Happy birthday to Carbon!

Carbon writes:

Wow!  Today's my 7th birthday!  It's raining here today, so I'm going to spend my birthday snuggling with my purrents and running around with Little Bit.  Maybe I'll watch the rain from the back door as well.  Rainy days are great days to snuggle, though.

Sumptuous Sunday!

Miss Marble writes:

Does anyone want to come over for a mousie feast?  Daddy just finished mowing the lawn with the new riding lawn mower, and there are all kinds of fat, juicy field mice running around!  I just caught two really good ones.  *licks lips*  I was inside while Daddy was mowing, because Mommy wouldn't let me go outside then.  I tried to tell her I wanted out, but it didn't work.  I'm actually glad I wasn't out with the lawn mower, but I saw the mice jumping out of the way and wanted to chase them.

The raccoon with the bad eye (it's mostly blind in one eye) was also out in the yard hunting, but I think she was mostly interested in the salamanders.  It was good hunting for both of us!  The raccoon is one of the litter that's the same age as me, and this one is named R.K. (Raccoon Kitty) because she has learned how to behave like my sister and me!  She curls up on the deck like us and reaches up to the door handle like us.

I sleep on the bed now when I'm inside.  I love curling up on the cozy blanket, especially if Mama Freya is up there to snuggle with me.  I also like attacking Mommy's feet under the blanket, but I have to remember to use soft paws (claws in), otherwise she tells me I'm hurting her and snaps her fingers.  If she does that, I run away and come back once she is quiet again.

Tigress writes:

Yummy mice!  It was scary watching the daddy on the loud monster, but fun watching the mice scurry away from it.  I'm hunting, too, but staying back from the mown parts of the yard for a while.  I don't want to have that monster come and get me, too, even though no one's riding it now.  It's just sitting quietly by itself, so I think it's alright.  That's what the one next door does, and it's safe when no one's on it.

I've invented a new game!  I play it with the mommy!  She sticks her hand out the sliding window-door, and that's my cue to slink along the wall.  I get almost to her hand, then crouch down and reach my right paw up to tag her fingers.  I sniff them, then touch them again!  I'm very brave!  I even let her touch my ear when I'm eating sometimes, and other times just let her have her hand out toward me while I'm eating close by the door.  My sister wants to know why I don't just come inside again and let the mommy and the daddy pet me, but I'm not that brave yet.  I've seen how much everyone else enjoys that, but I'm not ready for that yet.  I do enjoy my game with the hand, though!

Therapy Cat Tales from 5/16/12

Tabby writes:

I'm back to visiting again!  Yay!  I wore a special outfit called a bunad today, because it's Norway's Constitution Day tomorrow.  My bunad is the national costume (national outfit) of Norway.  There are many different variations of the bunad, so not all of them look like mine.  I've got a dress, a shawl, a funny hat that fits over my ears, and a purse!  I wore them for the pictures, but I walked out of the shawl and the hat got in the way, so I ended up only wearing the dress for visiting.  I wore the rest to show a couple friends while visiting, though.

S. was surprised to see my bunad, so I had to show off the whole outfit for her.  Then we got our list of friends to visit with and went to our floor.  Another S. was in the lobby, so we said hi to her.  She was so happy to see me, and said she's missed seeing me.  I missed seeing all my friends, too!

In the tv room, A. was sitting by himself.  His special friend, G., died yesterday.  G. was a very special lady and always lit up when I came.  She'd laugh and play with me, sometimes feeding me Fig Newtons!  I'm going to miss her.  I climbed into A.'s lap, pushed my head into his hand, and meowed softly at him.  He almost cried as he petted me and hugged me!

I saw my friend T. in a bed, when she's usually up and about in her walker or a wheelchair.  That confused me, but I walked right in and jumped up on her bed.  She didn't remember me, but she was so glad I came to visit her!

When we visited R., she'd been eating pretzels.  She put them in a plastic cup before I jumped on the bed, but the bed still smelled of them.  She offered Mommy one, and so I was offered part of one, but I didn't want it today.  I loved R.'s blanket!  It was so soft and snuggly!  I curled up on her hands and on the blanket, listening to stories about her cat knocking down a bird feeder in an attempt to catch the birds.  Her cat also made his way back home after being moved, after she left.  The cat went back, but no one was there to feed him, so he walked across the freeway again and to the new home, where he stayed for the rest of his life.  Pretty amazing!

M. wanted to pet me today!  She used to be afraid of cats, even though her husband had cats the whole time they were married.  She's not ever been afraid of me, though!  She likes me, but she's not sure sometimes what I'm trying to do.  I asked her for pets, and she didn't know what I was doing, so Mommy told her.  Then she petted me.  I guess she just needs training like I was trained.  She wanted to see my full bunad, so Mommy put it on me.  M. thought that was the cutest thing she'd ever seen!  She said I was a very good girl, wearing all of that, especially the hat.

