Feline Friday: Boots, The Bullington Gardens Cat

For Feline Friday, all you have to do is post a picture, drawing, cartoon, or video of a cat.

Now that you’ve seen the Fairy Trail at Bullington Gardens, I can show the cutest part of our visit.

This is Boots, the Bullington Gardens cat.  He was an absolute sweetheart.  As nice as the Fairy Trail was, I would have been happy to stand around and pet Boots all day.  He was so soft and sweet.

Boots came to live at Bullington Gardens because someone threw him out there.  (I like to think there’s a special place in hell for anyone who does something like that.)

Fortunately for Boots, the nice people at Bullington Gardens took him in, and now he spends his days getting lots of pets and love.  

Feline Friday: Good News from Theodore’s Checkup

For Feline Friday, all you have to do is post a picture, drawing, cartoon, or video of a cat.

Since I mentioned recently that Theodore went to the vet for a cough and was scheduled for a re-check, I wanted to let you know that the infection is gone and Theodore is back to being in great health.

The vet said his lungs sounded great!  They still want us to give him Laxatone a few times a week to make sure it doesn't happen again. 

Theodore was born in the vet’s office, and he grew up there, so he gets treated like a celebrity whenever he goes back.  I think, by the time we left, everyone had carried him around, snuggled with him, and taken pictures of him.

Theodore loves going to the vet! 

Thursday 13: Groundhogs and Flowers

1.    At least one of the groundhogs came back! 

2.    I saw one outside yesterday and put some veggies out.

3.    I’ve been putting critter mix and peanuts out for the squirrels.

4.    The groundhogs seem to enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables, so I’ll start putting those out, too.   

5.    The batteries in the camera died, and we didn’t reset the time, so the time and date are off.  From what I can tell, the groundhog(s) came back sometime this week.

6.    I am so happy they’re back!

7.    I suspect we may see some baby groundhogs at some point. 

8.    The hyacinth from last week bloomed this week. 

9.    Here’s another picture of it.

10. The daffodils next to the carport look like they’re going to bloom very soon.

11. Some other daffodils have bloomed a little more.  It was insanely cold last night and today, so I’m not sure how long they’re going to last, but it’s nice for now. 

12. Here's one more groundhog picture because they're just so cute.  

13. A Thursday 13 doesn’t seem complete without at least one cat picture, so I’ll leave you with this one of Theodore in the box he has claimed as his very own. 

How was your week?  

Meet Theodore

We have a new family member to introduce.  This is Theodore.

He’s about five and a half months old.  We got him back in November.

Over the summer, our vet had two litters of stray kittens born under her porch.  The first litter was in the early summer, and the mom disappeared before Dr. D. could catch her.  She showed back up with another litter, which was the one Theodore was part of.

Dr. D. managed to catch the mom when Theodore’s litter was still pretty young.  She has since been spayed, and Dr. D. has kept her. 

Each litter had five kittens, and Dr. D. wasn’t about to drop them off at a shelter during kitten season, or when the local shelters were struggling after Hurricane Helene, so she adopted them out through her office. 

The kittens from the first litter were adopted fairly quickly, but the kittens from Theodore’s litter took a little longer, so Dr. D. agreed that her office would cover their first year of medical care.  That makes it much harder to resist a sweet little kitten! 

I was at the vet with Tara and saw the sign about the medical care and the descriptions of the remaining kittens.  Of course, I asked to meet the orange male.  I had been without an orange kitty for over a year at that point. 

I was a goner as soon as I held Theodore.  He purred and cuddled up to me right away. 

It took a tiny bit longer to convince Nick.  Ultimately, we decided that even though it had been a horrible year, and we were still in the middle of dealing with hurricane damage, Theodore could be the one bright spot in the year. 

Theodore has absolutely been a bright spot.  He’s extremely friendly and outgoing.  He’s positive that anyone coming to the house is here to see him. 

All of the big kitties have warmed up to Theodore to varying degrees.  Charlie and Theodore have become cuddle and nap buddies. 

