Potty Trained????

No Such Luck!!!

                            No, Grace just loves to watch the water spin and spin and then go down.

Every time I go to the bathroom I am followed in by my sweet little Gracie. She patiently waits for me to finish then she hops up on the toilet seat to watch the water spin and go down. Thank God she has never fallen in. Well curious as cats are... she began to wonder why the fun of the spinning had to stop so she trys to make it spin again by putting her paw into the water (thank God it is the clean water). She then figures out that she really does not like to have the water on her paw so she flicks her paw getting water everwhere. Having 7 cats I was very thankful that only one had aquire such a habit.

                                    WRONG AGAIN!!! Bigs just has to have a paw in everything....
                                                          Ya Gotta Love em!!! And I Do!!!

Light at the end of the tunnel.

We have had a very yuckie Kitty Bug going thru out house for the last few months. Yes months. I hate to put the blame on any one kitty (I love them none the less) but... we believe Sadie brought it in the house. First because she was the first to be sick with a VERY high fever and her third eyelid was showing. The showing of the third eyelid makes me so sad, it is not pretty to look at.

In this picture it is pretty mild, at times that white cover would cover 1/2 of her eye.  Milo and Bigs got a touch of it but Simon was the next to get it and he got hit pretty hard by it. The third eye lid, fever, and diarriah, lots of it. We took Simon to the vet and had a DNA test done to find out what it was. Well it had a long name that I can barley say much less spell. Anyway know knowing what it is we were able to research it. It is aquired by a cat drinking dirty water (or eating somthing with the bacteria in it). Sadie came from a colony so likley she was drinking dirty water and eating God knows what. And it matches with all of our babies symtoms and then some. No way to treat it just support the symptoms. It is also long lasting with intermitent reoccurance. So Simon begins to show improvement. Then my Tigger gets it... this is not good because to say that Tigger is not a good vet kitty is an understatement.  Tigger went to the vet a few months ago for a regular check up. He was hissing and growling and swatting at the techs. He pooped himself... finally my vet looks at me and says the only way to get a really good exam on him would be to sedate him. They can do a light sedation and then do a reversal so that he can go home with me, so I agree. They get him sedated and bring him back in the room put him on the exam table and start checking him over. Next thing we know we hear him growling and hissing, UNDER SEDATION!!! then the little turkey swipes at the vet... she jumps backwards and comments somthing like "amazing he still has that much spunk with sedation".

Knowing all of this about my little man I really did not want to take him to the vet because he gets so stressed and I did not want to add to it but about the 3rd day in I could tell he was not doing well and I was worried about dehydration so I loaded him up and off we went. On the way to the vet he howled and peed in his crate which then got all over him. Got to the vets office and they open the crate and pretty much stick him with the sedation needle, 2 seconds later he has diarryha all over himself.

Just as he is showing improvement from this yucky virus he gets a cold, Thank God for L-lysine. It is a vitamin/herb from the health food store. My vet has always recommended to start with this and if no improvement is seen to then bring in the babies. He is on the mends and beging to act like himself again. I could not be happier.  Now just waiting for another one to get it, it is highly contagious so it is to be expected. What Fun!!

Did you know:

You can check a cat for fever by touching the tips of their ears. If they are warm (or hot) you might want to call a vet. You can also check your cat for fever with an ear reader thomometer, they tippically run normal at around 101/102 degrees.  (Sadie was 105 when I took her in)

You can tell if a cat is dehydrated (just like with people) pull up on their skin if it goes back slowly they could be dehydrated.

Cats gums are typically pink, if they are white that means that the cat is pale.

Showing of the third eye lid is a sign of illness in at cat.

Mommy's Little Helper

Tigger, ya gotta love that cat. Cats are curious by nature and Tigger is no exception. In fact he has his nose into more than all of the rest of the babies combined. I have had Tigger since the day that he was born. I had found a ferrel mother with brand new babies (still wet). I brought them home and took care of them, Tigger was the only kitten to survive. I guess this is why he gets away with getting into everything.

Tigger likes to help me put away the towels.

Fold the laundry.

Inspect the shower to be sure that I have cleaned it good enough...

Putting away the dishes, can't even get the kids to do this.

Gets the laundry basket for me...

So we can unload the dryer.

Puts away the grocery's, again where are the kids??

Pest Control, one of my personal favorites.

Making the bed...

Checking for dust bunnies, he is sure to find them on top of the fridge...

Helping JJ unpack from camp, he missed her.

More Laundry... it's never ending.

I love my Tigger... but not so much at 2:30am when he opens the panty door and helps himself to a midnight snack!!!
( He needs to learn to be more quiet, the bag of chips makes a lot of noise.)





