Mancat Monday

Kittymas is getting close, really close! This is Spot, who got his angels wings in 2008, but we have the gift of memories and I will always remember taking this photo of him, and smile...

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...

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!

Easy like Sunday Morning

This is Spot (you know, the faucet cat) curled up in the toy basket
in my bedroom. When I saw this basket at IKEA, I knew the cats
would like it and it makes a nice toy "box" too!

Thinkful Thursday

Our friend Fin, got us thinking about thinks...we mean sinks. Spot used to like to sleep in sinks, but ever since he caused a big catastrophe in late August 08, you know...Teri's never found him sleeping in the sink since!! But he (and all the other cats) do demand that every morning the first thing Teri does is to turn on the bathroom sink faucet so they can "fresh water".

Links to post on "Cat-astrophe"
Cat-astrophe

Spotikins, Away in a Manger

In keeping with the holiday spirit, here is our first gift to you...Spot, looking like snow, protecting the Baby Jesus...

Today, Teri is actually having a second Thanksgiving at our petsitters house (since theirs was pretty unspectacular at sis's place--instant everything and they ran out of food!)

So today, they are having a tastier TurkeyFest and we're hoping that means leftovers for us this time, MOL...