Hello from Casa de Gato V

Well getting back to blogging took way longer than it should have.. I'm not even fully unpacked yet! I need to get someone in to do some things with the house before I can get kittens in here, but since I didn't really feel comfortable setting up veterinary care in my temporary apartment, it was high on my list of things to do once we closed on a house.

Skippy is up first because his need is greater. at 16 years of age (are we sure he isn't 14??) his kidneys can use all the help they can get, so I have gone from maybe once a week for fluids to ideally twice a week, but stupidly I gave away a majority of my bags of fluid before moving, because... moving.. 

He's been doing well over these past few months, I am a bit concerned about his weight because he has not been getting enough fluids because I was rationing.. and I noticed his tooth was bothering him, so I know a dental is in the works for him.. so I was trying to decide where to take him when my husband says "Go here!" so.. I went there... because why not.  I didn't see anything bad online, a few people recommended it.. this isn't like back home that you have one vet within your city limits and then you have to travel quite a ways to find another, I have options.. a lot of them. 

Well, it started off with my trying to make an appointment. Their online calendar doesn't let you see which vet you are booking with. Then I wasn't having much luck emailing back and forth so I figured I'd call. No one answered the phone so I left a message. I asked for the first available for an appointment to establish care for my cat. I got a text back saying this day at this time, and I said I'd take it.

Didn't hear back for multiple hours.. like four.. it was mostly the end of the day. Receptionist finally returns my call and apologizes, and I said that I was offered and accepted an appointment via text.  Well, apparently no one followed up on my response despite it being immediate and I did not have an appointment. Fortunately it was still available.so I booked it.  

Today came, and no follow up call to confirm my appointment.. mmmkay, whatever.. I go, check in, and my cat is greeted by name.  Takes a few minutes to "make sure the room is clean', and that is when I noticed...

I probably should have just turned and walked away.. but I needed that script and I didn't want to wait a few more days to get in somewhere else.  There were three vases of flowers, two in either reception areas on either side of the desk - meaning they were right where people sat - and one on the reception desk.  The two in the reception area both had lilies.. they had the stamen removed, but that does not negate the danger those flowers pose. If a cat were not in a carrier, they could easily chomp on that before anyone noticed. they could knock it over and get the water on them, which is also highly toxic.. and they aren't much safer to be around dogs. Notice one of the flowers wasn't even open yet, meaning this is a bad bad thing waiting to happen.

But I didn't.  I was led back to an exam room in the back of the hospital, I had to walk through the veterinary work space. The walls are not sound proof, I could hear them discussing all kinds of things.. 

The assistant came in and took history. Gave history to vet right outside the room. 10 minutes after that the vet came in. Assessment was taken, for all of about 10 minutes, and blood was drawn. Somehow, the assistants that took the blood frustrated Skippy so much he snapped at them!! He has NEVER done that.. and I mean this boy has put up with a lot.. He is amazingly passive.  They wanted to send me home to collect his urine, which I was not game for, so they then took his urine and I put my hand over his face. He was fine for that. 

Then, when I check out, I get a "sick" visit.. which he wasn't sick.. he was just an old kidney cat who has lost a couple of ounces over the past few years.. I asked if that was appropriate, and she went back and yes, because 'of his history' and "issues".  So this means he will never have a regular vet visit if I just want a once over and some blood drawn?? yeah.. no. 

So I won't be going back there. But he does need to have that bad tooth removed. The vet recommended that maybe not going through with the dental but putting him on Solensia (which is for arthritis) instead, a once a month injection which costs around a hundred dollars.. No thanks.. when I have a tooth ache, I don't just pop pain pills forever.. I get rid of the pain.

This is what sucks about knowing enough to get yourself in trouble. I can't read reviews because I know full well how much some people LOVE absolutely horrific vets. 

If anyone has any recommendations for a cat friendly vet in the Charlotte NC area.. I'd love to hear them. 

☺

Fancy Feast Advent Calendar

 

I saw that Fancy Feast was doing an advent calendar and I sent my husband to the store to snag one of the few remaining ones (according to the website) on his way home that day.  He actually snuck it into the house so it wouldn't ruin Fleurp's surprise 

Since today is the first.. we broke into it and there was much rejoicing 

24 whole days of canned food.. Fleurp is going to be spoiled that is for certain 

Casa de Gato updates - Skippy

Skippy came to me in June of 09, which makes him almost ten years old.  Goodness, gracious where does the time go??

Skippy was turned into the shelter as a possible abuse case. He had a urinary infection and was not doing well when he arrived. By the time I got him he was doing much better and was very high energy. I tried to bring a friend home to him but he would not leave the kitten alone and I ended up returning her to the shelter.

I brought Skippy to the shelter to be adopted when he hit weight. I was sad to see him go but I thought he wanted more attention than we could provide for him with seven cats. I met and talked to the people who adopted him and told him about his urinary infection and the likelihood that he might get another and they totally dismissed what I had to say and went off with him. I looked forward to my next set of fosters and was going about my life when I heard he was returned for coming down with a cold. I don't think I've stopped rolling my eyes over that one.

