Flashback Friday

 TBT:  Well, I thought I would go back as far as I could today.  Not this week in 2008, but what I still have earliest.  I could re-copy from early posts, but this is the earliest left in iPhotos.

I sometimes forget that Skeeter (16) and Ayla (1) shared time...  Skeeter was old then; Ayla was new.

But they got along from the first day.

LC was getting older too (15), a year behind Skeeter...

She loved the deck, and didn't leave it often (nor did Skeeter).

Bad picture, but shows her beautiful blue eyes.

Skeeter and Ayla enjoyed time to gether.  As did Skeeter and LC.  Ayla and LC were sort of neutral to each other.

LC was a beautiful Tuxie.

  

Womancat Wensday

More of Lori.  Upset with the new arrivals...

 

Twofur Tuesday

TBT:   Loki and Binq aren't adjusted enough to talk for themselves yet. And Lori would make up but stuff abut them.  So it will be Marley and I will be doing that  for a while.

Binq had her 1st visit to my vet yesterday.  I knew she was eating well, was active, was friendly, and played with toys well.  But I wanted to establish her account with an exam.  And I wasn't sure about dentals, mites, fleas, heartbeat, temperature, up-to-date shots, etc.  The Shelter has vets, but they have "priorities", and having been in the community room of the Shelter for a few weeks, I wanted to make sure.  

According to her records, she hadn't had an FIV shot, so she got one and will return for the booster shot in 2 weeks.  Loki had gotten his just before he was surrendered to the shelter.  Not that either is going outside until next Spring, but both were among other cats of uncertain health, so I want to be sure.  Besides, the vaccination is good for a year.

But that suggests to me that I misremembered what the shelter staff told me about Loki and Binq.  Apparently it was Loki surrendered to the shelter as "too many cats" quite recently and Binq who had been there a few months.  Or the staff got confused themselves; they didn't give me anything in writing about their personal history.

So, Binq's exam went very well.  Great teeth and gums, clear eyes and ears.  Normal temperature and heartbeat.  No sign of fleas.  Good healthy furs.  

Loki weighs 8.9 lbs; Binq 8.0 and both are probably at their mature weight.  The vet estimates Loki is 3 years old; Binq has records saying 2 years 2 months.  I will just pick some "birthdates" for them soon just for celebration purposes.  I have a lot of sidebar updating to do on the blog and will choose some then.  At least I know their Gotcha Day, and that is more important.

Loki has to be encouraged to eat and Binq eats like a pig.  From the same place but different habits.  Go figure...  But I didn't bring stool samples for either to the vet I never remember those.  And anyway, with 4 cats, I never know who's is who's.  Still, if any have a problem, they all have to be treated.  Since Binq goes back to the vet in 2 weeks, I'll bring 2 stools for them to examine.

Loki's congested cough is bad.  It's between a cough and a hork and is frequent.  And it certainly seems like an infection.  But it also sounds like some different blockage too.  LC had a horking problem once and it turned out to be a small pom-pom she swallowed and couldn't cough back up for a a week.  And then she did.  

Loki has gotten some medical assistance for a head infection (convenia injection),  and erythromycin ointment for an inner lid eye infection.  The goopy eyes are a sign of infection too.  I swab the sides of his nose 2x daily with a damp cotton ball.

I have new pictures, but not today.  They need processing and I am so tired...

Mancat Monday

MARLEY:   I'm just trying to take things easy today.  It has been a hard few weeks.  

I like the new Mews well enough.  Loki is kinna cool and looks a lot like me.  I have more white an his color is a bit more ginger than orange, but that's OK.  Binq is friendly enough.  I've never met a solid black cat before though.  

Lori is taking this change a bit hard.  She hisses a lot.  She even hissed at me a few times.  But that's OK, I know she doesn't really mean it.  She just doesn't like changes much...

She will get over it soon.  I mean, she forgets that she was once "the new kitty".  Ayla, Laz, and I accepted her without hissies.  I will have to remind her about that.  I will put a paw on her head if I have to, but I hope it doesn't come to that.

Loki seems a bit sicky.  But TBT got him some medicines that should help.  Im sure those will fix him up.  I look forward to showing him around the house.  And maybe he will even want ta wrassle a bit.  I miss Laz about that.

Binq seems pretty friendly.  I don't think she wants to wrassle, but you never know.  She is mostly exploring the house.  We have sniffed each other nose and butt a few times.  And we ate dinner right next to each other yesterday and that was good.  And I have to say that womancat can eat a LOT!

