Thankful Thursday - Update on Mr. Kitty, Minnie and Al

Minnie napping in a Chewy box.

I apologize for not visiting.  Been way too busy trying to care for Minnie.  I took her to the holistic vet and she is officially in stage 3 renal failure.  Minnie will need daily fluids, an ACE inhibitor to help blood flow to her kidneys, plus a low protein food since there was protein in her urine.  Normally there is some but she had a lot since her kidneys are not able to do their job. And we give her a phosphorus binder.  I have a notebook and write it all in, checking it off as I do it.

Not having much luck to get the prescription food in her at this point so what ever I can get her to eat is fine by me.  She IS eating so that is good.  I am hoping the binder will help lower the phosphorus.  All her numbers came down initially with IV fluids so hopefully the binder will help as well.

She is acting like she did before she got sick - enjoying life and seeming to feel pretty good.  She also has IBD so that is another thing we treat with probiotics, digestive enzymes and slippery elm.  She is super about letting me squirt liquids in her mouth so everything gets dissolved in water and squirted via a feeding syringe.  I also contacted my animal communicator about Minnie - that will be another post soon.

Mr. Kitty is over his coccidia and had three teeth removed.  He has hyperthyroid but we are going the natural route for a month to see if that will work better than the drug.  His lump on his neck was just a cyst - what a relief - but it seems to be coming back so we may have to have that removed to make him more comfy.

Albert did OK with his dental - no extractions, just cleaning.  His right eye is inflamed with his third eyelid showing.  I called the vet and they said to bring him back if it didn't get better.  After using an antibiotic ointment on his eye for a few days, it is better but not healed so off to the vet we go. (We have anti-inflamatory drops for his eye and it is looking better.  The vet thinks it is a nerve issue since there is no sign of damage.  He lost a tooth on that side and the nerves may have been jangled when he got his teeth cleaned.)

I am just very thankful to have all the cats still with us even tho we have our ups and downs health wise.  I hope Minnie remains stable for a few more months, even years.  Thank you for your purrs, patience with us and for all the encouraging suggestions.  We hope to be able to get back to blogging a bit more.

Updates on Thankful Thursday

Two Spot

It's me, Two Spot hosting today! Mom is still visiting and thanking all of you who left kind comments for her when Ivy left for the Bridge recently.  Ivy left a huge hole in our house and in our hearts.  Your support and words of comfort help so much.

Sweetpea

 Sweetpea went to the vet the same day we lost Ivy.  She is tiny but feisty and had to be sedated to get blood and urine for her tests. She had a UTI and is pre diabetic (maybe).  Since blood glucose goes up under stress, the vet wants to check again after her UTI is resolved to see if she is still running high. Or maybe Mom can do that at home.  Sweetpea is back to her normal self so we think this may be a false alarm.  Let's hope so as she is not a good candidate for insulin shots and blood glucose testing!

Albert

Meanwhile Albert, our deaf mancat, is off his food and very lethargic.  Not much else and since it is very hot out we have not taken him in to be checked yet. He will go to see the vet Thursday (today).  He needs a senior check up being 11 this year.  Hopefully all will be OK!  Paws crossed everyone!

Georgie  still has a shaved belly and paw form her last hospital visit.

Georgie has been a little off her food and her blood sugar is waffling again.  With all she has been thru her liver is damaged.  Mom decided to try a holistic vet in another county and took Georgie on Monday this week.  Well worth the 40 minute drive.  Georgie got acupuncture and came home with probiotics, digestive enzymes and vitamin B - all to help her liver heal which will in turn help all the other digestive issues - appetite, constipation and diabetes.  Georgie did really well and Mom liked the vet very much. We had a vet back at our old house that was holistic but have not found anyone here.

A pic of the acupuncture needles in Georgie

We have a lot to be thankful for - living in an area with access to great vet care - holistic and conventional, a new approach to helping Georgie with her diabetes,  new donations to our Paypal account that enable us to take the cats to the vet and  all the dear friends who purr, pray and help Mom thru our ups and downs in caring for all of us senior and special needs cats.

Courtesy of communityroundtable.com

Mancats on Monday

Mr Kitty here today.  We have been having a heat wave since June - most places in the 90s but we have been in the upper 80s instead cuz we are in the mountains.  Still hot.  I like it hot since I come from Massachusetts so I beg to go out on the porch and just bake in the sun. I lay sprawled out like a beached whale soaking up the sun! The humans won't let me stay out there except for early morning and later in the day so I don't overdo it. 