I’m hoping to get back to a somewhat regular blogging schedule, so there should be a lot more Theodore pictures coming soon.  

Feline Friday: Charlie Snoozing

For Feline Friday, all you have to do is post a picture, drawing, cartoon, or video of a cat.

I certainly have plenty of cat pictures, so I thought I’d join in. 

Here’s Charlie snoozing.

Doesn’t he look so cute and comfortable?  

Terbutaline

This post could probably just as easily be labeled “An Excuse to Share More Pictures of Howard.”  But, for purposes of the A to Z Challenge, “Terbutaline” it is. 

Terbutaline is the medication that Howard is on for his asthma.  Web Md describes it as “used to treat wheezing and shortness of breath from lung problems (such as asthma.”

Yes, cats can develop asthma.  They cough and wheeze.  Not treating it can lead to a buildup of scar tissue in their lungs.

When Howard was first diagnosed with asthma, we tried putting him on an inhaler.  He’s such an easygoing cat that we all thought it would work.  Unfortunately, Howard wanted no part of the inhaler.  Even Howard has some limits as to what he’ll put up with.

Fortunately, our vet was able to switch him to Terbutaline, which is a tablet.  Howard takes one-quarter of a tablet twice daily and is very excited to take them.  We put them in Pill Pockets, which Howard loves.  He comes into the kitchen and does his little meerkat pose waiting for his special treat whenever we get the medication and Pill Pockets out. 

Our vet told us it’s cheaper to get the Terbutaline filled at a regular pharmacy, so that’s what we’ve been doing.  The price has fluctuated quite a bit lately, so we’ve been using different pharmacies to get the best prices.  Some of them have some interesting labeling.  Some of my favorites are:

Howard Feline Zecher

Howard the Feline Zecher

Howard Zecher (Canine)***

***Nope, he’s definitely a cat.  An unusual cat, but most definitely a cat.  

Do any of your pets have prescriptions filled at a regular pharmacy? 

Joey

We’ve added another cat to our household. I know, I know, we’re pretty much crazy cat people at this point. Joey was already in the family, he just didn’t live with us until recently.

My parents adopted Joey over eleven years ago. He and his litter mate Harry (who now lives with my sister’s best friend) were dropped off at the feed store where my sister worked. I’m not sure if you can tell from the picture, but Joey is missing his back right leg.

Joey had the leg when he was dropped off, but it was mangled, and bent the wrong way. My parents saw him and wanted to save him. My mom loves all cats, and Joey’s plight really spoke to my dad because my dad has severe back and leg problems. He couldn’t stand the thought of Joey not getting the treatment he needed.

So Joey became my parents’ cat. We named him after Joey on Friends. We were all addicted to the show, and we decided that everyone loved Joey, and that our Joey was going to need that to get through everything. He had multiple surgeries in an effort to save the leg, but it was just too damaged, so the vet ultimately recommended amputation. Joey gets around fine without the leg, and most of the time people don’t even realize at fist that he’s missing a leg. He’s so fluffy it seems to hide it a little bit.

Recently my dad’s back and leg problems have become much worse. He has a degenerative spinal disease, and his mobility is becoming more and more limited. He will eventually become wheelchair bound, though he’s hoping that doesn’t happen for a while.

Joey’s favorite hobby is doing figure eights around your ankles. He likes to be right underfoot, and wants to be touching you at all times. This wasn’t good for my dad since his balance isn’t very good. After falling over Joey a few times, they decided it would be better if Joey moved in with us.

He’s adjusting well to life with us. He already knew Emma and Duke from all of the times they’ve visited their grandparents. Joey isn’t overly friendly toward other cats, but everyone seems to have declared a truce (though it’s uneasy at times). Like his namesake, Joey loves food, and is always happy to be given treats. He also loves to be held and cuddled. And I think he likes it here.

Number 5 – Trying to Help Truffle Find a Home

If you’ve read more than a post or two of mine you’ve probably figured out that I’m something of an animal lover.  So you had to know that some of my 31 Things project would involve animal related things. 

