Wednesday, February 29, 2012

She emerges..


Well it looks like Meira will walk around the room :) I knew she would because I saw the litter box, but web cam sightings of her away from the nest were non existent..

till now

Doesn't she look like a Snow Walker here?
make bigger and you can see the Diva Kitten's ear

Can I post too often??


I am at work, watching the web cam of Meira, and it is VERY uninteresting.. So I got distracted and buried the viewer under some work. 

Well I just checked back in and noticed all of the food I fed her for breakfast that she didn't touch because she was too busy nursing is all gone!!  I gave her a triple portion of raw food (raw to help with her diarrhea - triple cause I figure she'd nosh on it all day) and she ate it ALL.. Poor girl.  I should so weigh her so you get a sense of just how tiny she is and how much work it must be nursing all four kittens constantly..

It does distress her when I examine her kits, but I feel the need to do so to make sure things are going well.  And yes this morning they were all warm and happy and felt heavy so things are progressing as they should.  I think one of the black boys has a smidge of a hernia, but we'll cross that bridge once the cord is off, and once he gets bigger.. (if he does, they will correct it when they neuter him) I also think that Meira isn't eating the stool, but spiting it out, which means more bedding changes then she is going to like..

Staring at kittens


You asked for it..
seriously, if you can do this all day, I'd be horribly impressed.


I also realized I was mistaken in my assessment yesterday.  I thought I had a girl with long toes and a boy with tortie.. I guess in my confusion I got my mental notes wrong, because I have a boy with long toes and a girl tortie..   So still two boys and two girls.. The boy with extra toes is going to be a big one.. he has ankles to beat the band with.. (now that just does not make any sense, why would you beat a band with ankles??) he has the look of a house panther all ready.  His brother - long toes - looks like he might end up being floofy..Won't that be fun.  Can't help but wonder what their dad looked like - heck truth be told it was probably their dads.. Cause where else does that tortie coloring come from??

Wordless Wednesday - Jack


Tuesday, February 28, 2012

All is well


I just ran home and checked on the kittens.  Everything is good.  They were nice and quiet while Meira came out and had a little snack.


She is eating which is good, and her back end is dry and doesn't look nearly as disgusting as it did this morning, and a far sight better then it did before she gave birth.. maybe she won't be getting a bath after all.

I find it very interesting that they were born on National Spay Day..

My co-workers asked me how I could come in to work today.  My husband also asked me this morning if I was going to go into work today..   Well yes, I could stay home and stare at Meira as she nurses, but seriously, kittens this young aren't all that much fun.  Cute as buttons, but they get boring pretty fast if you just sit there all day and stare at them.

Are you ready?


Are you sure??   I mean these ARE the first babies of 2012 for me.. so if you aren't sitting down or have something hot and scalding in your hands, don't blame me..

well you can blame me for uncontrollable bursts of squee..

I was sleeping late because I didn't get to bed until late last night.  My husband comes rushing down the hall and before he made it into the bedroom I knew I had kittens.. and yes, he declares, we have kittens..

I go down and see this.  Doesn't she look all pleased with herself??

Only problem is I can't see any kittens.. I feel the need to check and make sure everyone is doing OK and to change out bedding if need be after the birth.  Meira is not in the mood to share right now, so I took the cover off..
Still not sharing
She's such a newbie at all this.  I keep telling her I know what I'm doing, but she is so unsure of trusting me on each new step, so I go slowly and remind her I'm good, and I can help her and her new offspring. I keep hearing from her, "well yes, OK you were right about all those other things, but this??" I just smile and kiss her and slowly plod along..   Finally, my first peek..
this file is HUGE
you can biggify to get the full effect of the first viewing
Awww.. how sweet.. three babies.. sadly they are all dark, I was hoping for another Nebelung in the group.. then I noticed her leg twitched in a way her leg shouldn't twitch, and realized that was a gray baby on her.. YEA!!  a gray one.. but alas I don't see this one being Nebelung-ish.. there is too much white on the face and paws.  *shrug* that's OK cause all kittens are cute.

