Wordless Wednesday

Leo

Star

Vet Visit

Leo went to the vet today. He was such a good boy! And he’s just fine, I’ll get that out of the way right off. Know what surprised me? He meowed all the way there (a whole 7 minutes). He rode home from Chrystal’s, an 8 hour drive, and never once made a peep. Poor little guy. He calmed when I put my fingers through the bars on the door.

Last week I noticed something odd on one of his front paws. When I played with his toes, there was something odd between them. It took a while, and the help of Greg, but I finally got a look at it. There was something sticking out of a tiny toe pad that I hadn’t noticed before. It was hidden behind the two extra toes, they kind of overlapped it. I thought it was a thorn, but where would he get a thorn? Surely it hadn’t been there since he was a feral kitten outdoors.


I gave it a gentle little tug, but it was not moving. But Leo was, and he was not happy. We decided to let him go and call the vet. I wanted to make sure it was still there over the weekend, because if it wasn’t he probably didn’t need the vet. So Greg held him again, and yup, it was still there. He got a look at it that time and thought it was something embedded too. I looked closer and wondered if it wasn’t a growth. Well, best to leave it to the vet we decided and didn’t fuss with it since he was not happy about having it looked at.


So today we took him in, and after his fussing in the car, he behaved very well. At first it didn’t look like he wanted to come out of the cage, but just as the nurse was going to reach in, he came out like a good boy. She got a quick peek at the thing and thought it might be a growth, but he wasn’t cooperating with her so she didn’t get a good look.


Leo suffered the indignities of the vets examination quietly, without a peep or struggle until they got to the paw. He tried to squirm away but after a moment he let him get a good look. The verdict. This was yet another spare claw. It looks like a little stick, there is no claw shape to it, it’s just straight, not even a vein.



The problem is, being buried under the other spare toes, it can grow unnoticed and poke into soft tissue and cause problems. We’ll need to keep it, and the wonky claw that doesn’t retract, clipped well so they don’t injure him. The new stick like claw can be trimmed back completely to the pad, and the vet did that for us, you can’t even see it now. He also said that if it became a problem he could surgically remove it from the pad so it wouldn’t grow back again. For now, we’re going to see how keeping it trimmed goes.


I watched carefully how he trimmed the wonky claw because I’m afraid of that one and worry when I trim it. He trimmed it a lot shorter than I usually do, and guess what? No two points on it now! If I keep it trimmed short enough and often enough, it might not have two points again. It was starting to look like a little lobster claw!

Here’s how the wonky claw used to look.

Here’s how it is after the trim.

The vet trimmed all his claws, and even his back feet which I have not done at all yet. He struggles and I don’t want to upset him.. They weren’t horribly long yet, so I was giving it time. But it’s nice that he’s all trimmed up, and pronounced perfectly healthy! Vet said that for being a former feral, he was remarkably healthy. I know that is entirely due to Chrystal and the wonderful care she gave my baby boy when she rescued him!


I cannot thank Chrystal and her family enough for the care and time they put into Leo, not to mention his sisters and all the other kitties she’s rescued. They are just the most amazing people. If you read her blog, then you know how many kittens she’s rescued in recent weeks, so many, and so sick. The chip in donation thing is still up, and I know for a fact that she can sure as heck use every dime given. So please, consider sending something, every little bit helps. And while you’re there, consider adopting! See how healthy her kitties are before she lets them go to their forever homes!! Every adoption makes room for another rescued kitten, so you’d be helping out more than just one kitty!!

None the worse for wear.

If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not go back there, even though they did give me treats.. And even sent extras home to share with Star.

Award!

We got an award!

 Bryan's Cats gave us The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award! Thank you Bryan's Cats! If you haven't seen his blog, it's very inspiring, he cares for his own clowder (I love that word too!) of kitties as well as many in the neighborhood!

I'm suppose to tell you seven unknown facts then pass on the award, so here goes!