I brought him back to the house and got him over the sneezing and the discharge and he went back up for adoption but he quickly came down with it again so I brought him back and got him healthy again. At this point, he was a long gangly teenager and there were a plethora of kittens available. He was also very high energy so he needed a home that would play with him regularly to drain that off or he was going to be a pain. After weeks of visiting him at the shelter on a regular basis, I gave in and adopted him.

Other than sneezing out wads of snot from time to time he has been very healthy. He did have a little OCD of over grooming that started when we started packing back in Maine. I am fairly certain it is over now, but I still check in with him from time to time to make sure it doesn't recur.

Skippy still loves to cuddle. He often pins himself to one of us and will lay there for hours on end until we kick him off. When I'm in bed sick he never leaves. He loves to wrestle with Fleurp at dinner time and he still likes playing and running around the house and climbing cat trees. It feels like he is four or five, not ten.

A gift for new kitten owners

When I took on these kittens, I did so as a diversion for me because of my grief over losing Jack. Shortly after that I was at Target and I saw these really cute cat-faced notebooks and I thought I could use an additional project - one with an obvious deadline - so I thought I would make little scrapbooks for the new owners.

With hundreds of photos and seven kittens, I took a while to go through them and get good photos from each week to share. Sadly, for several reasons, the photos weren't the best. I ended up with over 100 photos (seven kittens, eight weeks, plus a few extras thrown in because they were cute)

Skippy has never seen me scrapbook. I originally started back in 2002 when the internet was young and photos were the bane of most people's dial-up connection. It was my plan to make scrapbooks for each year of kittens. I got the first year down and I printed out photos for year two but then dial up got better and it just didn't seem like the thing to do. I have all these cat print papers and stickers so.. I had some fun.

I didn't get overly elaborate. I bought some photo safe sticker to attach the photos to the pages and a sticker or two and a cute cat saying thrown in for fun. I didn't do it for the mothers because they don't change that much over the weeks.

Last I heard, the kittens have homes lined up and there were inquiries on Darcy and Onyx (who oddly I am calling Lucy now, I can't seem to stop) so they should be leaving me shortly.

I also want to thank everyone for having fun on my TFK4K, it was so heartwarming to see all of the comments. I was out at the post office and I had a random number pop into my head so I said "well that would be the winner" and it turned out to be Mary McNeil. Mary, if you could email me or reach out to me on facebook to let me know if you prefer a calendar or the right to name the next set of kittens..

Our Christmas Tree 2018

Guess what time it is..

Yup, it is that time of year that I raid Muffin's stash of toys and stick them on the tree we erect in our living area.. This confuses Muffin to no end, but everyone else seems to like it.

Guess who was the first one to take a toy off the tree.

That toy was NOT allowed on the tree, according to Fleurp it must be on the floor. Once she put it on the floor she immediately lost interest in it and started to walk away so I picked it up and put it back on the tree so Fleurp turned around and batted it off again. When the Catman showed up I shared this trick with him and she told us both that this toy belongs on the ground.. so on the ground, it stays.

Unfortunately, we lost a number of toys this year as something got in the basket and started consuming them. The feathers were stripped down to the spines and other natural fiber toys had holes in them. Whatever it was set off my allergies something fierce so I had to stop going through the basket halfway through and stuck it in the garage I fear we are going to lose a great number of toys once we go through it. Ah well, a good excuse to buy more.

If you would like a Christmas card from us you can send me your address, fill out the postable form Previous trees:

• 2008
• 2011
• 2012
• 2015
• 2016
• 2017

Happy National Bow Tie Day from Skippy #nationalbowtieday #bowtiesarecool

Skippy says

Momma, there is not nearly enough of me on this blog. My fans miss me..

Wordless Wednesday - Brothers and Sisters

Let Sleeping Cats Lie #lifewithcats

I walked in on this the other day and I decided to go find someplace else to sit so they could continue their nap.

I am so going to sneeze on that!! #lifewithcats

When we moved to Montaña Casa de Gato (I totally need a better name for this house), it came with a mud room right off the garage. We had visions of putting the litter boxes in this room, but I quickly figured out that I didn't want the cats anywhere near it because right outside the door to the garage is the garage door. The door also does not have the best latch at the moment (on the list of 1001 things we have to do at this house) so the door has the potential risk of popping open.

It is a little hard to see in this photo, but the far door has a window, and the garage door is about two feet from that door and it is open so you can see the trees through it.

Anyway, back to the first photo. I had the door open because I was working in there and Skippy bolted right out there like he had a mission. He HAD to be there, stopped a few feet in and then proceeded to sneeze out a giant wad of snot. Apparently, that was where the snot was supposed to go.. and yes, I am that type of blogger that I'm going to share it with you, aren't you glad you stopped by? (be forewarned, there is another poop post coming up)

I've talked to the vets about this and none of them think we should treat him for it. Both he and Eli sneeze one every couple of days, distributing little globules of snot where ever they may land. Fortunately, for the most part, they land on their faces and they lick it off so I don't have to deal with it but occasionally I need to break out the tissues.. sometimes it feels like I have a houseful of toddlers.

