Easy Like Sunday

It is Easy Sunday again, so we are eating together.  TBT likes that.  It seems more like Family Time.

 Just like when he was young, everyone has their own place at the table...

Easy Like Sunday

 Dinnertime again.  Sure it is 6 a day and every day of the week, but TBT likes Sunday afternoon meals best for Easy...

Well, thats when he makes his fanciest meal of the week for himself and makes sure we get the "best stuff".  We mean, there is "Fancy Feast Chicken" and then there is "real chicken" and we slightly do notice the difference.  Chunkier, chewier, more flavor...

Easy Like Sunday

 Easy Like Sunday posts usually means dinnertime because its the most likely time TBT can get all of us together in a picture...

TBT:  Sometimes, I have to move bowls around.  Lori will suddenly want to eat a bit more privately.  Marley is pretty good about eating his kidney-care diet, but still likes the regular food better.  Taz and Binq adore the kidney-care diet food and will nose-in on it.

I have to watch them all like a hawk!  If I turn away for 5 seconds, they have all switched bowls.  You may have noticed that the regular bowls are red, but Marley's is pink.  That's the only way I can keep track of which bowl has his special food in it.  LOL!

Easy Like Sunday

A typical mealtime these days.  Lori likes to eat slightly in private.  And Binq likes Marley's kidney care diet more than regular food, lapping up what Marley carelessly laps out of his bowl (he is a messy eater).

And Binq has the funny habit of trying to grab Marley's bowl with her claws and pull it towards herself.  I have to stand over them at every meal to make sure Marley gets his own (rather expensive) diet food.

I've tried putting his food in The Mews Room and carrying him there closing the door, but he doesn't seem to like eating alone.

BTW, that fish-shaped toy in the lower right came with Marley as his only toy.  It is hollow for putting Nip in.  There is a velcro closure.  He still likes it.  But the funny thing is that he doesn't seem to care about Nip much.  I suppose he just remembers it from kittenhood in his (brief) 1st home.

Easy Like Sunday

Lunch.  We all love our meals, but the 2nd one seems best.  The first gets us over the night starvation (while TBT is asleep) so it fills our tummies in the morning.  But the 2nd breakfast is even better, as we can just enjoy it more slowly and savor the flavors...

Less getting into each others bowls, too.

But even then, somecat is still hungrier and some adjustments occur...

But the calmest meal is the 2nd...

Easy Like Sunday

A good meal together allus makes us feel Easy...

 

Easy Like Sunday

 The Mews:  But we of course got dinner yesterday.  3rd of 6... as it was "middle of the day".  

Binq eats everything she get a nose into.  She is going to become a fat cat in spite of TBT's efforts to keep her out of our bowls.  He so much as blinks and there she is in another bowl.  She even loves Marley's kidney care diet stuff.

Lori likes to eat in a corner.  Less competition from Binq.  You can't see her bowl here but she is eating with TBT guarding her spot.

We swear Binq could eat a whole ham if given a chance.  She must have had food issues before coming here...

Caturday Saturday

Here we all are, waiting for Dinner...

 

Easy Like Sunday

 THE MEWS:  We weren't allowed out early today.  TBT thinks he saw a large fox in the backyard at dawn.  You can read about that HERE!

We got out later (he stayed with us).  And we were glad to come in from the heat when he did.

Got our usual good meal and ate together.  Lori has been better about eating together lately.  A Clowder that eats together is more calm together.

It was one of those meals where we all wandered from bowl to bowl.  And pushed them around a lot...

The State Of The Mews

 TBT:  Time to discuss the behaviors and relations among The Mews...

Marley remains amazingly tolerant.  But lately, when Loki and Lori get into a fuss, he wants to hide.  In his prime, he would have gotten in between them.  He is 14+ now and is less willing to get between other cats as much as he used to.  But he still loves The Lap.  And he can just relax all day if things stay calm.  And he stays on the deck more often lately.

Lori is actually an instigator of fusses.  She will walk past Loki or Binq and just make a simple butt-whap as she goes.  I never expected that of her.  And she is really pushy!  The other day, Marley was napping on The Lap and she got up and sat next to him.  Next thing I saw, she was slowly wedging under him until he left.  

Lori demands attention, especially at night.  She complains if I keep the bedroom door closed.  But if I let her in, she wants to nap under the covers with her paws against me.  And let her claws relax out.  She has claws like fish-hooks and purrs very loudly.  So eventually, I have to pull her out to nap on the blanket.  Which gives my skin enough protection.  But she is actually trying to dominate me.  I smile at her ambitions.

