Really? A year?

I can't believe it's been another year since I've posted.

Let's see. I've added two more cats to the household. Dinozzo and Tib.

Dinozzo is the son of an outdoor cat that my neighbors fed last year, but then abdicated responsibility for when she had kittens. She had four, but after a few months, she and one of the babies disappeared for good. The other three stayed at my house all through the winter. I called them BK 1, BK2, and BK 3, but later changed their names to Dinozzo, McGee and Ziva. McGee disappeared sometime in the early spring, and Dinozzo would leave for long stretches, but occasionally return for food. Ziva stayed. She had kittens Palm Sunday. I was going to have her spayed, but the little bugger got pregnant while it was still snowing outside and when I discovered it, it was too late. When she had kittens, Dinozzo completely disappeared. I now know it was because the dad, who I call Mr. Orange, was probably running him off. Mr. Orange also had a brother, Mr. White, who he tolerated for awhile, but ran off too.

Anway, Memorial Day weekend I was home doing my floors and saw Dinozzo for the first time in months. I ran out to feed him canned food, as he was horribly skinny. He ran to me crying and limping. I rushed him to the vet where we discovered his foot was broken, and he had a bone abscess. Guess what? So far, he still has his foot, but he's an indoor cat, as the abscess is still healing.

Not long after he came into the house, one of Ziva's four babies, the runt, got very sick. She had a respiratory infection and was not able to nurse enough to stay hydrated. I took her to the vet and my friends Anne and Vic fostered her for me, as I could not take her home to my brood. She was very contagious to other cats. Their dog, Magic, a Golden Retriever, fell in love with her, as did Anne and Vic. But, unfortunately, Anne had to begin chemo, so keeping the kitten was a no-go, as per her doctor. So, the kitten came to my house July 4th weekend. And there she stays. It took several weeks, but I found a name that fits her. Tib. But it has mutated into Tibbles (and Bits) thanks to some of my quirkier friends. She has turned my household upside down, but not in a bad way. She is a pistol, to say the least. She has a larger than life personality in a permanently teeny size body.

The other cats are doing well. Alex is just fantastic. Her diabetes is perfectly regulated. CJ and Sammy, who battled bladder infections for a year have been given clean bills of health. All the other cats are doing wonderfully as well.

My outdoor cat family is doing well, too.

Luckily, I got my part-time job back several months ago. It has made a world of difference to my pocketbook. It gives me the money to feed/provide vet care for God's creatures.

Catching up

I was informed that I was lame for not updating this blog for a year. So here goes...

Alex developed diabetes in December. She's on insulin and doing well. Only one seizure, something I never want to experience again. As she won't let anyone handle her but me, she is now forced to travel with me wherever I go, and subsequently she's made two trips to Florida already. She travels like a trooper.

I had the pleasure/privilege of caring for two cute rat girls this past year. Abby and Dixie came to stay with me last July while their mom went to Ireland. She was unable to come back in January, so I got to keep them longer! Unfortunately, rats don't live long enough, and they crossed over to the Rainbow Bridge. Ms. Dixie developed a tumor, that Dr. L successfully operated on, but she went to sleep on Memorial Day Sunday and didn't wake up. Ms. Abby got a brain tumor a few months later and we had to let her go. That was the first animal I had ever had to put to sleep and it was really hard.

CJ, after refusing to be an indoor cat last year, was finally forced to come in for good in May. He's had several bladder infections, which I only discovered by the grace of God, and now has to have daily medicine in order to prevent another one. He will have to take said medicine every day for the rest of his life. He still cries to go out, but he is adjusting well. All the other cats adore him. He got very attached to Ms. Abby, and spent a lot of time in the rat room with her. After she left us, he refused to go in that room for about a week. He still isn't spending much time in there. Maybe if I can find the heart to take the cage down he'll do better, but I am struggling and it's been almost a month.

Everyone else is doing well, with just the occasional little problem here and there.

CJ, Part 3

Well, last night CJ experienced his first thunderstorm indoors. Poor guy, judging from his reaction he has been traumatized by them for years. But by the end he had figured out that he was safe inside the house.

