Friday, February 25, 2005 Well, I would have made an entry last week, but I got disgusted when all of the pictures I took during the week got lost when I put the card into the card reader. All of a sudden, it needed to be formatted. What the f? How on earth did that happen? And I got some pretty decent pictures, too. At least, I thought I did.
Anyway, I put some up today in the Family Album that I’ve taken since and here are a few to tide you over…(remember, clicking on them get them full size).
Annie
So, with all of this rain we’ve been having, the cats have been going nuts. They don’t like being cooped up 24/7, not at all. There have been multiple instances of the crazies. There also have been little spats. Not as many as you’d think, but enough.
Rachel and Ross
But it would also appear that new alliances have been forged. Cats who never paid much attention to each other, could be found snuggled up in bed or on the sofa. Ross and Rachel, siblings, who don’t really spend all that much time together, were curled up together on the bed. Even after I woke Rachel up, shooting pictures, she stayed close to her brother. But with the sun out today, things are back to normal.
Sagwa and the rainbow
Even when it was raining, I tried to keep to the regular schedule as much as possible, which meant getting up between four and five in the morning to open doors so cats could go out (I also turned off the furnace timer, so the heat didn’t come on at a quarter to six and I could stay in bed and sleep later). This was good, in that the cats had a chance to go outside and see for themselves if they wanted to be out or not. Fortunately, there were only a few days in the past couple of weeks that it was raining at that time. Maybe a little misting, but not many downpours. I was lucky enough to catch a rainbow on Tuesday morning and I saw that Sagwa was catching it, too. It was amusing, because he was laying on a cat tree, under the plum tree that doesn’t have any leaves on it. The other cats had run into the house for cover (it wasn’t raining hard, but it was raining), but Sagwa was toughing it out. I had to snap his picture, so I grabbed the camera and went out into the rain myself. I got more pictures of the rainbow, too. I sure like rainbows. I like the rain. Easy enough when I don’t have to work or drive in it.
Little Bit, holding still for the camera (and thank Bast for zoom lenses)
One of the latest developments at the cathouse is the pace of Little Bit’s integration to the house is picking up. She’s spending more time out of that hole and in the population. Not to the extent that she’s letting any other cat groom her and she still hisses and growls, but she’s not so bad as she was. And she let me take a bunch of pictures of her today.
I would watch her standing by the door and I’d ask her if she wanted me to open it for her. She’d turn around and look at me. I’d slowly walk up to the door, she would hop back into the hole, and poke her head up and watch me. I’d open the door, then back up. As soon as the coast was clear, she’d go outside. I’ve watched her and she’s no longer looking for an exit. She’s content to go out, munch a little grass, then stretch out on the steps. Today was the first time I saw her on the pillow that’s under the kitchen window. Little Bit really likes the sun. She was totally enjoying herself this afternoon.
Annie gets a drink of water
The kittens are better, too. It’s always hard to gauge their feelings for me, the human. I’m used to Monica and Joey running from me. I remember with Ross, I often wondered what he was thinking, because he’d look at me as if I were an axe murderer (assuming cats know what axe murderers are). Wide, wide eyes, I always expected him to dart off when I came too close. Maybe it’s just a black cat thing, but I don’t remember ever getting that impression from Phoebe. Anyway, I actually got a purr out of Joey yesterday as he laid on the sofa. And Monica came up to me for attention on one of the cat trees in the living room. She spoke to me. Ferals aren’t usually vocal. They learn quiet as kittens because inappropriate vocalization could be a death sentence for them. You don’t hear them, you don’t know they’re there.
The sun is finally shining and it’s good to be a cat outside
And I’m just as pleased as punch with the progress Chandler’s made. He knows that a toy mousie is a toy and not food. He doesn’t run from me outside (if I approach him slowly). He comes up to me in the bathroom in the morning, lifting his body up to headbutt my hands. He does the same thing next to the bed. I’m happy for him. I’m happy that he’s happy here.
I’ve started DeeJay on the chondroiton/glucosamine tablets. It’s obvious his back legs are getting weaker. It’s been over a month since he jumped up on the kitchen counter and you can just see his back legs shiver when he tries to jump up onto something. I don’t doubt the dampness of the past months haven’t done a number on him. And his bladder infection is back. But tonight, he seems a little more at ease. He spent most of the time on his heating pad in the dining room. It’s a good place for him. Other cats will see he’s there and not invite themselves to join him. But when he’s in bed, there’s all sorts of crabby noises coming from him. I know the supplements aren’t making a difference yet, that can take weeks. But I think the sun today did help him.
Since Brian has been spending so much time in the evening on the computer, and I’m back here with him, I’ve been giving DeeJay his fluids later and later. Which isn’t really a good thing. So, I’ve been giving them to him in the afternoon and I think it’s a better time for him. I know I’m not as tired and I’m able to better handle him. It can be difficult when he keeps squirming.
I think I’ll be taking Sammy to the vet, because his hair just never did get back to its fullness since last summer. I thought maybe it was fleas, but the Advantage I gave him didn’t seem to help much. But it did help Mickey. He’s not scratching and biting at himself nearly as much. And I don’t know if it’s the lack of fleas, or the new food, but his fur feels lots better. And he’s slimming down, which I know is the food.
And so is Bart. I took Bart to the vet last week for his eye. I thought it was still that corneal erosion from last May, but the vet said it’s a cold. So, Bart is on amoxi and has some eye ointment. I sure wish it would get better. Bart had lost about two and a half pounds, which he could stand to lose. Since that vet visit, I’ve been watching them a little more and both Mickey and Bart are playing more than they had been, they’re more active. I like to see an old cat play.
Well, that’s it for today. It’s late and I’m tired. Have a great weekend. And be sure to visit this week’s host (Mind of Mog) for the Carnival of the Cats. The Carnival will be in full swing on Sunday evening.
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