We Gots An Awardie

We got an award! Thank you to Tails From The Foster Kittens for honoring us!

We've received the Versatile Blogger award before, but it had a different graphic.. I don't know if that means it's a different award with the same name or just an updated picture. Either way, we'll play along!

rules..

Nominate 5 fellow bloggers who are relatively new to blogging.

Let the nominated bloggers know they have been nominated for the award.

Share 7 random facts about yourself.

Thank the blogger who has nominated you.

Add the Versatile picture to your post.

 Seven random facts... Now, Tails From The Foster Kittens shared facts about the human. I'm not sure there are seven interesting facts about me, so I'm going to spread it around!

1. Leo is leaning against my hip right now, it seems to be a new favorite place and I couldn't be happier!

2. Star acts like the taking turns being upstairs at night is a horror show and she hides and runs! But once everyone settles in, she's the snuggliest cuddliest sweetie you've ever seen.

3. Greg took a tree down with the car on Monday. (rotted trunk, chained to the hitch, drove away and pulled it down, WHUMP!)

4. I ..am a Sci Fi addict.. All varieties of Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate.. And aren't they ever going to make a sequel to Avatar??

5. Leo has learned how to get INSIDE the couch.. The ends used to recline, so they have that loose fabric on the back to accommodate the recline, how he gets in there when the couch is upright is beyond me, but he does it!

6. Star loves belly rubs. She will kick and kick at your arm until it's laying across her tummy rubbing back and forth on her soft curly tummy furs! She usually does this sitting on my lap, but hasn't in ages. Then Saturday night, her turn upstairs, she laid between Greg and me and kicked until I rubbed her tummy. She wouldn't let me stop but after about 15-20 minutes.. I feel asleep. She had to 'kick start' my arm again. But then after a moment or two, she got ticked and left. I think arms get heavy when you fall asleep..

7. Someday soon we're going to have a kitty track around the walls and over the windows in our living room. We got all the wood and materials a while back, Greg just needs time to do the work now.. it's gonna be awesome!


We are having such a hard time figuring out who to pass it on to! "Relatively new" is such a vague term! I'll do my best though. We're passing it on to the following:

Troublin' Times (Fairly new, as 'new' as we are anyway, MOL)

The Furries of Whisppy (They've been around a while, but they have few followers)

Pugs & Purrs (Ok, they've been around for a long time as Slimmer Pugs, but Pugs & Purrs is new!)

Bryan's Cats (Not to be confused with Brian's Home. They've been around a while, then were gone for a while and are back now and also have few followers)

Kat's Kats (Not to be confused with Cat's Cats. Also known as The Teenage Mutant Ninja Kitty Horde, also been around a while but with few followers)

Please take the time to visit these bloggers! They are all awesome and I'm sure would appreciate more visitors!

Favorite Places

All kitties have a favorite place to sleep, sun, and bathe. And while these places can change for no apparent reason, they still have to have a favorite.

Star's favorite, for a long long time, has been her bean bag chair. It used to be in our closet, and she would sleep in it there. Now that it's in the living room, she's in it ALL the time!

This is mine. You may not share!

Leo loves the cat tree. If he could, he'd be on it nearly all day. When he's not snuggled up to me or hiding from Star that is. But he loves the tree. This week I hope to share pictures of teaching him to use the other parts of it rather than just the top. Here he's in the middle, but he doesn't stay there often, it's kind of a pause to see where Star is or to use the scratch post before he's on top again.

Tree is mine! Ok... I know you use it too.. but still, it's mine! Right? Mostly?

Mostly, Leo, mostly.

Feather Video Friday

It's my birthday today which means that the cats will probably get extra treats. If that makes sense to you, then you are a cat person. Like me.

The cats have given me a present, there have been no fights in days. I don't know if the taking turns upstairs at night is helping or if they are just in a behaving mood. Whatever it is, I'm grateful. And I'll take it as a birthday present.