Two Spot is out in the cat house and it is warmer there - it is built into the hillside so is cool in the indoor room and the porch is shaded with lots of fans.  Most days it is only 80 degrees out there.  If anyone looks too hot then the beans wet them down with cold water.  Al likes that!

Only loves the heat and lays out on the screen porch of the cat house in a stupor and he is in his glory!  Of course he doesn't mind getting wiped down with cold water either!

Norm or Normy as the beans call him is a shy guy and keeps to himself unless he is with Snowball who he adores! (I am not sure what THAT is all about.)  He comes out to the porch during the cooler parts of the day.

 Now Woody shares life in the house with me.  Even tho he is a youngster at nine compared to the rest of us 15 plus year olds, he was brought in due to Al bullying him in the cat house.  He lives the life of Reilly now so he is the one who lucked out!

Snowball is the head honcho of the cat house and he knows it.  He and Al go at it a lot since Al thinks he is the head cat.  Al has his own room within a room out there but in the hot weather, the beans have kept Al's room open for anyone to come in and for Al to go where he wants.  So far they have been pretty peaceful.  The heat is enough to keep everyone's minds occupied elsewhere.

And then there is Sam.  He is the only one with a tipped ear.  He looked so much like Georgie and Norm that no one could tell him apart so the beans had the vet tip his ear when he was neutered.  He is the most reclusive one - is never out, always hiding in a box, cabinet or under a chair. He comes out for food - thus this shot!  If the beans can get their hands on him (when he is out eating) he loves petting.  Go figure!

And last but never least is our Al.  He is a charmer with the humans but a bully with the cats.  With his long furs he is minding the heat more than the others and loves to be wetted down - really soaked.  He has been very mellow too lately - maybe as he gets older he is finally chilling out.

Hope you have enjoyed this visit with all our mancats.  Maybe next week we can feature the ladycats.  Hint...hint.  *wink, wink*

P.S. For those of you not on Facebook, Georgie had to spend a day and overnight at the ER vet this weekend due to being severely constipated and blocked.  After several enemas, they got her opened up.  Being diabetic this is more challenging because she was vomiting and not eating.  The humans will now be vigilant in keeping an eye on her input and output -  when she uses the litter box, giving her lots of Miralx and making sure she eats plenty of food.  It is a challenge to monitor her this way with all of us to care for too.

With all of the huge vet bills we have accumulated for Georgie over the past month or so, we will be hosting an auction within the next few weeks (will keep you posted) and also have added a Wish List on Amazon for our essentials like food and medications.  Check it out and please share!

International Box Day - June 19

Mr Kitty - a big cat in a small box

 For kitties, everyday is box day!  Boxes are better than any toys we could have - we can sit in them, nap in them and hide in them. 

Al in his nap box

 Wishing cats everywhere Happy International Box Day!

Two Spot taking up all his box.

Wordy Wednesday with Al

As you know we planned on seeing the Acro Cats over the past weekend.  We found out online that they were auditioning local cats for guest spots with the Rock Cats band so we took our Al in.  He is deaf but we have trained him to respond to hand signals and his lack of hearing makes him immune to the noise of the crowd.  Maybe he won't hear the music he makes but he can bang the drums!

We will share some pics of the Acro Cats in action while we finish telling our exciting story about Al.

We went the the theater early and sat thru various other cat's auditions.  When it came to our Al's turn, he did wonderfully!  He caught on quickly and never even wandered from his seat.  After answering a few more questions, we were very excited to learn they had chosen our Al to guest star on Sunday's late show!  That gave them time to work with him a bit.

Flash ahead...time for the show and the theater was filling up quickly with people of all ages.  Samantha began with the star Tuna and introduced each of the cats with a wonderful acrobatic routine.  She even has a groundhog named Garfield, some tightrope walking rats and a chicken named Gregory Peck.  All of her cats are rescues and she told us each of their stories.

Then...drum roll...the highlight of the show - the Rock Cats. The guitarist and keyboard cats came out and finally Al on drums.  He looked specatular!!  It was quite the event to see them all playing along with Tuna on cowbells and Sookie on chimes.