1. Leo has an overbite. Just a tiny one, but it's oh so cute! I keep trying to get a good profile shot of him, but he won't stop looking at me! He can hear that camera open every time..

Here's my attempt at a profile shot of him..

This isnt a  profile shot, but you can kind of see the overbite..



2. Star has a fused tail. Just the last two or three bones. We think she must have gotten it slammed in a door just before we got her. When we adopted her, she would have these fits where she would spin in a circle and act like she was in pain. We kept checking, thinking it was her leg, but could find nothing wrong. She never once licked or bit at her tail so we didn't think to check there and the fits would pass as quickly as they came on her. I can't tell you how many times she'd have those spin fits while sitting on me, and having her claw stuck in my skin would not, could not stop her from spinning. I still have scars.. Anyway, it wasn't until much later that we discovered the stiff end of her tail and put two and two together and came up with poor baby must have had a broken tail! I still feel awful about it, though I don't know what the vet could have done for her. Can you even cast a tail? It doesn't bother her in the least now.

3. I suffer from terminal shyness. It's worse than painfully shy, it's excruciating. Of course, when I get to know someone, I can talk their ear off until they scream for mercy! But it's also the reason that I had been reading kitty blogs for years before I got the nerve up to comment on one. Let me tell you, I almost had a heart attack before I pressed the 'post comment' button with all the anxiety I was feeling! But I'm really glad I did. And I'm really glad I got up the nerve to ask Chrystal about adopting Leo. And I'm really really glad I started this blog and met all of you!

4. Star was almost exactly like Leo is now when we first got her. She was two, and we had three other cats, all senior kitties. Her playful, exuberant attitude nearly drove them all completely nuts. She just wanted to play, and she pounced on everyone the moment they moved. She was the bouncy, playful, annoying intruder back then! Poor kitty, getting a taste of her own medicine after all this time.

I was reading this to twin 1 in Alaska and she insists on my telling about one particular day with Star when she was still new to us. I had a rule about doing homework right after school, (snack, then homework, then playtime), so she, twin 1, was sitting next to me as we were going over her work when Star, having one of her run and pounce fits, ran up the girl and bounced off of me to land in the window behind us. She used the girl as a running board and me as a trampoline to get to where she wanted!

5. Greg is a cat whisperer. He can pick up Star, I cannot. Star is one of those cats that when you start to pick her up, if she can't get away, she goes pointy on five of her six ends to discourage you. If you can brave claw and fang and actually get her up, then you have to deal with the fact that she will wiggle and squirm and fight tooth and nail until she gets her way, which is down. Greg, however, can pick her up, she doesn't growl, hiss or scratch. She never bites him. He can hold her and pet her and not have to have a death grip to keep her from jumping away. She isn't always thrilled perhaps, but she stays until he lets her down. And surprise surprise, she does not run from him when she gets down! She will even rub up against him, like thanking him for picking her up.

Greg has this effect on babies too. When the twins were infants, and one would start crying, setting the other off, sometimes there was just nothing you could do to settle them down. And they were the kind of screamers that would cry so hard they'd stop breathing and turn blue! Scary! (There are tricks to stopping that, aside from the fact that once they pass out, they start breathing again, still not fun to deal with!) There were day's I'd be beyond frazzled and I'd call him and he'd come to where I was, (their house or ours) and all he had to do was pick one of them up and they shut up! I don't know if it was his calm manner, which I didn't have after hours of crying babies, or what. He always says it's his giant mechanic's mitts that make them feel safe and comfortable. Once he got one baby calm, usually in about three minutes.. He'd get the second one and do the same. Occasionally he'd hold them both at once, but really, it was so fast that he could do one at a time. Still frustrates me that he could do what I, a former day care teacher, could not do.. Babies and cats love him. To my mind, that's a very telling thing and after nearly 24 years, I'm still positive I made a wonderful choice in him.

 Being held by daddy!