Recently I took some videos on my phone of some Da Bird play. Star was in the room so Leo was not leaping. When she's in sight, he only plays from on the footstool.

The first two are of Leo, the second two are of Star. We left that laundry basket in the living room because Star adores it. I'm sure it won't stay forever. But she's playing more in it than out of it, so for the moment, it's still there.

Anyway, enjoy the movies!

Bacon Thief!

Caught in the act, no defense, open and shut case. Star.... is a thief. And she stole one of the most precious things on the planet... The worlds most perfect food! She stole an entire strip of bacon!

She usually sits right next to me when we're having dinner. She knows who the soft touch is... Who's most likely to give her a bit of chicken, a touch of ham, just about anything she twitches her adorable little nose at really. The only thing she has to do is be patient and wait for it to be given to her.

Last night we made BLT's. Actually, I don't like lettuce on my sandwiches. Not fond of tomatoes on anything but a salad.. So ok, Greg was having BLT's and I was having.. basically bacon sandwiches.. Yeah, I know, feel free to judge, it's still going to be my favorite.

Anyway, the plate of bacon was on the edge of the table next to me. Star was sitting next to me. I told her to be patient and I'd give her some after a while. But I was still busy cutting up tomatoes and buttering corn on the cob and pouring drinks.

She almost got away with it because I didn't see a thing! I felt a scratch on my arm as Star turned around and moved back from the table. Did she just bite me? Scratch me? That's odd, she's never done that before just because I didn't give her what she wanted when she wanted it.. Oh wait, that wasn't a claw scratch! That was a piece of bacon being dragged past my arm!

I reached around and took it right out of her jaws! She was NOT happy.. Neither was Greg. He doesn't like the way she sits with her head over the table peering at our food as we eat anyway. And the fact that it was HIS baby girl who blatantly snatched something directly from the table.. Well, yeah, he wasn't pleased.

He also noticed that I didn't throw away the bacon. "You're going to give it to her, aren't you?" Well I certainly wasn't going to eat it myself! It had teeth marks..

Yeah, I did it. I'd do it again too! It was two inches from my face!

You try resisting bacon right in front of your nose!

So yes, she got the bacon. Not on my couch, and not on the new carpet, but on a plate of her own. I tried to give half to Leo, but can you believe he turned his nose up at it?? I mean, I know he has never, ever, wanted any human food, but this was BACON!! How does he resist?

Star didn't mind, she got it all then. And maybe a smidge of another piece.. but that's not rewarding her bad behavior! It's just... uh... um... well... ...habit? Whatever.

Know what's funny? She regularly sticks her nose in my glass of water, laps it up, and I will still drink it. Is that different than eating bacon she's sunk her teeth into? Somehow, my mind says it is.

Question. Of those of you who share your drink with your kitties, (those who know they do anyway), would you have eaten the bacon? Question 2. Of anyone, would you have given her the stolen piece of bacon? Question 3. Did I just train her to steal from the table??

Toeless and Tummyless Tuesday

Leo is usually always good for a tummy shot or a toes shot because he's almost always on his back rolling around and showing off how twisty he can be!

Today? Not so much.

I can keep things to myself. Sometimes.. if I want... Seriously!

I just adore when kitties do this pose, with the paws curled into their chest! This is the first time I've ever seen Leo do it!

And I'm sorry, but in this pose, can't you just see his Lion's ruff?? Isn't he the cutest thing? You can really see where he got the name "Leo the Chinese Lion" can't you?

Pardon me, I have to go snuggle my baby now..

Star Answers

On my Friday post, I got a question from the Slimmer Purr-sibs about what is a Kick-a-roo. Oh, it's just one of the most wonderful kitty toys EVER. According to Star anyway. They are made by Kong, but lots of other people make kicky toys. Basically, they are long, usually filled with some catnip, and great for bunny kicking while wrapping the front paws around them.

