Flock O' Fuzzies

Merry Kissymouse!

2011-12-25T12:31:00.002-05:00

Hi all! We're sorry we haven't written in so long. Mommy has been really busy with all of her grading and final exams. Also we've had a few crises in the house. Fizzy has a really bad viral infection, Nermle had a ruptured abscess on his neck, and poor little Pookie has really bad diarrhea that we can't seem to get under control. Mommy has been running around giving everybody medicine and cleaning up poop all the time.

Anywho, we just wanted to wish everybody a very happy Kissymouse and hope that Santa gave you lots of treats and nip!

Ham Goodness

2011-11-28T12:09:00.003-05:00

Mommy was making a sandwich today and she gave us some of the ham left over from Thankgiving dinner. I never had ham before but I LOVE it! Daddy also gave us some of the fatty pieces and those were even better. We had to fight over them. Then while Mommy was sitting at her desk eating, she gave out even more ham!

Is today like some kind of holiday? If so, it should be celebrated by kitties around the world 'cause ham is really, really good.

Monkee Flinging Poo

2011-11-26T18:27:00.003-05:00

Mom made me go to the V-E-T yesterday. I should've known something was up when she locked me in the bedroom for a bit and then carried me downstairs. Once I saw the PTU (prisoner transport unit), I knew I was in trouble. I put up my best fight but you see, I haven't been feeling too well. I've had bad poo. I mean really bad. Mom was really worried about me so she wanted to get me checked out. The problem? I didn't leave a stool sample for her to bring to the V-E-T. I'm sorry, I'm not a poo-on-command type of guy.

Anyways, when we get to the V-E-T, I didn't want out of the PTU. Who does? We all know what's coming next: poking and prodding and getting suck with sharp needle thingies. Well, when Mom finally got me out of the PTU, I was not going to hold it in any long and pooed all over the place. This included on Mom, the V-E-T and his assistant. Yes, you can add in a monkey flinging poo joke here. I'm sorry but my tummy has been acting up and I was stuck in a PTU for hours [mom: a whole 15 minutes]. At least they got the stool sample they wanted so badly. I got a good laugh out of it 'cause they were swearing up a storm at the mess and the stink. Well, that's what they get for tormenting me.

I've got to remember this trick the next time I'm forced to go to the V-E-T.

Mom: Monkee is doing OK. The vet thinks he may have a form of IBS and gave him a cortisone shot to treat it. We'll see how he's doing over the next couple of days. Ironically, for a boy with bad poops, he managed to gain weight.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T12:15:00.003-05:00

Mommy said that today was a day of thanks and that we should think about the things we are thankful for. While there was some disagreement amongst us, we came up with a general list. Here they are:

Two humans who spoil us silly and give good scritches
Temptations treats (they are SOOOOO good)
All the cat toys, beds, and trees that are just for us
All of the brothers and sisters we have, even the annoying ones
A good home (most of us are no longer stuck in a shelter)
All of our friends out there who take the time to read this blog and put up with our sporadic and mostly crazy writing

We want to wish all the fuzzies and their humans out there (and maybe some doggies too) a very happy Turkey Day! Hopefully you'll all get some good leftovers to nom on.

I Has a Tail!

2011-11-13T09:57:00.003-05:00

But Mooooom!

2011-11-12T11:41:00.003-05:00

Tao: Mommy, why can't I go into the bedroom?

Mom: Because we're keeping Pookie isolated until we know for sure she isn't sick.

Tao: But I miss sleeping under the covers with you at night. And it's been really cold.

Mom: I know sweetie. I miss it too, but it 's for the best. I don't want the rest of you getting sick. Plus think on the bright side, you'll have a new playmate.

Tao: OK. But I wanna meet her!

Pookie is doing fine but we still need to get her stool sample checked to make sure she doesn't have any intestinal parasites. Though she was dewormed, we've had other parasites come in through rescued cats and we don't want it to spread to the rest of the household. We tried to bring in a stool sample to the vet earlier this week but her poops were so small that they dried out almost immediately and could not be used. Other than that, she got a clean bill of health from the vet.

I have slowly done some introductions between her and Tao. He really is desperate to get back into the bedroom so I've been letting him in for about five minutes at a time. There was some initial hissing between the two of them but as they are both young they seem interested in each other as potential playmates. I'll keep you all updated as things go along.

Welcome Pookie!

2011-11-07T11:33:00.002-05:00

As some of you may know, when Phoebe passed it left a gigantic gaping wound in my heart. She was a very special cat who I knew could never be replaced. Bear and I did talk about getting another cat. He was against it, saying that we had "too many." He did have a point in that we aren't sure if we're giving all of the current kitties enough attention even though we do try. I had basically accepted the fact that we would not get another cat.

This weekend we went to the local PetsMart to get our weekly supply of food and litter when we saw that one of our favorite rescue organizations was there with kittens. They were just packing up for the evening when I spotted two white kittens together and my heart just did a flip-flop. We had had two white Maine Coons in our lives, Moose and Boo, and I terribly missed having a white cat in the house. These two little ones were adorable, curled up together in the back of the cage. However, before I really had a chance to look at them, they were put in their crates and taken away for the night. Bear said that we could come back the next day to look at them.

We got off to a late start on Saturday but I knew that if the Fates meant us to have another kitten, one of the white ones would still be there. When we got to the pet store, the little white boy had already been adopted, leaving the little white girl. This worked out well as I had wanted a girl kitten anyways. After spending time with her in the adoption room, Bear agreed that we could adopt her.

Saturday afternoon turned into a bit of a nightmare. We were keeping the kitten isolated in the master bathroom but somehow the other cats knocked the door open, eating all the kitten food, and making a huge mess. The worst part? I couldn't find the kitten. I was frantically searching the entire house looking for this poor little girl. She's only eight weeks old so she is just a little baby and I couldn't even imagine how scared she was. Eventually, I found her wedged underneath the radiator in the bathroom behind the litter pan. How she got under there was beyond me but I was so elated to have found her.

Yesterday went a lot better. She had overcome her fear and was now being a typical kitten with all that little kitten energy. We've been playing with her in the bedroom and she is a little lovey. We'll start integrating her in the house once she gets check out with the vet. We know she is feline leukemia negative and has had worm and flea treatments but it's always a good idea to have her checked for other problems just in case.

And we think we've decided on a name: Pookie.

Snow!

2011-10-30T21:04:00.003-04:00

We gots about a foot of snow if not more yesterday. Luckily we had power but we lost da internets all day long and it just came back up. Mommy wanted to post some pictures of the snow to show you all what a winter wonderland we have here.

Mommy says sorry about the screen being in the way. The screen door was frozen shut and she couldn't open it for the pictures.

Baby It's Cold Outside...

2011-10-29T10:32:00.002-04:00

Chloe: Mom will you turn on the heat. It's cold in here.

Mom: The heat is on.

Chloe: No it's not. The walls didn't make the gurgly sounds so that means you haven't turned the heat on yet.

Mom: Yes I did. It's just not cold enough for the heat to kick in yet.

Chloe: But it's supposed to snow today. A LOT! That means it's cold enough for the heat.

Mom: Sweetie, it's 72 degrees in here which means that it's warm enough.

Chloe: No it's not! If it got any colder in here I'd be forced to curl up with the other kitties for warmth and you know how much I hate them.

Mom: Suck it up.

Chloe: Bah.

Phoebe Passed This Morning

2011-10-23T19:17:00.003-04:00

She took a turn for the worst last night and we knew she wasn't going to make it through the night. So Bear and I stayed up with her the entire night until she passed early this morning. At least she isn't in any more pain and can now play with her old buddies who passed before her.

We will miss you Phoebe. You were such a special cat.

Phoebe (2000-2011)

Some Good, Some Bad

2011-10-22T17:21:00.003-04:00

We did talk to the vet last night about Phoebe and got some good news. She hasn't developed hepatic lipidosis which in my mind is a Good Thing. However, we're still waiting to hear the results of the EPI test which probably won't be available until Tuesday. Personally I hate waiting but I guess it is all we can do for the time being. The vet did recommend some Hill's A/D to help her get eating again so we picked some of that up today. The only problem is finding Phoebe at the moment because she has managed to hide herself pretty well.

For the bad news, if the EPI test comes out negative, we won't be able to afford exploratory surgery or biopsies. The vet said it would run about $4,000 which we just don't have. The damage from the flooding in September wiped out our savings account plus we're not sure if it's worth it. If they do find cancer, the chemo treatments would run about $5,000 and we just don't have that kind of money. At least the vet understood this and didn't make us feel guilty for not going with the surgery. All we can do is try what we can with what we have and hopefully it'll be something as simple as the EPI which we can treat. I'll keep you all posted with news as we get it.

OK...