He continues to be the consummate gentleman, treating the other cats with the utmost respect and politeness. He allows them to "count coup" without reacting. He sniffs noses, and allows the boys to invade his personal space without a hiss, spit or baring of teeth. He usually just walks away, which is the perfect way to diffuse the situation.

This morning he discovered the bed and the wonderful things called PILLOWS!!! He made himself quite comfortable and had a grand time purring and lounging. I tried to take a picture, but he moved when I brought out the phone.

Adventures of CJ, Part 2

After much deliberation, much pressure from my enabling friends and a phone conversation with Dr. Ledbury, I have decided to see if CJ would like to be an indoor cat.

Last night I let him venture out into the house for a few minutes. He did really great.

This morning he again ventured out with even more interesting results. He came into contact with each and every one of my cats this morning. Oddly enough, the girls really liked him. Lucy decided to hang out in the bathroom with him, Alex walked right next to him, Colette pushed him out of his food dish, and he allowed her to do so with gentlemanly grace. The boys were not so enamored, but not one time did he show aggression or concern. He ignored Bosco's "short man syndrome" posturing and indulgently allowed Henderson and Jacob to invade his personal space.

When it came time to leave for work I had to remove Lucy from the bathroom while she protested loudly. However, it is too soon in the integration process to allow them to remain together unsupervised.

All in all, the first two meetings have gone well. I am feeling quite optimistic.

Adventures of CJ

Last Tuesday I took CJ to the vet to FINALLY be neutered. He had to go a day early so they could make sure he didn't eat before his surgery the following day. And I decided to leave him an extra day so he could recuperate- with him being an outdoor cat and all.

Well, when I went to pick him up Thursday evening a bit of drama ensued. He had licked his incision on one side and caused himself some problems- things poking out that weren't supposed to, stuff like that. So, after some poking, gluing and placement of a collar, he was sent home with orders to stay INDOORS for 4-5 days. WHAT? I was pretty well stuck doing it, because leaving him at the vet was not an option- he absolutely WILL NOT EAT at the vet's office AND he can't eat wearing "the cone."

So, he has been inside my bathroom since Thursday night. Luckily, I was off this weekend and was able to go in every few hours and remove "the cone" so he could eat. He's gained weight and has been quite happy inside, which surprised me, and led to a monumental decision on my part (see Adventures of CJ, Part 2).

OCD- score a point for me!

Alex has a condition known as FORLs. It is where the body reabsorbs the teeth- and is very painful. We discovered this problem several years ago, and she had to have four teeth removed and the other teeth cleaned to try to delay it for the remaining teeth. At the time, they were uncertain as to what caused it and the only option was to remove the teeth.

When my cats reach 8 years old, I've made it a habit to take them in at the half-way mark between annual exams. Last year, Dr. Ledbury's office started a new protocol with complete blood work-up that you can have done at the annual exam. He told me that if the labwork came back normal and noone showed signs/symptoms of problems that I could feel comfortable about not bringing my "seniors" in for a six month check. I concurred and began that program this year with ALL the cats.

However, given that Alex has FORLs, my OCD required that I take her in for a six month tooth check anyway. She is the only one of my cats who will not allow me to inspect her teeth/gums routinely. Ironic, huh?

So, today I took her in for said tooth check, expecting to be in/out in a minute or so, but unfortunately she had three teeth showing early signs of FORLs. New research/protocol has shown that early detection (thank you, OCD), a steroid shot/round of antibiotics can actually halt if not REVERSE the FORLs, thus saving the teeth and preventing pain as well. We are hopeful that we caught it in time.

I am sorry that she has the flare-up, but thankful to God for my powerful sense of intuition with which he has gifted me, and thankful that I listened to it. Sometimes I doubt myself, because I worry that I am obsessive. But, Dr. Ledbury never makes fun of me and I think he is starting to be rather impressed by it. I'm usually dead spot on.

I'm grateful to have such a wonderful vet who works with me to take such good care of my animals. I certainly couldn't do this without him.

New fur (temporary) children

I met the newest (temporary) additions to the family Saturday, Ms. Dixie and Ms. Abby. They are very cute and very sweet and I am excited to be able to take care of them while their mommy goes out of the country for a few months.

I hope to have some interesting stories to share. Taking care of them will certainly be an educational experience for all of us. I can't wait to see what the cats do.