Next comes the removal to check to see if they are OK.  If the cords were chewed off properly and didn't create hernias, and that limbs look in tact, make sure they are active and healthy looking and to sex out the kittens.. First one I pulled out was a girl, followed by a boy with double paws, and a boy with really LONG toes.. When I took a second look at one of the boys, I saw this..
Is that orange or brown??
I thought I had a girl because it looks like a tortie.. but I looked a second time, and it is most definitely a boy..  I so can't wait to see what happens with this one.  Then I got to the gray one, and it SCREAMED at being taken away from the milk bar.  This distressed Meira and she came to grab her babies back. I took a quick peek and saw we have a girl.. a drama queen for certain!! I calmed the kittens right down, and told Meira to take these few seconds to compose herself.  See Meira was a mess before giving birth, and giving birth in tight quarters after moving the towel from the back end of the cage didn't help matters one bit.  The towel also smelled pretty badly of urine.  She tried to tidy up and I tried to help her but she really wasn't ready for help (if I wanted to give her a bath before, I REALLY want to give her one now, but that will have to wait) and so a quick bedding change later I stuck the kittens back in the carrier with her, took a few more pictures then covered the whole thing up and left for work.  I did get the web cam running, but right now there is very little more to see then the back of Meira's head while she sleeps or grooms the kittens.

This is going to be fun!
I love how Meira's paw is in focus
The Great Protector

What's wrong Kit??


It's Daddy's birthday and I don't have a credit card to get him a giftie..
Oh silly Kit, don't you know that your lovin is giftie enough for him.. all you need to do is sit on his chest and gaze into his eyes as you do, and he'll be mush!

We have Babies!!


No no no, not these babies.. (hey wait, where is Kit??)

aah.. hanging out with Daddy on his Birthday..

Speaking of birthdays.. We have two girls, two boys one double toed one long toed kittens.. photos to follow

Monday, February 27, 2012

Going to bed


Well Meira has no idea what's going on.  Once she realized she liked me rubbing her belly, she pretty much gave up trying to "push"  I kept telling her she needed to do some work here, and even mentioned she needed to lick her vulva to help things along (she did a few times, but getting to it is NOT easy).  After a couple of hours of rubbing and encouragement, and making her way too many different places for her to nest in, including taking the drawer out of the bureau for her, she decided to use the litter box.

I'm guessing it will be hours still.  She's not in any distress, her labor isn't so far along that you can actually feel the contractions and I was actually able to feel a kitten leg :)

So either I'm going to have kittens in the morning, or that wasn't a mucus plug and this was all just a big hoax..

She's nesting


Meira wants me near but she is not letting me pat her belly any more. She is currently ensconced in a covered laundry basket, purring and licking.

I think we are in stage one, but I am not counting my kittens before they are born.

Too bad my web cam isn't working or you all could be on kitten watch with me.

Now she is out and about trying to get in a drawer. *rolls eyes*

Eli


My little loner boy, Eli... I often overlook him and I believe he is beyond OK with that.  I believe he designs his day around being overlooked.  See Eli spent the first six months of his life being medicated and he very much hated that.

Several battles with URI (mainly calcivirus which included a severely blistered tongue) left his tear ducts scared and as a result his tears fall all over his face..
this is a good day..

So for the next few years when I could get my hands on him I was cleaning out his ears (because of the back up it caused massive debris in his ears too) or wiping his face or nose.. (he gets nose crusties)   Now that he is 10 years old (Oh.. My.. Goodness.. how did he become ten!?!) he's a little more of a mancat and can take my administrations to make him healthy.. But he doesn't have to like it..

That and his complete love of static.. I can pat him more in the winter then any other time of year.  I so hope to get a video of it one of these days.. When it is dry enough, and dark enough, I can see the sparks fly of him, and he can't get enough of it.. Then last week he was sitting on my head when I woke up.. which for him is huge.. Usually he has absolutely no use for us other then food and static..

I also want to mention that we almost never call him Eli.  We usually call him Squeaky, because he has a squeak of a meow..  a little bit like a holding the open end of a balloon taught and letting out air.  Sometimes it is just short squeak, but sometimes he has whole conversations this way.  I originally worried there was something wrong with his vocal cords, until one day I took him to the vet and he let out an actual full on meow.. Apparently, he just prefers to squeak.  The fun part is when we see him we call out SQEAKY!! (like they called out NORM!! on Cheers) and he always replies by squeaking at us.. (but not when we call him Eli!!)