According to Star, they are second only to her butterfly toy! She has the cow looking one, and has licked it so much that it's got green stains from wet catnip.. yeah, it's just as yucky as it sounds, wet soggy toy, bleh! MOL She's a licker and a kicker!

Here's both kinds of kick-a-roos. The big one is a regular kick-a-roo, the little one is a kitten kick-a-roo. Star loves them both. In fact, when I picked them up to take this picture, the little one was soggy... She'd just been licking and kicking it.

Star didn't seem to care for my picking up her kick-a-roos, she jumped up to reclaim them! Since the blue one was already thoroughly sopping wet, she went after the big one.

Who told you that you could touch my kick-a-roos? These are mine!

All mine.. Kick-a-lick-a-grab-a-roo! Hee hee!!

Spitty commented that he would love to see a video of Star rubbing her toy over her face like he does. I knew I had some video's of that from a while back, so I looked for them. I will try to take new ones, but I don't always have something handy when she stars the rub rub lick rub thingie.

Hope these hold you over til I get new video, Spitty!

   

 

Dangle and Kick

Leo's been dangling again. Ok, to be honest, he's always dangling! I just don't always take pictures of it. But I did get a couple of him dangling in other places!

The Dangle; Not just for cat trees any more!

Jewelry chest dangling is awesome because you can play with the drawer handles too!

Hamper dangling, not as elegant, but you get to play with the bits you've already scratched apart that are, hee hee, dangling off of it! Double Dangle!

I didn't want to go into the weekend without posting some pictures of Star too! So here she is being kittenish playing with a kitten Kick-a-roo. When I bought them, I didn't notice the word 'kitten' I just thought they were smaller kick-a-roos. She loves them anyway!

It's called "Kick"-a-roo, that means I have to kick it!

And they smell so good too... purrrrrrrrrrrrrr

But the best thing of all, is licking it! lick lick lick lick lick

Startling Stringies!

The other day Greg and I were playing with Leo and Star at the same time. I know what you're thinking, wow! And no fighting?? Nope, no fighting. Which might have been because Star was on the floor and Leo was on the bed and Greg and I each had a Red Stringy that we were playing with them with. I was playing with Leo and Greg was playing with Star.

Star, true to herself, got tired and walked out of the room. She does this, she will play like mad for a little while, then take a break, then come back. Usually two or three times, then she's done. Leo does this too, but it's not as obvious because he doesn't leave, he just lays down and plays lazily for a while, grabbing it only when it practically lands in his paws.

I've heard Jackson Galaxy call this something like diminishing returns. Cats, depending on their age, will play like wild, take a break, then play like wild for a shorter period of time, another pause and back again. Star's limit is three times back to play. Leo is nearly unlimited, though he does get slower and less active in that play each time.

Anyway, back to the other day. I was still playing with Leo on the bed. I will either swing the Stringy around in circles around him, making him run in circles until he catches it, or I will 'whip' it back and forth and he will dive on it when it's on the side he wants to attack. When I do the whippy thing, he will jump on it, full length, facing the whipped end where he gives it the bitey. When I do the circle thing, he grabs at it with both paws and teeth and hangs on.

However, when Star is also in the room, he is much lower key, trying not to attract her attention and thus inviting attack. So I was swinging the string back and forth past him and he'd grab it and put the bitey on it. He had it pinned down under both paws when Star left the room. He had a good hold too, as I couldn't get it away from him.

Since Star was gone, Greg brought up his Stringy to tease Leo with too. Leo went wide eyed at TWO Stringies, gave the one under his paws a startled look and JUMPED up! EEK!

He sat up straight on the corner of the bed and eyed those two Stringies as if they were aliens from another planet sent to suck out his life force! Seriously! It was so funny, we couldn't help but laugh at him! Poor baby!

This my Stringy! Don't know where that impostor came from.. don't care!

(Leo's always dangling his head off the bed like this, Stringy or no, he must like how things look upside down..)

That whole incident.. probably another thing I don't wanna talk about..

Revenge at last?

