Simply Sunday Morning

Time to play; time to have visitors come and visit their kittens;
and time for Teri to start working on cleaning up the basement!
Well, two out of three will get done, we're sure of that!!



Ps: Just a note about a scary occurance with that fun Peek-a-Prize box! While the visitors were here, Daisy got her head stuck in one of the holes! If that had happened while we were out of the room, it would have been a serious incident.

Or if I had been here alone, I may not have been able to free her easily, as it really was a two-person job extricating her head. It involved making the opening and her head very slippery with...Astro-Glide (um, well we were in the bedroom and it was handy, wink, wink) and gently getting one ear, then the other out first, then slowly slipping her head free.

So, that toy will be off limits to kittens til they are older, a lesson learned with a happy ending that could have end sadly.

Caturday Saturday

 Why, every day is Caturday around Furrydance!

Teri has another busy day today! She is going to the train station to pick up a woman who took the train down from Connecticut to meet Toby, and Teri is hoping she likes this person in person and that she and Toby "click" and he will "spoken for" and start his new life (being a good boy, of course!). The visit today will include showing her how to bath Toby, clean his ears, trim his nails and clean his nailbeds. Most CRex are prone to yeast overgrowth in their ears and between their toes, and sometimes chin/belly--any skin. This makes them smell "cheesy", which some people think is a normal Cornish Rex smell. It's not!

It may be due to their very short fur letting the skin oils attract the yeasts that are just naturally in the environment, or can have allergies as a cause for their presence, but keeping it under control is just a normal part of Cornish Rex maintenance care and my cats are used to monthly baths and all the rest of their "spa days". Here's a link to info on Malassezia (yeast) issues in cats:

Nail Bed Debris in Cats

This woman is moving to Iowa this summer and we decided it would be best to put Toby through the less changes possible, so she wouldn't actually be "taking possession" of him til after she gets moved and settled in and the weather permits (it has to be between 45-85 degrees to fly a kitty in cargo).

Toby has been behaving very well, having only sprayed twice in the two months he's been in the library room (if you remember, he's a rehab kitty--so cage, then bathroom, then bedroom...) and in the bedroom he was spraying a little still by the door, more than likely because he could hear and smell the other cats there. So I moved him to the bedroom/library room and he's been behaving well.

   

He is on anxiety medication still (Buspar) and I will leave him on that for a few months after he is settled into his new home too, to ease his transition. And of course, just like with all the Furrydance cats I have raised, if he doesn't settle into his new home, and his bad behavior returns...I will take him back with open arms.

Then after taking the visitor back to the train station, Teri is going to visit a couple who adopted a Cornish Rex through rescue, who are having some issues with this kitty and spraying. They came to meet Teri many months ago when they were considering adopting a Furrydance cat. But while they were waiting, this kitty came up through rescue and they fell in love with her. They have had her almost a year now and her issues returned, and while they never completely went away, something made her start peeing on the bed and spraying more!

They took her to their vet for a thorough exam and tests and even had her teeth cleaned and treated in case oral pain was affecting her behavior. It didn't help and they made the difficult decision to return her.

Well, they only lasted 24 hours without her and missed her so much that they went back and got her, and have now set up a large cage for her and I am going over to help with getting her settled and doing a walk through of their home to see if I can help "cat proof" it for them, pointing out any areas that might be attracting her to spray and also taking over some supplies for cleaning and to make her cage setup nice--pretty curtains, a "custom" litterbox (actually a 21 gallon storage box with high sides she can't spray over and an entrance opening cut in one end--like this:

This is a very sweet kitty, and they don't have any other pets, so it seems like the perfect home for her, and they missed her presence so much that they would rather adapt and work with her issues than give her up. She may be a cat that would benefit from anxiety medication too, so we will talk about that also.

So, today will be another day where I can end my day knowing I helped someone take care of their cat better, helped educate and inform them and that's a great way to end a day...isn't it?!