2011-10-20T19:58:00.004-04:00

...so Phoebe may not have cancer. It's been a roller coaster day so please bear with me.

After I read some of the comments from the last post I realized that a second opinion was a good idea. After talking things over with Bear we decided to go to the Oradell Animal Hospital. It's a good distance away from us but it is a top of the notch facility and they have specialists who could examine Phoebe and give us a diagnosis of something other than "it might be lymphoma."

So anyways, this evening we went to Oradell and saw an internist. She did another ultrasound. Guess what? She did not find a mass in Phoebe's intestine! There were a couple of things a bit suspicious in the ultrasound but none of them screamed "cancer." The internist thinks it might be something called Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI). This is easily treated with supplements. We'll know more tomorrow when the blood work comes in. If it's not that then we'll have to discuss other options like biopsies to see if it is cancer. I'm hoping it is as something as simple as EPI.

Phoebe Has Lymphoma

2011-10-19T09:41:00.002-04:00

We got some sad news today from the vet. After doing some tests, the vet confirmed that Phoebe most likely has lymphoma and that is what has been causing her health issues over the past few months. As you can guess, we are distraught over this and are trying to make Phoebe as comfortable as possible. She still has the leaky diarrhea so we're giving her meds for that and we're also giving her predisone to help ease some of the symptoms of the lymphoma. Unfortunately, it's just a matter of time. She has a large tumor in her intestine and we honestly don't know how much longer she'll be with us. From what I gather, lymphoma is not a very forgiving cancer.

Phoebe is the first cat Bear and I got together so she holds a special place in our hearts. We went to an animal shelter about six months into our relationship because Bear wanted a cat that wasn't "my" cat but "our" cat. After searching through so many kitties, I came across Phoebe at a shelter about an hour away from us. She was six months old at the time. Nobody had adopted her because of a scar on her eye from an old ulcer which was a shame as she was the sweetest kitten I had ever met. It took three days to finally bring her home. The shelter folks were a bit leery about someone from so far away adopting one of their cats but we showed up everyday for three days to prove that we wanted this cat and we're willing to do whatever was necessary to bring her home. She has been a blessing ever since.

Phoebe is one of the most happy and affectionate cats I've ever met. She is the kind of cat that dogs are jealous of because her love knows no bounds. Everyone from the UPS man to the pizza delivery guy is greeted by her as she rubs in between their legs asking for pets. She literally loves everyone and everything. I remember when we were living in an apartment and the super came to fix the stove. Phoebe would not leave his side and kept on demanding attention from him. The poor guy was finally forced to stop what he was doing and pet her.

Phoebe has also been the "go to" cat whenever my depression acts up or we've had a bad day. Like most cats, she has a good intuition in knowing when we are down or need some "pets" of our own. She would be the first cat to be with us and would plop down on her back. All it takes is a few rubs of the precious Phoebe belly and all worries or sads slowly disappear. Once she was done with her work, she would simple curl up around us all content, purring away.

Phoebe is definitely a special cat. I just hope that she holds on as long as she can but I know that her quality of life is the most important. I just never thought I would have to make this decision so soon in her life as she is only eleven years old.

I'm Sick Again

2011-10-16T20:28:00.002-04:00

This morning I woke up Mommy and Daddy with some really bad poopies. Well, I wouldn't describe them as poopies as it was mostly water and mucus. Gross, I know. Mommy called up the V-E-T to make an emergency appointment today so I got packed up in the PTU. The V-E-T is a really nice guy (Mommy calls him a "kid" as he's really young) but he was flabbergasted with what happened and how it occurred all of a sudden. He thinks it might be my toxoplasmosis acting up so he put me back on the antibiotics I hate so much. I still have the bad poopies and have had to endure two baths already today. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

We Did It Again...

2011-10-03T09:25:00.004-04:00

...we missed yet another important day on the cat blogosphere. Fighting cancer is a big thing to our whole entire family. Our mommy's parents both survived skin cancer and our great aunt Marion survived breast cancer not just once but twice! We've also lost some dear dear friends of ours: Ayla, the grumpy old girl whose life was cut short by squamous cell carcinoma, and Bomber, who passed away at the young age of 11 from intestinal cancer. Mommy is upset that she lost the photos of Bomber when her last hard drive crashed but she did find a beautiful picture of Ayla when she was just a youngin' over on her blog:

Ayla the Grump
(1990-2007)

P.S. We really can't blame the humans for missing this day because they've been so busy with the repairs to the living room. On Saturday, a nice guy from the Small Business Administration stopped by to do an estimate for a disaster loan. Mommy and Daddy cannot afford all the repairs that will be needed so a loan will help out a lot. We found out that there is a crack in the concrete slab that our house sits on and that was probably where all of the water came in. That is fixable but will be really expensive. Plus a huge chunk of the drywall needs to come out as well. We're hoping the loan will be able to cover all of the stuff that needs fixing.

Poor Loki

2011-09-25T14:40:00.003-04:00

We had to bring Loki to the vet this morning to get a steroid shot. The poor guy is suffering from some really bad allergy attacks. His eyes are all puffed up and he's scratching his ears and neck up pretty badly. We're used to seeing this in the spring but not so much in the fall. We think that because of the flooding there might be extra mold floating around in the house aggravating his allergies. I just feel so sorry for him because he looks so miserable. I'm just hoping that the shot works for him this time around. We've thought about taking him to an allergist but the nearest one is over an hour away and he does not travel well. Just going to the vet, which is only five minutes away, causes him to drool quite a bit and that is usually paired with peeing or pooping or both. Though if these symptoms keep up I think we'll have to bring him to an allergist. I just hate seeing him suffer so.

As for the living room, we had FEMA come in to assess the damage and we ended up getting a small part covered. It was only 1/3 of the cost of the actual cleanup but that was better than nothing. I have to give kudos to FEMA. They had assessed us and paid out within a week of applying. I never expected the federal government to work so quickly.

Another Update

2011-09-17T16:06:00.003-04:00

The Mommy finally gots to talk to the insurance people yesterday and they are being big poopie heads. It seems that we don't have flood insurance so they won't cover the damage from the flooding. This means that Mommy and Daddy will have to pay for everything out of pocket which is going to be kind of rough for us 'cause Mommy is only working part-time now. Mommy did apply to FEMA for assistance so she hopes that they'll get some money from them to help cover some of the repairs.

Mommy is kind of looking at this as a blessing in disguise. She has wanted to redo the living room floor for a while now as the carpet was really cheap and ugly. Now she wants to redo it with something more durable. Daddy wants more carpeting but Mommy's afraid of another flood that would ruin that again. Instead she wants tile floors 'cause they are durable enough for us kitties. However, tile is really expensive. I personally love the carpet 'cause I can use it like a scratching post but I don't think that argument is going to sway her over. What do you guys think? Tile or carpet?

Omelet Goodness

2011-09-14T17:16:00.003-04:00

Chloe: So the Mommy was eating an omelet this morning. You see, I LOVE human food and I always try to steal it from her. Daddy is harder to steal from but Mommy is SO easy. She always lets me sit on her desk when she's eating so all I have to do is wait until she turns around for a sec and then BAM! Food is mine. I love watching her to try and get all mad at me and all huffy and stuff but she's too slow to catch me. I just run away with the food in my mouth MOL'ing all along the way.

Mommy: I want to thank you all for the well-wishes and sympathy. It was hard losing all of that stuff but that's just it. It's stuff. We were a lot better off than some of the others in our community. One inch of water can be very destructive but eight feet of it is a lot worse. Our living room is still in a shambles but at least the carpet has been taken out and the walls have dried. And as for the books? Well, I've been meaning to convert them all over to e-book format and now is as good a time as any. I'm just thankful that we all are OK.

An Update

2011-09-12T09:26:00.003-04:00

Mommy, Daddy, and Uncle Russ worked really hard this weekend to get out all of the boxes from the living room. As I mentioned in my last post, Mommy was really sad that she lost so many books but when she went through them all she cried. She didn't realize just how many books were destroyed and that gave her the major sads. We tried to comfort her but we weren't allowed outside while they were sorting through all of the boxes. They had to throw away about twenty good size boxes of books that were water damaged plus a whole bunch of other stuff.

Then yesterday, the ServPro people came. They are specialists in removing water damaged stuff. Mommy and Daddy were a bit miffed 'cause nobody told them when they were coming and had woken them up. The ServPro people were nice though. They gave us lots of pets and weren't scared of us. Then they went on to remove the carpeting and padding and stuff. Mommy didn't get the sads about this 'cause she has been wanting to replace the carpeting for a while now. The whole process took about three hours and the men left a bunch of fans and a really big dehumidifier behind to finish up the drying process. One of the guys sprayed down this nasty smelling fungicide that is really bothering Mommy. She jokes that she needs to put some Ben Gay--whoever that is--under her nose to help get rid of the smell.

