one knew how to treat it.  I kept asking, no answer was ever given. Panacur was given eventually but not after another stool sample was brought in and coccidia was found.  More marquis paste, more albon as well as probiotics, colloidal silver, and slippery elm bark as well as putting them on raw food. Issac Arnold put on weight. Health and vigor returned to everyone.

Everyone except Smedley. Well he had health and vigor, but Smed's stools went from nice looking to water to nice looking. He was pooping on the floor. His rear end would often be covered in in a foul smelling liquid and he left stains where ever he went (he wasn't alone in this but he kept it up the longest)  I finally took him in to the shelter to attempt to get a super fresh stool sample to test it to see what was going on.  He refused to give one.  I got the tylan powder.  His stools firmed up again.  I grabbed a piece of one and brought it in and was told once again they saw coccidia.

In the mean time his rear end went from normal looking to this..

10-8-13

10-22-13 (click to see enlarged images)

He HATES having his rear end looked at so this doesn't really represent what is going on there but it is close enough.  If I attempt to put anything soothing on it he flails and screams and claws and attempts to bite me - all which is so out of character for him.  I know he must be in unbearable pain.  The few times I was able to wipe it down (because it is often coated in a foul smelling liquid) I often see blood (and by wipe I mean touch a cloth to it).  He also constantly has his tail 'poofed', which to me is further evidence of how much pain he is in..

it isn't all that clear in this angle,
but the first bit up to where his ankle is is 'puffy'

When I contacted the shelter yesterday about how much pain he has, and how he really should be seen, I was emailed back reminding me he has coccidia and to keep him on the Albon for the full 14 days.  Well he has been on it since Friday, along with the Tylan (Tylosin) which he has been on longer..As you can tell his rear end is worse.  He growls at himself when he tries to groom down there.  They reminded me to bleach everything to keep him from reinfecting himself.  What I can't help but wonder if this coccidia is so darn contagious that he's re-infecting himself by being in the room with himself, why are the other three just fine? I have dealt with coccidia many many times; even had a set of kittens nearly die from it.  I've never seen it act like this..   I think there is something more going on here, and the only way to get him the help he needs is to turn him into the shelter.

At this point I do not know if I am going to get him back.  He and his siblings are all of weight.  If they intend to keep him until he is better, than there is no point in keeping Verona, Mishka and Issac Arnold.  At this point I intend to take Smed in this morning and then see what they have to say about it. I very much want to bring him back here and see him get well and give me a little more time to hopefully find someone who can not live without him and Issac Arnold..

Issac Arnold growling over his new prize

but chances are I will be returning the whole family... so this might very well be the last post about them.  My heart goes with them and they will live with in it for years to come.

Smed (laying down) Mishka, Issac Arnold and Verona

Momma is holding her own

With a little help.

Since the vomiting episode this weekend she has been nibbling on food and her weight has been stable, so I put an email in to the shelter and we'll see what they want to do. When I go see her at 8 if she is still holding her own and still nibbling on food I'll wait for an email reply. If she weighs less or hasn't eaten anything I'll just bring her into the shelter before heading to work.. if she's eating then I will wait and see what they want to do.  This is why I am still really concerned... (well besides she is little more than fur and bones)

I haven't seen her lay down and nurse since Thursday.

She is starting to trust me. She still hasn't been in the nursing box when I have walked in the room, but last night shortly after I started checking on the kittens I saw this

And as I finished taking all of the kittens out of the nest, she started climbing in on her own, I was so pleased with her progress!! Up until now if I wanted to put my hands on her I would have to force her from behind the couch.

Speaking of the kittens, they are doing very well.  They are kinda gross since mom isn't taking care of their 'output' but they are cute and take formula very well. Momma hasn't stopped making milk, so they are getting a good bulk of their nutrients from her, but just about all of them now take some from me as well... which I can't complain about because it does help them understand how good people are a bit sooner.

I also got a couple of videos for those of you who like the mews.. the shorter video of them in the basket is chocked full of them - it even made some of my kitties look for the kittens.. The one of them in the box has more purrs than mews..

Saying goodbye to the Kitten No One Wanted..

I am so struck by what the shelter said to me when they first asked me if I might want to foster Odilia.. 'Do you want her, she has no eyes, no one wants her'

How could I possibly refuse?

She came to me in April, the 23rd to be exact.. small, but robust, friendly and outgoing. She was the size of a three week old kitten but had the teeth of a five week old one. So who knows how old she really is. Talking with Amy Jo we thought that April 1st would be a wonderful day to celebrate her birth.

Amy showed up on Thursday and came to visit.  She couldn't take Odilia because they were staying in a non-pet friendly hotel - like I minded in the least. (oddly enough they ended up staying in a room called Ophelia)

Friday we went and did her adoption.

