Kicking Back

Felix Gets Long

I haven't seen Felix do this in awhile. He gets up on the sill of the cupboards adjacent to Loft Living and gets really long down the edge of the sill. It is definitely the one place no other cat can go and a place he can be completely alone.

I think he is still in pain from the whole crystals issue. I saw him in the litter box today peeing, which is good, but it looked like he was in a lot of pain. This morning I actually heard him yowl, which he really didn't do even in the height of the crystals incident. He then jumped down and soothed his privates with some cool licking.

I spoke to his doctor who said he has talked to guys (humans!) who have had these crystals and its like passing shards of glass through your wee wee. His continued straining and soothing of those parts is a bit of a concern and makes the doc think he is still in a lot of pain. I am going to go by tomorrow and pick up some more pain meds. Poor FeeFee!

The Stakes Are Higher

Triple becomes quadruple!

Lulu is a comfort maniac!

Triple Decker

Lulu is the serious, serious princess and the pea. This is the big "Babushka" and within it lies three clams! I literally took this picture when I left yesterday morning and when I got home she was STILL in the triple decker.

Koof is a pleasure seeker for certain!

Where's MacRib?

It has been touch and go with MacRib. All of a sudden she disappeared. We waited three days. Then suddenly she was back.

MacRib is back!

But Jimmy heard a cat fight under the house, the whole crew of Black Radishes heard the scrap, and now we have not seen her since.

Where did MacRib go???

Sunday Sunshine

Simone found this sun patch this morning while we were reading the paper. Can you see her pillow is actually a book? She was squirming around and enjoying the sunshine . . . while the other cats watched!

Camouflage

Can you find Koof in this picture?

Maxine's Up to Bat

Maxine loves her little sand box! She has tried to dig some of Jimmy's recent newly placed soil but was quickly stopped from that activity. Her digging is confined to the soft sand in her sand box.

Do you see the baseball?

Jimmy found it awhile back and Max has simply ignored it. Until we caught her almost curled up with it in her sand box. No one had thrown that ball recently so she must have brought it in there herself. So funny!

Gato Door

When we bought this house there was a dog or cat door already installed in this wall. Since the cats don't go outside we have never opened this little door. Well now that the storage unit is built this door now goes out into the new little room.



So the gatolinos have a new space to explore and boy did they ever explore! Simone immediately got right under the metro shelving.

They had a great time exploring until they finally realized: wow, its hot out here! And quickly cooled off inside.

Space for All

It's funny how small changes in the household trickle down. Felix is on watch with me in the bedroom. I am trying to monitor his urine outflow since he has had one accident. Is it because the crystals are on their way out or on the way back in?

Anyway, I am working with Felix in the bedroom with no other animals in the room. I am doing that mostly because there is a lot of evidence that this problem is not just dry food/nutrition issues but that it is exacerbated by stress. I walk out to the kitchen to get Felix's pain meds and this is what I see. It made me laugh out loud. What was so funny to me was how casual they both were about it. Almost like, well, we lost the bed so we will just all have to make due. Very cute. Only Simone would be able to pull this off. Lulu would have been swiping Max in the snout!

Meanwhile curled up like a pretzel Mr. Fifi reclines on his luxury bed hopped up on pain medication and hopefully making a full recovery!

Felix the Shave Paw

Can you see Felix's shaved paw? Can you tell his eyes are a little droopy? He just got his pain medicine and was enjoying the pets and attention I was giving him. It was great to have him back, following me around like usual. Except for his little dopiness he really has not missed a beat.


Simone, on the other hand, has been nothing but hissy since he got home. Hissing at Felix any time she is close to him. She keeps smelling him too. I asked the vet what that was about and they said when they come home they don't smell like themselves. They bring home the smells of the clinic and other cats. Sometimes, litter mates will literally not "recognize" the other litter mate for several days! They suggested putting vanilla extract on them both so they all smell the same! Weird.

Chores

I was doing chores and pulled the laundry out to fold, grabbing a new top blanket for our bed into our bedroom, apparently this dish towel fell on the floor. By the time I walked back from putting the blanket on Lulu had already scooped it up as a new hang out.


It couldn't have been three minutes later I walked past again and now it was Sicky in the clam!






They are so helpful with the chores!



I even caught Lulu in the dangerous hot dryer, which I promptly removed her from and put the next load of laundry in.

(YES, I double checked!!!)

Stink Walk

We went for a walk this evening and Max whizzed on the dirty grass. We have tons of construction going on around the block and everywhere you go there are stacks of dirt and gravel, trash from the construction crew and noise.


To make matters worse, the garbage men didn't pick up garbage today! So everyone on the block's trash has been sitting out in the humid 102 degrees today.

Even Maxine looked at this row of stink cans, then looked at me like, ah, gross!

Felix Goes to the ER

This picture was taken the night before Felix got sick but he must have been forming crystals in his urinary track while we took this picture. Do you remember a few years ago when Felix had to go to the ER because he had crystals in his urine? They determined he couldn't tolerate regular cat food and after that we put him on raw food. He has not had a single problem since then.

The last month has been hectic with the patio build, Rosie's visit, helicopter rides - all sorts of things! Well, when Jimmy was gone I didn't plan the animals food very well and ended up having to give them dry two times. Then this past week I did it again one time. Anyway, it was enough to tip his balance and he went right back to a blocked urinary tract. I feel so bad!

Yesterday we noticed he was uncomfortable and trying to pee but not being able to. He started getting more and more lethargic and uncomfortable. So last night at about 10:00 PM I took him to the ER. They had to keep him there over night. I picked him up at 6:30 this morning and took him to his regular vet at around 9:00. They said we are lucky we caught it early, that he probably wouldn't get as sick as last time. Last time it went to his kidneys and he almost died.