I think Leo got a touch of revenge yesterday. I say think, because the evidence is circumstantial and I don't have access to a crime lab for DNA analysis.

I was petting Star on my lap last night and I noticed something funny about the top of her head. There was a stiff tuft of hair and I asked her "what have you gotten into now, little girl?" She declined to answer of course. I figured something had stiffened the fur, something wet or sticky maybe.

I took the tuft between my fingers and thought I could scrape whatever it was off with my nails. But it felt funny.. So I looked closer. It wasn't ON her fur, it was in it. She definately had something stuck in there. I carefully dislodged it and found.. a claw.

Ok, not a whole claw, more like a claw sheath. Sort of like a thin sideways slice of a claw. Like it pealed off. And it was huge. I checked closely and I do not think it was embedded in her skin or skull, but I plan on keeping an eye on the area for a while to make sure she doesn't get an abscess.

The so far non-existent injury aside, somehow she got a claw stuck in the fur in the very top of her head. As I said, it was a LARGE claw. Star has short thin claws, even when they haven't been trimmed in a long time, they don't get very long.

Leo, on the other hand, has HUGE claws, long and fat and highly curved. Just like the bit I found in Star's head. Flat, and sheath-ey, like the kinds I always find after Leo plays and sleeps on our bed. For some reason he sheds these sheaths a lot! I've never had another cat lose so many.

The vet told me that because he's polydactyl, Leo's claws will grow faster than cats with the normal number of toes. I thought he meant just the spare ones, but this has not proven to be the case. All of his claws grow very fast and very curved and very pointy. Even his wonky claw grows fast! (His wonky claw is a non-retractable oddly shaped flat wide claw that usually grows out with two points that look like a crab claw, when the vet trims it, it looks like a little flat square.)

So did Leo finally get back at Star for all the attacks? Did he get in a good hit? I know that they fought at least twice yesterday morning after I went down stairs. I heard them upstairs battling, the little brats.

Star is usually the attacker, though Leo will provoke. Star has fast paws, she can hit you six times before you can register that she's hitting and move. Leo runs faster and can usually stay out of reach of those fast paws.

A few weeks ago Leo was sporting a scab on his nose, presumably Star got in a good swipe. Was this revenge? A lucky shot? As I said, circumstantial evidence.

There is a slight possibility that it came from Star's dew claw, which is longer and more curved. But I've hardly seen her lose any claw sheaths.

As I said, without DNA testing, there's no way to know what happened. And neither of the suspects are talking...

Star: I have nothing to say about the incident.

Leo: Oh, I MIGHT know what happened.. but I think I'll just enjoy... I mean, keep that for myself..

A boycat can keep a secret once in a while, can't he?

Monday Funnies

I'm in a funny mood today. So I thought I'd share some of the kitty funnies I've collected recently. You might have seen some or all of them, but I still think they're funny.

Before I post those, however, I thought I'd let you know that Leo is still doing great, no more problems! I'm beyond glad he's all better!

On to the funnies!

This is what I suspect Star wants to do to Leo when we're not watching..

Hope you at least got a little giggle!

Early Vet Appointment

Ok, I will admit it. I panicked. I'm a worrier. Did I overreact? Maybe. But at least now I don't have to wait til Monday to know if Leo is better or not! If you want a hint on the results, notice what's missing on my side bar.

So last night as I was heading upstairs and as I passed through the hallway, I noticed Leo in the litter box up there. I continued to the bathroom for my nightly ablutions (love that word) and soon he was in the doorway. He sat down and began that licking of his whojigger. Uh oh, I thought, I hope this isn't the start of problems..

He moved toward the tub and dug at the bath mat and fought with the tag on it before sitting back down and having another lick. Oh no.. not again... He gave the corner of the counter top a bear hug, from standing on the floor.. (long cat is looonnnggg) then sat down and licked again.