Amazingly enough while we were there two other kitties went home as well.  For a Friday morning that is impressive..  One of which I got photos of last week and you'll see him in the next installment of "Shooting at the Shelter"

Amy and I then spent some time together, shopping for goodies for Odilia and showing her the sites, including Lenny the Chocolate Moose..  I dropped her off at her hotel and she and Ray went to dinner and I went home for some last cuddles.  I was very fortunate that Odilia was in a cuddly mood.  We had a good long snuggle.. she played with the random tear that fell down my cheek.  Generally I prefer my fosters to be all playful and not snuggly in those last days, it tells me they are ready to go... but I was happy for the time. Odi has been with me far longer than most kittens - and it has been a while since I have had long term kittens. Generally they leave at 10 - 12 weeks of age and they rarely stay that long unless they were born here and when that happens they don't have personalities for the first few weeks.. and I haven't had a kitten born here in a while.

Saturday they came to pick her up to drive the 9+ hours home. They set her up in a kennel for the ride and the photo she shared with me showed that once again she drove beautifully..

And yes, I sobbed after she left. I felt silly because it was exactly what I wanted. I could not have been happier - well no, that's not true.. If Amy Jo decided to move and live across the street I could be happier.. but barring my own personal brand of crazy I couldn't be happier with where she ended up.  Amy has invited me to visit, and I don't doubt I will do that one day.  Until that day I always have this brand of crazy to keep me company

Come on Momma, lets get some chocolate cream pie and snuggle...

I'm hoping to get Amy Jo to do a guest post and share some of her photos of the trip home.. but I imagine she's a little stressed over the whole situation so I'm not sure when it will be.  I can tell you she is doing amazingly well.  There has been a bit of adjustment on her end with older siblings, but they are patient with her and I am sure in time it will be like she has always been there..

The weekend..

So as Fleurp told you, I went to the Whoopie Pie Festival this weekend.. It made for a very long day as it was almost three hours away.  It was fun if not a little chaotic.  It didn't help that it was raining on and off while we were there.  Apparently it is the fourth year they have done it, and I am a little surprised that it wasn't a little better thought out, but that's OK.. we enjoyed it.  I mean seriously, how can you not enjoy eating whoopie pies.. (and if you have never eaten a whoopie, may I suggest you use this recipe but this filling and get right on that.. )

The area where the whoopies were

The people eating whoopies

Mini whoopies

Despite the pict of the mini whoopies, most of the samples were regular whoopies cut into bits.. some bits were better than others on so many different levels.  One place gave out huge samples.. oddly enough they were also the best tasting samples.. They also had the oddest flavor of the day, jalapeno apple.. which tasted way better than it sounded.  I wanted more pictures, but a) it was raining for a good portion of the time we were there and I didn't feel like trying to juggle my umbrella and my camera and b) there were so many people that most of the time I didn't even see the samples even when I was able to grab one.. but I'm sure you get the idea.

Outside of the actual tasting event area there were craft booths and things for sale.  I have to say I was pretty surprised at the pricing of things.  Normally I see things 20-50% more than they were listed for here.. I guess that is the good side of going so far off the beaten path.  I would have bought things, but most of the stuff was jewelry, and I can't wear it any more due to kittens trying to eat it off me. (OK fine, I still wear some, but I've cut back severely on what I buy for the stated reason)

Whoopie purse 

Of course I had to stop the Forgotten Feline's stand and buy something. I wanted a cute Freida magnet, but I went for the catnip toy (that Eli promptly got drunk on) and the cute gift box of cat toys (seen there in the front of the photo)

Another long ride home, which included a stop at the store for some food for dinner.. a quick dinner and then we went off to the fireworks.  There is a local festival that is generally around my birthday and every couple of years their fireworks are shot off on my birthday.

This was the first time I tried taking photos of fireworks with my DSLR.  I have come to the conclusion I really want a tripod so I can do more of these the right way.

I love how this one looks like birds

We ended the day watching the fireflies at home.  I love that we have them here.. they usually show them selves till about the fourth of July..  They are small, so this video might not be that exciting to you..



I was quite busy on Friday as well.  I took Odilia and Trevor into work for "take your pet to work day" (OK fine, I took them in because I wanted to)

And then I had a massage appointment in Portland.  Just as I was pulling into the parking garage (ten minutes late mind you) the masseuse called saying she had to cancel (with a very good excuse mind you)  which kind of ticked me off.  I actually fired one masseuse in the past for canceling on me repeatedly and never offering me anything for the inconvenience.  You know full well if I had to cancel on her it would cost me..

I ended up heading to a different place,  a massage therapy store if you will.. you know, the type, they have multiple therapists and they can more often than not take walk ins.  A woman at work asked if I had ever been, and I hadn't, but at this point I figured I'd head over and see if they could fit me in.

