Long time no blog

Girl Kitty!

I just added it up, it has been about 8 months since my last post. I hope everyone is doing OK. As most of you are aware I had some difficulties and had to cut back on things, internet included. I just wanted you to know that we are doing all right now, I managed to get caught up with everything. I even got the internet back as you can see.

My favorite pic of her, the turkey pose.

I got back on line about a month ago. I wanted to get caught up with my emails, news, etc. I have tried to catch up with the blogs I am following, but it has been hit and miss. I did notice that some are not posting as often as they did, I also noticed the absence of one or two others. Makes me wonder if anything bad happened or if just due to life changes, loss of interest, and so on.

What am I suppose to do with this?

Which brings me to the subject of this post. A lot has happened while I was offline, yet not much has changed (or is that the other way around). I am not sure where I want to go with this blog, or what to do with it. I still want to brag about my kitties. My hart is not in it like it use to be. I have spent the last couple of weeks thinking I should start this up again, but could not think of much to say on a daily, or weekly basis. It does not seem like much happens each day. I go to work come home feed the cats and that is about it.

Such a sad look. Nov 2011

I don't know if maybe it is a bit of depression lingering. Seems like a lot of priorities have changed. A lot of other things just seem meaning less. It could also be that one of the main reasons I started this was to brag on one cat in particular. One who seemed that she had been through a lot, yet she still opened up and let me love her. She had changed, grown so much that I was very proud of her. I wanted to let people know that with a little time, effort and love how wonderful these magnificent creatures can be. Not to give up or pass them by because they may be old, scared, timid, or even aggressive. With a little care and love they can blossom to be a wonderful caring friend with much love to give.

Blackie

This is going to be the first, last, only time I will mention this, as I do not think about it doing my best to put it out of my mind. There is a lot of anger, hurt, frustration involved with this, the full details of which I will leave out, I just can't get into it. On Nov 14, 2011 just before midnight Girl took her trip over the bridge. I personally helped her cross over, here in her home where she felt safe and loved. God this is still hard to write. She was and will always be my baby girl, my sweetie pie being so quite and gentle. I will always miss her. She is the reason I have so many cats. She is the one that started it all. I suppose for her I will keep this blog going.

Thor (MIA)

Like I said a lot has happened, but not much has changed. About 6 or 7 weeks ago Thor disappeared. Sometimes he would not come around for a few days, but after not even seeing him in the back yard for a week I knew he was gone. I fear that the coyotes got him. I live in the middle of town, and yes I have seen them in the street out front. He was one of the five that “belong” to my neighbor. Being such I did not try very hard to make him an indoor kitty, having to let him wonder around so they can see him. They are the ones that put food out but will have little to no interaction with their cats. Three of their other cats (Pretty, Ugly, TJ) spend most of their time in my house I make no apologies. Only TJ bugs me to get out at night the other 2 are usually in bed with me.

Tom

That brings the count down to 10 my 5 and the neighbors 4 plus Tom (who is totally independent). None of my cats get to go out ever the neighbors 3 I keep in at night and usually most of the day. I have started to work on getting Blackie and Tom to want to stay around more. Tom may never become an indoor cat, unlike Thor who stayed near by, he wonders the whole neighborhood (too independent). Disappearing for a week at a time. I have seen him several blocks away, I do not know if he has a regular home or not. That leaves Blackie as my best bet to corral into being a house cat. Everyone is still on a mostly dry food diet. I give both Tom and Blackie canned food as a bribe to come around more often, the rest get left overs. At least for the time beaning.

Rare pic. Tom making himself at home. 

Well that kinda brings everyone up to date on whats happened over the past several months. Sorry it got a little depressing. I am still not sure how often I will update will have to wait and see.  

Sleepy Sunday

                       Mittens taking the art of relaxation to the next level.

                       Girl just waking up. Sticking her tongue out at me.

                            Blackie found a spot on a crowded end table.

                                       Ugly sleeping like an angel.



Hoping you all had a nice sleepy weekend. Remember to get plenty of rest for the week ahead.
       
  

Playing Favorites



Girl & Tom sharing a feast.



Girl being my first kitty (after many years without a pet), as well as being the oldest (10 or 11) gets preferential treatment. Being somewhat concerned about recent changes in her fur, as well as appearing to lose weight, I decided to buy her can food to eat. All of them have been on a dry food only diet for the past several months. While Girl likes and eats the dry she is missing most of her teeth. When she first showed up most of her back teeth were bad and on the first vet visit it was decided to have them removed.



The crowd gathers around.



Being shy and timid she will not eat with the others, instead will hide when the others come around while she is eating. In fact most of the time she spends away from the others. I have always been a bit worried about her eating enough. I have decided to feed her a can a day to see if it helps. I have to close her in the bedroom to keep the others away. Also to encourage Tom to come around more I have been giving him her left overs (after she has had a couple of hours to eat it). This time I gave him his own can. Girl does not mind him being around ( I told you all the girls go crazy over him). If anything is left then the others get it.