We checked the litter box, nothing new in it. That means he didn't go before all the licking. What if he's plugged up, I asked, panicking of course. A more reasonable part of my brain, which I barely listened to, said what if he was interrupted by me going by him and now was too excited by attention and wanting to stay upstairs that he was just licking because he still had to go? (It was Star's turn to stay upstairs last night, she was already behind the closed bedroom door, waiting for him to go back down so we could block the stairs to give her the whole upstairs.)

I hardly slept, waiting for the vet to open at 8:30. I wound up calling at 8:15 and was relieved when they answered! I explained what was going on, and that he was scheduled for Monday morning for a retest. I told them what went on the night before and asked if I should bring him now or wait for Monday, hoping they'd say bring him now. Which, thankfully for my sanity, they did!

Greg dropped him off so they could wait for his bladder to fill up, or give him fluids so it would, or, if he was stopped up, they could right away do the bladder tap with a needle. That's what they were going to do Monday, rather than wait for him to go on his own, because they get a more accurate test of crystals if there are any.

I waited for their call, knowing they closed at noon today. Finally, around 11 they called. His bladder had not been over full like he was blocked, good news. They tapped it and got their fresh sample, good news.  There was blood, but only red cells meaning no infection and apparently they will get that from the needle poke, more good news! No crystals! Great news!

The licking, they said, was likely behavioral, (Pottyous Interuptus or a young boy cat thing..), and not because he was hurting or sick! Whew! So now I don't have to wait for Monday and his retest. He has no more medicine! All is well in our world!

We are going to try to stay away from fishy foods still, since that can be a cause of crystals and if he's had problems before, well, we don't want to have any flare ups if we can avoid it, if it's an issue. Besides, they're getting used to the non fishy food now that we've mixed it with their usual stuff. Three kinds mixed fairly equally.

So we're dancing happy over here! Ok, cat mommy is. Star's all Hissyface because not only is Leo back, but he smells like THAT PLACE. And Leo's all, "Do you know what they did to me? Hugs!!!" But we're happy!

That brings me to what's missing from my sidebar. I took down the Purrs for Leo badge. And I thank those of you who purred and prayed for him and displayed the badge. Big thanks to KC for making the badge! I don't know if I would have gotten through this without all of you, I was one stressed mess here! So thank you and thank you again! And if you have his badge up, please feel free to take it down because at this moment, my boy is all better!

Hello, my name is Leo, and I may have a licky problem..

But I's not sick no more!! Paws in the air, whoo!!!



Please head over to Chrystal's blog today if you havent yet! Daily Dose of Dogs AKA Cats With Your Coffee

Wordless Wednesday - Twisted Sleeper

Learning

I know some of you watch Jackson Galaxy's show, My Cat From Hell. Saturday's show, this season's opener, really showed us some ideas for our kitties. There were two cats very similar to ours. An older kitty who'd been an only kitty, and a new kitty brought in. The older kitty would attack the younger one. The only difference is that their new kitty was little while our new kitty is HUGE.

They let the new kitty sleep with them every night and the old kitty didn't get to any more. New kitty is safe in bed with them. Hmm, Leo has slept in our bed nearly every night since he learned to come upstairs and jump on the bed..

Jackson talked about making sure the older kitty got her food first because she's the queen. Hmm, we put Leo's down first to keep him from diving into Star's because food time is the only time he doesn't care if he gets close to her. And we want to make sure he gets his medicined food, not her non medicated food!

So there were two things that we could work on right away! We rigged up a way to block off the upstairs, put food and water up there, and now they take turns. One night Star is up with us, with full access to the bed and the center of the human smell. And the next night, it's Leo's turn. And repeat.

It's working well so far, though they are a little confused. The one left down stairs meows at the gate (really a long table covering the top of the stairs), which I think is funny because it's about the ONLY time you ever hear Leo meow! He has such a cute, sweet, little kitteny meow for such a huge mancat!

We're also making sure Star's food gets set down first, whether she dives right into it or not. Leo is held back and not allowed to take her bowl. Then he gets his bowl. He's learning that we're not starving him and his is coming within seconds of Star's. He's such a goof ball!

