Flashback to Fosters

I've said many times that fostering kittens was a lot of hard work but very rewarding. Here are a few kittens waiting for dinner. Love all the helpers!
Our foster coordinator knew that black kittens were my weakness, so we always had a house full! The two black and whites were a bit shy, but were adopted together. They were sweet boys that just needed some patience to come out of their shells.

One of the brown tabbys and a black one were rescued from some brush by a man who had started to burn the pile when he heard their cries. They were just a few days old. They would both fit in the palm of your hand. Kayley lost a bit of her tail, otherwise they were both fine.

The other black ones and the brown tabby were supposed to be a group we watched while their foster mom went on vacation. We had them until they were adopted :) They were the 'C' group. Cole, Caleb, Cathy, and Caitlyn. Those boys were a mess...it took them forever to start eating from a plate. They wanted their bottles as long as we would give it...tough love won out though and they switched to a plate :)
Devon hanging out on the counter staying away from the munchkins!

Finally, I finished with the plates and everyone sat down to eat.

Kittens eat a lot and are quite messy! Mixing dry with the canned to get them used to eating that...weaning is always fun :)

This is Harrison. He is one of the fosters that was very tempting to want to keep. We had him from just a few days old. He was quite sick, and we weren't sure he would make it. He didn't know how to suckle on a bottle because he was so congested, so we syringed him for a while, and then he learned how to drink from a spoon. We would mix his KMR with som AD canned and he would slurp from a spoon! He was adopted to a wonderful home that continued to spoil him rotten. He was full of himself to say the least :)

Mojo - One year Angelversary

Dearest Mojo,

It's hard to believe that it's been a whole year since I saw your sweet face. Or got to snuggle with you on the couch. Or was bossed around by your 'pack-a-day' voice :) I hope you are having the best time at the bridge, playing with all the others, and living life to the fullest. We think about you daily and feel so blessed to have known you those 4 short years. Your legacy lives on though...I saw Dr Murphy the other day and she told me she's used your photos in her lectures to help other vets. I am so proud of you Mojo, and how you handled everything life through at you with grace and a determination to make the best of the situation. You were a special boy for sure. See you again one day.

Mojo hanging out in his favorite chair. He looks so pretty against the red!

I wanted to take this time to show folks the progression of his tumor. Fibrosarcoma is unfortunately too widespread in cats, and I believe that knowledge is power. Stop reading here if you don't want to see...none of the pictures are gory though. Here's Mojo in August after his biopsy. He's back home and already playing. He had many tests done to figure out the type of tumor and the stage of the cancer. It was about the size of a marble at this time. The oncologists came back with the recommendation of surgery to remove the tumor and then 21 days of radiation to try and kill off any remaining cancer cells. This sounds fine and dandy, until we learned that in order to achieve 'clear' margins the surgeons want to remove his arm and some ribs. We were not willing to put him through something so radical and felt it was better for him to just enjoy the time he had left. The only guarantee they could give us was that the tumor would come back. Sorry, but no thanks.

So we did the next best thing, and threw a party! Here's Mojo waiting on the gift table for more guests to arrive! His hair has grown back around the biopsy site and he's feeling great. We are blessed to have some of the best friends and Mojo supporters around. He touched many lives.

This picture was taken in October. The tumor area is shaved and you can just make out the radiation lines. We decided to do one round of paliative radiation to try and provide some relief. Mojo seemed to be in a bit of pain, and we tried this option to see how the tumor would respond, and how Mojo would handle it. He did great until a few weeks later when we ended up with some radiation side effects. Nothing too terrible, but confirmed our decision to stop all treatments and just continue with pain management at home.

Picture taken in December. Mojo is very sleepy in this picture, and you can see how the tumor has grown. He was still jumping and playing some, but not eating as much as we would have liked. The tumor 'ate' a lot of his calories and he was getting pretty thin. He was already a skinny cat, without a lot of room for loss.

February, we had started on steroids and saw immediate improvement for a few weeks. The weather was nice, so we took him outside some. You can see how thin he's getting and how large the tumor is. It has a few sores on it, but we were lucky that it did not rupture or ooze.

His last day with us, hanging out in his heated bed. We were upping the pain meds too frequently now and still didn't feel we had a good handle on the pain. He was having to labor a bit more to breathe, and the morning of this photo, his front arm had gone lame. We had already scheduled with our good friend and vet to come over this morning and end his suffering. We were able to be there with him, and it was all extremely peaceful. We were able to let him die with dignity, by doing this one last act of kindness for him.

We took him to the vet school and let them have the tumor for research. I hope they can learn from his suffering so another cat will be spared.
Missing you today and always Mojo...Fly High Superman!

Wordless Wednesday

Tummy Tuesday

Today Mojo shows off his tummy for you all...we were home one day a couple of years ago for a snow morning, and Mojo was feeling very frisky!

The boy loved having his ears rubbed! Pure bliss!!

Cat-O-Lympics - Bird Watching

Today, Tanner will compete in the Bird Watching event hosted by The Furry Bambinos.
It starts out innocently enough, with Tanner watching a bird on the feeder outside the window.
He's intently staring wondering how he can get out there to catch that bird, while maintaining his high comfort needs by staying on the chair.
Well, this certainly gets him a bit closer to the bird. Notice the tail action in this shot. Please ignore the sagging belly and focus on the tocks and his long muscular legs.
Still staring with superb concentration that only an expert bird watcher can master.