Hour later, still there.

With me in the room and the door closed the others gather around. You can see them after I walked over to get the camera. Mittens and TJ moved when I walked out. About an hour later they were still there wanting in. This started when I bought a bag of dry that had a coupon for a free can. Twelve cats only one can, who gets it. My favorite of course, she does get other special treatment. Such as me keeping the others away, extra attention, etc.  
 
      

Odds 'n' Ends



Squirrel on the counter.

 First I want to thank everyone for the comments about Squirrel. I wont tell her though because it will just go straight to her head. She already acts like a movie star. LOL

I wanted to post a movie and see how well it works. I just ran across it the other day. I took this a couple of years ago, when I first got my camera. It is just a still camera (8 megapixel), I noticed it had a film option. I tried it out to catch Girl in action. Milk is a finger food, as you can see. She eats milk with her paws (she is left pawed). That is the only thing she does that way, although once I did see her drink it like water. This was taken when she was still deathly afraid of Squirrel. If she knew Squirrel was on the bed she would have run and hid. I think if I had more light (my place is so dark inside) it would be less grainy.



Eating milk from a glass.



I want to get one with her and a tall empty glass of milk. She will delicately place her paw in the glass to get the last drops at the bottom. Or if I have a full one in the coffee table she will stand up with one paw on the table the other to eat with.



Dinner Time.



Well the kitties are not sure what is exactly going on. I think that they may be a little frustrated with me right now. I have switched them to a dry food only diet. I still have not found a job and am just about out of funds. So I had to cut back on costs, they still get their nutrients but this is cheaper. They are used to me opening 3-4 cans in the mornings when I wake up. Each morning they still gather around the food bowels expecting it.



Before, see how skinny.



The Martian used to eat 3-4 cans a day by himself. When I first started feeding him regularly he looked to be about half starved. You can see the difference in the two photos. What my cats would not eat from the cans the outside ones would finish off. I was going through 8 cans or more a day before the Martian showed up. Maybe the fat ones will get back into shape this way. If they do I might just keep them on dry food.



After, much healthier.



Pretty has started staying in nights, joining me in bed along with her twin Ugly. Both sleeping at the foot of the bed now that Martian has joined me. He sleeps with his head on my pillow, laying down after nuzzling and giving me a kiss. I will have to do a progress post on him soon, he has come a long ways.



Outside wanting in.



Mizz Purrzzy walked in a couple minutes ago meowing for me to play with her. I put her in my lap but she wont lay down or sit still. So I type a few words pet her a couple min back and forth between typing and petting. Of course this was just right after Lil' Bit jumped down. She joined me when I first started typing.

Mizz Purzzy says
Phbbt... to me.

I saved the biggest news for last. (Cat change Lil' Bit is back in my lap) Girl jumped at Lil' Bit. You know how a kitten will leap 2-3 feet to attack another one, trying to get them to play. Well night before last Girl did that, she leapt from the arm of the couch to the recliner to chase Lil' Bit. I had thought Girl had chased her before but this was the first time I actually got to see it. As usual that was the extent of her play 15-30 seconds before getting scared and stopping. Still it is a major leap forward for Girl. I told “M” and she asked if I had a heart attack when I saw it. It was so surprising and made me feel so happy and proud for Girl. I had to reward her and immediately gave her some treats.

 

Girl ignores the Martian.

Like I said just a few odds 'n' ends to update everyone on whats happening here.

  

Time to Brag



Girl Kitty

 Today’s post is all about Girl and the amazing progress that she has made. Just a couple of days ago for the first time, and again last night for the second time, she played “string”. I dangled a string in front of her, she played with it, batting at the string with abandon. This lasted about 20 seconds each time. So what is so special about a cat playing with a string you might ask, don't most cats? I do not think Girl quite knew how to be a cat. Let me explain and highlight some of her steps along the way to this major milestone.


When Girl first showed up (late 2006) she was and still is a proper little lady. Even with the back door open she would not come in unless personally invited. After eating she would jump up on the couch next to me rubbing up against me to get loved and petted. At the slightest noise from out side, if I stood up, or if she saw another cat walk in (She kept a constant watch on the back door) she would run and hide for hours. She was hard to catch and put out in the mornings. Two weeks after she showed up I relented and got a litter box so she could stay in full time.