If I ate that much, I'd throw up and that would be kinna embarrassing.  But Lori can eat a lot too.  Maybe its a womancat thing.  Well, Im getting older.  I guess I can't eat like I used to.  They are still growing.  I sure don't know where they put it all though.  They are like half my size.  

Easy Like Sunday

TBT;   Since Lori is very upset at the new Mews, I thought I should give her today to reassure her...

Lots of pictures (finally and once again)...

More on Womancat Wensday...  She needs some blog-time...

Loki's Vet Visit

TBT:   Loki went to the vet today and I returned with him, alive so don't worry. I was there for 3 1/2 horribly boring hours!  Evidently "I'll be back in just a minute" means 20-30.  Argh.  I am not good at doing nothing.  And the only chair in the 8x8 exam room squeaks terribly too.  I almost decided to curl up on the exam table...  And the motion-detector ceiling lights go off every 10 minuted.  I had a miserable time!

But Loki got the full treatment.  I guess bored is better than probed and stabbed.  The vet reported that he has a fever of 103.9, serious nasal congestion, and an ulcerated tongue.  Each of those individually could cause him not to want to eat.  His 2nd (3rd?) eyelid was infected as well.  She cleaned his face thoroughly.

She forcibly pushed some Hill a/d wet food into his mouth and made him swallow it.  Then took him into the lab are for subQ fluids, a mild sedative (Butorphanol?), a blood panel, B+ and B12 injections, Meloxicam and Convenia injections, and she gave me Mirataz (appetite) and Erythromycin  (eye) ointments.  She also clipped his claws.  

Before doing the work, the vet said she would work up an estimate, but I told her I was going to say "yes" anyway, so just go ahead and do it.  Considering all the work done and medications, I fully expected the bill to be $1,000.  I was surprised to get out for less than $700. 

And I have to say something about that.  When I was looking for a new vet earlier this year, I checked Yelp and saw comments about high costs with this vet and that they didn't miss an opportunity to charge.  I need to return there to offer a more positive review.  

When I had to have dear Ayla euthanized at the emergency cat clinic in September, the cost was $800.  When I had to have poor Laz euthanized by this regular vet 2 weeks ago, the cost was $55.  And they clip claws for free.  And while Marley's subQ fluid bag costs $40, they advised me that they would do the 2x a week injections at no cost.  That doesn't seem like an office just looking for charges.

But back to Loki.  The blood panel results were fairly good.  A few of the results were a bit too high or low.  But the vet said they fell within the range of a stressed cat and wasn't worried about any of them.  And if she isn't worried, I'm not worried.

She was a little worried about his ulcerated tongue-tip and was not sure of the cause.  She did say it wasn't from chewing on an electric cord because that would have been farther back on his tongue.  It may be that he was so dehydrated and coughing that he was biting it.  He was mouth-breathing and dry-swallowing.  The vet didn't say that; it's just a guess on my part.

Another thing I liked was that she said "he has sticky platelets, but most cats do".  When I related the tale of Lori's delayed spay operation, she was surprised.  To explain, my previous vet refused to do Lori's spay 2x because of "low platelet count".  But the 3rd time, she sent a blood sample to a tech lab, who told her about "sticky platelets" and that Lori's count was actually perfectly fine.

The look on my new vet's face made it clear I had made a wise decision to leave the previous vet.  And there is more to it than that.  I happen to drive past the previous vet's clinic routinely.  There are almost never cars parked there now.  My new vet's parking lot is almost always nearly filled.  There's a reason...

Let's just say Loki was pretty thoroughly subdued by the time we left!  But he is better already even before his 1st appetite ear gel application (once a day, alternating ears).   And he is purring and wandering around the house again.  When I sat on the edge of the bed last night  to change my shoes for slippers (I do love my soft slippers), he came over and rested his chin on my leg!

He is "perkier".  He drank some water.  I pushed some food into his mouth and he swallowed it.  Later, he actually ate some food on his own.  Oddly some moistened kibble; but whatever he will eat is good.  The vet said "stinkier" is better, so I will buy a can of sardines and/or tuna later today.

Lori is being a B****!  Even after 7 days, she hisses and Loki and Bliq whenever she sees them even from the full length of the house.  She even hisses at Marley sometimes close-up.  Fortunately, Marley is calm about it.  As are Loki and Bliq.  Well, that makes sense.  They wouldn't have been in the shelter community room is they weren't calm about other cats.