Cuteness is an added bonus...
Since we are bird watching, here's a Carolina Blue Bird taking a bath on a hot summer day.

Cat-O-Lympics - Extreme Climbing

Extreme Climbing Competition - Sponsored by Amy at the House of Cats.
Smokey is approaching the super tall ladder and trying to decide the best method to climb it...This is not for the faint of heart folks.

He makes it almost to the top and performs a spin maneuver to get into a better position. Not sure if showing your tocks to the judges will help or hurt!

Over on the last step before the top, Smokey pauses long enough for the media to get some nice shots of his epic climb.

At last...he's all the way on the top!! He made it...I didn't know if he would go all the way or not. Smokey might even change the light bulb while he's up there...

Well, there you have it folks, Extreme Climbing from an extremely courageous cat!

Cat-O-Lympics - Balance Beam

Tanner is getting ready for his routine on the balance beam. This event is hosted by Fin.

Tanner, waiting for the signal from the judges to begin...

Although the camera operator didn't get the whole maneuver, Tanner has just performed the first full twisting double in the Cat-O-Lympics! He stuck the landing too!

Tanner performing a simple, yet effective dismount. He's glad to have that routine over and done with...now on to the olympic village for a snack.

Cat O-Lympics - Competitive Napping

Today, Huffle Mawson, Explorer Cat is hosting an event we feel qualified to enter - Competitive Napping.

Devon is taking napping to the extreme, by tempting fate and sleeping on the stove!

Tanner decides a Christmas box is a great place to nap.

Smokey is all packed and ready to leave for the Olympics, and is taking a power nap on his suitcase. Notice the cute pose as well :)

Cat Olympics - Synchronized Snoozing

Fin started the Cat-O-Lympics this week, and although we haven't thought of anything to host, we can certainly participate! The Island Cats are hosting Synchronized Snoozing, so here's our entry!!
Devon and Smokey have synchronized their nap time right down to their costumes!

Pirate, the Canadian Cat

Well, the story you've all been waiting for...Big welcome for guest blogger Auntie!

Pirate, the Canadian Cat

It all started about 4 years ago when my sister and I were watching the Winter Olympics. Canada seemed to win a lot medals that year and every time Pirate would hear their national anthem, he would start meowing and raising his arm. He did this every single time the Canadian anthem came on. If he was sleeping, he would even wake up to sing along with them. I guess he knows the words since he's Canadian. Then we started asking him if he was Canadian and he would just start talking and raising his hand.

Pirate also enjoys the snow, not that we get much around here. But when we do, he's always outside (supervised of course) longer than all the others. He's not scared of the white stuff like his cousins and sister. He gets so excited and loves running around in the snow.

Now that we know Pirate is Canadian we celebrate Canada Day which is July 1st and Canadian Thanksgiving which is in October. I'm not exactly sure what the national food is for these holidays, so we have an apple, which is Pirate's favorite food.

Well, there you have it...Pirate the Canadian Cat. We'll see what happens tonight when the Olympics start up again. We are a house divided :) Go Team USA! Go Team Canada!

New Blogging Award

This award was presented to us by Ten Lives and second chances. The author of this blog found us somehow and left a comment. We read all of our comments and recognize most of the posters. This name was unique and unknown though, so some investigation was needed. I found her blog and have enjoyed reading it ever since.

So anyway, here's the list of bloggers we'd like to pass this lovely award on to...a lot of you post more often than we do, and our hat's off to you!!

CCL Carm

Smithellaneous

Sam and Andy

Ginger Jasper

Brian's Home


Congratulations and thank you for bringing joy to my life!!

PS - Tomorrow is the story of Pirate, the Canadian Cat!!

Wordless Wednesday

New Hairy Blanket!!

It was exicting at our house yesterday...a package arrived! I had emailed Peggy of Peggy's Hairy Blankets the other day asking about how to order a blanket. She responded to me very quickly. I needed a blanket for Tanner and Smokey's birthday in April. I thought they would love another soft place to lay. Anyway, it came yesterday, and we are all pleased with how it turned out!
It's a little hard to see because of my photos, but the blanket has purple (for Smokey), green (for Tanner) and Peggy even included some blue for Devon. It's perfect for our family.

Here's a close up to show the colors. I was planning on putting it away until April, but finally came to my senses and put it on the couch.

It didn't take long before Devon had found it and was snuggled down in it. Tanner and Smokey were hanging out elsewhere in the house, so they haven't seen it yet. I'm sure I'll get pictures before long though. Thanks Peggy, we all love it!

Mancats - No privacy

Seriously, did you get all that?

What's a mancat gotta do to get a little privacy? Geesh.

Smokey

Virtual Artwork

Olive did an outstanding job on our virtual paintings! We couldn't be happier...and since the money went to a good cause, we are even more excited.
Smokey's painting...such a handsome Goose :)

Devon looking gorgeous as ever...

Tanner, my handsome orange doodle...

Mojo, my sweet angel boy :)