Monday, December 18, 2006

Vet School Visit

On Friday, Tanner went to the vet school for his annual cardiology check-up. He was not the happiest of cats, but he did very well. He had to get his blood pressure checked, and since they do this on their tails, he wasn't thrilled. I think he was thinking they were about to do something else back there, so he was cautious! It went fine though and he gets to have his tail squeezed again this Friday...what a lucky boy! :)



He stayed at the vet school most of the day because they had an emergency case come in, but that worked out ok because my sister and I were able to do a bit of shopping while he hung out.

We came back in the afternoon to pick him up. The doctors came in and said he has progressed mildly, and they've decided to put him on another drug in addition to his atenolol he currently takes. He is now on Enalapril in the evenings. He still takes his pills like a champ, and so far we've not had any adverse reactions to the new pill. We go back to our regular vet on Friday to have the blood pressure (tail squeezed) rechecked, and to do another renal panel. He had blood work done at the vet school, and they gave him a pretty green bandage...how did they know green was his color? He was not too happy with this bandage when he got home and started trying to walk around though...I took it off pretty quickly, but not before snapping a few photos!


Here he is on the table with his bandage...how cute!








If you aren't going to take it off, I'll just wash it off!








More updates on the rest of the gang coming soon!

Monday, December 04, 2006

Cousins

I have lived with my sister since I graduated from college, we'll just say, several years ago :) She and I get along well, and have lived in a few places since then. We started in an apartment, then bought the townhouse, then sold it and moved to another apartment, and are now in the new house. Well, I should tell you a bit about her cats...mine aren't the only ones that are crazy! In fact, I think hers are a bad influence on mine! :)

DASHA - This was her first cat, and she got Dasha the same time that I got Smokey. Dasha was a long haired ball of fur, and she looked like a Christmas tree when she sat down. Unfortunately Dasha died suddenly when she was 7 years old. She and Smokey were good friends.



SOPHIE - When I got Devon in 2001, he was such a little terror at times, that the vet suggested we get another kitten to help him. Sophie became that helper. She is a good girl most of the time, but can be a bit annoying. She hasn't quite grasped the idea that I should sit or lay down when I am in someones lap asking for attention! She was good for Devon though, and they have become good friends. She is one of the most social cats we have...she is always looking for someone to rub her tummy, even a complete stranger isn't safe! We once had a repair man over to fix something, I don't remember what, and he bent over to pick something up, and she jumped up on his back! At least she has grown out of that habit!

When Dasha died, we were fostering a kitten named Pirate. We'd had him for about 3 months, and he was starting to grow on us. He only had three legs because he was born with just a partial back leg. It would bang on things when he jumped and always had a sore on it...so the rescue group we were with decided he would do better to have it removed. They were right! He got along so much better once it was gone. It seemed right that we take him in since we had been through a good bit with him already, and we had a void in our home. He got along well with Smokey, Devon, Tanner and Sophie, so it was a natural choice.

PIRATE can be a bit ornery, but that makes him unique. He loves to spin around on his one back leg! He is one of the best cats because he can't get on the kitchen counters! He loves to play and can run up and down the stairs with the best of them. One of his craziest ideas is that he thinks he is Canadian! The Canadian national anthem came on during the Olympics and he just talked to the tv and raised his front arm, like he was saluting or something. We would ask him, "are you Canadian?" and he was just talk and talk.

Those are the crazy cousins...Everyone gets along quite nicely most of the time. We had a few rumbles every now and then, but nothing serious. I think they are just having a bit of fun! Craziness abounds at our house!