So Loki should be better in a few days.  If not, I have an appointment for Binq to visit on Monday for a general exam and the vet said I can bring Loki in too if he is still having problems.  So things are looking better.

Binq seems to be healthy and happy, so I am not worried about her.  I just want her to have a general exam.  Temperature, teeth, ears (check for mites), heart rate, etc.  And claw-clips!  She is a bit too enthusiastic with her claws.  But even then, she is less so the past couple days.  I had to tap her on the head with a finger a few times and she seems to have gotten the message.

Neither Loki nor Binq have slept on the bed with me yet, but I'm sure that will happen soon enough.  I'm pretty sure they will both fit in well in another week or so.  I don't blame them for hesitating.  Shelter life can't be easy.

The shelter people told me what they knew about both.  There are some medical records and both are up-to-date on shots.  They didn't know much about Loki.  He just seems to have "arrived" one day and is about 4-6 years old.  Weighed 8.9 pounds.  And they didn't even have a name for him.  But he was orangish (actually more ginger), so they named him "Pumpkin".  HAD to change that.

Bliq came in with 2 siblings.  Apparently, the family had a "surprise litter".  They didn't know their new female arrived pregnant.  The guy showed up and said "we have too many".   So at least the shelter knew something about her.  She is 2 years, 2 months old.  7-8 pounds, but I'll get an official weighing Monday.  I would weigh her myself, but she fights about being picked up.  I have too many scratches to force i myself, LOL!

But things are looking positive.  Now I just have to get Lori calmed down...

Flashback Friday.

Fot today's flashback I am going back to different days.  It's because of the new Mews.  It got me to thinking of the previous ones.  You've seen these pictures before, but it felt right to acknowledge them...

There was Kenani in my childhood.

The was also another siamese female, Hai Yu, but I can't find the picture.  And there were grey tabbies between then and 1992, but I can't find pictures of them either.  Ralph, Sport-Sport, Mischief, Ballou, and Tinkerbell.  I know I have pics of them, but they aren't showing up today.

Skeeter was the first of The Mews when I moved here 37 years ago.  He was the first cat I actually chose for myself.  He wasn't what I went to a Mom&Dad pet store to find (looking for a Siamese female), but he was what I came home with.  The store was being renovated, and the noise was horrible.  Dust everywhere.  Poor Skeeter was alone in a cage at the front, trembling.  How could I not take him away from that?  He was a wonderful friend for 16 years.

The next year, I went to the same place (still looking for a siamese).  There were only 2 cats.  One was gorgeous and friendly.  But she was promised to as a gift for newlyweds.  The other fought like hell to being removed from the cage.  I adopted her anyway.  And she was a great friend for 16 years.

I finally found a siamese breeder and asked about any unwanted one.  She had Iza cheap because "she was smudgy" and not suitable for breeding.  I took her.  "Smudgy" was OK.  I seem to have a thing for unwanted cats...  When I posted her picture on the blog, The Meezers said she was a Tonkinese.  I had never heard of that breed.  But when I looked it up, there was her face staring right back at me!  So I knew.  And the breeder was embarassed...  Seriously, I had papers declaring her a pedigree siamese.  LOL!

And oh damn she loved me!  Followed me around everywhere, great lapcat, fur like mink...  But something went wrong inside her when she was 12.  One morning, she had blood sll over her butt.  The vet couldn't save her.  I was crushed at her loss.

Ayla came from the breeder before Iza.  Graceful, talkative, sweet, kind, friendly.  My Princess.  She lived to 16+ until Sept this year.  She simply stopped eating one day and and after a week, had lost 1.5 pounds (from only 6.4 to start with).  The vet tried several things, but after 2 more days she was staggerring a bit and still not eating, so we agreed to "release her".

Meanwhile, after Iza died so suddenly, I contacted the breeder about another tonkinese.  She didn't know of one, but had a 1/2 siamese 1/2 tabby male she had rescued from a bad home and had been planning to call me about.  She knew I was good with cats.  She practically gave him to me as a "last chance".  You've all read about his struggles.  He left this world a couple weeks ago.  He loved ME, but could never adapt to other cats and the terrors of his kittenhood.

And I finally found a tonkinese kitty.  Lori (Lorelei Lee).  She is adorable.  Like Iza, me-oriented, friendly, and a real lapcat.  I hope she has a long life here.