P. was walking without her walker, but she's not supposed to.  She had left it by her bed to answer the door, so she held onto my stroller as we walked in until she got to her walker.  Then she was safe.  She missed me, too, and thought that I'd come without seeing her.  She didn't know I'd been sick and not come at all.  So she was very glad to know that she hadn't missed her visits with me!

While we were waiting for the bus home, there was a baby girl crying.  I was dozing, but popped my head up when I heard her!  The man next to us, who was admiring me, laughed at that.  The mom of the little girl brought her over to see me, and the little girl got to pet me!  She was very gentle, even though she petted the wrong way.  She has a kitty at home, so was making a baby sign for kitty as she was talking with her mom.

When we got back home, the duck family was swimming in the marsh!  I hadn't seen the ducklings this year, so that was very exciting!

Happy Mother's Day, Happy Birthdays, and update on Tabby

Happy Mother's Day to all moms, kitty moms, and those who have taken on the role of mom!

Tigress and Miss Marble (and their adopted-out brother Hemming) all turned one year old yesterday!  They're all doing very well.  Tigress even gave us a present, a nice mousie on the porch.

Tabby was all ready to go to the Doggie Dash yesterday, but Mommy wasn't.  Tabby got a ride around the block, then Mommy's tummy decided to give her a surprise.  Guess she had something called food poisoning from something she ate on Friday.  Tabby's eating dry food consistently now, and drinking water on her own, but getting fed some canned food to supplement the dry food.

Good news for Tabby!

Tabby writes:

I'm back to normal!!!!  Well, I'm still not feeling well, but I'm back to wanting lots of pets and attention, asking for pets, talking, and drinking water!  Mommy's still force-feeding me some, but I'm eating bites of dry food throughout the day, too.  Not much, but some.  Mommy says that I may even get to go to the Doggie Dash with her tomorrow!

Update on Tabby

Tabby writes:

Mommy's still having to force-feed me, but now I'm eating a can a day of the canned food.  I should be eating 2 cans, but that would be too much food for my system to handle when I'm not feeling well.  So we're doing 4 feedings a day, 1/4 can each time.

A couple hours ago, I wanted some of Mommy's soy milk and raisin bran cereal!  It smelled so yummy, so she let me have some on a plate (after checking that there were no raisins in what I got, because that could make me sicker).  I ate a few bites on my own!

Update on Tabby

Tabby writes:

I'm taking my medicine and being a good girl drinking water from the water bowl.  Mommy got me some (human) baby food, chicken-flavored, which is more watery than the canned food.  Funny, it makes me thirstier!  Maybe that's from the medicine, though?

Good news, bad news for Tabby

Tabby writes:

We just got the results back from my latest blood test.  It's not hyper-T.  It's mild hepatitis.  My thyroid levels are all within range, so it's just the liver levels that are elevated.  I'm getting three medicines to take for the next few weeks, because I've either got:

1.  A primary infection that is causing my liver some trouble.

or

2.  My liver's having some trouble and I got a secondary infection.

The good thing is it's not contagious to the other cats or to humans.

P.S.  There's a slight possibility that it's cancer of the liver, but that's a very slight possibility.  We'll do the medicines for the infection first, and then I'll have another blood test once I'm over the infection.

Newsflash: Tigress came inside today!

Tigress writes:

Wow!  Guess what?!  I decided that inside isn't the bad place I thought it was.  Being inside for a day changed my mind, even though I hated the trap and hated that I was inside when it was happening.  Now that I've had a couple days to think it over, though, I'm finding it very interesting.

Today, I decided that I wanted to check it out more.  When the daddy opened the door for my sister, I was right there.  The daddy left the door open a little for me to socialize with the inside cats.  Freya was busy grooming my sister, because she kind of thinks my sister is her own kitten.  I could tell my sister was happy, so I looked at the door, then looked at the daddy and meowed.  He opened the door a little more, and I walked through!

I went to the food bowl first and sniffed it, then sniffed the water bowl.  I walked back out the door, and the daddy called to the mommy to come see me.  She watched from the hallway and he watched from the living room as I came back inside and sniffed the bowls again.  Then I walked into the kitchen, still crouching low because I was unsure what was going to happen.  My sister wanted to come see me, so she hopped down from her spot on the blanket-covered table.  That sound scared me, though, and I ran back outside!

A little later, I went back over to the now-semi-closed door.  Heimdall had his head out the door, sniffing the outside air, so I walked along the wall until I got to the door (just in case he was going to come outside).  He turned toward me and we touched noses!

