Three Boys - Thursday

Little man Ollie had his neuter yesterday, and did fantastic!  Everyone at the vet's office loved him, and they threatened to steal him from me.  I don't think he spent much time in his cage for being toted around!  He is a love bug and enjoys attention.

 

At home last night, he was starving, so he ate really well.  I had hoped he would go on to sleep after a hearty meal, but no, he was a wild man!  I think he was so excited to be back home, and to see Cousin Georgie...they played and played.

 

Tanner is feeling better, and did not need an antihistamine this morning!  He is still sneezing some, but does not seem as "stopped up" as he had been.

Smokey has been having a rough time lately, and so another trip to the vet has revealed that he is hyperthyroid now.  We have started on his medicine for that, and I can see improvement in his eating, and overall perkiness.  He is also in the high-normal range for kidney values, so even though he looks good on paper, we have started giving some fluids, twice a week, to see if that will also perk him up.  He seems to stay in a constant state of slight dehydration, and that is enough to make him feel puny. 

 

So, he is getting a thyroid pill daily, a shot or pill of Pepcid daily, appetite stimulant a few times a week, sub q fluids twice a week, and then his arthritis shot and immuno-therapy injection each just every two weeks.  He is turning into a pin cushion/medicine cabinet!

 

My hope is that we get him back on the right path, get his blood values stabilized and can maybe wean from some of these meds/procedures...but we will keep doing them as long as they are needed.

 

That's the news on my three boys this week...

 



Weight Loss Wednesday - Interrupted

We interrupt our regular weight loss Wednesday post for a special announcement...

 

Ollie is going to be neutered today!  This is the final procedure in growing up...my little boy isn't a baby any longer!

Purrs for no complications please...

 

Procedures today: Neuter, microchip, FeLV/FIV recheck

 

PS - Tanner is doing better and therefore will not be seeing the vet today.  I think a couple of more days and we'll be over this cold.  Knock-on-wood, he is still the only one that has gotten sick.

Mancat Monday

This mancat is still sick.  The congestion just won't clear up for him, and he is miserable.  I called the vet, just to see if there was a reason for him to be seen, and they said no.  Unless the discharge changes colors, indicating infection, he just has to work through it.  They did give me some saline drops to put in his nose...BTW, he hates this!

 

Saturday, he spent the day in the bathroom with the humidifier going. 

 

I've given Sub Q fluids a couple of times because he appears a bit dehydrated.  He is getting antihistamines regularly to try and help dry up the gunk in his nose and throat.  He is getting Lysine in every meal...at least 1000mg a day.

 

He is still eating well, and even had a bit of ice cream last night to help him feel better. 

 

We are going on 5 days of severe congestion.  You can hear him breathing in another room!  I wish you could teach cats how to "blow their nose"...I think it would help him!  Has anyone tried the baby nose suckers before on their cat?  Any luck?

 

Fingers crossed no one else gets it...because Ollie is going on Wednseday for his neuter...I need him to be healthy, so it isn't cancelled!

 

If Tanner is still sick, and we aren't see marked improvement, he may earn a trip in on Wednesday too, just to be looked at. 

 

Please keep sending purrs of comfort to my boy.

Terrible Tuesday

Tanner is feeling a bit under the weather lately.  He has a cold!  Please send a few comforting purrs for this mancat.  He is sneezing big, juicy sneezes, and has a runny, squinty eye.  We are treating with Lysine and extra snuggles.

 

Fingers crosses no one else gets it...One sickly mancat is enough for any household! 

Mancats Clean

Mancats love to help out around the house...

 Tanner let me know it was time to clean out from under the stove again!

 Look at all that loot that was hidden away!

Ollie and Cousin Georgie discovered the joys of mopping!  They both went crazy for the smell of clorox bleach!  They were rolling around on the floor just acting wild. 

 

Here is a link to a You Tube video showing the boys helping...(I hope this works)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7uQ1VTy34w&feature=youtu.be

Weight Loss Wednesday

Tanner had success this week with his weight loss...he now weighs

 

15lbs 8 oz, for a loss of 5 ounces.  He is getting extra snacks, as we are trying to slow the loss down a bit.  Maintaining week to week is fine too at this point.

 

Here are some gratuitous photos of Tanner and Ollie.  Tanner still just loves his baby, even though his baby is huge now!

 A little wrestling...

 A nice bath...

Special friends and brothers!

Tasty Teething Thursday

Ollie was given a new scratching toy...he loves playing with it.  He also enjoys chewing on it and eating the cardboard!  The toy is the Petstages Fold Away Scratching Tunnel.

 

 This is the standard photo from Amazon...look how pretty, and how it stands up!

Ollie and Tanner playing...Tanner laying inside the tunnel...good thing otherwise, the tunnel will fold up when kittens jump at it!