She's purring even though she's giving me the hairy eyeball for taking her picture.

6. We're... oh dear, this is a horrible confession... We're kinda.. nerds.. We are really into Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate.. Greg even went to a party as a Klingon once, and I made his mask (horrible paper-mache), starfleet uniform, and all the insignia including his rank pips and commbadge. I went as a bajorian tourist.. I made a bumpy nose thingie and wore a Star Trek tshirt that had Deep Space nine on it. (someone went to Deep Space 9 and all I got was a lousy tshirt) Oh, I also made a whole big garbage bag full of tribbles.. I won't mention the food, but it was very Star Trek. *deep sigh* ok, now the truth is out there.. feel free to call me a wacko.

Wow, seven... I don't know what else to say.. Leo is kind of an open book since I started blogging about him almost from the minute we got him. Star is still probably a bit of an unknown, so I'll stick to a fact about her for the last one.

7. Star really is a sweet kitty. I know she seems like a big ol' crank, and she is. But that's not all she is. She is an attention hound, just on her terms. She's cuddly, just not pick me up cuddly. She waits for Greg to wake up in the morning so he can pet her. He's her personal property, you know, she has claimed him totally. She loves to get attention upstairs, and that's not just since Leo arrived. I think she thinks we're undivided up there or something. Whatever it is, she will roll around acting all cute just to get pets. When she's done with that, she wants to sleep on my hip or back depending on how I'm sleeping, and on my tummy when I'm watching TV or trying to work on the laptop.

When Greg wakes up, and she's sure he's not going to put the snooze on again, she will pester him. And he will darn near be late to give her the attention she craves. I heard him one morning, telling her that he had to go to work now or he wouldn't be able to keep her in chicken treats. I'm pretty sure she let him go then..

And tummy rubs! Goodness, she demands them! She will flop over and kick at my arm until she gets into the correct tummy rubbing position, then will just bliss out while I stroke her curly tummy furs. if I rub in front of her ears while I'm rubbing her tummy, well that much the better, she will almost go catatonic with pure joy! That's her other best spot, the front of her ears. She will lean into my hand so hard! And if my knuckle goes into her ear, oh yeah, that's the good stuff!

Star the sweetheart

So there you go, 7 little known facts about us. Thank you again Bryan's Cats for the award!

Now I want to pass it on to:

Katnip Lounge

and

Love and Hisses

for the sweet and funny voice they give their kitties in their blogs!

Scratchy!

First thing I want to thank everyone for their good wishes, prayers, and purrs for my friends kitty, Mexi. He’s doing well now, no more seizures. All tests came back negative. Right now they’re in a wait and watch mode, hoping he doesn’t have another seizure. The thought is that he might have gotten into something. He does go outside a little bit. If he did get into something, I hope it was just an accident, not someone deliberately trying to hurt animals.


Second, we received an award! Tomorrow I will post it, because I have to give some thought to what I want to say. But today, I’m sorry, I’m just too tired.



The kitties here love scratchies. The newest one looks like a bench and they haven’t been too sure about it, only giving it the occasional courtesy scratch. They must be deciding that it’s ok because Leo at least lays on it. And now that Star is spending a little more time downstairs, she’s taken to sitting on it too.



Oh! I think I have figured out what’s making Star stay down longer in the evenings. It’s her daddy. She loves, I mean LOVES him, and I think she’s figured out that he’s on her side as far as the infidel goes. Greg doesn’t let him chase her. He follows them around when Star is downstairs and Leo’s trying to stalk her. So when Greg is home, Star is down.

Leo looks like he’s trying to will the white mousie to come closer so he doesn’t have to get up from the bench scratchy.

Come to me... come....

　

　

He gave up... sounds like a bird in the window. Now he has to decide if that’s worth getting off the benchy.

Hmm, sounds like.. A robin.. female.. In the roses.. No, gone already. Guess I’ll stay here..