We're really not sure what to make of all of this. The fans are kind of scary but what's even more scary is that our downstairs stinky pans are gone. Mommy sad that she had to throw them out 'cause the water might have contaminated them. This means all of us have to share ONE litter pan. This is why I said it was scary. Mommy's good at cleaning it out and all but what happens if two of us need to poop at the same time? I don't want to poop on Tao by accident (like I almost did last night). Mommy says that she'll get another litter pan tonight and put that in the downstairs bathroom. I hope she does. I'd really not like to see a poop-covered Tao if I can help it.

I'll leave this off with a funny. Bailey (the big fat Maine Coon) sat on Mommy's little USB receiver for her wireless keyboard and mouse and BROKE it. MOL! That girl seriously needs to lose some weight. And they make fun of me for being fat.

Flooding is Bad

2011-09-08T20:11:00.002-04:00

We thought we were lucky to have no real damage after Hurricane Irene went through but with all the rain we've been having Mother Nature finally decided to pay us a visit. Our entire lower level where the living room is located is now under an inch of water. Mommy discovered it when she went down there to clean the stinky pans and her feet went squish. This is not a Good Thing as not only are our stinky pans down there but there are lots of boxes with Mommy and Daddy's books in them. They are now all ruined. :(

Mommy did call up the 'surance company to make sure we had coverage and called up some people to get the water out. She warned us that there will be lots of men with very loud machines in the house in the next couple of days to get rid of all of the water. We're also going to lose the nice soft carpeting that was down as well as all the boxes that were fun to play on. This is a sad day. At least we're all OK which is all that matters but Mommy is still has sads about the books.

Happy Labor Day!

2011-09-05T11:04:00.002-04:00

Da Mommy and da Daddy are busy today cleaning the house. The weather is too yucky outside to do something more along the lines of a BBQ or going to the pool. While the Mommy was cleaning, she found a DVD labeled "fuzzy photos" and guess what? There were lots of old fuzzy pictures on them. She found one of me and Loki from when we were kittens. We were about a year old in this picture and we were already showing signs of how big we were going to get. Well, at least Loki. I'm still about the same size I was when I was that age. Loki, though, became a moose. I still have the poof around my neck too.

Why Won't They Leave Me Alone?

2011-09-03T12:35:00.004-04:00

Mommy sometimes thinks I would have been better off as an only cat. You see, I don't get along well with most of the other kitties. It's not my fault though. The boys, like Monkee and Nermle, are constantly chasing me around and trying to bite me in the butt. Of course I'm going to screech and yowl whenever they come near me 'cause I know what they are going to do. At first Daddy used to yell at me then he realized what a pain in the tushie the boys were being. Now he threatens to lock Monkee up in the bathroom whenever he starts up trouble. Trust me that's a big deal 'cause Monkee hates being locked up in there (yes, he gets in trouble lots). At least Mommy knows I'm a good kitty and she treats me really special. I like to sit on her desk all day long so I can get pets and belly rubs.

Formerly Feral Friday

2011-09-02T12:23:00.003-04:00

Here is Chloe just chilling out on the TV stand above the air conditioner. It's one of her favorite spots as it's in my office which means it's near me. She is definitely a momma's girl.

Update on Phoebe

2011-09-01T09:50:00.003-04:00

As many of you asked, here's what happened at the V-E-T last night: I got lots of treats! They were nummy too. The nice assistant said that when humans give blood they get cookies and OJ so why shouldn't I get treats?

Wait...what? Oh besides the treats? I got poked and prodded and Dr. Country Bob took out some blood. He was rather baffled by what happened to me in Cape Cod but he has a good theory as to why things happened. Before we went up to the Cape, I had a couple of cortisone shots. I had been having bad poopies and vomits and Dr. Country Bob thought I had something called Irritable Bowel Syndrome, hence the shots. However, now he thinks that I might have had some kind of infection in my system because for a long time I had a high white cell count. Everybody thought it was just a chronic infection but now Dr. Country Bob thinks it might be along the lines of toxoplasmosis or some other type of infection that messes with my immune system. When he gave me the steroid shots that just lowered my immune system even farther and screwed me up. This may be why I had a seizure and then lost my motor control 'cause they both corresponded with the shots. For this he's going to keep me on clindamycin for thirty days, which is the standard treatment for toxoplasmosis.

There was another thing Dr. Country Bob was worried about: my red blood cell count. It was down to 14% (normal is above 29%) when I was up at the Cape. The V-E-T up there mentioned a blood transfusion but didn't push that issue. Dr. Country Bob took more blood and I was up to 24%. He is going to check me again in two weeks. He thinks that what ever caused the other problems also caused the red blood cell count to go down.

And just an FYI, I don't blame Dr. Country Bob for any of this. He couldn't have known I had an underlying problem. Toxoplasmosis wasn't even considered an option 'cause I never went outside and never ate raw meat. None of the other cats in the household have either. Also, I am doing considerably better than I was last week. Hopefully my good progress will continue.

We're Back

2011-08-31T12:23:00.002-04:00

Sorry about not writing for a bit. Mom has been crazy getting everything ready for school, then the humans went on vacation, and then the nasty Irene hit us. We're doing OK. Our town got some nasty mudslides and we got a little water damage in our living room but we're fine other than that.

We did get some great news from our nice neighbor lady. Remember the one who took in the two kitties Mommy rescued? She managed to not only catch the other two kitties but got the mommy as well. And guess what? The mommy gave birth to THREE little kitties! The nice neighbor lady is going to keep ALL of them which would bring her grand total to 12 kitties just like us. Mommy said that she'll post some pictures of the babies when she gets some.

The Mommy and Daddy did go on a really nice vacation up to Cape Cod and they brought me, Stiggie, and Tao with them. Stiggie and I need regular medications so we had to come and Mommy brought Tao along 'cause she couldn't be without her baby for a week. It ended up being a bad week for me. I got a weird illness that caused me to lose my motor control in parts of my body. It started in my neck, then my front legs. By the time it got to my back legs my neck was fine and my front legs were getting better. The Mommy and Daddy panicked and brought me to the V-E-T up there who wanted to order thousands of dollars worth of tests and send me to a specialist near Boston. We just couldn't afford all of those tests. What was the worst part was the V-E-T made Mommy and Daddy feel guilty for not doing the tests. They were distraught enough as it was but this was just plain mean. Mommy said to wait a couple of days as I was still eating and relatively happy (I was purring a lot). When she saw I was getting better she was relieved. I'm going to see Dr. Country Bob today (we wanted to go on Monday but Irene got in the way) so we'll see what he says.

Here is a picture of me curled up with Tao, enjoying our stay on the Cape:

Formerly Feral Friday

2011-08-05T12:26:00.003-04:00

Here is our little Dharma sleeping away on my desk. We got her from a tiny, privately owned no-kill shelter around four years ago when she was just six months old. She was a very feral little kitten and we were afraid that she would never take to us. Little did we know that when she turned three she would turn into such a little cuddle monkey. It goes to show that even the most feral of cats can eventually open their hearts to love.

We're Sorry

2011-08-04T12:29:00.001-04:00

The mom has been really crazy with school and stuff lately which is why we haven't been able to write. She teaches two classes over the summer which are finishing up plus she was taking two graduate classes that she needed to complete her second master's degree. We'll get back to our normal silliness shortly.

Tao Chillin'

2011-07-24T17:03:00.004-04:00

It has been HOT here in New Jersey. On Friday, the thermostat read 109 degrees! However the Fuzzies have been keeping cool. Here is Tao chilling out on the bed in the nice air conditioned bedroom. He grew 1/2 pound in the week that we've had him (he's a whopping 3.1 lbs now). Luckily I was able to snap this picture when he was sitting still, something that rarely occurs.

Some Good and Some Sad

2011-07-20T07:34:00.003-04:00

The good news around here is that Tao came home this weekend. He is a tiny little thing, weighing only 2.6 pounds. However, he is making up for his size with his meows. He is quite vocal, running around the master bedroom chattering away. This has gotten the attention of the other kitties as they are not allowed in there for the time being. At least they know there is another kitty in the house. How it will go once the introductions are made is still in the air. But at the very least Tao is adjusting quite well and investigated every nook and cranny there is in the master bedroom. He is even sleeping with us at night which is very adorable.

We do have some sad news and it's the reason why we haven't written in days. My mother-in-law passed away very suddenly this weekend. It has hit the whole family hard and the kitties are doing their best to help us get through this rough time. It really is amazing how they know when we need some help and comforting. They are great animals.