Which brings us to today.  Loki and Binq from a County shelter.  I went there interested in a different cat I saw on their site but she actually hated me.  But there were 2 others that liked me.  I went home with both.

Loki is very "Marleyish".  Calm, quiet, easy-going.

Binq was stand-offish and hidey for a few days but is now all over me when I approach.

I've loved every cat I've had or been around all my life.  This seemed like a good time to say so...  I wish they had all had longer lives, but 16+ seems to be the time they leave here.  

Two doors closed with Ayla and Laz.  Two more opened with Loki and Binq...

So, now it is December.  A new month.  A new hope for the future.  More food bowls to fill again, more litterbox cleaning again, more attention to be given.  New associations to be made.  More cat-voices to learn.  More places to find cats napping..  More habits to learn...  More cat-experiences...

Thursday Mews Update

TBT:   Things are too unsettled for my regular posts, so I think I will just keep adding stuff here all day and post it at midnight!

Late last night - Binq came out of The Mews Room suddenly and followed me around a bit.  She was less "clawy".  She ate food normally.

Loki was napping on the bed when I got in.  He stayed there for a couple hours.  I still haven't seen him eat much.  I can't think of anything to feed him that I haven't already tried.  I guess he will eat when he decides to.

9 AM - Called the vet.  Appointments for Monday 12-4.  Warned the Vet that I'll be bringing all the documents from the shelter and they will have to figure out what each cat needs.  LOL!  I read them, but won't make any decisions.  Sometimes it is safest to play "stupid".  The Vet knows best.  I'm sure they have seen these partial shelter documents before.

A surprise among the shelter documents...  The hand-written notes clearly say "Binq" but the printed ones say "Binx".  Not that she cares.  And I'm calling her "Binq" anyway.  Cool odd name...  Well, as she is black and was clawy, I considered "Vader".  LOL!  But I think she will stay "Binq".  

10 AM - Realized I haven't heard Loki sneeze since last night.  Maybe it was just new smells or nervousness.  Binq is out of The Mews Room more.  Lori is hissing less but remains very suspicious.  I have some leftover calming Fluoxetine pills from Laz and gave her one last night and will continue for a few days.  I have about 20 more pills.  If it was safe for Laz, it is safe for Lori.

Marley is not eating his kidney care food as happily as previously, but that may just his way of showing concerns about the new Mews.  Other than that, he seems calm enough.  When he gets hungry, he will eat.  He liked the stuff before.

Marley and Lori are micro-chipped and Loki and Binq are too, but I think I have to contact Home Again about the names and my new ownership or to complete the registration.  And I have an issue with Home Again that I will address in the future...

But things are utterly calm here among the 4.  So I am going grocery+gas shopping.  Safeway gives me 10 cents off per gallon per $100 purchased and I have 3 credits that will expire tomorrow.  Might as well fill the tank.  And they give free shots.  Got my flu and covid ones before, but they give the RSV senior one too.  And a 10% discount on food purchases for each.

12 PM - Everycat seemed calm when I returned.  So I processed some pictures.  Not all them are great.  Binq is going to be hard to photograph.  But here they are...

Loki...

And Binq...

Marley and Lori seem calm too...

Yay!  I'll have to be careful about names for a while, though.  I typed "Laz" twice in this post.  😧

2 PM - I really need to vacuum up all that cardboard fluff!  But I don't want to scare Binq with the vacuum...  I need to lure her out again.  Loki has discovered "under the bed".  It isn't actually "under".  But it is under the "bookcase headboard overhang" and everycat has always liked being there.

And time to feed The Mews.  I hope Loki will eat something...  I think I will thaw out one of the small chunks of poached chicken breast and try that.  Chicken isn't all a cat needs, but it is better than nothing.  And if I get him eating that, he may get his appetite working properly again.  

3 PM -  Wearing my heaviest jeans, I played with Binq for a while.  Apparently, if I am standing, she wants to climb me.  But if I sit, she is much easier and just wants strokes and scritchies.  Loki is utterly calm and likes just routine attention.  

5 PM -Loki has a 1 PM appointment with the Vet tomorrow.  He isn't eating and I don't think it is just stress now.  He also has goopy eyes.  The Vet desk person was able to fit him into their schedule.

8 PM -Binq almost jumped on my lap.  I could tell she was considering it.  Bot Lori hissed nearby and she backed away.  Binq will, someday soon.  She did jump up on the waterbed with me.