 Another playing shot...love those chicken legs!

 This was our toy after a couple of hours...the corner is chewed.  We have now had this toy for a month, and all corners are missing.  A lot of the pretty paper has been removed and destroyed, and the tunnel spends most of its time laying flat on the ground!  The boys love it though!

 

Question:  Do you have a cardboard eater in your house?  I'm hoping this is a phase, maybe teething, and we'll grow out of all this chewing!

 

Ollie asks...Do you think I'm teething? 

 

We want to give a shout of praise and thanks to Ann at Zoolatry for creating our new header and background!

 



Weight Loss Wednesday

This week, Tanner had a slight increase.  We had been adding some extra snacks and treats to his diet to help slow the weight loss down a bit.  I guess we over did it some!  The vet is super pleased, and would like for us to try and maintain where we are, but if a bit more is lost then that is not a problem.  He is a good size and is enjoying the health benefits of having lost over 4 pounds!

 

Current Weight: 15 lbs, 13 oz...increase of 1 ounce this week.

 

After a few very cold days, we had some warmer weather, and the boys enjoyed a bit of outside time...Here are a couple of photos from this past Sunday.

 

 



Mancat in Training

There are many things to learn before you can be a mancat...one is how to take care of the fish!

Ollie had to use some ingenuity to get close enough to the fish to help...this statue works perfectly!

 

Note: the statue was moved, but now Ollie can simply jump up on the table!

 Hello Mr Fish...how are you doing today?  You smell nommy!  Oops, I mean...can I give you some noms today?

I will sit up here and keep you warm Mr Fish!

 

Note: Mr Fish has a lid that clamps to the tank, so he should be safe :)  Thankfully, after this day of being overly curious about the fish, Ollie has since left him alone!  This one is keeping me on my toes!

Weight Loss Wednesday

Well, we missed a couple of Weight Loss Wednesday posts over the holiday, but never fear, Tanner was still losing weight!  I believe we had one week where we gained, but we are down again...

 

Drum Roll......

 

Tanner has now lost over 4 pounds!!!

 

Current weight is 15 lbs, 12 ounces!

 

 Tanner still loves Ollie...they share this bed many evenings.  Not sure how much longer they will both fit though!  Ollie is growing faster than Tanner is losing!

Nap time with brother is special!

 

For Tanner's success in reaching the 15's he is getting a pack of spring toys, and a new egg for his hard food.

 

I am going to the vet on Saturday with Ollie for more shots, and so I'll speak with her about Tanner's weight loss plan.  I think we should continue losing some weight, but don't want to get him too thin.  I like a cat to have a little bit of cushion or reserve on them, so they have some wiggle room if they get sick.  What are your thoughts on this?   What is your preference with your own cats?

More Christmas

Ollie and Cousin Georgie went to visit Santa Claus before Christmas.  They had been to the vet that morning, so we just stopped by on the way home.  They did reasonably well for it to be in a busy pet store with lots of noise and strange smells. 

 Cousin Georgie was a bit unsure of Santa...I think he would just prefer to get his presents from mom and Auntie!

 Ollie sat on the Santa 'belly shelf' but you can see his claws were ready, if the big man tried any funny business!

Later that afternoon, two little boys were wiped out from their big adventure!

Secret Paws 2013

 Our Secret Paws package arrived last Saturday, but the boys had to wait until Christmas to open it...we were excited to see that it was from Wally, Ernie and Zoey - The Island Cats, because we had their name too this year!

 Everything was so neatly wrapped and packed...Ollie is showing off the goodies...he loves sitting in the box!  You can see the squeaky mouse toy swinging in the photo, which is keeping him still for a few minutes.  He loves that toy and jumps and chases it for long periods of time.  Let's just say, mom gets tired before he does!

 A new purple cube was in the box!  Cubes are great fun and Ollie and Georgie love to turn theirs into hamster wheels...these cubes go all over the house!

 Georgie was a bit overwhelmed with all the Christmas activity, but enjoyed putting the bitey on this new nip nanner!

 Tanner loved the nip nanner too, but laying on this paper seems to be the best present of all this year!  I can see it will be a while before we can clean up the living room.  

Here's a look at all our goodies...we got many toys, our favorite treats, a new cube, a super soft and warm blanket, and the mom got some candies and a new cat scarf!  Thank you Island Cats!!

Here's one last picture of a tired kitten loving his new blanket...

Ollie loved Christmas...he loved playing with all his new toys, he loved playing in the wrapping paper, he loved pulling tape off of packages (he kept us on our toes), he loved chewing on boxes, and he loved getting all kinds of attention from our parents who were up for the day.  Ollie was wiped out by evening, and a snuggly warm blanket was the perfect end to a great day.  Thanks again Island Cats for making this baby's first Christmas so special!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone! 