Frootbat Friday

Thoughtful Thursday...

Regarding Cornish Rex Mind Meld...

.

Wordless Wednesday

Kitten Mews, Rehab Recap, and other activities...

My, Teri has been busy! Today she is downstairs blogging, so we are having to entertain ourselves and you'll see, things have been purrty busy round the Furrydance house!

Kittens are growing up...they are now eating kitten food and using the litterbox (well, most of the time...they are still learning that one has to stop playing before one gets the urge that they gotta go, NOW!)




Mama Coco and the 4 flowerchildren spent 10 days in the care of our petsitters cuz Teri went to the Ocean to a Hot Rod car show with a friend. She let us stay there for a few extra days cuz we got lots of attention, listened to soothing classical music, and changing from chubby little kittens into svelte and racy CRex...that was the biggest change Teri saw when she picked them up on Saturday! (Oh, she stayed for a while and visited, munched on Guacamole, Salsa, chips and S'Mores along with a few Mojitos with mint fresh from their garden!).




Once back at home, she settled Coco and her kids into the master bathroom as they have outgrown the kitten tent for sure and this is the next step, while they are purrfecting their litterbox skills. They are eating canned food eagerly, playing like kittens do--crabwalking, racing hither and yon, and learning what the "bitey" is all about!



Disco continues to "Behave" and while he did spray once (right next to Teri while she was sitting on the couch, talkin' on the phone) otherwise he is much improved over his previous behavior. He is on anxiety medication, Buspirone, and he seems quite content. Well, not really...cuz he had to start his diet (so that means just cuz he's tubby, we all have to suffer!!).

When he was a showcat, he weighed about 11# and being confined due to his spraying, he ballooned up to over 13#. Teri got him down to 12# feeding him only canned food (The Catkins Diet) but hoped that once he had free run of the house again and 3 levels to exercise in, that he could go back to eating dry food free choice again. Nope! He is very carb-intolerant and got up to 14#, so now he gets canned food twice a day and a few kibbles of dry a couple of times a day.


And in a week he has lost 8 ounces so the diet's working!


Sonny, the cat formerly known as Keyser Soze, is being the purrfect Rehab cat, and has moved out of the Rehab cage to the guest bathroom and is consistently using the litterbox, not yowling, digging, scratching or otherwise acting out, so in another week, he will be able to move into the guest bedroom.


That is the routine at the Rehab clinic here at Furrydance and Teri is happy with his progress so far, based on how bad he was at his previous home especially! The other cats will be a bit upset they won't be able to lay in the sun on the bed in the guestroom--it's the sunniest room in the house and the cats love it...but one has to make adjustments when it comes to the well-being of a kitty with a problem.



And Zephyr, the newest "client" at the Furrydance Rehab Clinic, has only been here 4 days, but seems to be resting and not showing any of the anxiety issues that were reported in her previous home. Those issues included eating holes in clothes, vocalizing, frequent vomiting, and separation anxiety.



She is a very sweet girl, 4 years old with very lovely furs and a lithe body, only weighing 5#. As you can see in this photo, she is in the cage that Sonny was in a couple of weeks ago (of course, all disinfected and deodorized with her own personal bedding and fresh litterbox). She is relaxed, friendly, not vomiting-vocalizing-or eating her cat bed, so Teri is very pleased that she seems so at ease now.

When Sonny moves into the guest room, Zeffie will move into the bathroom and Teri is hoping that after a couple of weeks, she will start introducing Zeffie to Sonny and maybe they will become friends and keep each other company...that's the best case scenario while Teri is evaluating them and then seeking the purrfect home for them...maybe even together like Nacho and Peachie did! That would make Teri very happy!

Teri has had a busy weekend, updating blogs, making photo albums for expectant parents, playing with the kittens, Sonny and Zeffie, with time for a picnic (good thing it was yesterday since it's raining today!) with a smidgen of housework and getting ready for the week at work--gotta iron those uniforms still! In between, thoughts of Spot keep coming to mind but she is glad he isn't hurting anymore and that gives her peace. She ordered a special remembrance bracelet and it arrived on Thursday.