   






Growing Up Bigs

Bigs, the newest member of or furry little group of friends is growing up way to fast. He went to the vet today for a follow up and booster shots. We first got Bigs on May 16th when I took him to the vet a few days later he was .7 lbs. Today 3.4, He is alowed to run around the house all day now with the other babies and he really loves this. He has bonded well with Sadie and Gracie likley because they are closer in age to him. They are both under a year old, him being about 3 months old now. Its fun to watch him learn to do things. When he first started to venture out of his room  he would not even concider going down the stairs then when he did attempt it he had to basically jump down one step at a time. Now he tears up and down the stairs without even a thought. To climb the cat tree in our bedroom was out of the question now he scales the sides and jumps around it like he owns the joint. In my last blog I talked about how when we introduced hard food to him he loved it so much that he would growl at anybody that came close to the bowl (I have this on video but for some reason it would not load onto the blog and work, I am sorry, it is really cute). Well this week KK went off to camp again and he is doing so well with all of the other babies that we decided not to leave him in a room at night by himself, this of coarse went over BIG with him. Now he thinks he is all that... the first night he slept in my bed with me curled up by me most of the night (heaven for me) I know that he just misses his KK. Anyway... Tigger decided that he would like to join us and jumped up (at about 4am) well Mr. Bigs did not think he should have to share so he began to growl at Tigger keeping him at bay by my feet. Laughter at 4am, I will take it anytime.

Sadie, Bigs, and Gracie taking a nap.

Greedy Growler

Okay, Bigs is settling in really nicely, right... He loves and adores Kaley, she is totally his mommy, he follows her around, watches her get ready for school, sleeps with her, sits in her lap while she is on the computer, lucky girl.

He is even meeting the other kitties and everyone is playing pretty nice and getting alone quite well.

Bigs is a super sweet cat that purrs all of the time. When you come in the room and he has not seen you for a while he will roll on his back and ask you to rub his tummy. He is just a super sweet cat.

We took him to the vet the other day to start his shot and such. He weighed in at 1 pound!!!!

The vet said that we needed to introduce crunchy food to him.

The greedy little growler does have a fiesty streak in him, he finished the entire bowl, guess you could say he liked it.

Thank God he is also a very smart little kitty because he also figured out really quick that I was just messing with him and I did not REALLY intend to take his food away.  He does not growl anymore.

Sweet little teddy bear.

UPDATE

My original video was to long and would not upload.  Bigs has started doing the growling thing again so I took a shorter video and it uploaded.

8-10-11 Bigs is about 4lbs.

Buddy's???

We have 7 cats....  It amazes me when I watch the animal hoarding shows on T.V. or I hear of a family that has 20 cats. I think, Wow, wonder what daily life in their house is like? Every time we get a new cat it is always such a process for them to "make friends" with each other. I personally feel pretty lucky because we don't have to many problems with cat fights but they do happen. First of all Cuddles, we call her the crabby old lady, she does not appreciate any of the other cats. She will growl and hiss and even take a wack at any fur baby walking by, they pretty much know to leave her alone. To bad for her, she should have been in an only pet house.  I won't give her up though because she seems to manage okay and I think she would not do well being re-homed considering that when we moved to our new house she spent the first three years under our bed. She would come out in the middle of the night for the little box and food. Now most of her day is spent on the ottoman and every now and then I even catch her playing with a toy mouse.

Tigger has been nick named the bully kitty before Simon came along Milo got picked on regularly. Poor guy he is so sweet, does not deserve it. But Tigger would stalk and chase Milo and come back to me with wide eyes and black fur stuck in his claws, thank God he only got fur.  Now that we have Simon he takes most of the hits from my little bully, Tigger shows up with grey fur in his claws or in his mouth. Sometimes I wonder if it is just play but by the look on Simon's face... I don't think he likes that game.

Gracie and Sadie came into the picture and guess what, now the bully is being bullied, by two girls (ha ha), I love it. Tigger is scared to death of the little girls and will go all the way around a room to avoid them.  When we first got Sadie and Gracie they were pretty rough with all of the other babies but they are getting much better now, I can see friendships slowly building. Maybe one day they may even be able to share some nap time together.  If Tigger and Simon can do it, so can the bitty bully's.

                                               For a long time I never though I would see this.

                                                  Simon rolled over, even better, I love it!!!!!

Another day: Simon came up and laid by Tigger he was so fast asleep he did not realize Simon was there.

                             Simon took advantage of that....   REVENGE ON THE ORANGE BULLY!!!!!!!

                                                          Tigger knew he was there then.
We still have little kitty's fights here and there but we are doing much better and that makes the kitty mommy happy. Sadie and Gracie are working on being little ladies instead of bitty bully's.