Girl didn't see Twinkie


She was a very shy and timid cat, always slinking around with her tail between her legs. She probably spent 8 months or more of her first year with me hiding under my bed. She would join me up top when I went to bed, then back under in the morning. She was always fearful of other cats. One day she came out of the bedroom looking towards the back door, keeping an eye out for other cats, she jumped on to the arm of the couch, still watching the back door. She did not see Twinkie sleeping there, about 15 minutes later when she finally noticed him she immediately ran and hid, for at least 3 hours. See how she is sitting ready and alert she used to always sleep that way, never any other position. Ready to spring away at a seconds notice.



I was beginning to wonder if something was wrong with her I never heard her meow. I only knew she was purring by placing my finger on her throat. Twinkie was still around at this time, he would meow to be let in, get fed, petted, in other words a lot of the time. One day Girl started to meow to get fed and was very insistent about it. Good for her, I think she learned it from Twinkie. It was at least a year and a half before she messed up and I heard her purr, and at arms length too. Around this time also she would lay more like a cat, with her legs extended out and even started to lay on her side, she finally was starting to relax a little bit. Sometimes too much, she reminds me of a turkey spread out like that.



Turkey pose



I tried to get pictures each step along the way, but with her being so skittish it was hard. I tried playing with her but she would run from the string, at best shyly pushing it away when I put it in her face, with a half harted attempt to play. Her catnip mouse she at first ignored finally she started rubbing against it. Just a few weeks ago she started picking it up and tossing it around pouncing on it. I think she is learning how by watching the other cats play. But if she sees them watching her or hears a noise she will stop.



Girl eats in public



I used to feed her where ever I could find her, finally I got fed up with empty cans under both beds and the couch. So I made her a spot in my room and would only feed her there. One time she went to the community food bowl (where I feed the others), I have a pic of it. She does it on occasion now. I also have a pic of the first time another cat (Mittens) laid down near her and she was aware of it. The first cat she walked up to and sniffed was Lil' Bit. (Lil' Bit is smaller than Girl).



Girl with Mittens


I can only guess as to what kind of background she came from, to be so scared all the time. I have a real soft spot in my hart for her because of this. I sometimes think she might have been abused. This post shows just a little of the progress she has made, I could write so much more. Each incident is like a child taking its first step. Recently she has started to growl and swat at any cat that gets too close, will walk up to some of the others, and does not hide as much as she used to.

Progress has been slow in coming. The vet guessed her to be about 5 when he first saw her in 2007, so she is a senior cat now around 9 years old. You would think she would be set in her ways, but she is learning how to become a cat. Lil' Bit tries to play with her, by swatting Girl when she passes by. Girl just ignores her :).


Girl on piano with others :)


It has taken a lot of time and patience with Girl to get this far. She is very spoiled, and tolerances are made. Sometimes I have to pick her up and carry her into the bedroom so she will go eat. She still is afraid to use the litter box to pee in (it is not medical we checked with the vet), I place some old towels next to the boxes she uses and change them out regularly. She has some special needs and allowances need to be made for her. But she is a special little girl that I would be lost without.

So as you can see playing “string” is something amazing to brag about. This is coming from a cat that tried to crawl into a hole and pull it in after her so as not to face the world. A lost kitty that did not know how to be a cat, who was afraid of her own shadow. A senior citizen who is facing her fears and over coming them, gracefully. So yes I will brag about my special kitty because I am so proud of her and the progress she has made. Three cheers for Girl!!
    

I'm Back

Well it has been just about a year since I last updated this blog, I had pretty much given up on it. But my friend and neighbor keeps encouraging me to write a blog about my cats. She doesn't know that I had started one before. (I think she is tired of hearing me brag about my cats).
Around this time last year I was worrying about work and had some personal problems getting me down. I looked and could not tell that anyone had even visited my page, which didn't help. Being somewhat superstitious (which is how Girl got her name or lack there of) I stopped because my babies were getting sick, just shortly after starting the blog. I almost lost one, came close to having another go blind.
An URI (Upper Respiratory Infection) started going around, most of the strays I take care of and all my cats got infected. First Mittens started sneezing for a couple of days followed by Squirrel. After which Girl followed by Lil' Bit. In that order, after a few days Squirrel was not as active and I was worried that I might have to take her to the vet, most of the others got better in couple days. I was working only 15-20 hours a week and money was getting tight, so I kept a close eye on her. After the fourth or fifth day she started getting better (just as I was about ready to take her in) , Lil' Bit on the other hand was in her third or forth day and stopped eating and drinking. You always can tell when she is drinking as she makes a bell like ringing sound when she does. (One day I will post a sound clip, it is cute) For being the smallest and yet most active she will drink about twice as much as the others so I will constantly hear this through the day.
After 2 days of this I took her to the vet. They gave me some antibiotics and eye drops. I already was using a syringe to force some water down her, worried about kidney failure. That was on a Wednesday on Friday I took her back to have her stay over night so they could give her an IV. They gave me some special food to feed her when I brought her home the next day. For two days I forced her to eat and drink. On Monday she started eating and drinking on her own. I was very relived. The doc said that her kidneys should be fine, they checked while she was there overnight. I was concerned that I was not giving her enough, still it was another day before she went to the potty.
Just as she got better one of my stray kitties, (belongs to my neighbor across the ally) was in a somewhat bad way. He was keeping one of his eyes closed, the other half opened and not acting as normal. When I looked at his eye it scared me. The only way I could describe it is to look at a dead fish in the market, red, dry and sunken in the center like a volcano. So I kept him inside and used the rest of the medicine I had left on him. Three days later his owner came around looking for him, said she had some medicine for him. I gave him over to her, not sure if she had and medication for him or not. They let him run around outside though. They are the kind that will get a cat, let them run around and might put out some dry for them. He is better not but the lens in that eye is a bit cloudy. TJ (Tom Jones, named by my friend) can be a pest sometimes like right now, bugging me. Otherwise he seems to be OK.
That my dear readers brings you up to date on what happened and why I had stopped. Next post I will pick up where I left off. Giving you the back story on how I got each of my babies, and then from there keep you update on them. I plan to post at least once a week maybe twice a week while telling you the back story on each. Please forgive me as I am new at most of this and I am sure the site will change and I learn, and hopefully get better. For now here is a picture of Lil' Bit.

