playswithworms, posts by tag: kitty - LiveJournal

This is my critter laundry for the education animals at work, and the squishy bed on top actually belongs to the opossum, but All Squish Belongs To Toast!


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Took the lads in for vaccinations and check ups yesterday - had been trying to get Mr-Food-Vacuum-Gandalf’s weight down a bit since he’s been having more trouble jumping up on things, so started putting the dry kibble in ice cube trays to slow him down a bit. And it worked! Gandalf is down half a pound. Toast however has dropped a full pound that he really didn’t need to drop, hrm. The first day I tried the ice cube tray thing he scooped the food out with his paw right away, but then he seemed like he just totally forgot how to do it and now he just sticks his nose into the cube tray and gets the top bits and gives up on the rest. So, may have to figure out something else, scheduled mealtimes in three different rooms or something.

Miss Bones will get her check up in spring, but as far as I can tell by manual squooshes (when she’ll let me, which is only when I’m talking on the phone which = cuddle time for some reason) she’s maintaining her weight - she only comes out to eat after I’ve gone to bed and everything’s quiet, which presents its own challenge.

"What is this new devilry?"

In other news, I just deleted three porn blogs that started following me on tumblr since yesterday - penises, vulvas, dildos, strap ons, blow jobs, gifs of real people and cartoon people having sex, the works! So the "no adult content" algorithm whatsis is doing a bang up job there, lol.

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Got the garage cleaned out enough that I can actually get the car in it before it starts snowing - still had piles of stuff to get tossed or donated from when I rearranged the house in August, and lots of cardboard and tools and debris from when I made the catio. It's not what you would call *clean*, by any means, but at least there's a big open space in the middle now where a car will fit.

Also took Gandalf and Toast in for their vaccines today - I used to use the local PetSmart/Banfield store clinic, mainly because they were really nearby and convenient, but I got a little disenchanted with their whole "plan" thing (if your pet dies, you can't cancel the rest of your vet care plan payments, even if you won't be using those services - I had to pay monthly fees for Kettle for almost 8 months after she died, which included coverage for dental cleaning and vaccines she didn't get that year), and the vet I liked there has moved on and the new ones...don't really seem like they like animals all that much? Maybe just exhausted and overworked and I got them on off days, hard to tell, but I didn't renew Gan & Toast's plans, and never did one for Bones.

Anyway, since shots were due and everyone seems healthy, took the lads to the low cost clinic downtown (Bones isn't due for shots until spring), which is not close or convenient at all, but definitely a lot cheaper, and they always do a great job with the various strays and waifs I've taken there over the years. It's first come first serve, and the waiting area usually has 30+ humans and dogs and cats: cats are yowling, dogs barking and dragging their owners around, small kids getting bored - it can be a chaotic place! Today was no exception, it was super busy and waited about three hours before my turn came up, got to watch a lovely but completely over-excited 85 pound pup with a busted abscess on her head bound around and bark at everyone and flail her bloody head all over her owner when he sat on the floor with her to try to keep her calmed down, among other things, poor guy.

And somehow the staff managed to give Toast and Gan as good a check up as they ever got at the other place, took their time letting them come out of the carriers on their own and made friends first (Toast was rubbing against the vet and tech's legs even after he'd been nabbed and jabbed three times, lol), cleaned some wax Toast had accumulated in one ear to make sure it wasn't anything else and double checked Gandalf's weird tooth thing that he did when he was a kitten to make sure it wasn't causing any problems, even though it was just supposed to be a vaccine-only, not a medical appointment. They don't handle complex medical issues, and Mom really likes her vet that she's been taking all her cats to, so might check them out next year or if anything weird comes up healthwise, but for now I was very impressed by the quality of care, and how the staff was able to deal with anything and everything under the sun that walked through the door.

Oh yes, and I changed the furnace filter, so that's three things down! Go me! :D

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Catio functional! Toast, my outdoor-lovin' guy, spends about 80% of his time out there, and has mostly figured out the cat door, although if I'm there he meows to be let in even though he's let himself back in several times. One of the unforeseen hazards however, is that he keeps catching things and bringing them inside - nothing like a screeching cicada in the hallway at 2am to get you out of bed fast! Also one big dead mouse and one partially eaten small mouse. Lovely.

I had a ramp system kind of jury-rigged with some boards and bricks, but mom got all excited and ran out and bought me nice sturdy wire closet shelving and some outdoor carpet to put on top of it, and my brother came over and helped attach everything with brackets and things, and now even the not-so-agile Gandalf can make his way around everywhere. He's still scared of the cat door, although I've found him outside on his own a few times now - I always have to hold it open for him to come back in. I held Bones up to the cat door and held it open to see if she'd be interested, and as expected she was utterly horrified and ran away to her nice safe lurking basement. I locked the cat door while we were switching out the ramps, and in one of the photos Toast is pressing his head against it, very frustrated that he can't get it open to go to his happy fun place, lol.