~ The Mom

Don't Mess With Your Kitty

2011-07-12T13:45:00.003-04:00

Mr. Puddy has a great idea for a blog post: namely what way have us kitties gotten revenge on our humans. Being a household of many cats, we have come up with some creative ways of getting back at our humans for bringing us to the V-E-T or doing something stupid like ignoring us. Starting from oldest to youngest, here we go:

Bailey: Let me count the ways... First off, straight and simple - throw up a hairball in their shoes. If that doesn't work, the pillow is a good option. Second, you pee in the shower. The Dad really hates that one Third, bite their noses. Not the cute "I love you" type of nip but a nice chomp. That will get their attention. I do this to Mom a lot.

Phoebe: Sometimes I do fart or burp, BUT NOT ON PURPOSE. I love the Mommy and the Daddy! I'm a good kitty. :)

Fizzy: I don't like to annoy either Mom or Dad as they give me plenty of attention and don't drag me to the V-E-T very often. :) However, I do get annoyed when they only brush me a little. I love being brushed so when they stop I get sad and start mewling until the Mommy starts brushing me again.

Monkee: The one human I like to annoy the most is the Dad. When Mommy is not paying attention to me I tend to jump on top of him and stare at him until he finally pets me. Stealing food is also a good way of getting back at them.

Loki: I don't mean to annoy Mommy or Daddy either but sometimes I do have to fart. :(

Dharma: Nah. No point in bothering to annoy them. I'm like Fizzy so I'm in good shape.

Shadow: I get to annoy the humans? Damn. Must have missed the memo.

Nermle: I'm the cute one of the family (hence the name) so all I have to do is act really cute and force them to lay affection on me. It works beautifully. They have to stop whatever they are doing and pet me so it's a win-win situation. Also, I like to sleep by Daddy's feet in bed so that he's forced to curl up into a tiny little ball.

Tasha: Humans? I don't deal with them. They're too scary.

Stiggie: Definitely going with the farting bit. And taking space on the bed.

Chloe: Steal their food.

Siamese Squee!

2011-07-11T07:47:00.003-04:00

The breeder just sent us a new picture of Tao. Here he is with his brother and sisters. We're not sure which one he is besides the fact he should be the smallest. But look at those bat ears! Aren't they adorable?

He'll be coming home with us on the 16th and we're really looking forward to it. Not sure if the other kitties will be thrilled at first but I'm sure he'll integrate himself into the household quickly.

Nom Nom Nom

2011-07-07T07:51:00.002-04:00

We had a couple of flies in the house the other day and I caught them and ate them. Mommy is now calling me the "mighty bug hunter." All I know is that flies are nummy.

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T09:36:00.002-04:00

Our Mommy says this is a really special holiday for us Americans. When we asked her why she said all of our freedom came from the sacrifices our ancestors made over two hundred years ago. Does this include freedom to eat all the Stinky Goodness we want? The Mommy said yes but she's mean and won't let us do that (something about us getting sick).

All we know is that this is the time for the really loud boomers. Our town had them last night but thankfully they were on the other side of town. This meant they weren't as loud or as scary as they usually are. Still, neighbors have been setting off boomers for the past three days. Hopefully after today there won't be any more.

Happy 4th of July everybody!

Easy Like Sunday Morning

2011-07-03T12:05:00.004-04:00

Here I am enjoying time on the Mommy's desk. It really is my favorite spot to hang out in, at least when it's clean. If it's not clean, I just knock all the stuff off of it to make it clean and give myself a proper place to lie down.

As you can see in the background, the Mommy is playing one of her silly video games. Why would she be playing games when she could pet me? I don't understand humans sometimes.

~ Chloe

Belated International Box Day

2011-07-02T11:38:00.002-04:00

OK, so we missed a really important holiday. The Mommy made up for it by placing a small box near the window in the kitchen so that way us kitties could look out the window and enjoy the box at the same time. Great idea Mommy! However, the minute she put it up there, Dharma jumped in and refused to leave all day. Mommy and Daddy both thought the box was a perfect size for her 'cause she's a really petite kitty. There was no way the Maine Coons were going to fit in that box though they would probably break it in the process of trying.

Doesn't Dharma look so smug in there?

Bailey Budinsky

2011-06-30T20:31:00.002-04:00

So there I was, about to enjoy scritches from the Daddy when this big fat grey blur goes in and takes the pets away. Big Baily Budinski came right in and got between Daddy's hand and my head. She literally took the pets away from me. Big meanie.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-29T14:32:00.001-04:00

(We're not sure which one Tao is in the group but he's in there)

Update on the Meezer

2011-06-28T14:09:00.002-04:00

I got a few e-mails from the breeder over the past couple of days and she said that the little guy is doing much better. He's starting to eat on his own and is playing with the other kittens. Hopefully this was just a little setback to his growth and nothing more.

My husband and I have decided to name the little guy Tao. I wanted a Siamese sounding name and he thought it was rather ironic. You see, one of the reasons why we are getting the Meezer is to fill the void Kukai left when he crossed the Rainbow Bridge a few years back. Ayla (of the Ayla the Grump fame) used to call him The Annoying One, or TAO for short. See the irony there? That's when we knew that Tao would be the perfect name for our new Meezer.

~ The Mom

We'z Sorry

2011-06-26T21:39:00.003-04:00

Da Mommy left on the vacation to visit our grandparents down in Florida and she forgots to give us access to da computer. We'z sorry that we haven't written in quite some time but now that da Mommy is home we can start blogging again. But we've got to wait a day or so 'cause we missed da Mommy soooooooooo much and wants to snuggle with her for a long time.

P.S. - Da Mommy gots some bad news from the breeder we're getting the Siamese kitten from. It seems the little fella isn't doin' too good. He's not growing like his brothers and sisters and seems tired all the time. Please put in some purrs and prayers for the little fella. We don't want nothing bad to happen to him.

Update on the Feral Kittens

2011-06-15T16:49:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, Mommy went to see the Really Nice Lady next door because she got the feral kittens from the shelter. Remember those two? The ones who bit and scratched Mommy up pretty good? They cleared quarantine so the Really Nice Lady was able to take them home and bring them to the V-E-T for their shots. The V-E-T said the kittens were about eight weeks old and were in pretty good health. The only problem was that they had the worms, but I think all kittens that have been rescued start out with the worms. I had worms too. Mommy is very glad to hear that they were doing so well. The Really Nice Lady named them Tippy ('cause he's black with a white tip to his tail) and Charlie.

The only problem now is catching the other two. They are living under Daddy's truck some of the time. Daddy won't drive his truck until they are caught which annoys him 'cause he doesn't like Mommy's car very much. The Really Nice Lady, though, has a scheme to catch them. She's gonna start putting Stinky Goodness inside of a really big cat carrier with the door open. Once they get comfortable going in there, she'll close the door using a really long rope. Hopefully it works. We don't want anything bad to happen to those cute kittens. If anybody has any other suggestions, we would appreciate hearing them.

Caturday

2011-06-11T11:53:00.004-04:00

Today the weather is back down to something more seasonable so all the windows are open. The kitties are very, very happy now. Here are Stiggie and Chloe enjoying the view from my home office window.

~ The Mom

A Bear!

2011-06-08T11:06:00.003-04:00

Mommy was woken up by the sound of an air horn this morning. That usually means one thing: a black bear. I gots to see the bear 'cause I was looking out of the window. It was really big and was eating the Really Nice Lady's bird food. I heard Mommy call Loki the "Loki-Bear" before so I figured that bears were the size of Loki but this thing was bigger than one of the evil vicious deer that we usually see outside. The Really Nice Lady used the air horn to scare off the bear so it was gone before Mommy could get any pictures of it. But trust me: it was HUGE. Makes me glad I'm an inside kitty.

Tabby Tuesday: Meet Dharma

2011-06-07T07:35:00.003-04:00

This is our sweet little tabby, Dharma. She was rescued from a local shelter when she was about six months old. It was right after the passing of our beloved (and grumpy) Ayla, and I really wanted another grey and white tabby cat. The shelter tried to pass her off as 12-weeks old--I guess to make her more adoptable--but we didn't care. It was love at first sight with her. Unfortunately, because she was feral, it took a while for her to warm up to us.

She is now three years old and is the spaz of the household. For such a tiny cat she can run very, very fast. She can make it from one side of the house to the other and from one floor to another in only a matter of seconds. It's quite impressive to watch. She has also embraced her inner tabby which means she can be a major mush when she's in the mood for it. It's hard to imagine that such a feral little kitty turned into a big lovebug.

P.S. In total, we have eleven cats so yes I guess that does qualify us as crazy cat people. >^..^<

Wow! We gots an award!

2011-06-06T10:49:00.002-04:00

Thanks Sir Spitfire (aka Spitty the Kitty) for the award! We are humbled and honored to receive it. We love his blog and especially his interaction with his human.

Now since there are so many of us, it's difficult for us to tell just five things about us but we'll try our best.