We will be opening our Secret Paws present tomorrow...post will be forthcoming!

All about Ollie

Ollie hasn't had a post about just him in a while, so here goes...

 Here's the first picture I was sent from the home that rescued him from the shelter...look at that milk crusted face and neck! He lived with this angel for three days.

This is the photo from the shelter that won my heart...this baby needed me!

 Here he is now...3 months old and thriving!!  Ollie is learning about the finer things in life, as well as all the rules that go with living in a house.

1) Don't sharpen your claws on anything other than the cat furniture (he does very well with this)

2) The bathroom/litter box room is a business room, not a party room.  We don't bother others when they are in there!

3) Don't attack the older black cat

4) Don't rip/shred pages from books on the table or magazines

5) Don't get in the litter box when you have wet feet from playing in the tub

6) Wet feet are slick feet, so you need to be careful when jumping and running

7) Don't swing on the shower curtain

8) Don't chew on any type of cord (power, blinds, etc...)

9) Don't eat random things off the floor

10) If your brothers or cousins are squealing, you are biting too hard!

 Ollie has discovered the purple puff...I find him laying in it pretty frequently, even during the night.  You can see from this photo, and the next, that he is almost lost all the stripes he had, and has gone mostly solid black.

He is long and lanky and loves to contort him self...notice his back feet touching the top of his head!  He is a love bug, when he can slow down enough to rest.  He has discovered a few new toys, and I am going to try to get some video of him playing and jumping because he is crazy wild!

 

Medically, he has had two FVRCP's now.  Will get his third one and rabies in January, and be neutered and micro chipped early February.  We will also re-run his FeLV/FIV test just to make sure all is still negative.

 



Two on Tuesday

Today's two on Tuesday makes me one happy mom!  I love when my boys snuggle together, but what makes these photos so special is the fact that SMOKEY went and got in the chair with Tanner!  He is normally not the one that joins another cat, so I was very happy that he was seeking out companionship.

Sharing the chair...this has become a favorite spot for the cats for some reason this winter...might be the wool blanket!

 Smokey got comfy and put his legs up on Tanner...yes, Smokey's legs are almost bald again from over-grooming. 

 I took advantage of the opportunity and put Ollie in the chair as well to get a group shot!  Love these boys of mine!

Packing our Secret Paws Gift

We were excited to shop for our secret paws recipients this year. This is a blog we read often and feel we 'know' these cats :) We hope they enjoy their presents!

Ollie and Georgie made sure the box was suitable..Ollie added his own personal touch to the corners of the box!

Cousin Pirate checked out all the goods to see if they were of the highest quality for our friends...

No need to fear...Ollie made sure the wrapping paper roll was good and dead!

Ollie helped with the wrapping of the gifts...

Ollie performing one final inspection before we take it to the packing store for shipping...

We can't wait to see what our kitties think of their goodies! Merry Christmas everyone!

Weight Loss Wednesday

Tanner had another good week of weight loss...he now weighs 16 lbs, 5 oz...a loss of 6 ounces for the week!

 

Tanner's annual visit to the cardiologist went very well too.  His heart is stable and we do not have any medicine changes. 

 

Life is looking good for Tanner these days!!

Weight Loss

Tanner had an ok week considering it was Thanksgiving.  He simply maintained his weight, so we are still as 16 lbs 11 oz.  Tanner loves sweets and was given a few tasty morsels of pie crust, sweet potato casserole, and of course turkey. 

 

Tanner goes on Monday, Dec 9th to visit the cardiologist at the vet school.  We are hoping for a stable heart again this year.

Two on Tuesday

Today, we have a two on Tuesday...Two kittens!!  As you know, Ollie has been with us since he was three weeks old.  He has done very well, but kittens need friends their own age and size to play with.  Ollie needed to learn more about being a kitten.  Tanner was doing a great job, but it isn't the same.  So Auntie adopted a kitten Ollie's age...his name is Georgie.  We have had Georgie for a week and a half now, and he and Ollie are fast friends!

Ollie wiped out after some play time with his new cousin.  These two love to run and play and wrestle.  Ollie is learning more about acceptable play, and does not bite as much as before!!!  He is still a momma's boy and I love that!

 This is Cousin Georgie!  He is a love bug, and super sweet and snuggly.  He is a very floppy kitten and just melts in your arms when you hold him.  He loves to lay on laps and has been comfortable in the house from day one.  We had a bit of growling and hissing, but that has all stopped now.  He loves to play with Ollie and can hold his own in the wrestling matches.  He is short and stocky and weighs a few ounces more than Ollie.  

Here are the two boys after a play session.  We laid them close to one another while they slept, so they would get used to each other.  Georgie, who grew up with other kittens, decided it was better to lay on top of Ollie than beside him.  Ollie had never experienced this behavior and was purring up a storm!  Everyone deserves a best friend.