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Big news, and even bigger news..


Well I wrote to the shelter a few days ago and let them know my kitten fever was getting a little out of control.  Yesterday I got an email that I unfortunately picked up after the shelter had closed and found out that they had a pregnant cat for me. I went down this morning and picked her up.

She is VERY pregnant.. and VERY small.  and fairly underweight.  You can feel her spine, but not the spikes of a really emaciated spine, which is something.  She's also got some pretty horrific diarrhea going on.  and it takes a lot for me to say horrific.  Remember Bug?  Remember how she came back because it was leaking out of her?? Yea well we have that going on - but on a bigger scale cause she's a slightly bigger cat.

She also seems young.  If she is a year old I would be highly surprised.  She also seems to be fully versed in the ways of living with humans, because she understands the kissy noise to get attention, and the faked holding a treat to get her to come.  She also seems to have a good grasp of what catnip is and what it is for.  She didn't get to enjoy it as much as she might have because she is so darn uncomfortable with the diarrhea and the kittens dancing on the colon from the inside. She's is also painfully smart.  I had several conversations with her and she seemed to fully understand what I was saying.  Not to mention she seems embarrassed by her diarrhea and the condition of her rear end.  I had to reassure her each time she left my lap that she was welcome back and it was OK if she got some poop on me (I wore clothing that it was OK for her to do that with) oh, and btw, she's a lap kitty.. She also loves kisses on her head like Jack does.

So the bigger news?? She's a Nebelung!!  I so can't wait to see what she produces for kittens!!!  Since she looks so much like Jack, I was going to call her Jill, but my husband suggested that if she got out of the kitten room Jack might think the mirror kitty some how got out of the mirror, so we are calling her Meira. And while looking up the proper spelling, I realized it is Hebrew for "light"  Nebelung is German in origin and refers to "mist"or "fog"  I don't know why, but some how it just seems to go well together.
Sorta shows how wide her belly is
I'm not being replaced am I??
Oh you silly boy, You are the kitty of my heart, there is no one even remotely like you.. But I do hope that Meira's fur fills out and looks similar to yours while she is here.

Skippy


So this dog walks into a bar.. I said what, did you not see it?
Yeah Skippy, stand up might not be your thing..

Friday, February 24, 2012

I am a cat person..


Muffin


Is it snuggle time YET!?!
As I am attempting to post Little Miss Queen Diva's photo, she is trying to worm her way on to my chest (and at 15 lbs, there is nothing subtle about it) and isn't taking no for an answer.  Each time she licks my hand I throw her off, so currently she is licking my arm... Smart girl. (and then she just lifted her head for a kiss)

I have come to discover she is a drama queen when it comes to the other cats.  They like to start scuffles for fun, and one kitty (Skippy) or another (Twee or Fleurp) will try to wrestle with her, and she puts up with them for all of two seconds, then will start hissing and whining like they have been harassing her all day.  I wish they would learn to walk way when she starts doing that, but they don't. They know she's just being overly dramatic..

I was just checking my webstats, and someone found a picture of Muffin (originally known as Scooter) through some websearch.. I thought I would share it.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Our new visitor


I first spotted him after the last significant snowstorm.  I took a few pictures of him, but they are still buried on a memory card somewhere..   When he stopped back around recently I took a few more.. Click to biggify..
I wish you could get a good perspective of just how far away he is.  Probably 30-40 feet away beyond our backyard and deep in the bushes but I only had my macro lens on, so I can only show you this..
Watch you lookin at??

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Do cats love us?


Eons ago, I found the dolittler website and followed her and enjoyed her posts.  Then she combined her website with  PetMD.com and I read her there.  She has since moved on, and now Dr. Jennifer Coats is doing the "Fully Vetted" column.  I haven't been particularly thrilled with her choice of posts.  They seem generic and almost safe.. aka I don't learn all that much.  But yesterday she posted Are Our Pets Capable of Loving Us?