One of the blogs I follow is Animal Shelter Volunteer Life.  It’s a great blog featuring the adoptable cats at a rescue called PAWS.  It’s a well written blog and alternates between featuring cats in need of homes, sharing PAWS success stories, and generally providing a little encouragement for the folks involved in animal rescue. 

One of the recent posts was about a cat named Truffle.  Truffle is 10 years old, and has been at the shelter since 2009.  That is way too long for a cat to be waiting for their furever home. The post asked readers to please share Truffle on various social media outlets in hopes of helping her find her furever home.  So that is what I’m doing.  You can read all about (and see great pictures of) Truffle here or here.  I’ve also shared her story on my Facebook page. 

I’m also asking for your help with this part of my project.  Please take a minute to share Truffle on whatever social media outlet(s) you prefer.  It doesn’t take much time, and you never know if you might be sharing her information with her perfect match.   Adding the right furry family member might just be someone’s biggest Christmas wish. 

Twist Ties - More Than A Simple Way To Close Bread

My long weekend hasn’t gotten off to the smoothest start.  One of our cats, Milo, started vomiting Thursday night and was still vomiting Friday morning.  He has a habit of eating anything string or ribbon like, so I was concerned that he had possibly managed to eat something he wasn’t supposed to.  His appetite and behavior were normal, everything was normal, except the vomiting.  I checked all of his usual forbidden “snack” choices; all of our shoes still had the laces, all of my dresses and tops with ribbons still had the ribbons, the Christmas wrapping paper, etc was undisturbed, and nothing else seemed amiss.  But the vomiting was very, very unusual for Milo.

I called his vet and got him in for an appointment.  Milo hates the vet.  He hates any situation where things are altered from his normal routine, and he doesn’t like to be touched by many people, so he really, really hates the vet.  I ended up dropping him off so he could be sedated and x-rayed to look for any sort of impaction.  I was really hoping that this would turn out to be yet another case of me panicking needlessly about the fur kids.  It wasn’t.

Photo from Wikimedia

Milo has apparently eaten something metal.  His vet says it has to be metal because of the way it shows up on the x-rays.  It looks like pieces of thread in his intestinal tract.  There are four pieces, about a half inch long each, of whatever “it” is.  Everyone seems to suspect twist ties.

I can’t remember the last time we had twist ties in the house.  We buy the cinch style garbage bags, and it seems like all of the bread and bagels we’ve bought lately have come with the plastic clip rather than the twist tie.  That being said, I can’t imagine what else it is.  It doesn’t look at all like jewelry in the x-ray, and I’m not missing any jewelry.  Neither one of us can think of any metal thread-like object we’ve had.  The vet says it doesn’t matter what it is because that’s not going to change the course of his treatment.  We’d just all like to know from a curiosity standpoint.

Milo stayed overnight at the vet’s office for observation.  He ate well last night, which they say is a good sign, and today’s x-rays show that the object seems to be moving along, so it’s looking good for him to pass it.  He will be staying at the vet’s office until he passes it, since he will have to have surgery if he doesn’t pass it soon, or if any complications develop.  We’re really hoping it passes soon with no complications.

And we are now instituting a ban on twist ties in our house.  I have a feeling this episode is going to be expensive, and it has definitely been nerve wracking.  So, no more twist ties!  I just don’t trust him not to pilfer one away for later snacking purposes.  I guess twist tie versus plastic clip closure will now be the determining factor in buying bread and bagels.  Who knew such a seemingly innocent object could lead to so much trouble?

Putting On Pounds

Meet Marta, our temporary foster cat from the local no-kill shelter. As you can tell from the picture, Marta is very thin right now. She recently started losing weight, and has been to the vet a few times, but they’re not sure what’s causing the weight loss. Her blood work came back with good results and her appetite is decent, though she could definitely stand to eat more. She has also been de-wormed, though there was no sign of worms, as a precautionary measure. She doesn’t have fleas. Yet she continues to lose weight.

