Mancat Monday

Here's to another fun week with all the mancats...

Lenny and Rusty watching a rabbit in the yard...

Rusty loves a basket!  It doesn't matter where it is, he has to get in and lay down!

Oliver is making progress with accepting Lenny and forgiving me for messing with his chin all the time.  My view during Friday naptime.

On the other side of me was Lenny...they both did great in the same bed

Lenny had his first taste of tuna and LOVED it!

Cousin Pirate could use some purrs.  He has been losing quite a bit of weight, and the vet is trying to figure out why.  He had an ultrasound looking for cancer or digestive issues, but the views came back normal.  His blood work looks good, but we are wondering if the thyroid issues are masking the severity of the kidney disease.  We are waiting on results of some more blood work to see if there is an absorption issue.  Pirate is 16, so it could simple be age, but he can't keep losing weight at the rate he is going.  In January is weighed 11 pounds.  Now he is 7.13 pounds.  

Purrs for:

~Weight Gain

~For the vet to figure out what is wrong

~For us to find some food he likes, so he eats better (he is on appetite stimulants which are helping)

Flynn and the others have destroyed a couple of catnip toys...they love rolling in the dried remains.  Have fun Flynn!  I can vacuum another day :)

Oliver hanging out with me while I'm scrapbooking.  He is slow to accept change, but he is getting there. His chin is looking 100 times better.  Last night, I only saw a little bit of white stuff come out when I combed him.  He has another week of antibiotics before we get rechecked.  I almost imagine he will need another couple of weeks because there are still quite a few knots and bumps on his chin.  They aren't as painful for him now, I suppose because they aren't as deep as before.  Oliver is doing a great job at taking his pill every morning.  It's been a tough month for him, but his life is improving, and we are finding a new normal with Lenny around.

Well, that's all we have for this week.  Remember to stop by tomorrow to read about our stop in Juneau.

Tuesday Travels - Ketchikan

After a full day of sailing, it was time to stop in Ketchikan...our first taste of Alaska.

View of the town from the ship.  Reminded me of a Christmas village..I loved all the colors which contrasted with the dreary grey and rainy day we were having. 

Looking to the left of the ship...the main town is off to the right of the ship, but this Souvenir store had great prices! 

We were scheduled for two excursions on this day...the first was a Duck Tour, which went all around town and then out into the water. 

Dad sat near a window on the other side of the Duck Boat.  We learned a lot about the history of Ketchikan on this tour. 

After our tour, we had a couple of hours to explore part of the town before our next tour.  We walked up to the main part of town to get pictures of the famous signs...

This town is in a rain forest and is dependent on the rain.  Many homes have cisterns that collect the rain and they use it as their water in the home.  Ketchikan receives an average of 12.5 feet of rain a year! 

Cute restaurant...wonder if you can franchise it like you can Burger King?

Many homes are built on hills and have steep stairways going to them.  The stairs are considered as streets, and the mail is delivered to the houses, and the stairs are kept free of snow and ice.

Our second tour was a walk through a rain forest, then visit a sawmill, the raptor center and then back to the ship.  We saw many unique and beautiful flowers... 

Trees with really tall roots...yes, it is still raining!

Lumber was the main industry for many years.  This tree shows a notch where a springboard would have been placed so the lumberjack could climb higher to cut the tree down.

A banana slug...supposedly if you lick it, your mouth will go numb...we didn't test this theory!

A bear cave...

The salmon were running in the river, and the birds were excited. 

A Bald Eagle at the Raptor center...

Kily, a Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk.  They have tried to release him back into the wild, but he is naughty and kept begging humans for food because he had imprinted already.  He is now a permanent member of the center. 

Once our tours were over, and the ship was ready to leave port, we headed to Arts & Crafts for card making!  The ship has a lot of fun activities for you all the time.

Next week, Juneau...

Tuesday Travels

Oliver Update first: He is improving and much less painful!  The cultures came back and we are using the correct antibiotic, so we will continue for another 3 weeks, and then he will go in for a recheck.  I am still getting pus and "cheesey stuff" out of his chin when I comb, but he is tolerating for longer sessions and I can squeeze some if necessary to get the globs out.  I have a chlorhexadine pad to wash his chin with after each combing session, or whenever I think it needs to be cleaned.  Thanks for the continued purrs!

Now on to the real post...

So, I will post a few pics each Tuesday to showcase our trip to Alaska.  We did a Land-Cruise tour with Princess Cruises. This trip was to commemorate our parents 50th wedding anniversary.  It was our first family vacation, with all 4 of us, since I was in 9th grade, so about 13...over 30 years ago!

Here are my parents heading down the gateway to the plane.  This is mom's first airplane ride!  She was nervous, but made it with the help of her seat mates, dad and a preacher from Ghana holding her hands.

The family getting ready to board a bus to go to the port... 

Our cruise left from Vancouver.  I would like to visit this city more one day.