Vet appointment for Tabby tomorrow

Tabby writes:

I'm going in tomorrow for the vampires (aka vet techs) to take more of my blood for thyroid testing.  Thanks for all the purrs, prayers, and good thoughts!  I love all of you so much!

P.S.  I drank some water on my own, went poop (formed and in the box) on my own, and got force-fed 1 whole teaspoon of food.

Newsflash: Tabby's eating on her own!

Tabby writes:

Newsflash:  I'm eating the crunchies (dry food) Mommy just set out for me!  Only a few bites, but I ate them!  *purrs*

Results of Tabby's blood test

Tabby writes:

The vet called today with the results of my bloodwork.  My liver enzyme levels are elevated, so the vet thinks that I probably have hyperthyroidism (also known as hyper-T).  It's managed with medication (methimazole) and retesting as needed.  I go in on Friday for them to test my thyroid levels with more blood draws, to see that the diagnosis is correct and to evaluate the dosage of medication.  Thanks so much for all your purrs, prayers, and good thoughts!  I ate (was force-fed by Mommy) one whole teaspoon of food at my last feeding! *glares at Mommy, though*

Updates on Tigress and Tabby

Tabby writes:

Mommy's making sure I eat something, but I don't want to!  She's force-feeding me canned food, but she can only get 1/2 teaspoon into me at a time before I absolutely refuse and spit the glob out.  I'm keeping the food down (except for once yesterday morning), but it's not tasting or smelling good to me.  We're hoping for the results of my blood test back on Monday.  The vet's office was supposed to tell us on Friday, but they didn't call, so my purrents will call on Monday to see what's going on with the results.  Thanks for all your purrs, prayers, and well-wishes!

Tigress writes:

I had a very scary couple of days!  I was inside in that trap thing for a few hours, then the humans picked me up and put me into a car.  I've never been in a car, and I was taught to stay well away from roads when I was still a very young kitten.  Being this close to humans is new to me, too, even though I'd seen them on the other side of the glass before.  The humans took me to a vet place, called the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon, where they left me!  There were other cats in traps, and they were as scared and confused as I was.  We all were so quiet, except for a couple screaming cats, because we were so scared.  Since we'd all lived outside, we knew that silence was the key to being invisible.

It didn't work this time.  I was picked up again in the trap and carried somewhere, then given a shot.  I suddenly felt very sleepy!  When I woke up, I had been poked a couple more times (vaccinations), had part of my right ear gone (to mark me as a fixed, cared-for feral), and had been cut open then glued shut!  I had also been shaved on my belly.

While I was under anesthesia, the vet discovered that I was pregnant.  Mommy and Daddy had thought I might be, probably two or three weeks along, but made the decision to go ahead with my spay anyway.  They said that I would be much healthier that way, and not have to have all the stress of young motherhood.  It was a heart-wrenching decision for them, especially for Mommy, but they feel that it was for the best.  With the kittens, I was 9.1 pounds before my spay.

The humans came and took me back home.  I'm a very good car cat, actually, and they were really proud of me.  I didn't sing in the car, just watched everything going by.  Seatbelts are the most interesting part of the car!  I had gotten one of my claws caught in the trap wire, so I was bleeding a little from that, but it stopped right away.  I've got two extra toes on my right front paw and three extra on my left front paw, so it's no wonder I got one caught.

Yesterday, I was recovered more from the anesthesia, and wanting out of that trap!  I tried and tried to find a way out, especially after I peed on the newspaper.  My sister came inside to check on me and was trying to help me get out, but neither of us could find the way to open the trap.  Finally, Mommy took the trap outside and let me go.  I slithered out and zoomed under the deck, while my sister mewed happily.  I was back in a few hours for dinner, though!

Tigress back outside after recovering from her spay.  Notice her eartip.

Tigress is trapped, and that's a good thing!

Tigress writes:

Hi, Striped Girl here, although I've got a real name now.  I'm named Tigress!  The daddy chose my name.  A couple days ago, this strange wire box reappeared on top of our eating place on the deck.  My sister wasn't afraid of it, so she went right in to eat and I followed her.  There was yummy soft food in the wire box, so that wasn't too bad.  I was nervous about it, but my sister wasn't, and I trust her judgement.

Turns out it was a trap!  Literally!  This morning, when I went to eat, my sister was already inside the house visiting with everyone.  The mommy put the yummy soft food in the wire box and called me, so I went in to eat.  At first, it was fine, because the plate was close and I could reach the food easily.  I stepped forward two paws to get a chunk of food that had fallen in back of the paper plate, and SNAP went the trap door!  I freaked out, tried to get out, called for my sister in my loudest voice, but nothing worked.

