Vital Essentials Freeze-Dried Cat Treats #chewyinfluencer

For October's Influencer program, Chewy sent us two different things to blog about, the Kong Scratcher and Vital Essentials Chicken Breast Freeze-Dried Cat Treats. Vital Essentials is a line of single ingredient freeze dried treats that come in seven different protein sources: Wild Alaskan Salmon, Duck Liver, Minnows, Ahi Tuna, Rabbit, Chicken Giblets, and the one we tried Chicken Breast.

The package came with a variety of sizes of pieces. A lot of freeze-dried treats also have a lot of dust, that flakes off from the pieces as they rub together in transit and this bag had very little dust, which was nice. What was also nice was Kit was interested in trying them, and she ate several. The reason the bag is open in the first shot is because my husband opened it a while ago to give some to Kit, who needs to put on some weight she lost before we realized she had developed lymphoma.

Fleurp wants to remind you that she is also a princess and therefore she should should totally partake in the treats.

The kittens receive guests

My friend (and guardian to one of my former fosters) wanted to come up and receive a little kitten therapy. I love having people come and visit the kittens because the more I can expose them to the better.  Fortunately, except for some ongoing litter box issues (this has got to stop soon or I am going to have to see if they want to check them for a medical issue) this set of kittens have some impressive self-esteem so they didn't *need* socialization, but it is always a good thing.

The kittens were lovely and social and just what Dr. Tiny Kitten ordered.

I know I'm being used, but I kinda like this scratching behind the ear thing.

It is a good thing distressed leather is in this year ;) 

Kit - the test results

This is difficult for me because by sharing this I open myself up to the emotions I don't want to face right now, so I ask that instead of messages of condolence, please share with me a fun or heartwarming story of your kitties.

We received a call from the vet regarding the testing of the cells they took from Kit.  He is a very happy guy so the message we got led us to believe that we had good news.. and if you look at it from a certain perspective we kinda did - because at least we had a diagnosis and that is a good thing. What it is, however, is not. Malignant lymphoma. Average life span of a kitty with this kind of diagnosis without aggressive treatment (which has a 30-40% success rate and involves a lot of rides in the car and the cat feeling miserable while they are going through treatment) is three to six months. We are opting to give prednisolone and watching her and make sure she still has acceptable quality of life, at which point we will be making end of life decisions.

After my initial thought that the swelling in her neck was reducing, it appeared to remain the same so I was pretty much of the mindset that this was what we were dealing with anyway, but knowing.. it brings a whole new level of emotions to the party.. ones I was really hoping to avoid until it was too late.  I do not want to mourn her while she is still here, so I refuse to wallow. Please, help me do that by instead of telling me how sorry you are about this - and I KNOW you are because only cat people read cat blogs and we all know the pain all too keenly of the loss of a pet - please, share with me only fun things..

Like, see this photo? Notice that one of the catnip mice I bought at Target on clearance is missing from the package?  That is because Kit wanted to play with it.. so we did.  She was so happy to have the toy and we laughed when she batted right into Skippy's face. He was so confused to have a mouse fly into his face just as he was showing up hoping to get a treat.

A check in with the kittens

Monday posts usually deal with how the kittens are developing, but that was preempted by Halloween.

This weekend the kittens went up to the shelter for a check in and to receive another round of vaccines. This shelter likes to give them every two weeks until they are neutered. This feels like overkill to me, but no one asked me.

They have all put on weight and they received glowing reviews from the foster coordinator. Unfortunately, Guppy had a bit of an issue with her vaccine and she was not feeling well for a few hours afterward. She curled up in the cauldron and went to sleep - which was oh so cute! She was herself later that evening.

Guppy also really likes her food. She totally saves some for later.

Trout is gaining, which is great. His stool is still soft, and he is still peeing on the floor in front of the litterbox. He is SUCH a boy. I am hoping in the next week he out grows this.

Puffer is downright adorable. She is starting to enjoy being pet and likes to play.

Flounder is quite independent and is usually quite busy exploring and investigating things.. even when those things are me, she doesn't have a lot of time.

All in all, aside from litter box issues, they are doing very well and we are doing another check in with the shelter in two weeks.

A little trick for a big treat - visiting former foster kittens

On Halloween, I like to go in town and people watch. I live near a town that really does Halloween and they shut down the street so the kids can safely run back and forth.

Last year two of my foster kittens moved into a home in the general area, so my husband and I took the opportunity to go knock on their door and say hello.

Nancy and Trixie's mom is so gracious and happily invited us in to see the girls. This was them when they first showed up here on February 2nd and I named them Wryn and Sprite and their mom was Lemonade

When I stopped by and called out Trick or Treat, there was a lot of chaos going on and the kitties weren't quite sure they wanted to visit. Nancy (formerly Wryn) was willing to say hello but she was ready to leave if things escalated. Trixie (formerly Sprite) was not quite willing to risk it and stayed upstairs.

We visited for a few minutes and then we were off to see the celebrations. Stephanie had invited us to stay so when we finished walking around town we decided to stop back in for a visit.

The kitties are lovely, their owners are even lovelier people and it was a nice visit. There was even talk of birthday celebrations for the kittens which just totally MMD :)