　

　

Star thought it was a good place to relax after she had her snacky tonight.

I approve, it’s a good place to keep an eye on the infidel.

　

　

Then she had to survey the devastation left by Leo the Destroyer

Broken feathers, denuded toys, feather bits from those denuded toys, squished mousies, scratchy torn from it’s box, other scratchy flipped.. That boy has to much energy..

We got tagged!

We got tagged by Random Felines!
(that was actually a few days ago... but because of a busy week, I just found it today!)

Do you think you are hot?

Leo: Hey, I’m a good looking teen-age boy... Who DOESN’T think I’m hot??

Star: Yeah, when the air conditioner is off.

Upload a picture of the wallpaper you are using at the moment.

(Well.. It was just father’s day... otherwise I’d have a kitty!)

The song you've listened to the most recently.

We aren’t addicted to radio/ipod/mp3 players around here. So the last song we heard was probably Pat Benatar’s Bad Reputation because it’s the theme song for American Choppers!

What were you thinking about when you were doing this?

Leo: ...the yelling on American Chopper is disturbing my nap..

Star: Don’t make me look like too much of a crank or I’ll shred your laptop...

Andrea: Who can I nominate when I get to the bottom of this...

Do you have any nicknames? Oh yeah

Leo The Chinese Lion, that’s my full name. Leo the Chinese Parrot. Goofball. Klutzyboy. Ol’ Feather Tail. Leo Scarf. Wonky Toes. Mmhmm Hrrmm thppp (usually called that when he’s laying across my mouth and nose thinking that’s the best place for a nap..) Infidel. Barbarian. (The last two given by Star..)

Star: StarBaby. TarBaby. Baby Girl. Pretty Girl. Fuzzy Britches. Cranky Pants. Ornery Butt. Fastest Paws In The West. Princess HissyFace. Your Highness.   

Tag 8 bloggers:

1. Daily Dose of Dogs

2. Kittitas

3. love from alaska

4. House of Cats

5. Cat’s Cats

6. The Monkey’s

7. Love and Hisses

8. Look What The Storm Dragged In

Who is listed at #1? Chrystal’s kitties! Leo came from there, he’s a Winnie’s Wish kitten! (Seriously, if you want a great cat, go to her site and adopt! We did and we couldn’t be happier!) 

Say something special about #5. The FIRST Winnie’s Wish kitty! Her Jimmy was adopted from the cat house first! She set the precedence!

How did you get to know #3? Oh! That’s my niece! Twin 1 who lived with us until she went to Alaska for the summer for the sole purpose of killing me. I was there the day she was born and helped raise her, her twin, and their older brother. Them’s muh babies!

How about #4? Amy’s got Leo’s sister, Trixie! How can you not love your kitty’s sibling’s people?

Leave a message for #6. The latest one to get a Winnie’s Wish Kitty. Way to go!! And welcome to the club! 

*feel free to do this or not.....but it was kind of fun!!

I know the thingie didn’t say to, but I want to say something about the numbers that didn’t get a mention!

#2: Fostering older kitties, sometimes with issues, is a special calling, and they are wonderful with them!

#7: Absolutely love the personality in the writing and that she gives to the pictures!

#8: Another new blogger with a new kitty. This time the kitty came from Love and Hisses. Yay!

Goofy Day (pictures added!)

It’s been very hot and humid here. Earlier I got a bottle of water from the fridge and it was frozen solid. I thought what the heck, I can drink it as it melts, it’ll be cold anyway. It wasn’t sitting on the try table more than three minutes when Leo launched himself out of the window, jumped up onto the Royal Footstool, put a paw on the table and started licking the condensation off the bottle. What the heck was that about? Did the ice call him? 　
It started storming and the wind picked up quickly. Leo jumped out of the window, probably because he was getting wet. He stood in The Chair as he contemplated his next move. Something caught his eye on the sewing cabinet that sits next to The Chair. Cautiously, he crept toward it. His head did that bobbing and weaving thing where they try to get a good look at something. He reached a paw out, but couldn’t bring himself to touch it. He drew back. He reached out again, then drew back. Once more, the same thing. Then finally that paw slowly, oh so slowly reached out and touched the scary object... he jumped back immediately. Then, with more confidence, he stepped back closer and gave it a few more taps before abandoning it.