Felix hates, I mean loathes, the vet office. He associates it with the pain he felt when he was here for I think five days last time. He gets really quiet, low to the ground and all round freaked out. At the ER they labeled him a "caution" because of the low growls he leveled against the vet tech when they took his temperature!

At his home vet, they decided to put another kind of line in his vein that may be more comfortable. The doc said, "let me go help with that real fast and I will be right back." I hear them fussing with Felix from the room. I hear his growling, his yowling, getting deeper and louder and more un-cat sounding. Soon he sounds like he is being slowly tortured. They try again. No better luck. He makes sounds you have never heard before. Undulating, growling, screeching.

So the doc pops back in and is about to say something when you hear a loud hiss, growl, screech and some metal trays banging on the floor loudly. She says, "I better go help!"

When she comes back in she says, "Um, he's a little bit agitated right now and will NOT let us put that line in. Do you mind if we give him a mild sedative/pain reliever to make this a bit more comfortable for him?" By all means do! I know he needed it.

Tonight's update is that he is doing very well, hydrating, urinating normally and eating. They are very hopeful that he will come home tomorrow.

NO MORE DRY FOR FELIX!

Everybody Gets A Bone

Maxine got a frozen treat on this hot day. A big, huge buffalo bone.







She could barely get her mouth around it and yet she insisted on dragging it from one side of the yard to the other.





Later, we humans were so inspired we made some pork and beef ribs to gnaw on.

Four in One

Saturday morning sunshine.

Can you find each of the pets in this picture? They are all four here. Lazy as ever, they bask in the heat of the indoor sunshine while being air conditioned protected from the horrible heat and humidity outside.

Later this day Rosie, Jimmy and I planted flower boxes! It was super hot. At least the new patio has a fan.

Suspect Number One

Often discussed as an object of much concern on the part of both the Black Radishes and Maxine. . . notorious but rarely photographed. . . the source of much teeth chattering among cats and ears up chasing by the greyhound.

Who is this mystery creature?

The elusive squirrel.

Small, swift, smart (they remember where they hide all those nuts) and definitely a character in all the animals dreams.

The squirrel.

Lettuce vs. Pork Tenderloin

I know I write endlessly about Simone's eating patterns and odd habits. Tonight was a good one. Here we have salad on one side and a cooked and cooled pork tenderloin on the other side.

Lettuce vs. Pork Tenderloin

What would a Cheetah choose?

What would a bear choose?

What would a jaguar choose?

What would a domesticated dog choose?

What would YOU choose?

Well, Simone is not like the rest. She chose salad.

New Twist on Cat in a Box

Double trouble.

We took the Zappos box from my recent shoe purchase and turned it into the greatest new spot in the house. It is such a potent spot that even the space UNDER the spot is hot.

Cats never tire of the box.

Endless fun, inexpensive and very satisfying to them somehow.

Chair, Cat, Tree

Cat Nap

I guess I always thought of a cat nap as a little snooze, but these cats can sleep! I left Koof curled up in the Gato Bowl this morning and when I came home after work she was STILL wrapped up in that bowl just barely opening her eyes long enough to put her chin up asking for pets. She looks so peaceful here watching the birds and bugs.

Meanwhile, Felix is in position to watch my every move trying to anticipate when he is going to get dinner! Unfortunately for him he has about an hour and a half wait from when I took this picture!



Gratuitous pics of our storage space being built:

Light Lulu

Lulu always lightens the room. She is truly a bright ray of sunshine. She scamps about seemingly without a care in the world bringing nothing but sweet purrs and lap curls with her. She often makes me laugh out loud, like turning the corner the other day and seeing her here in the dryer. That's little Koof! Always full of surprises. (Note: this is extremely dangerous, cats can die because people don't know they are in the dryer! Always check or never let your cat in your dryer.)

She brings a ray of sunlight to everyone, except Maxine! We noticed some scratches on Maxine's nose lately and thought maybe it was because she and Marley have been playing pretty hard (like usual). But this weekend I caught her stalking Max and waiting for her to pass and then swiping at her. Today she was on the edge of my desk watching Maxine walk into the office. She raised one paw in anticipation ready to swipe! Maxine turned around and walked out of the office.

That's why we call her the little ghost! (She's the one we love the most).

Maxine's New Back Yard

This is Maxine with her new porch behind her. It is almost like a little outside room. The roof is solid enough for a few men to be up there working on it. It has an amazing drainage system for water. They wired it for the ceiling fan so that will be no problem to put up. All in a days work!


The crew said they had worked all day and then the guy noticed a dog toy and water bowl and asked me if we had a dog. They were really stoked and thanked us for being clean dog owners!




The crew gave Jimmy and I the best client award for having a dog and yet not having the yard littered with poop! They said they once went to a lady's house who had two 14 year old dogs and she said she had NEVER picked up their poop from the back yard. Totally yucky!

Patio Day

Patio construction began this morning with a lot of banging, hammering, and voices. A crew of about five guys came in and within 6 1/2 hours we had a new patio. Max was none too pleased with this development even though it meant she got three walks instead of one!


Sicky was rubbing herself like crazy on this corner and meowing.






Felix was perched on this stack of cushions, which were later transferred to a new container to keep them protected while in our new storage shed (being built tomorrow).

Lulu was sound asleep on the corner of the bed! It was so dark in there I couldn't even snap a good picture of her!

New Spaces to Claim

With the storage and patio project underway we have a lot of items out of their normal place and have been doing a lot of deep cleaning, purging, etc. The cats believe we are doing all of it for their pleasure.



Each opened box, cleaned out drawer or new placement of an item gives them new territories to explore and new spaces to claim as theirs to sleep!