Have we seen any changes? Hmm, hard to say. Obviously they don't fight all night or hide from each other all night. Star still wants to smack on Leo, but since they are not really out when one of us isn't up, she's not having much success in her attacks. Feeding time is calm and even if Star decides not to eat what we give her, she knows we think she's the queen.

What they don't show you on the show, but they talk about on his website, is that they also use Spirit Essences. They're not cheap, but we're thinking about getting some to see if they help.

Oh, we've also been playing with them with the same Da Bird at the same time. On opposite sides of the room, lol! And that's going ok. Star will run around and attack it, but if she's in the room, Leo will only play from the top of the Royal Footstool.

Anyway, we love that show and we're hoping that the ideas we've gotten from it will help our babies!


A view of dinnertime. Those are the dinner/wet food bowls sharing the chair with Leo.

I WANT MY FOODS!!!

Pwease...?

Mommy?

Daddy?

...dang it.. I don't know which one to suck up to...

Right Now

This is what's happening RIGHT NOW at my house! Ok, right now while I'm writing.. maybe not right now when you read it depending on when you read it.. Alright, lets not confuse everyone, including me!

Right now, my kitties are having a bit of a stare down..

Leo: Um... wanna play?

Star: Only if you want to play "rip your face off"..

Star: What, mom... I was just kidding.. Honest. You can stop making the kissy noises and patting the couch, I'm not falling for that distraction technique. Besides, I'm behaving. For now.

Leo: I knew you were kidding... wanna play?

(sorry those pictures are so dark, the sun is shining BRIGHTLY in that window! I lightened them as much as I could. I really need to make my curtains..)

Aside from one chuffing from Leo when she jumped up there, they have been quite. No hissing, no growling. Every time Leo moves, Star's head snaps to him as if she thinks he's going to attack her. She's not fooling me though, I know she jumped up there with the intent to attack him.

I have learned that when I scold or act like she's going to attack, she figures she may as well just do it. So far, just talking sweetly to her has kept her in her seat. Fingers crossed!

Ah ha! Just now she got down, came over to me for a quick pet and a sniff of a dehydrated pineapple container! No fight! I can breathe now!

Whew.. I need a nap.. Anyone wanna join me?

Hanging Out

Thank goodness the weekend is (about) here! It's been a crazy week! Sometimes the kitties have almost seemed to get along, and other times they're fighting like cats and.. cats! That's one of the ways I know Leo's feeling better though. Star no longer feels he needs to be left alone because he's unwell, and he is feeling well enough to antagonize her!

At the moment, all is peaceful, each of them are sleeping in their own special place. And I'm breathing easy. Who knows when they wake up though.. But we're going to pray for a quiet weekend of just hanging out.


Leo, doing the dangle!

Me? I's just hangin' out.

Is that a toy? Toss it up here, ok?

Star on her bean bag in one of the oddest positions.. I don't know if you can tell, but her bottom half is bent upward and is higher than her front half. Note the crossed paws!

Zzzz Go'way.. no flashy

It's my bean bag, of course it's comfortable.. zzzzz

We hope you all have a good weekend and get to hang out too!

A Little Rant, A Little News

We hope everyone in the USA had a great Independence day yesterday! I never even got on line, shocking! I know a lot of places were too dry, or having wildfires so they couldn't have fireworks, but we hope you got to celebrate anyway.

I'm late writing a post today because Leo decided he needed LOTS of snuggles. So I sat and held him while he slept. Every time I thought, I really need to get something done today, I'd look down and see his sleeping face looking like he was smiling and I'd think it can wait a little longer.. Is there anything sweeter than a snuggly kitty?

I think Leo has had his last dose of antibiotic... He's supposed to have it through the weekend, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. He's very suspicious of his stinky goodness now.