1. Most of us are rescued kitties though Mommy does occasionally get a purebred. Her favorite breeds are the Maine Coons and Ragdolls as she loves big kitties. There are three Maine Coons and one Ragdoll amongst us. The rest of us are all rescued.

2. Daddy is actually allergic to us. It's kind of funny 'cause we think that by being in a house with so many kitties, he's developed a tolerance towards kitty allergens. Then again, as the Mommy says, he knew what he was getting into when he married her 'cause she already had five kitties at that time.

3. Our favorite toys in the whole wide world are crocheted catnip balls that our Mommy gets from the rescue group when they have adoption days. Even though the nip is old and probably worthless, we still love playing with them and enjoy the nip.

4. Even though there are so many of us, we all stay inside. Mommy had an outside cat once when she was a little girl and that poor fellow constantly got hit by cars (how he managed to survive all of the hits is a miracle). Because of that, Mommy made a promise that we would never go outside unless it's in a PTU (prisoner transport unit).

5. We all have our favorite spots in the house and you can usually find us there. Though when it's the humans sleepy time, we all pile up on the humans' bed with them and snuggle up at night with them. This drives Daddy nuts because he's "pinned" to one spot for most of the night but the Mommy loves it.

We'd like to share this award with two other kitty bloggers. The first definitely has to go to the Psychokitty who we think started it all. We all love Max and his dealings with his two humans and Buddah Pest. We also have to give one to Katnip Lounge who not only has more cats than we do but always manages to take some great pictures of all the kitties.

Formerly Feral Friday

2011-06-03T09:56:00.003-04:00

It's ironic that today Formerly Feral Friday. You see, this morning the Mom saw a feral mommy cat and her kittens outside. Her neighbor, the Really Nice Lady, was feeding them. However, the mommy cat keeps the kittens on the other side of a busy street so our Mommy went to rescue them. She had never done anything like that before but managed to catch two of the kittens! They are about six weeks old and the neighbor took them to the local shelter. The Really Nice Lady brought them in so they could be quarantined as Mommy got bitten. One of the kittens put in a really good fight. Mommy now has to go to her V-E-T and get lots of shots just in case. She said it was worth it though. Saving the kitties was important 'cause she could never live with herself if one of them got hit by a car and the Really Nice Lady is going to adopt them once they get out of quarantine.

Here are a couple of pictures of them:

UPDATE: The Mommy is fine. All she needed was some antibiotics just in case the kitty bites gots infected. The kittens are at the shelter but don't worry about them. They just have to be in quarantine for ten days to make sure they don't have rabies and then the Really Nice Lady from next door will be adopting them. This made Mommy very happy to know that they are going to a good home where she can go and visit them.

Rare Tabby Tuesday

2011-05-31T12:30:00.004-04:00

Out of all of our kitties, the one we see the least is Tasha. She is a beautiful black tabby whom we rescued as an older kitten. She is the most feral of our kitties in that she does not interact with us except on a rare occasion and it's usually with the Daddy only. Today I was lucky enough to grab a picture of her on the bed, a place that she is usually under, not on top of.

Happy Memorial Day!!!

2011-05-30T11:47:00.002-04:00

We just wanted to wish all of the American fuzzies out there (and their humans too) a very happy Memorial Day. Mommy also mentioned that we should remember our vets...wait! Why would we remember those guys? They constantly stab us with those pointy things...oh...veterans not veterinarians. OK that is different. So we should remember our vets and those who are fighting for our country. I hope they are fighting to keep us in stinky goodness. That's definitely a cause worth fighting for!

Our humans are going out to visit their own flock for a barbeque. Mommy promised she would bring back burgers and hot dogs for us if we're good. I don't know about the rest of the guys but I would do anything for burger! Though this is going to be tough 'cause Mommy said that I need to be a good girl and not thwap any of the others while she's gone. That might be an impossible task but I'm willing to try for burger.

It's Too Hot

2011-05-28T17:15:00.004-04:00

Phoebe: I will be the first to admit that I don't like the cold but this heat is not so much fun. It's only May and the Mommy says it's getting up into the upper 80s which is too hot for me. The worst part is that the really big air conditioner that cools most of the house is broken so most of the rooms are really really hot. The only ones with nice cold air now are the bedrooms but because they air conditioners up there use up so much 'lectricity Mommy says that they can only keep one on at at time or else they blow the fuses (whatever those are). This means all of the Fuzzies are sharing my space in the bedroom which is NOT FUN. I'm OK with my spot as they usually leave me alone but now that my spot is in the only cool room in the house they are invading MY space. This isn't fair. Mommy and Daddy really need to get the other air conditioner fixed soon or there might be some serious thwapping going on.

The Mom: We're working on it sweetie. It'll be fixed by the end of the week. We're suffering too.

Meet Nermle

2011-05-25T09:27:00.002-04:00

Nermle is our three year old blue point Ragdoll. We got him after Bomber passed away. As Bomber was my "mush" cat, I wanted a really mellow cat who could be hugged and cuddled with. This meant only one thing: a Ragdoll. He has got to be the most mellow cat I've ever come across, and I've known a lot of kitties. His favorite position is lying on his back with his belly exposed to get rubs. Our nicknames for him include "Binky" and "Roly-Poly" because he loves to roll around on his back. He even will move across the bed doing that! What is really nice is that he gets along with most of the cats in the household. His mellow personality makes me a friend for everyone. He really is a sweet boy.

Oh and his name comes from the cute grey kitten, Nermal, from the Garfield comic strips.

Tabby Tuesday: Meet Fizzy

2011-05-24T14:29:00.002-04:00

Hi! My name is Fizzy. Well, it's actually Fizzgig but my humans seem to prefer calling me Fizzy. I don't mind as long as I get the cuddles and the pets. I am seven years old and I'm one of the two tabbies living in this house. The other is Dharma but she's a little spaz kitty so I'd rather not talk too much about her.

My humans adopted me from a shelter when I was just 12 weeks old. I don't think the Mommy was planning on getting a tabby but it worked out well for both of us. Actually, it was the Daddy who picked me out. He wanted to sit down in the chair I was lying on so he picked me up and held me. It was love at first sight! When I was a kitten the humans called me a "little terror" as I used to run all over the place and constantly play with the blind cords. Now I'm as mellow as they come. As Mommy says, I've embraced my inner tabby"

Mancat Monday

2011-05-23T12:14:00.003-04:00

There is nothing as fantastic as the Nermle belly. As a Ragdoll, he is mellow to begin with but this boy actually enjoys belly rubs. Our nickname for him is Roly-Poly as he likes to wriggle around on his back. How can you resist that belly?

Easy Like Sunday Morning

2011-05-22T11:40:00.003-04:00

Our bed is always covered with cats in the morning with a few of them curling up together. Here is Shadow lying on top of Loki. Not a common sight as Shadow is a bit of a loner, but Loki never minds as he is so mellow.

~ The Mom

Siamese Saturday

2011-05-21T15:12:00.003-04:00

Mommy got some new pictures from the Siamese breeder where we're getting our new lil' brother from. Here they are at four weeks of age. Aren't they cute!

Formerly Feral Friday

2011-05-20T11:38:00.003-04:00

Chloe is our sweet little girl who was rescued twice. She originally was found in the Camden, NJ animal shelter as a young kitten by a local rescue organization. If you notice her left ear had been clipped by the shelter after she was spayed (something that makes me very mad). She was adopted but after a year the owners couldn't keep her any more and returned her. We were lucky enough to come across her at an adoption day at our local PetsMart. Now she is enjoying our home and food and turns into the biggest cuddle monkey when she wants attention. I'm so glad we got her.

~ The Mom

Thursday Thoughts

2011-05-19T12:55:00.004-04:00

From Chloe:

Why don't I get more french fries? I like french fries. Mommy hasn't gone out and gotten me any more darnit. I want french fries!
Mommy told us that we're getting a new little brother. I don't know how I feel about this yet. I like being the baby. Hopefully this one won't be too annoying.
Did I mention that I also like honey mustard dressing?
Mommy really needs to clean the window, doesn't she? How can I enjoy all the birdies outside if there's all this cat snot all over the window? You can thank Phoebe for that one. She sneezes everywhere.
Where are my french fries?

Yes?

2011-05-18T17:19:00.003-04:00

~ Stiggie

Itty Bitty...

2011-05-16T17:24:00.002-04:00

...Siamese Kitty Committee:

The Mommy said that her and Daddy went ta look at some little kitty buddies for us. The Daddy really misses Kukai (aka The Annoying One) so they decided to get another Oriental type of kitty. This means we're going to have a new playmate soon! Yay!

Oh the Mommy says we hafta wait until July 'cause the little kitty is too tiny to come homes with us now. That's a good idea 'cause Loki might accidentally sit on him and squish him.