On the way I passed the animal shelter up that way.. the one where I fostered for last year, and the one where I adopted my first kitty back in 1990.. I had my camera, so I went in and took a number of photos.. but that is a different post - but we need a good kitty shot in this post, so here you go.

I did get a massage, I had a nice experience.  It was fairly reasonable price wise, so I might be back.  My body really could use a bunch of them right in a row..  I'm just so not a fan of driving so much.. but we'll see.

Sunday was my sister's birthday.  DH and I ended up over at my folks house for a little food, some present swapping and catch up.  DH and I then went to go see "Man of Steel".. which I was disappointed in, but I couldn't help but marvel at how much Henry Cavill as a self assured Superman (about 3/4ths of the way through) looked like a young John Travolta.

Thank you everyone for your birthday wishes. They made me smile and they were very much appreciated!

Free product from Chewy.com in exchange for an honest review.

Mom, when do we get to be on the blog again??

Well buddy, I've got just the thing for you.. You see the other day I was contacted by Chewy.com and they asked us if we would like to review some treats on my blog.  Being horribly picky about what I'm feeding you these days I wasn't sure I was going to be able to participate, but I checked to see what they had to offer (in exchange for an honest review)

I was offered one of the following

• Orijen Freeze Dried Dog Treats
• Fromm Grain Free Dog Biscuits
• Natural Balance Perfect Bites Cat Treats

Well at least there was one thing that was cat related - being sent to a cat blog.. (the email says he enjoys reading my blog.  Um.. then why offer the dog treats?? and why offer me Fromm??) 

Natural Balance was out due to the ingredients.  Fromm was out too.  So I looked into Orijen.  I was less than thrilled at their cat food, even though everything is sourced local which I love the sound of. They only make a dry cat food and it has 25 different plant based ingredients in it.. but I wasn't offered the cat food, I was offered the freeze dried treats.. 

Their treats are not single ingredient treats, like the freeze dried chicken breast that Halo makes (well frig!  Halo isn't single ingredient either.. they use a 'marinade' which also includes carrageenan *grrr*)  They have multiple ingredients, but they are all very simple ingredient list.  The duck was simply duck liver and boneless duck.  I figured this was safe for my crew as there were no plants in it or other questionable ingredients. For fun I also sent an email into Orijen asking if they feel their treats are acceptable for other pets and not just dogs.  They replied saying they were - which made me wonder why they were labeled as they were.. but then again, I'm not all that shocked by it, dogs get all the attention in most companies.

So I replied to Andrew, and said I'd like to try the duck treats.  Well those things showed up so fast I actually didn't realize they were here because I had ordered something else for Father's Day and was expecting that, so I just put it off to the side for a few days with out even looking at it.

When I finally got to the box, The Crew was THRILLED! They always love treat time.. 

Fleurp really loves the paper they pack with

The front of the package, no idea why there is a green sticker on it.. 

back of the package, again, no idea why there was a sticker on there that was then removed

Made in Canada..  it isn't made in China like Catswell.. 

the treats - they are two different colors

Those are my fingernails.. they made the package semi see through.. 

WAAAAANTTTT!!!

Fleurp took hers and ran off with it.

There were no more pictures, because they ate them down so fast and were back asking for more before I could pick up the camera.. It was fun to be able to give them treats that I didn't have to worry about.

(btw, Muffin is all over me as I am typing up this post.. I have a feeling she hears me thinking "treat" and is so hoping I will give her some.. Muff, if you aren't careful you are going to suffocate me!!) 

So Andrew, and Chewy.com, The Crew thanks you from the bottom of their furry behinds for thinking of us and sending such yummy yummy treats.  I want to thank Orijen for making them and implore them to consider making a canned cat food (preferably with fewer plant based ingredients since cats lack the digestive enzymes to properly digest plants)


Mom, can I have some more of those.. ~Jack
Me too! ~Eli
Me Too! ~Muffin
ME TOO! ~Fleurp
Me too! ~ Skippy
me too!! ~Kit


What? ~Twee



PS.  Andrew at Chewy contacted me today and said my post sounded like I was offended by his offerings.  On first blush I would say I was put off by his selections not so much for the selections themselves, but by the first blush appearance that while he said he reads my blog he would offer things that are so contraindicated to it.  After getting a string of emails from people who are simply wanting things from me and saying they are fans - but are obviously not by what they offer - I guess I did very poorly express my self above.  My first thought was why weren't they offering me something that was more in line with my blog, but after doing some research and reading and looking into what he was offering, I found a brand new product that I adore.  So by their doing something a little unexpected and my not immediately just brushing it all off as offensive, I found a wonderful new product for my cats.

My intention is never to judge a book by its cover.  It was my intention to convey that.. if I failed, I am sorry.