I met Marta last summer when the shelter asked for temporary cat fosters during some construction. Marta is a small cat, but definitely wasn’t boney at that point, and had a voracious appetite. She actually tried to eat the other foster cat’s share of the wet food as well as her own. She was also lively and playful. We took Marta back to the shelter after the construction, but I’ve continued to stop in the cat room and visit her any time I’m there for anything.

I went to the shelter Monday afternoon to drop some things off and saw Marta. She was being housed in a separate area to be sure she has access to plenty of food she wouldn’t have to share with the other cats, but hasn’t made much improvement. In fact, she has lost three more ounces during the past week. They asked if I might be interested in fostering Marta again for a week or two at least, to see if she might be able to put some weight back on in a home environment away from the stress and noise of the shelter. My husband agreed to temporarily fostering her, so I went back and picked her up yesterday afternoon. All of our fur kids are a bit on the rotund side, so our house seems like a good place for a cat to put on a few pounds. I also seem to the designated person in our family to try to coax pets who aren’t eating into eating something, so I’m hoping I can get her to eat more.

I set Marta up in what we call “the big room”; it’s an addition that’s the biggest room in the house, and has a sliding glass door so she can look outside. It’s also the easiest room to keep our quirky quartet of cats out of. We are currently keeping Marta separated from them, in part to protect them in case it turns out to be something contagious that is causing Marta to lose weight, and also to ensure that she gets plenty of food and a chance to rest and relax. The quirky quartet isn’t always big on leaving you in peace.

Marta is doing fairly well. She seems to have perked up a bit, and is responding well to attention. She is eating, though definitely not as much as I’d like her to. She really liked the Fancy Feast Appetizers last year when we fostered her, so I bought her several of those and gave her one last night. She ate very little of it though. I’m not sure if it was that particular flavor, or possibly the texture. I gave her a can of Friskies later last night that was a pate style and she finished that up. I sat next to her while she ate and petted her when she took breaks from eating. She seems to really thrive on the one on one attention. I’m also leaving dry kitten chow out for her, though she doesn’t seem to be eating any of that. I’d feel better if she would eat some of the dry food, since it’s supposed to help them gain weight.

This morning I used a food chopper to reduce some the kitten chow to crumbs. People use it to chop vegetables to hide in their kids’ food, so why not? I mixed some of the crumbs in with another can of the pate style food. Marta ate about a quarter of that this morning. I’m hoping that she’ll continue to snack on it for the rest of the morning. She actually left the food because there was a bird on the porch outside the sliding glass door that she was watching. I’d like to think that’s a positive sign, that she’s alert enough and feels well enough to go across the room to watch a bird she heard chirping.

I will mix more kitten chow crumbs in with another can of pate food today and also offer her a different flavor of the appetizers. I’m also going to continue sitting next to her while she eats since right now she seems more likely to eat with attention. I really want to put some weight on her soon! It’s just so sad to see her as skin and bones. Please feel free to leave any suggestions you may have for putting weight on a cat in the comments.

Milo

Milo is the second oldest and second adopted of the quirky quartet of cats. He is the middle child. He will turn four next month. He’s also the first fur kid my husband and I adopted together. We adopted Milo on November 1, 2008, just a little over a month after we were married.

My cat Edison and my husband’s cat Tinkerbelle had defected to my parents and sister respectively, leaving Howard as the only cat. Howard is not an only cat kind of guy, so we made the decision to adopt a feline companion for him. I perused petfinder looking for a cat who seemed suitably deranged to be Howard’s buddy.

Milo seemed to fit the bill; he looked absolutely insane in his picture, and his foster mom described him as “interesting, playful, energetic, and entertaining”. There was also a comment of “bring out the toy mice and watch what happens”. (We later learned he frantically chews the tails off because of a string fetish.) He sounded like the cat for us! I also learned that he had been dropped off at a vet’s office after his mother was hit by a car when he was about six weeks old, and I am a sucker for animals with sad stories.

We submitted our application and picked Milo up on Saturday afternoon. A volunteer with the rescue even stayed a little late to give us time to make the hour drive to the Pet Smart he was at. We met Milo and he was everything and more they said online, so we headed home with him.