It's sterling silver and has birthstone gems on it, capping the ends of the bracelets hollow space for ashes. so she decided to have one stone be for Spot and one stone be for Bo, her beloved Cornish Rex who went to the Bridge in 2005. Spot's was born in June, so his stone is a Moonstone and Bo's in August, so his is a Peridot. She also got a pretty Cherry box just like Bo's Oak box and put Spot's photo in it.








And, we all know you are anxiously awaiting new kitten pix and movies...and that's what Teri has been working on all day today, and so without further ado...

Mancat Monday

Disco and Brighton duking it out...

                                        

We be missed...

It has come to our attention that a CB furrend was worrying about us, since Teri hadn't posted anything since the day she walked with Spot to the bridge.

Awww, someone's been thinkin' of us. That makes us purr!



But Teri is ok, just behind...cuz she went to the Ocean with a friend for 4 days and even though she wanted to spend some blogging time, she thought it might seem rude since the friend was footing the bill for the weekend.

She hopes to catch up this weekend, but tomorrow she will be on the road part of the day delivering a kitty back to it's breeder and then she is getting a Furrydance kitty back from a home in the afternoon and will be busy trying to get her settled in. She'll tell everyone more about her soon, as well as news about Toby and Sonny, too!

And since she was gone for 4 days, mama Coco and kittens stayed at our petsitters house, and since they get lots of attention from both the parents and the 4 sweet kids, she thought it was good socialization for them. She likes to do that when they are between 4-8 weeks old and is so fortunate to have a lovely petsitter who is knowledgeable and has super responsible and gentle kids too! But she is missing them, so she will pick them up on Saturday.

Oh, and some more news while we've been away from the CB... Kiki is expecting again! Teri didn't think she was pregnant since she wasn't too wild about being with her boyfriend, Sammy. We shouldn't count chicks before they hatch, but it's hard not to! The vet think she has 3 buns in the oven, and they will be due to arrive about June 25th...so we are already thinking of nicknames...like Firecracker, Sparkler and Cherry Bomb, since they will arrive near the 4th of July!


Teri is happy she has an extra day off for Memorial Day, to noozle kittens, take new pix and make a movie for sure...so we will be back! It means a lot to know we were in your thoughts...purrs and bunts from us, and heart hugs from Teri

Wishnwhiskers Sir Spoticus got his wings today...

Most of you have only recently met the cat called Spot, but he had been on earth for almost 15 years, and never met a person he didn't like!

Turkish Van cats can sometimes be tempermental, and Spot was no exception...but he only showed that side of him at the vets, or when having his belly furs combed.

The rest of the time he was a purrmachine extraordinare and the king of head bunts, often sending eyeglasses askew or making the recipient of his bunts bite their tongue!

He was born on June 27, 1994 and was a celebrated show cat in his day~~ by the time he met Teri, through Mike--Spotty's breeder and Teri's new husband, he was 6 years old and semi-retired from his show career, only coming out once in a while for the "Veteran's" rings.

Teri found him rather lumbering and placid compared to her greyhound Cornish Rex. But she grew to love his sweet, quiet demeanor and while he never reciprocated the affection the CRex showered on him, he made for a nice snuggle companion for all of them.

He never spent the night under the bedcovers like the heat seeking Rex, but had his place of honor on the bookshelf headboard of Mike and Teri's bed and sometimes even managed to steal a pillow sometime during the night, allowing the humans to have just a corner for their head...

After Mike died in 2007, Teri knew how special Spot had become to her and she showered him with love and affection because she knew, he too missed his man! The about a year ago, Spot became very ill and was eventually diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease which had led to pancreatic abscesses. The vets were sure he had a pancreatic tumor and that the exploratory would end with him having to be euthanized, but no...his problems were treatable and so Teri and the vets went to work.