The mommy came outside, put a towel over the trap, and picked it up with me inside!  I was so scared, more scared than I've ever been in my life!  Then, all of a sudden, I realized there were other cats around me, cats that I had seen and smelled before.  Rori came and lay down beside the trap once the mommy put it down, reassuring me by her presence that this is a house where cats are welcome.  She told me that it is safe in here and that everyone loves me.  I calmed right down.  Then, another cat came over.  His name is Heimdall, and he kind of scared me at first, because he jumped on top of the trap!  I wasn't sure what was going on, so I held very still, but then I realized that he was just sniffing me.

Heimdall and Rori investigating me and reassuring me.

Ack!  Heimdall's on top of the trap!

My sister was startled to see me in the trap, because it reminded her of when she was trapped.  She wanted outside again, so the mommy let her out.  Two minutes later, she wanted back in.  She then came over to me and showed me one of her favorite toys, called a Crazy Circle.  It's a ball that goes around each time you bat at it.  I've never had any toys that didn't smell of the outdoors, so I watched this new thing closely.  My sister tried to give it to me by pushing it against the trap wall, but I couldn't get to it through the wire.  She lay down against the wall and batted the ball around so I could see how it worked.

The mommy says I'm going to go to the vet place later on today to get spayed.  I'll be trapped in this wire box for the weekend while I heal, then I'll get to go back outside to my home.

Tabby's vet visit went well.

Tabby writes:

My vet visit went well. I love our doctors! I got fluids, which I didn't like because the lump went over to the side. They took some blood for testing, and we'll get results tomorrow. My teeth, eyes, fur, and ears all look good, as well as other vitals. We'll know more when the blood test results come back.

Tabby's eating!

Tabby writes:

Mommy gave me some more very soft food (she calls it "pate") a few minutes ago.  I licked it and licked it, and then I bit it!  I only took a few bites, but Mommy says that it was so good of me to take some bites.  I let Carbon have some of it, too.

Tabby's not feeling well.

Tabby writes:

I'm not feeling well.  I've been losing a lot of weight, even more than I was supposed to.  I have a vet appointment tomorrow, so until then I'm snuggling with Mommy and Daddy.  They've been trying to feed me yummy canned food, but I only lick the juice.  Carbon eats the rest for me, and so do the others, but the juice is yummy.  Sorry I haven't written about my visits to H. recently.  Mommy hasn't felt like typing for me when I've not been feeling well, but my visits went well and I enjoyed snuggling on people's beds.  They're doing a lot of construction at H. right now, and Little Bit freaked out, so we're not bringing her back there.

Happy birthday to Little Bit!

Little Bit writes:

It's my 4th birthday today, or as near as my purrents have decided.  Four years ago, my sisters Smokey, Baby Chiba, and I were born to our mama Boo-Boo Kitty in Portland, OR.  Smokey lives with a friend, and Baby Chiba died as a kitten, and I'm doing really well with everyone here in Vancouver, WA!

I didn't go visiting when Tabby went a week ago (she promises to write about it later), because I fell off the top of the stroller while Mommy was getting us ready.  She had put me in the carrier, put the carrier on the stroller, and then turned to talk to one of the twins.  I rolled myself off the stroller!  I'm fine, but I was shaken up for about 10 minutes afterward and didn't want to go back into the carrier.  Mommy promises never to do that again, and always to have at least one hand on the carrier if it's on the stroller.  It scared her as much as it did me!

I'm having a great birthday running around with the twins!  I hopped up to groom my half-sister Rori (who's almost a year older than me) for a while this morning, then got back down off the bed to play again.  ZOOOOOOM!!!!!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from all of us at the PDX pride!

Happy birthday to Freya & Heimdall!

Freya & Heimdall write:

It's our birthday today!  We're 2 years old!  We're celebrating with Miss Marble this morning, because she's inside for one of her visits.  She actually snuggled on Mommy's lap for a few minutes!  We're so proud of our niece.

Later on today, we'll get treats (and everyone else will, too) in honor of our birthdays, plus lots of snuggles and playtime.

In case you're wondering which is which, Freya's grooming Heimdall in the picture.  We look so much alike that sometimes even our purrents have trouble telling us apart from a distance, MOL!

Starla writes:

Belated thanks for remembering my Gotcha Day.  I had a good day, quiet, just the way I like it.  I got to stay out with everyone for the whole day!  Usually, I'm in the bedroom for half the day, because Carbon thinks it's fun to attack me.  But on my Gotcha Day on the 3rd, I was out for the whole day and he was in the office for the whole day.  Everyone else went back and forth between all the rooms.