The cats wonder when I'm going back to work

I took a couple of vacation days last week and then with only a half day of work on Friday, the weekend and then the snow day on Monday, I feel like it has been forever since I've been at work. I will say the rest was completely needed as I was feeling kind of burnt out and run down. Life is kinda harsh without kittens you know 😉

Snow. Yes, we received a bit of snow..

These images were taken at about nine am, and it didn't stop snowing until nearly 6 pm, so we received a couple more inches. Yes, the snow got inside the storm door.  The back deck was clear of snow last Wednesday, we received about a foot of snow last Thursday, and then this. The last photo is of the mailbox (and the neighbor's on the far right) Husband spent nearly three hours snow blowing the driveway once it was all over.. and we are slated to get two more feet on Thursday.. fun fun.. not.

Fleurp started showing signs of anemia. Her gums are still pink so I know her RBC hasn't dropped too far, but she started licking the mirror and her weight had dropped several ounces.

Fleurp's weight is normally around 11 lbs 10 oz. Any more than that and she really starts looking like a basketball with feet. Anything above 11 lbs 8 oz I consider good and 'safe'. Anything under 11 lbs 3 oz I consider a serious need to take her to the vet. She was eleven five. I weighed her the next morning just to be sure and she was eleven four and a half, so I started her on prednisolone. She hovered between four and a half to three and a half and I was starting to panic because I wasn't sure what else they could do for her. I started giving her liqui-tinic to boost her iron intake. But it was only when I started supplementing her with canned food that her weight started coming back up. I am fairly convinced that when her body is attacking its red blood cells she stops wanting to eat raw food. I have no idea why, but I think her early weight loss is the result of not eating.  She happily eats canned food and put the weight back on. I will continue to give her whatever she wants until she is stable again.  Last year it was once her coat was shed.

To help that along, I decided to help by shaving off some of the longer furs on her belly and some of her mane. She was not too amused by my attempts despite my attempts to make this as stress-free as possible. I fear that she had some traumatic events in the past with a vet I'm no longer going to which makes her fear the clippers because she associates it with blood draws. Anyway, I did my best, I went a little longer than I should have (and ended up with a warning bite on my arm for my troubles) but I was able to take off a good chunk..

She is not amused.. I'll probably try furminating her again later this week - Thursday if we have another snow day for sure.

Skippy hopes you have a lovely holiday

Snow Day with Cats

Living in Maine I am in the middle of a huge storm as I write this. We are projected to get up to two feet of snow. It started just after noon time on Sunday and it is projected to go at least 24 hours. We even received an automated phone call telling us to stay off the roads.

So we do what any sane cat loving people do, we spent the day lounging around with the kitties watching Doctor Who.

Then I thought it would be fun to watch Doctor Who and assemble the Lego TARDIS I found in a clearance bin the other day.

Jack was horribly impressed..

Former Foster Friday - Maxwell and Duckie

I reached out to Kathleen who adopted from me in 2014 for an update on Maxwell and Ducky (who was Faraday when I was fostering them) and she sent me a few photos.

Maxwell and Ducky are happily living the good life on an island in Casco Bay. They've got 2 big cat brothers and a dog named Millie, all of whom get along beautifully.

Maxwell is the more adventurous of the 2, and from Spring through late fall he spends the majority of his time outside, exploring. We have friends who live up in the woods across the street, who tell me he keeps watch over the wildlife in their yard. They always know if he's around because the squirrels are making a lot of noise complaining about him. He usually shows up for a meal around 3:30 AM, having learned the lobsterman's schedule, and after a quick meal, he heads back out to his 'job'. He moved back inside in December and has been good company and a nice lap warmer for me. He's compact in size compared to Ducky, who is very long and sleek and has enormous feet.

Ducky prefers to stay close to home, and he likes to be close to either his dog or his master, the lobsterman, who knows to 'assume the position' when Ducky wants to sit in the recliner with him. He'll venture out to the sun porch on nice days but rarely goes out to explore outside in the yard. They have been a great addition to our home, and we love them very much.

#TBT - Warm Fuzzies with Fleurp

I used this image on the blog in 2009 for a photo hunt with the theme of warm. Not only are my kitties warm, but this totally gives me the warm fuzzies. I love how Fleurp is snuggled up to Muffin.

Bonus fuzzies for seeing Ollie again.. I totally miss that grumpy ol man.

Since it is February, I should probably reach out to some of the former fosters I keep in contact with so I can do more Former Foster posts ☺

Love is in the air..

Regular readers of this blog know that I really like cats in bow ties. Skippy wears one on a regular basis. It totally fits with his personality and he does not mind it at all. Occasionally, I'll remove his bow tie for one reason or another and he just looks silly to me... kinda like when your friend who wears glasses takes off their glasses.

This past holiday season an admirer send us a nice pretty pink bow tie and a jar of salmon treats for the kitties. I knew almost immediately I'd be doing a Valentine post with it. When I saw another pink bow tie at Jet.com recently I had to have that too.  Oddly. though, they put the bow on upside down.

A couple of quick adjustments - I hate bells anyway - and we were back in business.

Must say, these really are adorable.




The salmon treats are interesting. I didn't realize I had never had them before. The chunks of salmon were huge in comparison to other cat sized treats, but not one of the cats complained.

Sadly, Jack is not a big bow tie guy, he tends to start to paw at them if I leave them on too long. but I do appreciate the sacrifice he made for the blog fodder ☺