Spot bloomed and thrived and gained back the 5 pounds he had lost, grew all his fur back and was doing very very well. He got his fluids sub q every 3 days, his b12 shots once a month, his Adequan for his spondylosis and cortisone for the IBD. Teri knew he was on borrowed time, but still...the end came quickly and took us all by surprise.

He went in for his yearly exam and labwork and the vet could hear a very loud Grade 4 murmur and his blood pressure was very high! All his labs came back quite good, except he was a little anemic. Because we didn't know the reason for the murmur, we took him off all meds as that could be dangerous and we made a cardiologist appointment.

Off he went to the cardiologists, and his exam and ultrasound showed nothing very serious, and the medicine for the high blood pressure was working, so we started him back on the prednisolone. But he started to fail, losing weight quickly, having trouble walking and so Teri made him a soft bed in the bathroom in her bedroom, with a heating pad and food and water close by so he didn't have to go far to eat and she made him a special litter tray so he could get into it easily and he was having trouble balancing.

He was getting worse and life was not good for him. Even a strong dose of pain medicine last night did not make him feel better and Teri was up with him numerous times during the night to check on him. Today she took him into work with her today and knew in her heart something serious was happening.

We repeated the lab work and he was more anemic than a week ago, and had lost almost 2# in less than 2 weeks. After a heartfelt talk with her vet, and learning that what was most likely happening to Spot, was that his IBD had turned in to Lymphoma (cancer) and that the therapy that he had been on for the past year had held it at bay...until we had to take him off his meds for a week. What he had was most aggressive and further treatment would not have bought Spot and Teri much more time together.

So with everyone's help and support, she made that difficult decision to let Spot go with grace and dignity, which he did right up to the last kisses that she and the vet (yes, the vet too) gave him on his broad and majestic forehead. With Spot's passing, as Teri has learned with the passing of Mike and Bo and the cats that came before...life is precious and we who are left behind have soft and sweet memories to cushion the sadness...

Grieve not, nor think of me with tears,
but laugh and talk of me as if I were beside you.
I loved you so, t'was heaven here with you.

Sweet Spotikins, we say farewell, but not goodbye...

ManCat Monday

GOOD GROOMING IS IMPORTANT TO THE LADIES!

(just make sure you got your ears on straight!)

                                          

The Furrydance Inn

Ok...the one time I told someone I wasn't quite ready to take a cat back, I lost track of them for over a year--emails bounced back, phone # was someone else's now etc...they did finally get back in touch thank goodness...so I told myself, whenever someone calls, I will say, "yes, bring the kitty back as soon as possible" and figure it out from there.

Well, for the second time in a week, I got that call tonight. This isn't a kitty with "Out-of-Litterbox" issues, but one the owner says has ADHD (runs into windows, yowls, knocks things over, won't sit for long) and Pica (eating non-food items like plastic bags, chews holes in clothes, etc).

I have been working with her for about 6 months with these issues and there has been some improvement, but now the owners are going to be traveling a lot due to caring for elderly parents and they feel her issues will get worse if boarded or just having a pet sitter come in twice a day.

I tend to concur, so I have agreed to take her back. What's my best case scenario? That the girl that tried Disco will find this cat agreeable; that Sonny falls in love with her and that they can be adopted together and all issues resolved; that someone who lost an ADHD, pica-prone Cornish Rex wants another one just like it??

I am actually looking forward to seeing this kitty again and evaluating her. I think she is just a typical CRex, and that this couple were just familiar with their previous English bred Cornish Rex, which are still outcrossed with moggies and could have a different personality all together.

So here we are, on Mother's Day, and I am being the kind of mom, who lets her kids fly away from the nest, but always welcomes them back...so they can get back on their feet again...