Her conclusion - because she defines love " as a willingness to put someone else’s best interests in front of your own" - that her horse and her cat do not love her, but her dog does.

*rolls eyes*

Because her cat won't jump out and protect her from some random noise, it must not love her like her dog loves her.. and her horse certainly won't protect her, and in fact has hurt her when startled..  She believes her horse sees her as a source of good things and thus is happy to see her, but because she doesn't see her horse protect her, her horse can't love her.

I feel a bit sorry for her.

Especially since animals have the same part of their brains active in regards to emotions that we have.. and since animals have brains that are wired similarly but different, you have to realize that a cat recognizes that the human is in far less danger from an errant noise in the woods then it is.  The fact that the cat is willing to be out and about in an area with a human to me shows a great deal of love and trust.

Case in point.  twenty years ago, I had a kitty who went outside and he enjoyed it.  When my husband and I would go out walking, he would follow us.  I could tell the moment he reached the edge of his territory, he would cry to us but follow us as we went.  He was clearly agitated the entire time, but would follow.  He would visibly relax once we were back in his safe zone.  Was he agitated because he was uncomfortable - yes.  Was he following us because he knew we would protect him, sure.. but was he warning us to go back where it was safe - I tend to think that is the most likely option.. I mean prey animals don't make noise when they are uncomfortable in their surroundings... they don't want to be noticed.

Or the cat who saves her kittens from a burning building because she knows she is capable of helping them when they aren't capable of helping themselves.. or the blind kitty who fends off a burglar.. or the cats who wakes up the family when the house is on fire? or other heroic stories and since I know of no horse stories.. I can only share the ones that Google has.

Do my cats love me.  You betcha.  Do they love my electric blanket.. I am sure they do.. I mean I do.. why wouldn't they?  :)  Love is so much more then the obvious.. the sacrifice of self.. it is in those little every day moments.  The choice they make to be with you, where ever you might be, despite the fact that they were comfy when you decided to move.. If you are waiting for grandiose gestures - well except for the occasional dramatic rendition of "YOU HAVEN'T FED ME IN AGES!!" - you aren't going to get that from a cat..Just as some humans have never been capable of the grandiose gestures, but that doesn't mean they love you any less.

and as for the dog... Being pack animals, I bet they know that everyone needs to respond to a threat to the pack for the best outcome.  I don't think the dog is doing it FOR you, so much as attempting to do it WITH you, because that is how the pack should work.  Again, not to say a dog isn't brave and doesn't love you, and will protect you, but his general actions are with in his nature.. It is what they do for the safety of the pack. (but then again, I am not a dog person, so feel free to correct me on this one if I have it wrong)

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

the goings on..


I took some wonderful close up shots of most of the crew, and intend to post those, but we postpone the beauty for the major goings on at the house..

My husband works with a gentleman who does energy efficiency testing..  he's got the cool thermal camera (it has a cool laser beam attached to it so you can see exactly where you are looking)  and he had the giant blower thing to "depressurize the house" to see where our leaks were.

Now this house was built in 2004.. so it shouldn't be an issue, but it is.  Each winter I've been colder and colder and when I saw the state advertising that it would be a good idea, I told my husband we should do it.  I'm glad we knew someone, because he did it free of charge (mostly because we didn't ask for the reports that you need when applying for weatherization grants which apparently take him a long time to do) I felt a little silly because a few things I thought were causing problems weren't, but when I realized what was causing the issues I wasn't nearly as wrong as I originally thought I was.  Apparently we are severely lacking in insulation in several areas and will need to get someone to come in and take care of that.. and the vents in the bathroom were pouring in cold air. Apparently they are supposed to have a baffle so they don't do that, but we were told he hasn't seen one yet that worked as it was supposed to.  There is another major leak near the chimney which is pretty easily fixable which is good.

He also praised the virtues of a pellet stove.  We have a guy coming from a fireplace store to inspect the house for a possible gas fireplace  (not quite sure we can afford the whole major upgrades we'd need since the wall we want to put it on has the heating element on it) and now we are going to talk to him about installing one of those too. I so need to go out and buy a lottery ticket hun?