The family waiting to board the ship...we have made it through the Princess Check-in, and Immigration and Security.

Our rooms were be on the Dolphin Deck, near the back of the ship.  Two days prior to leaving we were upgraded to mini-suites.  Not sure why, but we will take it!

Here are some pictures of our room...sink and toilet...

Full tub and shower.  They provided bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body wash on the wall of the shower so you didn't have to waste so many small plastic bottles.

Looking out to the balcony...This couch would also fold out into a bed, if needed.

Two twin beds for me and Auntie.  Mom and Dad were next door.

Views of Vancouver from the balcony

Another cruise ship in the harbor

Where we would meet in the case of an emergency...

This was Princess Cruises 50th anniversary of traveling to Alaska. 

Our cruise left at 4pm, and then sailed the whole next day to reach Alaska, so we had plenty of time to explore the ship.  This is the main lobby area in the middle of the ship.  There are shops, the casino, several bars, and the customer service desks.

Auntie and I were glad to find our favorite slot machine...the Lobster game!

Mom found she enjoyed it as well...

Auntie did pretty good.  The game did not like me at all this time and took my money!  I finally switched to a Panther game with more success.

Dad (ball cap and red shirt) preferred the black jack tables.

There were many good cocktails and mocktails on board.  My favorite was the non-alcoholic Mojito, known as the Zero Mojito.

Next week, our first port of call - Ketchikan Alaska

Oliver Update

Oliver went to the vet this morning for his chin.  The vet claims it is the worst case he has ever seen!  We reminded Oliver that it isn't a competition!  The vet poked and prodded and took some cultures of the pus.  The zits are deep in the hair follicle tracks on the chin.  At one point, he had a whole tip of a q-tip in his chin, so these are not superficial zits!  Oliver did well, all things considered!

Oliver got a depo injection today to hopefully help with the inflammation and make him more comfortable.  He is starting on Zenequin, an oral antibiotic (once a day pill).  We will stay on this until the culture comes back and then, either continue or change depending on what the culture shows.  We can keep doing the warm compresses, but can stop the ointment because it isn't getting deep enough to be effective.  After 48 hours, we can start combing again to help keep the tracks open and oozing.  We are waiting a couple of days to let the steroid kick in.

We are both hoping this is a one-time weirdness that Oliver has developed, however, if it returns here are some steps we are going to take...

Biopsy - to see if it is a rare bacteria

Food Trial - to see if he is allergic to his food

Once those are done and results back, he would see the dermatologist at the vet school.

Thanks for the suggestions and words of encouragement and healing in the comments yesterday!  Continued purrs would be appreciated.

Mancat Monday

Well, this has been a crazy couple of weeks for the mancats!  Auntie and I left with our parents on August 21st to head to Alaska. I'll post some pictures from that trip in the coming weeks.  The boys had a pet sitter, and we received updates daily on them, and they were all doing well.  Harrison was the only one that did not really come out from hiding.  We arrived back home on Sept 2nd and everyone was glad to see us!

Flynn was sneezing some, so he is now just lounging around.  He is eating well though, so he should be fine :)

Rusty didn't mind the pet sitter and I was pleasantly surprised...he is very food motivated!

Flynn always made sure to help her when she came over...

Flynn showed her what a big goof he is!

Oliver kept an eye on things too.  Oliver had been to the vet a couple of weeks before we left for some chin acne.  He had had a couple of large zits, but nothing too terrible.  We were given some shampoo and told to wash his chin twice a week and comb with a flea comb to help remove the blackheads.  He was looking good before we left, however, he was a complete swollen painful mess when we got home!  He went to the vet on Tuesday morning with his oozing chin.  I had popped a few zits on Monday with the flea comb, and done a hot compress to help more come out. The vet shaved his chin, did a hot compress, and gave him an antibiotic injection.  He was given an ointment to use daily to try and help.  

Well, it's been a week, and he is less swollen but still just covered in zits.  He will be going back tomorrow to see what else can be done for him. He spent yesterday under the bed and not eating.  I found a dose of pain meds we had from Pirate, that were still good, so I gave that to him.  He was out this morning and ate some food from my hand.

It is hard to tell if it is just his chin bothering him, or it if could be what is in the picture below...

Lenny

Lenny was our cousins cat, and she asked us to help her find a home or take him.  We offered to take him, and then when she finished college, if she was settled and wanted him back she could have him.  He is a super sweet and laid-back boy.  He is 9 years old.  He arrived on Sept 3rd.  He stayed in the kitten room for a couple of days and then was out in the house... 

Treats are helping everyone get along and come out from hiding.  Harrison is the most nervous, but he has been out over the weekend, and doing much better.

Lenny has made himself at home!

Well, there you have it.  The boys have had a big few weeks but everything is settling down now.  If Oliver can get over his chin acne we will be a happy household once again!