Here is a photo of Ms Short Attention Span (who's name happens to be Zephyr...that'll change--we don't need her to live up to her name, right?...she's the one with the short fur, MOL)

Simply Sunday Morning, Mama's Day

To all the Mommycats and all the CatMommies out there...wishing you a day filled with lots to purr about! Here's the latest Mommycat photos from Furrydance! Coco and babies are doing great! Their sniffles cleared up quickly and their weights continue to gain each day just as we want. The aren't quite at the stage of climbing out of their kitten box, but I did bring out the larger one as they are starting to need a bit more crawling space!





And here's their latest video! You can tell, they are starting to play, nibble and paw at each other--the beginnings of their personalities starting to show. I will have to say that Clover "Loves the Camera" and Daisy is just the "Baby Sister" and Buttercup and Dandelion are very close in size now, with their coat color being the easiest way to tell them apart now!



And here's the first photo I have taken of the newly renamed Sonny (the cat previously known as Keyser Soze). I figured Sonny and Soze are two syllables, similar sounding to the kitty and with a much nicer connotation than his previous namesake! Easier to warm up to a Sonny than a Soze and he needs all the love and warmth he can get right now!



It's only been two days, but already he is head butting me and not growling and huffing like he was on Friday. He is in a 4' x 4' x 2' cage right now, with a cozy tunnel bed on a pet safe heating pad and he likes that. He is resting, not yowling and anxious like his previous owner reported and so far, has not done any urinating outside his litterbox, so he is already making headway!



I hope that going in to work with me tomorrow doesn't knock our budding friendship on it's rump, but if he is too stressed by it, we will just lightly sedate him and use a short acting gas anesthesia, so he isn't scared and so we can do a thorough exam on him, too. And while he is asleep, we can bath him and clean his ears and nailbeds, which he would probably fight if he were awake.

He is very handsome, not much coat right now but that could be stress or nutritionally related...or he could be just one of those Cornish Rex with a thin coat instead of deeply marcelled waves.

Our 8th Lovely Award!

Sydney, our friend over at ADVENTURES IN NATURE gave us Award #7 today and we are beaming! Please take a moment to visit Sydney's Blogs, you will enjoy your "Adventure". We received this award last week from SOULBRUSH from London and it took us a while to gather the 15 new blogging friends together and let them all know we had an award waiting for them...


So, we hope this isn't a kitty cop out, but we're resting on our laurels with this award...as we haven't added any new furrends since last week.

Thanks again, Sydney!

Being a Responsible Breeder...

Well, I am getting another Furrydance kitty back due to "Inappropriate Urination". I just hope I am as lucky as I have been in working with these cats and he gets through Rehab with a Gold Star!

His name is Keyser Soze and I almost lost track of him once before! Right after Mike died, the couple who had Soze gave them to friends of theirs without letting me know they were having problems (their other cats picking on Soze). That angered me, as part of my contract says that I will take back a cat for any reason and then be able to chose the best home for them personally. They told me they thought I was having enough problems to deal with, and they thought they were doing the right thing...

They gave him to a couple who knew him and liked him...but he was going right back into a similar situation, multiple pets, and I just would not have picked that home for him, with his history of being picked on and maybe having self-confidence issues. But at least I was able to contact his new owners and chat with them, but they never did send back the Adoption Application form I emailed them and that was dissin' me, but at least they now had my contact info!

Then today I get a phone call that they have been having many months of problems with him, escaping outside, peeing everywhere and they are having to move into a smaller home for a while and knew he would only be under more stress there. And I am grateful for the fact that because I had kept in touch with them, that they knew how to get in touch with me and that I would take him back.

I asked them to fax all his vet records to the hospital where I work, so I can see what his healthcare has (or has not) been, and just like any time I bring a new cat into the house, he will be isolated and taken in to work with me on Monday for blood tests and parasite tests, so I don't expose my household to something he may have picked up on one of his ventures outside or from one of their other pets.