Anyway, I was so certain that I wouldn't see the kitties for hours but they were pretty much all front and center investigating the goings on.  Muffin wasn't - which is no big surprise.  Skippy wasn't either which was a big surprise.  He was hiding in the rafters in the basement.  He's usually out and about enjoying company.  Guess the big fan was too much for him.  And of course Eli.  Eli just isn't a joiner under the best of circumstances.. Kit however was FASCINATED!!
What's this??
Fleurp, do you know??
About to make a big noise
wow!!!
Jack was nonplussed.
He did his flat Jack impersonation and made biscuits.
Dinner was a bit delayed by all the hubbub, and once the house was restored to just the nine of us, dinner was served and all was forgiven

Monday, February 20, 2012

A new job??


Cat Catcher.. but not just any cat.. owned cats.. for money!!  I so totally bet I could do that.  But the question is, would there be a demand that I could actually make a living at it?? probably not.

I love the last line of the article.. “I’m going to win,” she said. “So just let me.” 

I can't tell you how many times I've said that to one cat or another.. 

Fleurp Massage


Is it time for my massage??
Yes, yes it is!!!



If you biggify that first photo of Fleurp, it is interesting how the bathrobe hanging in the bathroom looks like a person..

Sunday, February 19, 2012

A visitor


Let me remind you I live in Maine. Let me also remind you that it FEBRUARY! So this post is coming to you "live" in Maine in February..

I went out for a bit and came home and saw this..
Hi there, just stopping by
 I was so sure it was dead, because it made no sense that it would be in my garage if that was the case, because a) it wasn't there earlier, and b) the door was closed.  So I took a closer look and s/he was moving.  What on earth is a live woolly bear caterpillar doing roaming around in February in MAINE!!  OK Granted it has been warm up here recently, but doesn't he keep a calendar in his little fuzzy pocket?? ;)

So to keep him safe, I removed him from the place the cars travel a lot, and put him/her back outside.
Safe Journeys little fuzzy one

Muffin says she is not impressed with fuzzy things..

Friday, February 17, 2012

Online petition - Dorritos


If you found the Doritos Superbowl commercial with the dog offensive, there is an online petition to sign to ask Pepsi to take it down.

You can sign it here
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/doritos-commercial-is-offensive-to-cats-cat-lovers/

kitties in NY need help


Cross posting from Ihavecat's facebook.

LIFE SAVER CATS- USED FOR YEARS AS BLOOD DONOR CATS! SUPER CATS NEED PLACEMENT-NEED A HOME!
Please contact Friendlyferals@msn.com or call 917-579-5718

Forest Hills Queens area
Please contact Friendlyferals@msn.com or call 917-579-5718

THESE CATS WERE IN A HOSPITAL USED FOR BLOOD DONORS!!! THEY SAVED SO MANY OTHERS AND NEED A HOME! They are Moe, white and orange and Angel-Tabby-both declaws, shots, tested, totally vetted! They are 4.5 years old! They were used only to save lives , BLOOD DONOR CATS and they did. The hospital closed and they had no place to go only to be euthanized. They are in foster with a special person who is having a problem with a dog that hates cats and they have to leave but their lives have to be saved and a home is needed, a good home, ASAP! I cant take them myself since I am going on cancer chemo therapy! So I am reaching out to connect these cats to a home!

Arrangements will be made to have the cats delivered or seen, whatever it takes to have them safe and adopted to a good home that appreciates what these cats have done. Please remember they were used for blood donors to save others for years. Friendly but not handled too much for too long. Friendly  not feral!
Angel 
Moe

Offerings were made


I just got home and Jack met me at the door.  He didn't look all that comfortable, but I'm sure I was projecting.  He meowed at me and then followed me around, so I pulled out some food and he unenthusiastically ate it.  So I pulled out cookies, and he ate some of those.  Towards the end I was shooting some spare ones near him ("cookies" in this house is a small handful of dry food thrown on the floor.  If I tried to give out treats by hand I would be missing a few fingers) and he actively went after them, so I'm glad.