Thank God for my food...

Simon, my Maine Coon has a very neat thing that he does. I love to see him do it and lately he has been doing it a lot.

The breeder that we got him from tells me that it is called a "begging" gene. She said that Simons grandfather also does it.  But sometimes I like to think that he is thanking God for his food.

But... he has also been known to do this in the window sill, while he is watching the birds. So with that I can see that he would be "begging" the birdies to come back.

                                                                    How cute is that?


                                                        I hope that put a smile on your face.

And we have a name!

KK has decided to name her super tiny little kitten P.T. Bigs, "Bigs" for short (ha ha).  The P.T. is in honor of the neighbor that found him in his garage and kindly brought him to us, P.T. are his initials.

Mr. Bigs as I like to call him (or little man) has truly been a gift. I don't know yet why we have him but I believe he came to us for a reason, after all 6 cats were plenty we truly did not need a 7th.  He has been a joy, he really loves kk.  He follows her around her room and chases her feet. He is in her lap when she is at her computer, and she is sleeping on the floor with him because we don't want him to fall off of her bed (it is really high) and for the most part he sleeps with her. Being a kitten he is up a little during the night playing but he comes right back to her when he gets tired again.

I have to admit that I am a bit jealous of  her. My cats show me love and attention, but not like that. Sam a cat that I had for 17 years would get in my lap occasionally and she slept with me almost every night, getting under my covers and snuggling with me, I loved this and I miss it and her a lot. But I am happy for kk that she now gets the experience that I have had that has brought me to love cats so much. My Simon will sleep with me a couple of nights a week and even snuggle one or two of those nights but....  I really miss a cuddle from a fur baby every night.

Bigs is a playful little man.  Talk about making someone laugh - he can do it. He pounces and does summer salts, he chases toes and fingers under a blanket, he does all of the adorable things that little kittens do and somehow we are always amazed at how much cutter this one is.

This little cuttie new exactly what to do to steal our hearts....   WE REALLY LOVE HIM.

Chicken Anyone?

I love cats, each one has their own unique personallity. My original four (so to say), Milo, Tigger, Simon, and Cuddles all have pretty good table maners for the most part. When we eat a meal the cats don't beg or try to get in our plate unless maybe they have not yet had their own dinner. Cuddle's is most likley to break the"rule" especially for some yummy chicken.

Well, Sadie and Gracie were both adopted from a pet shelter and both of the bio's that they had for these girls indicated that they had lived in cat colonys. With that being said you know that they have had to beg and fight for food. These two little sweeties are well fed every day but.... One day I brought home some chicken from the grocery store deli for my lunch. I was so hungry that I just stood at the island in the kitchen and started eating. Next thing I know Sadie is on the island staring at my chicken then before I know it....

Sadie has a paw on each of my hands and she is ripping and tearing at my chicken.

Then tweedle dee (Gracie) wants in on the action.

She was being a little more lady like.

Needless to day that I did not finish eating that piece of chicken. When the fun was done it when in the garbage can. We have only had the girls for about 5 weeks now and we are working on teaching them house rules but I guess they are just doing what they are use to doing. Anyway....

                                                      How can you resist these faces????

And then there was seven.

Yes a 7th cat... NO we are not the neighborhood drop off for lost or abandoned cats!!!

On Monday our doorbell rang, my husband came to our room and said you need to come to the door. Well I was busy cleaning blinds and I thought to myself, why can't he pick from the fundrasing magazine from the kid down the street, I need to finish these blinds. I got off of the ladder and made my way to the front door, I could see my neighbor thru the window with garden gloves on and somthing in his hand that was at first unrecognizable. All I could see were EYES - BIG ONES, I thought is that an owl? Then I realized he had a tiny kitten in his hands. Black, my favorite.  I went outside and he begins to explain that he had seen the kitten in his garage that morning and thought that he had scared it out but when he got home from work, there it was. It had spent all day in the garage, one of the hottest days so far this year. He had nothing for the cat and was not sure what to do for it so he came over to our house. Aparently my husband told him that this was not a good idea but went and got me anyway. I had the men put the litte bitty baby in a kennel and I took it inside, much to my surprise this tiny little thing was very much able to eat wet cat food with no problem.

 Yes, that is a roll of toilet paper. The bag has big marsmellows it in. Don't ask it's a teenage girls bedroom.

The minute KK saw this itty bitty sweetie she tried to yank him from my arms and called me a cat hog. Needless to say bitty boy has been in her bedroom ever since.

                                                           Who's the kitty hog now!!!!