Then just like the cats I have Rehabbed before him, Jasmine and Nacho and Peachie and Disco...he will go through the "12 step program" to recovery. Well, it's not really 12 steps, that is just a reference to AA. It's 4 steps, each about 2 weeks long and a cat only gets to move to the next level if it's well behaved. Sometimes there is 2 steps forward and 1 step back. And sometimes (most of the time) there are anxiety meds involved. I follow the protocol of an animal behaviorist group that the cat hospital where I work uses.

Over then next few weeks, you will get to know Soze and wish him luck and send him purrs, but thought you all would like to see pix of him. He's quite the handsome boy, 4 years old and I am looking forward to getting to know him again and evaluating his issues and hoping like *&%#@ that I can help him...it's the least I can do!

Disco phoned Home...

The Alien has come back home. And while I was truly hoping his new companion and he would soon be fast friends...it wasn't meant to be.

And, I am a bit surprised at how glad I am to have him back with me...since Mike died, I have been trying to get back to a managable number of cats for one person to love and care for and letting each one go reminds me that Mike is no longer here, sharing my life and loving the cats with me.

I let Billy Idol (my other Sphynx) fly off to California with a good friend and I smiled as I waved goodbye, but still knew I would miss his silly ways in my life. I also was able to find a wonderful home for 2 kitties I got back from their homes because they were peeing outside the box in their previous homes and that was not sad but happy for me and them that they got through their emotional issues and could be happy again.

But Disco, who also had been having the same behavior issues, with help from me and anxiety meds, had made it through "rehab" and was being good, but I thought he would be happy being #1 kitty in someone's life and this person was going to be someone I knew and work with, so it would be even better as I would get daily news of how he was doing and what he was up to...

Well, both he and Tabitha exhibited such obvious anxiety at being housemates that he only lasted 2 1/2 days before he was delivered back to me...after pooping on the bed numerous times, yowling for 6 hours straight at one point and causing his new owner such distress that I welcomed him back with open arms, of course. Now, I am familiar with the Cornish Rex and Sphynx personality and other than the out of litterbox experiences...I can say most of what Disco was doing was pretty normal and would more than likely have subsided in a few weeks.

I am sure she thought I would be angry, but not at all! We both learned something from this experience and this is one reason I am always most comfortable "rehoming" a kitty locally, so it can easily be returned to me with the least stress possible. Kittens are resilient and maleable and adjust to new homes easily...adult cats have a much harder time and especially to someone not familiar with the breed...adjustments can be difficult and overwhelming at times.

This is the quickest instance of having a cat returned to me, but Tabitha was the first to say "It could be me, not him" and I knew I had to intervene. I had one young woman return a kitty to me after two weeks as she said she never settled in, kept meowing, dug at the door if she confined her and seemed to miss her littermates too much. Funny, but she came back to me and went off to live with a woman who has a boy cat from me and she settled in just fine and in fact, is so quiet and serene next to her very active boycat, that she often has to go looking for Lola just to say hello!

Another time, I had a kitten returned to me after a month or so, because she was constantly trying to "nurse" on her new owners exposed skin. She did that in the new home I found for her for quite some time, but eventually outgrew the behavior except for when she is very sleepy and contented. Each person has their limit to what they can give and take in a relationship, whether it be with a human or a pet...

But...these past few days and thinking about whether I will still be breeding Cornish Rex a year from now, but knowing I will always have at least one in my life...where ever it leads me. I think, who would I keep and who would I seek homes for, and this recent experience has helped me decide that no matter what, Disco has found his place here...with me and I think that he and Coco and me would make a nice little family unit...don't you think?

It's obvious, from the photo, that Disco is happy here and loves to snuggle with Spot (who is 15 years old and has IBD, Spondylosis and was diagnosed this week with a heart problem and was part of the package when I married Mike and I couldn't do less than care for him like he is a that part of Mike still with me).

...Funny, how things can change so, in just a week!

Our 7th Awardie!