Still needs some work right around where it meets up with the house to make it raccoon-proof, so raccoon baby has only been out for supervised playtime, but she's all over it like a fish to water, so to speak ^^

Here's some pics - I think I've got the permissions set right: Catio/Raccoonio Flickr album

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I have time off! A few days this week, and almost all of next week, although I'm working Sundays and some Sat/Fri programs (Perseid Meteor Shower this Saturday, forecast was looking pretty rainy/cloudy but it keeps getting better every time I checked, so fingers crossed).

This is the point in the year where I am Very Done With People - other than grocery and shopping errands and texting mom, haven't talked to a single soul since Tuesday, ah, bliss! XD The plan is to catch up on as much of the backlog of life maintenance as possible and complete my raccoon enclosure/catio. The catio is something I've been researching and saving up for for several years, finally found what I wanted and got a small windfall in the form of an escrow refund check due to overpayment, w00t! With small raccoon becoming more raccoonlike every day, the need is suddenly more urgent, lol, although she's really doing very well. Being a tiny girl and slightly mobility limited keeps her out of some, but not all, trouble (the similarities between a 4-month raccoon and an almost!three-year-old niecelet are really quite striking!) This lull is pretty much my only chance in the year to have time to assemble and get it all set up before things rev up again for fall. So, the plan:

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Mom's rescue kitty is doing great! She's just got some nasal/sinus stuff going on, which makes her breathe really loud at times, but other than that she checked out healthy.  She spent yesterday hiding under the couch when all the relatives were there, but today came out and said hi - it was just four of us and niecelet, so much quieter.  Except for niecelet, of course, but kitty was less scared of niecelet than she was of me - a few times she hissed when I tried to walk up to her, but if I can get her to trust me long enough to pet her she's all over it.  Nieclet crawled right under the table with her and got up in her face, and she seemed totally cool with that.

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Brother and Sis-in-law acquired a stray cat a few weeks ago that had been hanging around with a broken front paw for some time - he finally got friendly enough they were able to nab him and bring him inside. Big white fellow, not neutered, no microchip, friendly once he wasn't living rough although he still won't let me pet him, and is getting along fine with their other two cats and niecelet. Paw turned out to be old healed damage with a new infection, so that's being treated now too. And then another stray showed up during the bitter single digit cold snap we had last week, so mom took this one in, bringing our grand family total to nine cats, three at each house!


This one's a real cuddle bug, super sweet, doesn't mind the dog or other cats or slightly unpredictable 2-year-olds. Looks almost exactly my mom's 16-year-old other cat except a bit more compact body and she doesn't have white whiskers. Mom said her breathing didn't sound good when they brought her in, and she was still a bit wheezy sounding when I was over there tonight - she's got a vet appointment on Monday to get that all checked out.

The kitties are enjoying the spider drawings left over from my program last week - obviously just for them :)

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We had a cold snap last week, so I brought several trays of plant seedlings and put them on a tarp in the living room. Once I moved the plants back outside, I noticed Miss Bones using the tarp to pee on, and when I wiped it up the urine was full of blood - not good! No other symptoms or signs anything was wrong, she'd been playing and galumphing around the living room and bossing Toast around as normal all day.

So off to the vet we went yesterday - Bonesy very cooperatively peed all over the exam table when they felt her bladder, so they were able to test, and it looks like she's got urinary crystals. She's supposed to go on a prescription diet for life and antibiotics for the next several days. Of course, she doesn't seem to realize the prescription food is...food. Just stares at it and then back at me, waiting for me to bring out the REAL food. I got both the dry and wet versions, and at least the wet version got a sniff, but then she tried to cover it up like she would a poop. Antibiotics are not going over well either - she was already mistrustful of me after I nabbed her and stuck her in a crate to go to the vet, and after getting her first dose of antibiotics she now hides under the couch any time I try to get close to her, haven't managed to get a dose in her tonight. I'll probably see if I can find a nice gooshy food she will eat, and then try mixing the antibiotics with that - transitioning to the prescription diet might have to wait a bit. And she just slunk past me and made a run for the basement, awww, poor kiddo. I feel like a big ol' meanie, I do.

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Kitties have been enjoying the boxes and wrapping paper - cut a couple holes in this bigger box and it's become a favorite hidey hole/ambush-and-chase spot.



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