Introduction Pt 3

Sometime during the previous events the place had been sold and the new owner decided (after having a couple of the units stay vacant for several months) to allow pets. I no longer have to worry about getting caught with Girl. Also during this time I still had cats come and go with several regulars. When I would hear one eating I would check and see who it was and then make them “pay the toll”. They would have to let me pet them before leaving. Occasionally I would hear someone eating and when I would go to look nothing, just a bushy tail going out the door. My first thought was gray squirrel as that was what the tail reminded me of. I finally caught a quick glimpse of the cat. A few weeks later, after not coming around for several days, she did not run but stayed to eat (probably starved). I had this skinny scrawny kitty (with great big feet) sitting there eating. If I tried to pet her she would back away a couple of feet then back to the food.
I was able to run my finger back of her head near her ears, a couple of times of this she would start to grow and move. She would rotate around the food never stop eating just grow and move, around and around. Then she started to stay in sleeping on the floor or where ever. Spending more and more time in the house. This was Squirrel, I started naming cats again.
After she decided to stick around she started attacking Girl. I constantly had to separate them. They got in to a big scrape, I did not realize how bad it was at first. A few days after I noticed Girl had hurt her self on her tail near her rear. As it was not healing and she would not leave it alone I took her in to the vet. The vet shaved her tail gave her some ointment and some antibiotics for any infections, and told me it looked like a puncture wound. Squirrel had bitten Girl hard. She has healed up and Squirrel has calmed down but Girl still is untrusting of her. Squirrel would spend most of her time inside letting me get close to her but still not pet her.
After a couple of months of this my brother and his wife stopped by to visit, Squirrel did not run outside or go hide like the others did. She came out to see what was going on, but not getting too close to them. It was on this day that she let me approach her and pet her for the first time. There after she enjoyed it, rubbing up against me looking for attention. When I would sit on the floor at the coffee table, writing etc she would climb into my lap lay there. She even started sleeping in bed with me, much to Girl's dislike. Much improvement but still have problems there with those two.
Squirrel likes her toys, I have one that is tear drop shaped with feathers that she really loved. She would toss it 5 feet in the air and jump up 3-4 feet and catch it. She really enjoyed playing with it, until Mittens came along. Things were going good for a while, Girl would even appear in the room with Squirrel in it. SK (Squirrel Kitty) started to fill out no longer the scrawny little thing. She actually started getting fat, then I realized that she was pregnant. I found out cats usually drop within a couple months. I made an appointment at the Humane Society to get her spayed, they were a lot cheaper than what my vet would have charged (close to $500 vs. $70). While I was at it I decided to have Twinkie neutered, as I had come to think of him as being my cat(it being over a year with him living here). Twinkie had shown up with some tar or something on his tail and it was still there so I also had them remove it. They shaved most of his tail, and after 2 years it was gone. The appointment for SK was on a Saturday, of course a couple of days before they found a hoarder in town, over 450 dogs. The Humane Society called to reschedule this happened 3 or 4 times, by now SK was getting close, to dropping.
I barely managed to not wind up a grandpa. I had to keep Twinkie in for a week to heal and her for at least 2. I wound up locking him in the spare bathroom at night so he would not attack Girl, and I could get some sleep. Finally I could start letting him out again. I was starting to think about making them all indoor kitties, better for them, but he would not adjust. It was at this time that Mittens showed up. Came in one day to eat and stuck around most of the day every day. Then Twinkie disappeared about 2 months after getting fixed.