Myahh! We certainly are gathering a fine bunch of Sweet Furrends! Our ladyfriend over at SOULBRUSH has just honored us with our 6th award! And a purrfectly purrty one too, with sweet sentiments...One Lovely Blog!


In accepting this award, we agree to post it on our blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and their blog link (that was easy!) and to pass this award along to 15 other blogs that we've newly discovered and to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award (Ok, this will take a little bit of time and effort...15 is a lot, but we are purrty new to blogging, so all our friends are newly discovered!)

AOISE'S WORLD

BALLICUS BLOG

CRAZY CAT LADY CARM

LITTLE PINK PIG

MISHCAT

PEGGY'S PLACE

PEPPER CATS

POPPY Q

PURR, BABY, PURR

THE CAT IN THE CLOVER

THE ST LOUIS MEEZERS

THE ZEUS EXCUSE

VICTOR TABBYCAT AND NINA THE TORBIE

WHIMPURRS WHIM

WHISKERS AND PURRS

Caturday Saturday, Part 2

We just found out Romeo the Cat and Pugsley chose the Beaufort Community Cat Project is their May FURPOWER recipient!










The Beaufort Community Cat Project (http://beaufortcats.org) is an all-volunteer organization in Beaufort, North Carolina, who advocate non lethal methods to reduce the free-roaming cat population using Trap-Neuter-Return. They are a charitable non-profit organization with federal tax exempt status, 501(c)(3).

Donate to the Beaufort Community Cat Project

Caturday Saturday

Lots of stuff going on this Caturday!

I had time to do another kitten photo shoot and out of about 50 photos, a quarter of them turned out good enough to share...and out of 3 videos, made one where they weren't just sleeping, MOL.

The babies are doing great! Gaining weight consistently now and starting to crawl around with their legs getting strong enough to lift themselves up now, instead of just their front legs pulling themselves along. They also can right themselves faster when they topple over. And, they are just starting to "groom" and "bite" themselves and each other and mom...it's so cute, like a baby noticing it's toes for the first time!

They are all quite fuzzy, and at this age, their fur isn't soft and velvety but more like one of those green kitchen scrubby things. I love all their patterns and colors--the cute tiger-like look of Daisy, the cute white stripe on Clover's face and who doesn't love little orange tabby cats?! Both Buttercup and Dandelion are Mackerel Tabbies, which is the pattern that has "fishbone" stripes down their sides. As they get older, it is a little harder to distinguish stripes from waves, as they go in the same direction.

Here's the latest pix!














and the newest movie!



And more news...

Disco moved in with his new owner yesterday and is causing quite a stir! He is a seasoned show cat and took all the traveling and hotel rooms and new accomodations all in stride, but he is going through some Separation Anxiety, and that surprises both me and his new owner, Tabitha (who works at the cat hospital where Teri works and who fell in love with Disco the first time they met!).

For the past month or so, he had been going in to work with me to bond with Tabitha, and so he would be less stressed, I sent him with his familiar litterbox, numerous cat beds/blankies/sleeping bag so he would have familiar scents in his new home. She is following my directions on how to acclimate him--keeping him in her bedroom for numerous days, then letting him investigate the house when she is home, but again confining him when she is gone. And I think he will settle in...but the first 12 hours have been filled with anxiety for both Disco and Tabitha.

First email:
Teri, it's 5:40am and neither of us have slept a wink.

I really didn't think it were possible for a cat to constantly meow and move around for 6 hours on end. I can't shut him in the bathroom because he starts screaming, and has woke Brian up twice (he has work this morning).

From 11-12:30 I snuggled my brains out trying to get him to settle down. From 12:30-2ish I consistenly ignored him, thinking he would get tired and go to sleep. First he spent a while going in and out of the bathroom, meowing etc. Then he started digging at my shoulders (I sleep on my hands) and eventually leaving bite marks all over them. It looks like I've been chewed on by a mouse! Toward the end of my "just ignore him" stage he started acting like he was lost... standing in the middle of the room yowling and pacing by the door.