He screamed (the blood-curdling scream that only a furious cat can manage) during the entire drive home. I don’t think he even paused to breathe. That hasn’t changed; putting Milo in the carrier still results in horrific screaming.

Milo and Howard bonded quickly and have remained good buddies. I guess the orange guys have to stick together.

Milo is definitely an interesting guy. If he were human I believe he’d be diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or possibly some sort of disorder involving paranoia. He’s very frightened by anyone or anything new, and doesn’t handle disruptions to his routine well. He’s also very focused. If we take something away from him and put it in a closet he will sit in front of the closet for hours trying to open it.

Milo also has quite a few fetishes, the most extreme of which is anything ribbon or string. He has eaten more shoelaces than I care to think about; we now have to keep shoes with laces in one particular closet that he can’t open. He has also eaten all of the drawstrings out of our pajamas. And he loves Christmas! All of the packages with ribbons are Milo’s dream come true!

I am Milo’s person. With any other cat, I might be inclined to say that they are my cat, but with Milo it’s a case of me being his person. I am the person he sleeps next to, and the person whose lap he will always sit on. I’m also the only person allowed to pet his head. It’s a Milo thing. I have no idea why he chose me, though I do feel honored. And I love being Milo’s mom. He’s everything we hoped for and definitely helps complete our little family.

Howard

Howard is the oldest, and first adopted of the quirky quartet of cats; he’s the second oldest fur kid. He will turn six in July. I adopted Howard from the local animal shelter when he was about seven months old. I thought my cat at the time (who has since decided that life is much better being my parents’ cat) needed a feline companion. My intention was to get a cat around two or three years old. Then I saw Howard.

He literally bounced to the front of his cage with this “Hi, nice to meet you! Let’s play!” expression on his face, and I fell hard and fast. During our time in the meet and greet room he climbed my leg and chewed on my jewelry. He was such a funny, playful little guy. The shelter (rightfully) required Howard to be neutered before I could leave with him, and due to scheduling issues with the clinic there, I had to wait about four days before I could take him home. During that time Howard developed a severe upper respiratory infection. The shelter offered to let me choose another cat, but I couldn’t do that. I had promised Howard a home, and he was going to come home with me. On my veterinarian’s advice I took my other cat to my parents’ house so that he wouldn’t be exposed (I think this is when the seeds of his plan to defect were sown), and brought Howard home.

Howard’s condition rapidly deteriorated; he wouldn’t eat or drink, he didn’t play, he just slept. There was no sign of the playful little kitten I had met at the shelter. Within less than 24 hours we were back at the clinic. They kept him for another four days during which time he was quarantined, given fluids, force fed, and put on various medications. They allowed me to bring him a t-shirt from home, on the condition that I understood I wouldn’t be getting it back, and they also allowed me to come visit him for about 15 minutes every day.

I was finally able to bring, and keep, Howard home, where he quickly returned to the energetic, playful kitten I first met.

Howard’s first year with me was an interesting one; he swallowed an earring and had to have emergency surgery to remove it, he ripped out two of the staples from that surgery, resulting in another emergency trip to the vet, and he got into literally everything. I would come home from work to find dry pasta scattered around the house or Howard with a blue mouth from finding and eating my pixie stick stash. Life was always interesting.

Howard has calmed down quite a bit over the years. He still loves to play with his toys, and loves all of his siblings, and pretty much anyone else he comes into contact with. Howard is the most easy going and personable cat I have ever known. I have never, ever heard him hiss or growl. We’re not sure if he even knows how. He has greeted every new fur kid like they’re his long lost best friend. He’s happy to see everyone who comes to our house, and he’s not afraid of anything. When friends or family bring their pets to our home Howard is just happy to meet one more friend. He doesn’t even protest going in his carrier or going to the vet.

If there are any life lessons to be learned from my big orange guy it’s to always give someone new a chance, and go through life happy. Of course, it’s impossible to be Howard’s mom and not smile some every day.