~ The Flock

Helping the Mommy

2011-05-13T13:22:00.004-04:00

I'm just helping Mommy with her grading. All of the paperwork makes for a nice comfy bed.

~ Phoebe

Hello Again

2011-05-10T21:34:00.004-04:00

I've been itching to get back to blogging but with my schedule as hectic as it has been over the past two years I just haven't had the time. Now things are calming down and I'm finally able to give an update on how the Fuzzies are all doing.

Some very sad news: our oldest cat Frankie crossed the Rainbow Bridge back around Christmas time. He had gone completely blind and was having seizures. We knew it was time for him and helped him cross over.

Some good news: our flock has actually increased in size. We have new additions of The Stig, Tasha and Chloe. All of them are about a year old and were adopted from local animal rescue groups.

The Stig--named after the character from the British car show Top Gear--is all black and a big cuddle monkey. He loves hanging out with us and enjoys belly rubs. Unfortunately, he does have a bad heart murmur but we are treating it with beta blockers and regular visits to the cardiologist.
Tasha is an exotic looking black tabby (yes, it is possible). She is very feral and not very interested in humans for the most part but in those rare occasions that she wants attention, she turns into a big belly slut.
Chloe is a beautiful medium haired tortoise shell. She has definitely become "my" cat as she hangs around with me most of the time but she is a major food hound and has a thing for Wendy's salads.

Hopefully I'll have plenty of good stories for you in the future plus some new pictures once I get the batteries replaced in my camera.

~The Mom Cat

On Hiatus

2009-10-03T10:15:00.001-04:00

As some of you may have noticed, I have not been posting a lot. I have a very crazy schedule this semester and am taking some time off from writing. I'll be back in time for Christmas. Just hang on until then.

Cat

How is a girl...

2009-08-15T14:05:00.003-04:00

...supposed to get any sleep around here? There are too many kittens running around the place. Everytime I just manage to fall asleep, one of them runs over me. The only place that is safe is on mommy's pillow but getting there isn't so easy. It's like all the young ones cut me off and the big ones block my path. Maybe I should do what Phoebe does and thwap them. Nah. Too much effort.

~ Bailey

Shadow

2009-08-13T19:17:00.002-04:00

I think we've finally decided on the name for the new kitten: Shadow. The little fellow seems to be responding to it which is what we wanted.

Shadow is settling in with the other cats. I think this was a record actually. A majority of the hissing lasted no more than about 24 hours. I was expecting at least a few days of adjusting. What helped, I think, was Loki accepting Shadow. Loki is the alpha cat of the household. Once he accepted him I guess the rest of the flock went along.

What is really funny is watching Nermle's reaction to Shadow. You can tell he's jealous about the fact that he is no longer the baby of the household and he wants to hate Shadow. On the other hand, you can see that he really wants to play with the kitten and have some fun. It's quite hysterical to watch. They start chasing each other and playing when Nermle will all of a sudden stop and run away like he was doing something wrong. I can imagine the little voice in his head going "I'm not supposed to like him."

A New Addition

2009-08-11T09:43:00.005-04:00

Last week there was an item on the news about how all the local shelters are overrun with kittens and they needed help with adoptions. Bear and I have been missing Kukai and Bomber a lot recently and we decided that maybe we should adopt a kitten. We went to the local shelter devoted to cats and found this little guy.

He is about 13 weeks old and was born at the shelter. I still haven't "discovered" his name yet but Shadow is in strong contention right now. Any suggestions are more than appreciated.

We're doing our job...

2009-08-07T11:18:00.003-04:00

...to help mommy feel better. Her depression has really been bad 'cuz she's off of her medications (her V-E-T told her to switch medications). It's really bad at night when she gets home from work so all of us have decided to all pile on the mommy to help her feel better. Last night, six of us were in the bed with her trying to lick the tears off of her face and help bring back the smileys to her. It's working a little bit but she still does the crying too much. Hopefully these new meds will bring back the smileys.

~ Bailey

Burger Wars

2009-08-04T19:05:00.001-04:00

When mom gets burger, I'm going to get some. One thing is for sure, I'm not going to share. Monkee and Boo kept on trying to take my burger but each time I just thwapped them on the head. It is my burger. No one else's, 'specially since mom got Wendy's this time and she did it for me. If it was Burger King then they could've had some but not the burger goodness that is Wendy's.

~ Phoebe

Is it normal...

2009-08-01T14:19:00.002-04:00

...for female cats to get grumpier as they get older? I thought Ayla was a special sort of grumpy but now it seems Phoebe is embracing her inner grump as well.

For a while now, Phoebe has been getting very impatient with all the kittens. That I can understand especially when it comes to the "Doofi" (pl. for Doofus; namely Loki and Monkee). Last night, she actually thwapped at Bailey in bed. It was a classic Ayla-styled thwap with a loud "thump" as her paw hit Bailey's head. The smack was bad enough but she had the gall to do it with both me and Bear looking on. Bear and I just looked at each other and were positive she had just been possessed by the ghost of Ayla. However, this has been an on-going issue with her.

Is it common for female kitties to get grumpy as they get older?

What Do You Expect?

2009-07-27T11:53:00.001-04:00

If you are not going to share the string cheesey goodness with us, you have to expect us to pull the wrappers out of the garbage can and chew on them. Part of it is to get what ever is left of the cheesey goodness off the wrappers. The other part is to annoy the heck out of you for not sharing.

Burger Wars

2009-07-18T17:05:00.001-04:00

Phoebe: Why didn't you get McDonalds? I like McDonalds.
Mom: Because I went to Burger King. If you don't like the burger, you don't have to eat it.
Phoebe: I want burger but I want McDonalds burger.
Mom: It's the same thing.
Phoebe: It's got more greasy goodness and flavor. This burger tastes like cardboard.
Mom: It's healthier for you.
Phoebe: I'm a cat. Like I care what's healthy for me. Promise me next time you'll get McDonalds.
Mom: Fine.

We're Still Here

2009-07-10T12:09:00.001-04:00

We're still here but mommy has been really busy and can't help us type. She's working two jobs and going back to school. She said she'll try to help us out more often but asks that you all have some patience. We'll be back to writing more often soon.

~ The Fuzzies

Easy Like Sunday Morning

2009-06-14T09:53:00.001-04:00

And people wonder why I have such a difficult time getting any studying done...

~ Mom

Helping Mommy

2009-06-07T13:41:00.003-04:00

Here I am helping mommy with her studying. As I can't read all the big words, I can be helpful as a book rest.

And here's Monkee distracting her when she gots too stressed out from all the studying.

Yay!

2009-06-01T18:00:00.002-04:00

Mommy just told us that we're all getting a bigger sleepy spot to share with her and daddy. They went out yesterday and said they got a king size bed and it's supposedly really, really comfy. I don't know if that's a good thing though. I like to snuggly right inbetween mommy and daddy at night. If the sleepy spot is too big I won't be able to touch them both like I can now. They'll just have to promise to snuggle with me at night that's all.

~Phoebe

I is helping Mommy

2009-05-30T14:11:00.004-04:00

Wit her studying...

But these are really big words!

~ Loki

Mine!

2009-05-30T00:01:00.001-04:00

OK, I'm sorry but the spot between mommy and daddy by the pillows on the big comfy bed is mine. It has been since poor old Bomber passed away. This location is specifically designed for the ultimate in parental contact. I plan on keeping it and if any of you kittens try to come and take it from me I'll do what Ayla used to do: thwap you upside the head. You all have been giving me a lot of practice and I'm getting pretty good at it. Even mommy was impressed with my thwap the other day.

So stay out of my spot unless you want to get thwapped!

~Phoebe

Wild Turkey Goodness

2009-05-25T20:35:00.002-04:00

Mom was saying that when she was driving earlier with Dad that they saw a wild turkey again. Now, I am on a quest to finally eat a wild turkey so I was appalled that they did not stop and grab it for me. Mom explained that it ran into the road, skidded to a stop, and then ran back into the grass. She said she wasn't going to chase after it for me. Why not? Don't I deserve the best? Why can't I have a wild turkey?

What's worse? She saw it again on the way home. If this turkey was so clueless to continue to hang around, it deserved to be eaten. I want a wild turkey. If only I was there with her I could've chased after it myself. I don't care if they fly or not. It has to land eventually...

~Monkee

Dharma and the Banister

2009-05-24T10:30:00.002-04:00

The other day, Dharma got herself into a predicament. Nermle was terrorizing her so she jumped up on the banister. The problem is that the banister is at a 45 degree angle. When she jumped up, she started sliding down. She was able to stop and start climbing up it but every time she attempted to change her grip, she started to slide down again. Finally, when she got to the bottom of the banister, she realized that she couldn't jump off and started crying pathetically. Bear had been watching this play out the entire time so he went over to rescue her.