Al wasn't happy with the pink collar he had to wear but all went smoothly and no one knew it was not the actual Rock Cat drummer Dakota until they revealed his identity at the end of the show!  We are so proud of our Al!

This was a April Fool post from 2013 when we went to see the Acro-cats.  Al does look like their white cat but all of this was made up by our Mom!

Thankful Mancat Monday

Snowball with Only behind him

 Mom didn't get to post this last night as we had BAD storms and even a tornado watch - very scary!  The storms lasted until 2 in the morning and ended with one huge clap of thunder that sent us all into hiding.  It sounded like something got hit right over us but this morning nothing looked amiss.  So us mancats are very thankful nothing was damaged in our area last night.  Wishing you all a happy week!

Two Spot hamming it up

Al napping - his ear tips get dirty - time to wash them.

Norm hiding in his box

Sam's usual hiss and growl greeting

Woody watching for storms

International Box Day!

Woody

Woody reporting today.  Sheeez...Mom almost for got our favorite day - International Box Day!!!  What cat doesn't love boxes - they are great to play in, nap and even hide in.  Whenever we get a package in the mail  it is the box we love best right?  So Happy Box Day kitties!

Al

Snowball on left - Norm on right

Happy Father's Day!

Pop and Al

All us cats think we have one of the best father's in the world.  He does so much for us day in and day out.  Pop drives all over town to find our special Pet Guard and Wellness food in large cans and hauls big bags of cat litter from the truck into the cat house.  Pop is the one who can catch us when we have to go to the V-E-T and puts us in the PTU!  Now that he is retired,  if Mom is working, Pop will take us to the V-E-T.  He doesn't like to do that anymore than we like to go but it can't be helped sometimes.

Pop loving on Snowball

He loves all of us and makes sure he spends one on one time with each of us every day.  There is a lot of us so that takes some time.  He helps Mom with the white kitties most 'cuz they share a man cave together (even tho the two girls Georgie and Smidge live with us too.)

Sweetpea hoping to get some of Pop's supper.

Pop will shovel snow to make a path out to the man cave and check on us in bad weather.  When power goes off, he even runs extra power lines for the generator. And every day he mixes Snowball's special food additives (to help keep him regular) into his food and gets him to eat.  We don't know what we would do without our Pop.  He is very special to us.

Wishing our Pop and all Dads everywhere a wonderful Father's Day!

Al, Ivy and Darby Consult with a Pet Pyschic

Albert

A few days ago we were contacted by Psychic Source, an online psychic group, for a free pet psychic consult with Nancy.  I was told to email a photo of the cats we wanted Nancy to read so I chose Albert, Ivy and Darby.  At the arranged time, I placed a phone call to Nancy and we began the 30 minute consult.  The cats were in the other room either asleep or watching bird TV.  I will write about what Nancy said and then after, how it related to the cat  and us.

Albert - Nancy honed in on Al, our deaf cat,  first and wanted to talk about him. She asked how long we had had him (since he was a kitten) and how old he was (9).   Before he came to us Nancy said that he felt rejected and without support, even by his mother.  He struggled alone and feeling excluded. Now she said he does get support from us.  Nancy saw a male figure in Al's life giving him steady reliable support. This male figure is Al's rock. He is dependable for Al and Al wants to please him very much. Their relationship is very stabilizing to Al.

She explained that Al does have a cold side to him, that he can be domineering, arrogant and cut off from his emotions.  Like a person who has shut down his emotions, he can be overbearing because of this. In his own room, Al is confident and peaceful: he feels safe. He loves his humans.  She said that when Al lashes out at the cats or us, it is fear based.  Some cats pull back in fear but Al becomes aggressive.  Nancy suggested trying to find an online support group for deaf/aggressive cats for us to help him feel more peaceful.  She stated that All needs extra loving to make up for how he felt in his early months.

Al was found by the side of a highway by me as a tiny 8 week kitten.  He may have been dumped there by humans or wandered off from his litter.  Obviously he had been on his own a while since he was covered in bruises and cuts and matted.  He was very passive and cute as a kitten but as he matured he began to become a bully.  Al is very close to my husband and they do have a special bond.  Al looks to him for comfort when he is upset.  Albert does not relate well to other cats, does not pick up their behavioral cues and ends up in fights with them.  Snowball is out dominant cat in this group but Al is always confronting him.