Okay so bitty boy has slept with kk and done homework with her, ect.. ect... ect... So now kk is hooked.
She begged and pleaded and for a little while it did not look like dear old dad was going to give in but.....

the soft hearted sweetie that he is, he did.  I took the little cutie to the vet today, they confirmed that he is a boy, about 5 weeks old, and a clean bill of health not even ear mites.

                                               That is a cell phone, told you he was tiny.

                                            Now the big problem, What do we name him????

The Hiding Spot

I have a book the is called: What is my Cat thinking? I keep it in my car and when I am waiting on the girls sometimes I will read thru it a bit.

Here is one interesting point that I read:

Cats seem to work on the principle that if they cannot see you, you cannot see them. They will often hide their eyes from view and stay very still if they can't get completely out of sight.

Our Simon must know this to be true. Simon is our 18lbs Maine Coon. Every thing about him is oversized so he can't fit into some of the spots that the other babies might choose to hide in like behind the entertainment center or under the couch. Simon has a much better and more effective hiding spot for a cat of his size

I am sure that he believes whole heartedly that no one will find him here.

Not behind his magic curtain.


Simon is so cute, he does this often and I always smile.

I know that my facebook friends have already seen this picture but....

Meet My Fur Babies

Oldest to Youngest:

Cuddles

She is our oldest cat, 10 years old. We got her when kk was 5 years old. I remember that day like it was yesterday. We had found by chance that there was a kitten that needed a home so the girls and I went to go see her. She was so cute, a tiny little thing with the most beautiful markings: gray tabby with brown and just a little bit of white. She had the cutest black lips. She was hiding behind a bunch of stuff but as soon as the owner dug her our and placed her in front of us she climbed into kk's lap curled up and fell asleep. My 5 year old kk looked up at me and said "mommy, we could name her Cuddles".

Tigger

This picture says a lot about my Tigger. He is a true courious kitty with a lot of energy. He likes to stir the pot! He is 3 years old. I litterally stubbled on him, a friend of mine and I were out one evening and saw a super adorable cat with big beautiful eyes. As I went to pet her I noticed that she had kittens under her (still wet) they had just been born. Unfortunatly mommy kitty was to ferrel to keep and Tigger is the only survivor of her litter. We are blessed to have this crazy little man.

Milo

Also 3 years old. We got Milo when Tiggers sister pastaway unexpectedly, Tigger was lost without her. We were very lucky the two boys hit it off very well and became quick buddies. Milo is a very shy little man with a very sweet way about him. He is silky soft we love to pet him.

Simon

Simon is about 2 1/2 years old. He is a Mainecoon. I have wanted a Mainecoon for several years so to have him is quite a treat. Mainecoons are a large breed cat, he is 18lbs and not fat at all. Tigger is 11lbs. We got simon when he was almost 2 years old and it had taken him quite some time to adjust but he has been well worth the wait. He has really begun to include himself in our daily activities and he to is very shy, but so sweet and loving.

Sadie and Gracie

Sadie/Black Kitty and Gracie B&W Kitty:  I had a hard time trying to decide if I should give them their own bio or one together. Sadie is about 8 months old and Gracie 7 month, I got them from a homeless pet organization in my area. I was not planning to get anymore cats, I already had 4, that should be enough, but....  I had a black cat for 17 years that passed away about 3 years ago. When I went to pick her out she reached out of the cage and grabbed me.  Well guess what, Sadie did the same thing, it broke my heart to leave her in the kennel and go home without her, I had sworn that if another black cat ever did that to me again I would not leave the cat there. This tormented me for a week. Knowing that she would be gone I went back just to see. Well there she was. I was not going to walk out without her again. She had a buddy in the kennel with her and they were cuddled up like one together and grooming each other.  KK insisted that we could not leave the other behind, I agreed. I am so glad we took both! So... they have been together since the begging so they got bio'ed together.

Cats Are Like Potato Chips

I love the saying: Cats are like potato chips, you can never have just one!

I love cats, I have 6. Everyday I at least one of them makes me smile, if not laugh. I have a friend that has threatened to call me the crazy cat lady and my responce to that was, I am fine with that. I post more pictures of my cats on facebook than I post of my children, by the way I have two girls, the oldest is 15 and the youngest is 13. I love my girls very much they are the world to me but my cats are right there behind them.

My oldest daughter has talked me into blogging about my cats which probably makes sence because I am sure that my facebook friends are tired of all of the kitty comments and pictures.

I am not a writter, my spelling and puctuation are never even close to correct but I would love to do my best to share some of the things that my beautiful little fur babies do that make me laugh and maybe someone else will have a laugh, too
.

I also hope to find other kitty bloggers and read their tales as well.

I will introduce you to my babies in my next blog.