Of course I felt terrible and started the snuggling phase again. No luck.

He's terribly unsettled, and although he's enjoying contact with me he's getting overstimulated and still acting ill at ease.

I know he needs time to adjust, but he needs to sleep! Should we ask Dr Jan and Fern if there is something else he can take at night time for a few days to get him sleepeh? Right now he's standing in the middle of the room emitting a "MYEHH" about every 4 seconds.

I'm going to sleep on the couch downstairs after Brian goes to work, I'll be back up to check my email.... later!

Taberious

Ps. I'm in love! Please don't think that I'm displeased with him. I can catch up on sleep, but he needs to settle down for his own good. The anxious excitable Disco needs... some help.

Second email:
I got a few zzz's on the couch. Whe I went downstairs (this was after his breakfast, and he has dry food to nibble on) he meowed for about 10 minutes and then was totally quiet. When I got back upstairs, I snuck in and found him sleeping in his bed on his heat pad. I knew he was tired!

But why didn't he sleep with me? I even let him sit on my face! When we were at the hospital he would get tired and go back to his cage to sleep. Maybe he just needs to establish his own space.

This email is taking me like 20 minutes to type due to mancat distraction. If he can stay off my keyboard long enough, I will update the blog. I have some very cute photos!

Third email:
Teriiiiiiii!

After my blog post I went downstairs to eat and watch some tv while he napped... I heard him start yowling and when I got back up here after breakfast he had pooped on my bed. I guess I'll be doing laundry...

Fourth email:
Talked to Dr. Fern on the phone. She said he's having separation anxiety (from you and his old home, not from me!) and we should change his meds. Just like the rest of us, the less sleep he gets the more stressed he is. I will either get valium or ace to give him tonight. Fern said on Monday we can figure out what to give him throughout the transitional phase (clomicalm, diazepam, more lorazepam etc).

He peed in the box while I was on the phone w/you. When I was talking to Fern he fell asleep on my bathrobe... he's SO tired. I'm going to nap with him for a while before going grocery shopping. Later this afternoon I will go by the clinic and get meds for the weekend. Patrick and I are supposed to have dinner, and Fern says to give him the valium or ace before I leave for dinner so he can get some solid rest.

I put his sleeping bag on the bed, too. Fern agrees it would be best to keep the disturbances to a minimum, so I'm going to limit my coming and going from the bedroom. I have to get used to using my bathroom without closing the door!!! I'm going to keep my window open a bit so there is some white noise. Also, no visitors for now (we must resist).

He's still asleep!!! *whispers* (see attached photo)

Thanks for your guidance. I'm very tired and kinda freaked out with the poo on the bed... but I can only imagine how he feels! We are just going to take it easy today. I will update you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am so glad I work with super people and wonderful vets, too! Tabitha has lots of experience with her work at shelters, with all the emotional baggage pets come with, so I know she will try her best to make Disco happy...and if he just can't settle in...of course, I will take him back to join the Furrydance clan again. I want him to be happy too, and after Mike died and he began his spraying and peeing outside the box, I knew he was not happy...but I worked with him, rehabbing him and he was doing 100% best behavior and I considered keeping him.

But I have worked very hard this past year to get down to having 5 cats in the Furrydance household, as I owe it to them and me to be able to have the time to love and care for each one, and keep the cattery small and manageable and so I have found new homes for 5 cats, and now they get lots more one-on-one time with their owners and can rule the roost instead of having to share, mol! That's what makes me smile and be happy when I think of them, and lessens my missing their presence in my house. (Plus, most of them are close enough for me to visit, too!).

If you want to get to know Disco better, you can visit his Catster page at
Disco's Catster Page
and his new blog at:
Purr, Baby, Purr!

Here's a new pix of Disco in his new home...sleeping, finally!

Frootbat Friday