I think Nancy did get an accurate picture of Al - and his feeling rejected and dominant explains his aggressive behavior. We are going to try to find a support group online to help him - if anyone knows of one, let us know.  We love Al but he has been our problem child since he matured.  For his safety and the safety of the other white cats, Al has his own room and is let out only if we are there to supervise.

Ivy

 Ivy - The first thing Nancy said about Ivy is that she struggles with her vision.  She described her as tiny and very loving with a strong bond with me.  Outside she explained that she suffered from the other cats. Inside with us Ivy feels special, protected and safe.  I asked if she was OK and Nancy replied that Ivy was content , feeling harmony and balance in her life.  Nancy felt that she is not ready to leave this earth and will be with us for several more years.  She told me that I look like an "angel" to Ivy and that I have done the best I could do to care for her.

I have noticed that Ivy seems to hesitate when getting up on furniture and often is startled when other cats come s close.  Her vision may be the reason so we will take her to a vet to check this out.  She is a small cat - at six pounds and in spite of being feral for seven years is affectionate and loving to both my husband and myself.  I am her constant companion.  Unless she is sleeping, she is right next to me or on my lap.She comes to me when she wants something quacking her funny quack.  She was the last of the ferals in this group to be brought indoors and I fear that her life was challenging.  Nancy was right when she said she was picked on outside - the male cats were trying to drive her off to start their own feral colony. Ivy is 16 and has FIV so hearing that she would be with us a while longer made me happy - I hope this will be the case.

Darby looking out the window.

Darby - Nancy saw that Darby was in great shape physically and was surprised that she was 15 years old this year.  She described Darby as a happy cat who gives much love back to us: she is very affectionate. Nancy did not see anything negative with Darby.  She stated that Darby had deep feelings and was very intuitive.  Darby can pick up on things without being told - she reads our energy.  In this way she felt that Darby is a healer, a cat that stays with us when we are not feeling well.  Nancy explained that Darby needed companionship, to be constantly reassured.  She learned to be quick and very sharp living on her own outside before we took her in.  She can take care of herself in spite of her small size.

Darby was found living under our rented house in another neighborhood, not a part of the main feral group.  She about six months old then and alone.  I thought she was a male cat watching her defend her territory with other cats twice her size, running them off.  She was the hardest to tame when we took her indoors, not even allowing us to pet her without smacking our hands. Now, she has a close bond with both my husband and me, sitting with us on the computer chair or on the sofa. She will seek one of us out always wanting to be near us.  If one of us is sick, Darby will be the cat sitting next to us the whole time, making biscuits and purring.

Nancy ended the session with a little more information about Albert and then about me.  Nancy said once again that Albert blocks off his emotions.  He is afraid to give of himself to only get rejected again.  She reiterated that Al had no loving mother and was lost and alone as a kitten until "angels" stepped in.  She mentioned seeing "angels" around my cats. Nancy saw me as an angel for these cats, helping them recover, bringing balance, health and energy back into their lives.

Hope you enjoyed this post!  This was great fun and I feel I learned a lot about why Albert acts the way he does.  I found Nancy to be easy to talk to, pleasant and very kind.  If you would like more info about this psychic group, click on Psychic Source.  Nancy's personal link is here.

All Hallow's Eve's Eve

Vampire Cat Tabitha

Another blast from our Halloween past!  Some years Mom would use online programs to do our Halloween costumes rather than try to fight with us to get and keep costumes on!.  As you can see, these are way scarier than us wearing something silly like a witch hat!

Mamacita locked inside the crystal ball!

Al made to look like a ghost!

P.S. If you guessed that Woody was a "quarterback" you were right.  Get it - a quarter on his back!  Come back on Thurs for the big Halloween post with this years real costumes!  And some local  spooky decorations too. Even Mom is dressing up - her pic will be posted later when she gets ready for work!

Al on Mancat Monday

Mom caught Al snoozing in his box on the screen porch.  Excuse the hog wire but we need to have that to keep the bears out!

We have had lots of rain here with flooding all over town.  Mom drove thru flooded roads to get to work one day over the weekend.  Pretty scary.  It has been warm and damp and none of us have much energy  - naps is good!

Two sweet friends have gone to the Bridge this weekend too - Olive from Cat Naps in Italy and Tom from Whisker Messages from a Church Cat.  Fly free dear ones - we will see you again on the other side.