Art of Paws - Heated Pet Mat Product Review

I was recently contacted by Art of Paws to see if I would be interested in doing a review of their Heated Pet Mat if they sent me one for free. After checking out their website, I immediately replied yes. I was kinda hoping they would throw in a few of their cat shelves too, but it looks like I'll have to buy those on my own 🐱

Anyway, back to the heated bed. I had all kinds of ideas when Maya offered to send it to me. I was told it would fit two regular sized cats, so I thought I would put it on the guest bed for Eli and Skippy who tend to hang out on that bed more than our bed. When it arrived I didn't think it would fit two regular cats as it is 23 x 17 inches. I put it on the guest room bed, but no one was interested.

So then I moved it to the office.

What kitty doesn't love a heated bed. And as I suspected, it appeared to be the right size for one cat.. but then:

Muffin decided she wanted to be the new spokeskitty for Art of Paws and did her best to flirt her way into a good photo.

I didn't tell her that the mat wasn't made specifically for her, so she has totally claimed that to be the truth and she is loving having a nice warm soft place next to me to nap while I work. Just don't tell her that when she wanders off to make sure the house is still in one piece that someone else uses it.

Now usually when I do reviews, I tell you what I don't like about a product... the most negative thing I can say about this is I don't have a good plug to plug it in. Thankfully it comes with a six and a half foot cord so it reaches to the plug on the other side of the room. I like that it has bite protection from the switch to the mat and that the fleece cover is removable and washable. My cats like everything about it. When I forget to turn it on (I turn it off when I'm done working because my cats don't hang out in my office when I am not working) they still use it. It uses very little electricity according to their website - only 10w. Bonus: it comes with a three-year 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Thank you to Art of Paws for the opportunity and for the mat.
If you would like to check them out you can go to their website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

Hanging with the Catman

My husband has come down with a cold so there is a whole lot of this going on.

In case you can't tell, the Catman is back there covered in blankets and then cats. I'm sure he'll be better right quick, but it is always fun to remember that cats really want to hang out with you when you aren't feeling well.

Working in the kitten room

I was working in the kitten room this weekend going through several rolls of fabric I was given when I was still in Maine. I like having large pieces of fabric to make backgrounds to take photos of kittens and my office was right next to a business that made custom upolstry fabrics. They would often order samples and no longer need them and instead of throwing them out they would come to our office and offer them to us. I grabbed everything that was left over from what the other women wanted and I ended up with a few decent sized pieces that would work as a backdrop.

Skippy thought he would help me test the out.. but I am not sure he thought they were really appropriate..

Mom, are you sure this isn't too busy? and where is my bowtie?

I have a new bow tie? COOL!

IDK, stripes just aren't my thing.. 

What do you think Fleurp? 

I agree, we look much better without the backdrop

They totally refused to sit still, even with the promise of treats, until I removed the backdrops. Just something you have to deal with when photographing cats I guess. I was quickly running out of daylight and there is no light fixture in this room yet (we are going to hire an electrician to put one in) so I didn't really have time to wait for them to cooperate.

I now have a total of nine different backdrops and a nice pile of fabric that was just too small to work that I am going to try to turn into something.. either catnip toys or cat beds. We'll see. Since right now I don't have anywhere to set up my sewing machine, it will be a while before I get to it.

Bestest Christmas EVA!!

Dudes! Let me tell you the story of the bestest Christmas gift EVA! I don't know how momma got it for us without knowing it was in the house, because she was rather annoyed when we got it.. Maybe Santa Paws is real after all..

She was laying in bed and heard Twee scratching at something behind her nightstand. She thought that Twee was just after one of her toys that she had previously stashed back there (Twee has a habit of pushing her toys into places she can't get to them) but when Fleurp got involved and the action moved a bit, she started to investigates what we haz'd.

She knew something was up.. this was no ordinary toy. This was the bestest toy EVA!!

Momma initially thought it was dead, and for a split second thought about letting us dispose of it*, but then she saw it move and sprung into action. Daddy was quite confused and didn't know what to do so Momma had to explain everythings and made him get a box to trap it in.

We tired that mouse right out, so Momma had no problem getting it into a container but she was a little confused as to what to do next. She knew that if she just put it outside the mouse would come back in. With all the snow out there, she was a little sad to let it out thinking she would just be making a mouse-icle. She gave the mousie a little cheese (which it was too traumatized to eat) and drove it down the street and tried to at least put it near a tree. She failed miserably and still fears she made a mouse-icle, but she did the kindest thing she could think of.

Now, we are all on high alert for additional gifties from Santa Paws.. We know that there must be more out there..

* If I wasn't worried about my neighbors using mouse poisons, I would be inclined to let my cats eat a mouse they legitimately killed. But I am worried, and they didn't kill it, and I just couldn't let it suffer.

Right after we moved into this house I found some mouse poop, but I hoped that it was from a previous invasion that was already taken care of. We had already bought the house so it wasn't like we could force anyone to fix anything, and I was avoiding the whole thing hoping that it wasn't a thing - or if it was the smell of six cats in the house would make them flee. Now that I know that it is totally a thing, getting someone in here to take care of this is going to be a high priority.