The worst part is that this isn't the first time it has happened with her. You'd think she'd have learned by now.

We're Still Here...

2009-03-06T11:42:00.002-05:00

I know we haven't been doing a good job keep up on our blogging but we have a good excuse. We've been taking care of our mommy. Her depression has gotten really bad over the past couple of months. I know that she is seeing a doctor to get the medical part of it fixed but us kitties know she needs more than that. We've been doing kitty piles on her when she gets home. Nothing is more curative than a pile of kitties on you when you are feeling down. Also, we've been making sure she's clean and giving her lots of baths. She's starting to feel better on the new medication but it will still be a while. Please bear with us while we take care of her until she's all better.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T15:56:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to wish everybody a very happy Valentine's Day. I got the fuzzies some Tuna Flakes for a special treat. I'll let you know how they like them.

~ The Mom

Tastes Just Like Chicken

2009-02-10T11:25:00.003-05:00

Mom doesn't like turkey so the only time we ever have any in the house is when she visits Dad's family on Turkey Day. This year they didn't go so I didn't get my turkey. I was very upset.

There are lots of wild turkeys up where we live and I see them constantly outside the big window in the living room. For months, I've been working on a plan to get outside and nab one of those suckers for myself. Then Mom told me yesterday that she was driving along and saw a turkey fly across the road. They can fly? Damn. Now I'm going to have to change my plans. My calculations did not include turkeys that can fly. Bah.

~ Monkee

Things are starting to get back...

2009-01-31T11:31:00.002-05:00

...to a somewhat normal routine in the house again.

In the morning, I follow the herd o' kitties down the stairs to the kitchen for their food. It's quite hysterical seeing six of them vying for the food dish (they were twisted around each other in a bizarre spiral).

In the evening when I come home, I'm usually greeted by three: Nermle, Boo, and Phoebe. Then again, Nermle follows me around like a puppy dog and even sleeps by my feet when I'm at my desk. Usually I trip over Loki on the stairs. The guy is so big he has to squeeze in to fit on the step!

At night, the bed is crammed to the gills. Now we've got Fizzy, Dharma, Bailey, Monkee, and Phoebe all trying to squeeze in with us. Usually Bear and I end up in a contorted mess trying to sleep around them.

I don't mind though. I'm just glad things are starting to get back to normal.

Thank you...

2009-01-25T22:56:00.002-05:00

...everybody for all the kind words after Kukai's passing.

We're all still adjusting here. It has been so stressful losing two cats in two months. I honestly feel numb right now. We decided to not get any new kitties (eight IS enough) and just focus our attentions on the ones we have.

The cats must have known things were wrong with Bomber and Kukai because they are finally getting back to their old selves. Fizzy, who has been lurking for the past couple of months in the living room, is back to being social and mobile around the house. Bailey is getting around more and is spending a LOT more time with me in my office and in the bedroom. Once again, at night both my husband and I are fighting for our spots on the bed amongst a whole slew of kitties.

I will keep posting up stuff as often as I can. However, with the new semester starting and me hogging the computer, I don't know how often the kitties will get to voice their opinions/rants. I'll make sure it's not too little as I know they have a lot to say.

Caturday

2009-01-24T23:26:00.003-05:00

Some days, when life gets too stressful, we all need to reevaluate our priorities. Sometimes, spending a Saturday curled up in bed is a Good Thing.

Goodbye My Friend

2009-01-21T09:41:00.003-05:00

Later today we're going to help Kukai cross the Rainbow Bridge. He just is losing too much weight and he can't keep the food inside of him long enough for it to do any good. The poor little guy is so weak that we decided it was time. I will miss you little buddy.

Go play with Ayla and Moose and be free from your pain.

Update on Kukai

2009-01-19T10:49:00.002-05:00

We're a bit worried about Kukai. He had stopped eating again so we brought him to the vet on Friday. Dr. Bob wasn't too optimistic about his future. While we're still not sure what is wrong with him, it is taking his toll. He's still under 4lbs no matter what we feed him.

Right now, we have him back on the appetite stimulants and Hills R/S food, which is the prescription diet given to cats recovering from surgery to get them eating. It is stinky as all hell but Kukai is willing to eat it. However, Dr. Bob thinks that he may only have a few weeks left. He said that at his age, it is more about making him comfortable.

One point that Dr. Bob made that really hit home was we really don't know how old he was. The shelter where I adopted him from said he was a year old but they couldn't find any paper work on him. Dr. Bob thinks he's quite a bit older than the 12 1/2 years I believe he is. I really hate it when shelters do that. Even if he was five years old when I adopted him, I still would have taken him. I was specifically looking for a Japanese Bobtail and I fell in love with the little shit the minute I saw him (sorry, he is a little shit but in a good way). If he is 15 or 16 years old, it would explain a lot.

On the bright side, Boo is doing a lot better. The antibiotics are doing their job and he's back to normal. No more blowing green snot everywhere. Big cats are great, but everything about them is big as well, including the snot. :)

Not again

2009-01-10T19:06:00.002-05:00

We had to bring Boo to the vet yesterday. He was once again suffering from a head cold the poor guy. This time, though, he was blowing out green snot which means he needed antibiotics. As Dr. Country Bob did his exam, he noted to me that he was losing weight. It has been a gradual decline of about 1 1/2lbs over the past two years. Dr. Bob decided it would be a good idea to do the full blood panel "just in case." I got the results this morning and everything is fine thankfully.

If Boo was sick I don't know what I would do. Things have been so hard over the past eighteen months. First we lost Ayla, then we lost Bomber on Thanksgiving, and Kukai is struggling to keep some weight on him. If Boo had something like kidney failure or cancer I think I would have lost it.

Bear and I wondered if it might be the house. We've been here for two years and we lost two cats to cancer and now one has thyroid issues. However, the other cats seem to be flourishing. Both Loki and Bailey are not skinny kitties and all of the young 'uns are incredibly active. We also give them top notch food so that isn't it either. Our brood, though, is getting older so that is probably what is causing the issues.

Kukai is back on the appetite stimulant and he's eating up a storm. He's also really tolerating the sweater which is really surprising. I just hope it's keeping him somewhat warm.

My New Sweater

2009-01-09T11:30:00.002-05:00

I never would have thought I would say this, but I'm happy mom got me a sweater. I've been so cold lately, especially since I've lost so much weight. This morning, she got me this nice blue sweater. Technically it's a doggie sweater but I look much better in it than a dog. She also got me a heated kitty bed to keep my piddies warm. Of course the big dumb Maine Coons will try to take it from me but mom got it for ME! I'm going to make sure I get the warmest spot.

Here is a picture of me with my new sweater. Don't I look handsome?

A Little Tweaking

2009-01-08T11:29:00.001-05:00

As you can tell, I'm in the process of reworking this blog. It was kind of boring with the old layout so I'm trying something new.

On the left side of the page, I've put in little blurbs about each of the Fuzzies. As I create more tags for each of the kitties, I'll add those in as well.

Please let me know what you think.

I don't know why...

2009-01-02T10:11:00.002-05:00

...but Nermle is fascinated with the toilet in the master bathroom. Every time I go in there, he follows me in and wants to jump into the toilet. It's quite bizarre.

Kukai is doing a bit better. I screwed up his appetite stimulant the other day giving him a whole pill instead of a half and the poor fellow was meowing all day long, sounding like he was in agony. He wasn't in any pain because when we would pick him up and start giving him attention, the yowling stopped and he would start purring. I think it was just his tummy going "I'm soooo hungry" and he just wasn't used to it. With the proper dosage, he is doing fine and is eating more. That is definitely a Good Thing. The bloodwork from the vet didn't show anything unusual besides an elevated white blood cell count but that is probably due from his head cold. Hopefully by next week he'll be in better shape.

Now I know why...

2008-12-30T16:18:00.003-05:00

...Max calls it the "stabby place." Mom took me to the V-E-T today. I've had a nasty head cold and she was worried I lost more weight. We saw a different V-E-T today 'cause Dr. Bob was on vacation. The lady was nice until she tried to stick a needle in my throat! I know I'm a tiny dude but do you literally have to go for the jugular? Geeze.

Dr. Stabby then told mom that she was worried about me being dehydrated. So I got stabbed again! This time was in the back so they could put fluids in me. Now my whole right foreleg is all puffy from the fluids.

It's bad enough that I'm sick. Do you have to keep on stabbing me? I get stabbed in the throat and then stabbed in the back. I am not having a good day.

Caturday

2008-12-20T08:31:00.003-05:00

I think Dharma has the right idea. I'm going back to bed and sleeping for the next day or two.

It's Cold!