Things are not perfect, but they are much better then they were this morning.  I generally don't overly stress over things like this (anyone but Jack I might not have even posted about it, but he is so incredibly food orientated it is a little scary sometimes) but going into the weekend I didn't want to end up on Sunday with a blocked cat (since Jack has a history of urinary crystals) or something else that would require a trip to the local eclinic.  That would be more stress - not to mention money - then either one of us need.

So I'm better.  No afternoon run to the vet..

My Boy...


I'm worried.  I'm over reacting I'm sure, but I'm worried..

My husband left for the night early.  He stopped home before I even got out of work and fed the kitties and packed and left.  So when I got home I did a little work then went to bed to get a good night's sleep.  I was woken several times by the kitties wanting love, but I just moved them aside and went back to sleep.

I was late getting going and was running late to get to work. I only work a half day on Friday, so I figured I'd feed the kitties when I got home.  Jack was sitting on the box looking at Mirror mom and looking mopey.  I figured he thought he wasn't getting breakfast, so I took a few minutes and broke out some canned food (a rare treat) He came over to look at it, but didn't eat any in the kitchen.  He came to inspect the food in the bathroom (where the younger cats eat) and he didn't want any of that either.  I gave him a scoop all his own, and he said no thanks - now I was concerned.  But it could have been that one of the other kitties was nosing in on it, so I wasn't quite disturbed yet.

In case you didn't know, Jack has the nick name of the garbage disposal. Muffin is the dishwasher, so I give up any plates that have kitty like food on them, and the dishwasher and the garbage disposal will take care of them.  so this was concerning.

So I went to him and offered him the spoon I was using that had food bits on it.  No go, he walked away and went back to stare at mirror world.  So I walked over there and offered him the spoon again.  Nope.  I broke out treats.  Freeze dried food was a no go, as was dry food - Jack NEVER refuses dry food.  He sniffed at it, nosed at it, might have eaten one piece, but then walked away again.  I offered some deli turkey - another treat never refused.  at this point the rest of the crew was enjoying his left overs so we were alone.

I gave him a once over.. his mouth looks fine, he looks fine, he doesn't feel tender anywhere, nor does he have a full bladder (he has blocked in the past)

So I left him alone and I'll try again at lunch time.

I'm rather worried.  and I'm perfectly OK with overreacting..

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Thankful Thursday


Skippy
Well I guess I should start off with the fact that I am thankful it is Thursday.  I was going on autopilot this morning and didn't realize it was Thursday until just a few minutes ago.

I should also mention that I am EXTREMELY thankful for auto correct.  Firefox puts red squiggly lines under anything I've misspelled.  (or anything it thinks I've misspelled like Fleurp) or this post most likely wouldn't even be legible.

I'm thankful that is nice and warm out side (even if I'm stuck inside and can't really enjoy it)  I will take a walk a little later on in the day and get the mail, and I am glad that when I do that it will be warm.

I'm also thankful that The Crew loves me enough to greet me at the door when I get home.  Not all of them, not even the same ones every day.  But I do love seeing little eyeballs peering out of the windows as I drive up and happy chirps as I walk through the door.

and I love it when the Skipster decides it is snuggly drooly time.

(and just so you know, Jack is totally OK with the gushes.. He is very thankful for any attention, especially if that attention comes with cookies)

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

My Valentine


OK, you asked for it :)  (don't feel the need to gush over my boy if you don't want to.. )

My sweet sweet husband chokes on Valentines day every year for the past ... well lets just say since I've known him.  This year is no exception. 
Ahh, Ma chérie, Fret not, I am with you..
and I shall let you pat me and love on me
Pay no attention to the man behind the kitty (click to bigify for full effect)
Thank you Jack.. that is oh so kind of you..
Think nothing of it.. and can you get a little to the left??
I also bought myself a little valentine.  As you may or may not remember, I posted a while back some things I really would like.. Well Matthew Ross did some special Valentine kitties.. and they were much cheaper then his full size kitties, and one looked so much like Jack I could not resist.  I had to sit and stalk his Etsy page because they kept selling out on me..
It is tiny, that is a coaster right next to it, but it makes me smile.  (I just wish the nose was a gray or a dark gray not black, but I can't complain)  (and yes, I have a think for pumpkins... )
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