Let me rant for just a moment.. What genius decided that cat medicine should smell and taste like bubblegum??? Hello! Even kids find that disgusting! Cats have a stronger sense of smell, so you add in a strong cloying scent of something they don't even consider food? Seriously? If you want a cat to eat it, make it smell like nothing so we can hide it! Or at least let it smell and taste like chicken or fish for Pete's sake! Yeesh..

Anyway.. So for the last few times, he's been giving his food a big once over, then giving me dirty looks. He ate it, but was not happy. And as soon as Star walked away from hers, he'd try to trade bowls. We would pick up Stars and direct him back to his. He eat his own then. Most of it, the medicated part anyway.

Until last night. Last night he ate a little of it then walked away. And threw it up. We know it was him that threw it up because when Star throws up, she makes a HUGE production of it and we certainly didn't hear any of her dramatics. He didn't go back to his bowl, and he wasn't too interested in hers.

This morning I put the antibiotic in his medicine as usual and he just sniffed it. And then tried to bury it. He would have no part of it. I gave him plain, non medicated food and he ate every bite. So it's not his appetite, it's the antibiotic. Since he's only got a few days left of a three week regimen, I'm going to just stop giving it to him. I tried the vet to ask about that, but they're not in today. Presumably an extra day for the holiday.

So tonight, he's only going to get the other medicine, the capsule. that, I hope, has no smell and he wont notice. That's the one that's supposed to make it easier for him to go and help with any pain, so at this point I think it's the more important one. In my mind anyway.

I really do think he's doing better. And I hope missing just a few days of antibiotic wont make much difference. We know he's going well, no problems there. He sleeps fine, he plays fine, and he torments Star fine. He's a happy little, sorry, BIG boy. But I'll still breathe easier after his test on the 16th!


Look, they can share a door! Sorta..

Leo: Hey down there! Wanna share the door?

Star: With you? Not really..

Star: However.. at least I don't have to sit next to you. And there are interesting things out there.

Leo: That works, I guess. Ooo! the bugs are coming toward the porch light!

Leo: I get the up high bugs! Hee hee!!

Brighter Days

Well, it seems that set back day on Friday seems to have been a one time shot. I've stopped holing my breath anyway!

We had a talk with the vet Monday and he added more of the capsule meds along with the last week of antibiotics. (why can't I ever remember what the capsule is called? I know it starts with a C.. anyway..) But that will push his recheck back another week! Argh! He wants him to be off meds for a while before the recheck. I guess I understand that, but it's hard to wait! Right now, his appointment is on the 16th and we decided to go with the direct tap of the bladder/kidney rather than wait for him to go on his own. It's supposed to be more accurate, if more expensive, but I need to know.

I had a question about how I was giving the meds, and I think I've finally got it worked out so it's no problem now. At first I was putting a little food in the dish, mixing in the meds and giving him that before giving him the rest of his snack. Well, meal now, not just a snack. That worked fine, he'd eat it, but as soon as he was done with the little bit, he would run to Star's dish because he wanted more. Of course he did! He just didn't want to wait for me to give him the rest.

So what I do now is still mix the meds in that little bit, then I put the rest of his food in the dish and top it with the medicated bit. It's on top, so he eats it first, and the rest is right there so he doesn't have to run after Star's portion! Whew! Finally figured him out!

We also mixed both fish free new dry foods (one with grains one with peas) with some of their old dry food and they are both eating it better. I thought they might pick out just the 'good stuff' but that doesn't seem to be the case. They are eating it all.

I'm still watching him carefully when he, (as I believe it was the Katnip Lounge that coined the phrase), goes into the Playing The Cello position to make sure he's not being excessive. But nope, just normal grooming.

Whew! Things are definitely looking brighter around here and we're all breathing easier. But we'll breathe best after the 16th and his test!



Yeah, it was HOT out, but he wanted a little window whiffy... how could I resist letting him have one? Star got a whiff too before we had to shut it because the air was really working!

I'm lookin' up and havin' sunnier days!

Thank you all for the purrs, prayers and kind words!