Who is next?

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Jakie with her feeding tube

Usually I write about Riley, my crabby ol' man cat.  He's old, he's crabby, and he has a thyroid condition. But he's not who I wanted to write about today.  Today - it's Jake.  Jake is a girl.  She's the kitty that has always been the favorite because she is so sweet and friendly.  She will climb on anybodies lap, and tends to gravitate to people who don't like cats or do not want contact with cat hair.  She's nice like that.


Back in 2006 Jakie developed hepatic lipidemia.  Lipidosis.  Something like that.  She stopped eating and drinking and we finally had to resort to a feeding tube to get her to eat again.  Not too long after the feeding tube was removed, she went right back to her full figured self again and all was well.  

Yesterday after being
 manhandled by the vet.

Recently my daughter pointed out to me how tiny Jake was looking.  Me - huh?  What are you talking about?  Well when you see them every day .. and when you use rationals like - well she's getting old, she's shrinking - you just don't realize what's happening.  And I knew she was eating - I have made sure of it ever since her episode of anorexia.
  


Took her to the vet yesterday, Jakie weighed 11 lbs last time she was there, now she is only 6 lbs.  I am such a BAD fur-mommy!!!  Got the results of her blood tests today, turns out she too has a thyroid disorder.  Actually pretty common in older cats.  Sheesh.  And actually, that's the good news because I was worried it was diabetes which is much more complicated to treat in a cat.  


The doc is calling in a prescription for Jake, I gave her one of Riley's pills tonight and will pick up her script tomorrow.  Hopefully she will gain some weight and be her old Jakie self again, and just maybe I will start paying closer attention to my kitties.  BAD FUR-MOMMY!!!
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My kitty can be a lolcat too!

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I give you .. Norah!

I shouldn't make fun, she could have a real problem.

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Abigail Grace

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But we call her the evil one.  She started out as my daughter's cat, but now she is mine.  I would love to NOT have 4 cats, and I would love to find a home better suited to Abby.  But it would be very difficult.

We don't know what happened to Abby, only that she was abandoned.  She will bite you as soon as look at you, especially if you come at her with your hand outstretched.  But she will come and sit on my lap and grab some of my shirt or pants with her mouth and do her kneading with her paws, and sometimes she will lay down and go to sleep on my lap.  She wants love, but it has to be on her terms.

Abby would probably be better in a house with no other cats, and the person who adopted her would have to be a cat whisperer.  I wouldn't give her up to anyone less than that because at least here - I know how she is treated.  A lot of people don't take kindly to a cat that bites.  

So I make it my mission to become (at least) the one person she doesn't bite, the one person she isn't afraid of or doesn't get spooked by.  

But I tell you what - it's slo-o-o-w-w going!  We've had her for .. over 5 years now, at least.  Pretty sure she's not going anywhere!

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Too cute!

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You know it's cold when ...

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... Jake takes up residence in the bathroom by the heat vent!



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This is one kitty who knows how to relax.

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Green eyes

I've always wanted to capture Jakes pretty green eyes and this is the closest I've come. They really are a gorgeous shade!





That's all. Just Jakie.

Drama-kitty

He's cute, isn't he? If not a little pathetic.




He was supposed to be done with the eye ointment yesterday but when I came home from work today he looked like this. You think it was a hint? He goes back to the vet tomorrow.




Such a drama queen!

Life of Riley

Must be tough being Riley ....

The only male out of 4 cats.


And he's fixed.


(April Fool's Day every day of the year.)

How many lives does one cat get?

Ran across this picture the other day. This is Jake, our boy-named female cat with the sweetest disposition in the world. Unfortunately she has used up a few of those famous 9 lives she's supposed to have on tap, usually by eating something she shouldn't.


This picture was from the last but not the most serious of her illnesses. She is wearing a small baby onsie with the crotch cut out and the leg hole binding fashioned into a tie to hold the thing on. Underneath it is a feeding tube coming out of her side which, without the "shirt" would have been dragging on the ground and getting caught on things.


But no matter what we did, she managed to get out of it. It wasn't unusual to walk into the kitchen, living room or wherever and see a crumpled and empty "shirt" laying on the floor with no cat in sight.


Poor Jakie. She got sick and lost her appetite which caused her to lose a bunch of weight. It was the weight loss that triggered problems with her liver and the only way to get her better at that point was to force feed her because she wasn't eating on her own. For a while we did try holding her down and forcing food down her throat with a medicine syringe but that was horribly difficult for us - and for Jake. We eventually had to opt for the feeding tube to save her life.


Once she got used to the feeding tube she would settle quietly onto my or my daughter's lap and become quite content while we slowly pushed a measured amount of food into her stomach. We gave her water and medication that way while continuing to tempt her with regular food we thought she might eat. Once we had built her weight up a bit her appetite starting to come back and she started first drinking - and then eating on her own.


I am surprised that I cannot find evidence of the hole in her side where we fed her - the skin has closed up, the fur has grown back and if I don't look at a picture I would not even know what side it was on. She's a wonderful kitty, she's a little simple because of how sick she got with her first trip to the emergency pet hospital, but she loves attention and will let anyone pet her. She is quite plump again which may not be good for her but considering the alternative when we watched her lose a third of her body weight - her being full figured suits us just fine.


She's adorable, not to mention worth a fortune by now - if you judge by all the money the veterinary community has gotten from me. She's got to stay well because she is the cat favored by all and oh my gosh I simply could not afford it if she did it again!!!

I love you, but .....

To my Dearest Pets;

I would like to take my coat off when I walk in the door before you start yelling at me. Do you think you could manage that?

It would be nice to walk across a room without one of you following me. Why are you are absolutely sure that whatever I am doing has something to do with you?

Riley, what does it mean when you sit and stare at me making that annoyed sound in the back of your throat like Marge on the Simpson’s?

Abby, do you think I could walk past the back of the couch without you trying to bite me? Just once? I don’t have to let you live here you know.

Norah do you get points if I trip over you?

Since I am good enough to buy you the expensive food for senior cats with sensitive stomachs, don’t you think you could try a bit harder to not puke it up on the rug?!!

If I let you crawl under the covers with me at night, don’t you think I deserve not to get bit simply because I move my arm?

Just what is it you smell on the carpet that makes you sit with your mouth open that way?

Why is it if I were to purchase the most wonderful cat bed in the world, each and every one of you would still rather sleep on the stack of clothes sitting on my bed?

How come the minute anyone dons black slacks – one of you has to rub up against them? Are you so opposed to black pants that you must decorate them with a thick layer of hair around the ankles?

Is there a reason that if I bring home a plant it will turn out to be poisonous and you Jake will immediately eat some of it?

What’s the deal with an empty box? Does the world look better from inside it?

And Jake, I know you only want to drink out of the faucet in the bathroom. I accept that. But does it really only taste good when I am in the bathroom with you? Sitting on the toilet? With my pants down?? You check before you drink, don’t you?