What was it? Just a black mousie toy that had one layer of it’s tail stripped back so that it was flapping in the breeze.

Star spent most of the evening downstairs. At one point Leo was on one of the folding chairs and she was walking past on the floor. She launched herself at him and with her lightening quick paws, struck! The chair.. Three times in a row, with profound hissing. Whap Whap Whap Hisssssssssssssss! She didn’t come close to touching him. I don’t think she was trying that hard.. She made her point I guess, not that Leo did much more than blink at her. But she apparently was telling him that she was staying downstairs and she didn’t care what he thought about it.

Yup, my babies had a goofy day.


Speaking of goofy...
I had a couple pictures of Leo sleeping in a very weird way, but I can't seem to get blogger to load them.. guess I'll have to post them later. I'll try to edit later today, but if not, I'll put them up tomorrow.
Pictures finally loaded! whoo hoo!

He’s sleeping here. I don’t know if you can tell in this picture, but his chin is on the Royal Footstool.

I just missed the best shot here, both legs were stretched out on the Royal Footstool. As I was getting the camera he drew back, but didn’t really seem to wake up all that much.

Before I forget, please purr and pray for my friend’s cat, Mexi, he started having seizures yesterday. You can see him in my blog roll in the Adorkably cute blog. She hasn’t written anything, just posted her kitties pictures so far. They are waiting on test results.

Toy Tuesday

I was going to write a nice longish post today. Star had other plans for me. I know I showed pictures previously of her trying to keep me from my laptop.. Well today she nudged the lid closed and laid on it for over three hours. Ok, she did take one break to get a drink out of my glass... but before I could fire up the ol’ wordperfect she was back, nudging until she got her way and took another nap on the laptop.


I guess she was entitled to be sleepy. She’d spent quite a bit of time downstairs today grumbling. We decided that she can grumble all she wants as long as she’s down stairs. And Leo can stare at her all he wants, as long as he doesn’t pounce or stay in the kitty attack posture. Aside from the grumbles, it was a pretty peaceful evening! Star did smack the air in front of him once, but I think he might have insulted her mother.. Or perhaps her taste in snackies. Whatever it was, no contact was made, and everyone went back to guarded tolerance before we could react.


Anyway, by the time I just couldn’t stay still any longer and had to get out from under both the laptop and Star, I was just too tired to write much. So I will leave you with pictures of the new toy bonanza that daddy Greg treated them to last week. We’re still working our way through the attachments to the wand toy. So far most of them are a hit.

Here’s the set along with a very strange large crinkly ball that they absolutely do not know what to do with and a brush that was supposed to be for Leo, but he hates. I think we need a softer bristles.. He only lets me use this one on his tail floof as long as I don’t try to brush to the base of the hairs. Missing from the picture is the long stick with feathers on the end, no string. Forgot about it when I was doing the picture.

Star got a turn! She loved the feathers, but didn’t play too long. I’m still counting it a win that she was relaxed enough downstairs to play at all!

Mmm this is dandy...

 

 

Leo loves all the attachments, but I think he likes the boa the best. He just wants to gnaw on it, too bad it keeps moving on him!

Om nom nom nom

 

 

Just look at that smug baby!

I’m gonna get you, Mr. Feathers, and your little friends too! Bwahahaha!

 

 

Do you know how hard it is to take pictures while teasing with the toys? His head may be missing, but he sure looks excited doesn’t he?

WAA HOOOOO!

 

 

Those tissues on the floor in the background.. He stole them from the box..

My boy.. is a thief..

 

So intent!

MINE!!