2008-12-13T10:55:00.005-05:00

It is really, really, really cold. Please turn up the heat now. What do you mean it's already up to 72? That's not warm enough. I'm a skinny little guy! I need the heat at like 80! What do you mean you won't raise it that high? Oh come on.

Yes, I've already tried sleeping on dad's laptop. No, it's not warm enough. Yes, I've already tried sleeping on the router. No, it's not warm enough. Have you found the heated kitty bed yet? Oh, it's still in a box somewhere. Pfft. What a surprise. You got me a warm kitty blanket? Yes, I'll give it a try. You do realize that you are now forcing me to cuddle up with the other kitties to be warm, right? And you wonder why I intentionally sneeze in your face all the time.

Oh and if Loki sits on me, I will be very, very upset.

Bah, bah, and double bah

2008-12-10T21:35:00.003-05:00

Mother is finally taking a break from grading and I finally get to use the computer. It's about time. All she has been doing when she is at home is grading, grading, and grading. Why, oh why is she wasting all of her time doing that when she could be petting me? I don't ask for much of her time but she's hardly ever home any more (what is this professor thing anyways?) and when she is home she's grading, sleeping, or playing with the kitten thingie.

Oh yes, the kitten thingie. Ugh. Like we need any more in this house. He thinks he's so special because he's cute and cuddly. Ew. He may be cute now but he will grow up. I'm the prettiest one in the house. Mother said so. Nermle can never complete with me.

There are so many times I wish I was an only cat. This way I can get all of Mother's attention. Father? He only gets in the way. The only other cat I can even tolerate is Monkee. I don't know why but he doesn't annoy me. The others? Bah, get rid of them.

Oh poo. Mother needs the computer again.

Little Nermle

2008-12-09T21:47:00.003-05:00

This guy really has saved my sanity over the past couple of weeks. After losing Bomber, things got difficult for me. However, the little fellow keeps doing things to keep my mind off of that and is helping me with the stress associated with the end of the semester.

When we brought him to Dr. Bob last week, we found out he has a heart murmur. Nothing terribly serious right now but it does have the vet concerned. As he's only 3 pounds, the doc isn't sure if he's too small for an ECG but they got a new machine and the "younger" vet knows better. Unfortunately, that one has been out sick all week.

I just want to make sure Nermle is OK. Bear and I were talking about it and we're going to give him the best medical care possible but we just want to know what it is.

If you folks can be kind enough to keep him in your prayers, I would really appreciate it.

This is why...

2008-12-07T18:02:00.003-05:00

...I can't get any work done.

Nermle has decided I'm too stressed out.

He thinks that I should just take a nap.

Ah I wish I could.

Goodbye My Friend

2008-11-27T13:04:00.002-05:00

I know I haven't really kept up with this blog, but I wanted to share some sad news. Bomber was diagnosed less than a month ago with cancer in his intestines. Monday night he stopped eating and we thought about putting him to sleep on Tuesday. Our vet wanted us to try one more cortisone shot to see if it would help him but it didn't. Early this morning, Bomber crossed the Rainbow Bridge. It took the tough decision out of my hands and I'm glad that he was able to pass at home where he felt the safest (the bedroom).

I will miss you terribly my little mush cat.

Bomber
1998-2008

Hmph.

2008-04-12T07:50:00.003-04:00

It seems that Mommy and the other Fuzzies have been neglecting this blog. I wonder why? It's bad enough Monkee got his own blog, but he hasn't been updated that either. Well, considering I've finally figured out how to work this darn computer thing, I might as well start updating it myself.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Bailey and I am one of the older Fuzzies in this household. I won't divulge my age because no girl in their right mind would. I'll give you one hint: I haven't hit double digits yet in human years.

Hmph. It seems that Mommy does not have any recent photos of me. Now that's not nice. Here is one of me with Monkee. I'm the one curled around Monkee.

(clickify to make bigger)

I guess you can say I'm the Alpha Female of the household since I am the oldest one. The two older boys are definitely not alphas. Kukai would like to be but my paw is bigger than him and Boo is just...well...Boo is just too darn dumb. The Alpha Male is Loki. He's dumb too but he's even bigger than me. I guess size does matter in certain aspects of life.

I'll try to keep this blog updated though I can't promise anything. Mommy is going through a hard time right now. Her foot is still hurting her and she's grading papers. Since I'm her Bailey Baby it is my duty to keep her company and purr her to sleep at night.

~~ Bailey

We're Alive...Just the Mom Is Lazy....

2007-12-08T12:54:00.000-05:00

Ya, you can blame me for the lack of posts. I've been so busy with my teaching job that I haven't had a chance to update this blog. I plan on rectifying that once the semester is over (December 22nd) so bear with me until then.

It also doesn't help that I've broken my foot either

I do know that Monkee is in the process of designing his own blog. He is the only one who is interested in taking up Ayla's reigns and he plans on launching it soon. Hopefully it will be right after Christmas.

Just in case we don't update this before the holidays, I want to wish everybody a very happy holiday(s). Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Solstice, etc.

The Mom

Ya know...

2007-09-22T17:05:00.000-04:00

If you're going to give me Stinky Goodness, you have to expect stinky farts. Don't complain when I'm sitting on your desk and let out a good one. It goes with the territory.

Kukai

Formerly Feral Friday - Dharma

2007-09-21T15:58:00.000-04:00

I figured this would be a good opportunity to introduce the newest member to our crazy household: Dharma

After Ayla passed over the Rainbow Bridge, Bear (my husband) and I went to the local shelter that was devoted to rescuing cats. Originally our plan was to adopt an older cat but I made the mistake of going into the "kitten room." We all know how that is, right?

That's when I saw this little girl. She was in a cage with three other cats but she was rubbing all over the cage door and looking at me saying "take me home please!" When I picked her up, I was able to hold her like a baby and rub her belly and she LOVED it. That sealed the deal with me.

She is approximately six months old and is a little lovey. She's also a big spaz. All she does for most of the day (and I mean about 20 hours a day) is run around the house, going up and down all the stairs, exploring, and getting into relative trouble. Loki is having a blast with his new best friend. It's funny seeing this five pound cat chasing the seventeen pound Maine Coon. Boo, Monkee, and Phoebe have also been playing with her. The only big holdout is Fizzy, who is a bit jealous, but even she seems to be slowly falling to the charms of this little one.

Oh and yes, the name is partially from the show "Dharma and Greg." We were actually driving past a store a couple of towns over called "Dharma's Gifts" (or something like that) when I said "hey, that would be a good name." It does fit because she is a free spirit. :)

And I'm sorry for taking so long to share about her. I was going to last week but I literally could not get a good picture of her since she is constantly on the move. Every time I thought I had a decent shot she would move before the camera clicked. This picture was a miracle since I just happened to be sitting at my desk at the time and she came up to look out the window.

Etyomology of "Fuzzies"

2007-09-20T17:32:00.000-04:00

You are probably wondering why I call my kitties "Fuzzies." Well, most likely you're not but just in case they are a few of you out there with the slightest bit of curiosity, I might as well sate it.

And yes, I do call kitties "Fuzzies." Make sure it's with a capital F. Why? Lower case means it's all cats. Upper case means my cats.

It started way back when I first rescued Ayla in 1990. For some reason, I had a lot of problems finding a suitable name for her. Sometimes you don't even have to look at the cat and the name will fit. In her case, I had a premonition it wouldn't be that easy. Until I could figure out what the "right" name was, I started calling her "fuzzy." Why? She wasn't long-haired but she wasn't short-haired either. She was...well...fuzzy.

Now at the time, I didn't want a cat named Fuzzy. No offense to those of you have cats named "Fuzzy," or "Snowball," or another simple, common name. This was back when I was one of those smug-assed college history students who could give her cat some kind of profound name like "Confucius" or "Augustus" or "Dante." One of those type names if you know what I mean.

It took two weeks before we agreed on a name. By this point I threw out almost every name I could think of and she would give me this "oh I don't think so" look. You know, the kind that if you do something the cat doesn't like she'll poop on your pillow type of look? The name we finally agreed on was Ayla. I had been reading the Clan of the Cave Bear at the time and the main character was smart and independent. When I said the name to her, she looked at me and said "that will work."

However, the name "fuzzy" just wouldn't go away. Until she passed on I would occasionally call her "Ayla-Fuzzy." She accepted it and I couldn't let go of it. After a while, the term "fuzzy" morphed into a generic label for all cats. Mine just got the upper case "F" 'cause they're special to me.

As for "Flock O' Fuzzies"? Well, what do you call a grouping of fuzzies? I've heard some strange ones over the years like a "gaggle of geese" or a "herd of cats." "Flock" seemed to go with fuzzies (upper case "f" on both for mine). Then, the "o'" just came with me being silly.

Hence, my little Flock o' Fuzzies.