Loki doesn't put up with Lori's whaps very well, and I don't blame him.  So sometimes she yells when he whaps back.  I am beginning to just ignore it.  Loki has some bad habits, though.  He fire-hoses when he pees.  High-sided litter boxes help with that.  And he wants to pee on the bed.  So I have a plastic tarp covered with an old sheet on the bed that I can roll up and down with a large cardboard tube.  I don't let him into the bedroom at night generally.  Sometimes I do, but it means I have to sleep under the tarp.  I sure wish he would stop that peeing habit.

Binq is becoming a joy.  She was standoffish and aloof at first.  When near me after a few weeks, she grabbed at my hands and pants with her claws.  But I've been working on discouraging that and she has responded gradually.  Now she loves my attention (as long as I don't touch her tummy).  She hasn't tried The Lap yet, but she is often on the arm of the chair and seems happy to be that close to me.  Sometimes you take what you can get.  She will not be picked up.

Loki and Binq get along great.  Not that they nap together, but they are often in the same place, and they never fuss with each other.  They eat together.  And they both like Marley.

The 3 always eat together.  Actually, this was kibbles scattered over the floor for a change in mealtime, but they always eat together from the bowls too mostly.  Lori likes to eat in the bedroom.  Sometimes with the others if she is hungry enough.  But mostly it is The 3 eating together.

Mancat Monday

The Mews:  Since we missed posting on Flashback Friday (one of our favrit days) and used up all our pics yesserday, we present Flashback Friday On Monday!  But in keeping with the day, it is all of mancats.  The womancats among us will get their turn soon...

 So it is this week in 2013...

Ya wanna see "relaxed"?  See these 2 pics.  TBT says it is like when some famous ancient actress told her maid "Peel me a grape"! 

 

And he ate that way twice.  Never before and never since... 

 

But eating relaxedly also means some exercise is needed too.  So he went out hunting.

 

 

Aha!  A rustle in the ivy...

 

 

But then it was gone!

 Oh well, there is more food in the house...

Easy Like Sunday

 Easy Like Sunday usually means a happy picture.  And of course this is one...

None of us are eating out of our original bowl.  We move around a lot, thinking the other bowls are better.  Lori likes to eat by herself.

TBT likes to see us tails-crossed.  He think that means "peace", but of course he is just a Bein, so he doesnt really know.  Sometimes, we enjoy not tellin him what things mean ta us.

Easy Like Sunday

TBT:  Nothing like food to keep the peace!   Sometimes Lori will eat from a bowl on the mat with the others.  Other times "nearby".   When her food has meds mixed in, I have to guide her to the bedroom with the bowl and then close the door.

Late Mancat Monday

 LOKI:

We got prezzies yesterday!  TBT reached into the magic box of unopened toys (up on a closet shelf where we cant get to - even me The Climbing King) and pulled out some new ones.  

Binq went crazy on all of them.  She adores all toys.  I went after a few (I like soft clothy ones).  Marley even played with one.  TBT says I should mention about that.  Its a fishy shape where TBT can stuff Nip in.  And Marley remembers it because he arrived here with it as a kitten.  

Lori liked the springs TBT pulled out of the box.  

But also, we are getting fancy new litterboxes..  But they are still inside the shipping box.  TBT needs to go make his own dinner or he will fall down..  He gets 2 a day; we get 6.  How he stays big is beyond my unnerstandin...

Here are just some of our toys...

Ooh!  Dinnertime!

Oh, an Happy New Year.

Foody Friday

MARLEY:   TBT has been dragging me off to the vet every few days recently and I am not happy about it.  He says it is good for me, but I sure dont feel that way.  It is upsetting and scary.

But he also brought me some new wet food that is completely for me.  It is called "Hill's Science Diet Kidney Care".  Well, I've had foods with kidney in it before and liked the flavor well enough.  But I'm not sure why it is "for me only".

TBT says it is "chicken and stew".  That's a little confoosing.  I know what chickens are.  The neighbor has some and I've seen them.  I didn't know there were so big!  He pointed at some of them and told me that's what I usually eat.  Cool!  But I've never seen him point at annything running around the backyard and say it was a "stew".  So maybe "stews" live somewhere else.  Well, it's not like I've seen beefs around here either.  Some of our foods must live pretty far away.

I'm not stoopid.  I eat beef sometimes and I saw one next to a TBT-type person once on TV and they are huge!  So they must to be pushed into my cans in some way.  TBT says "tuna" are also huge.  I never thought about that before.  I suppose I thought they grew "can-sized".

But anyyway, I really like this "stew" critter.  And it is good mixed with the largish chickens.  I hope stew goes good with those big beefies too.  We have some of that too.  I like some variety.

TBT says he will sit next to our dinner mat and make sure neither Laz not Lori steals any of my great new foods!  Fair is fair.  Laz gets a special vet-supplied treat with dinner and I and Lori are not allowed to steal his either.  And since I get something special and Laz does too, Lori gets some freeze-dried chicken for herself, which she seems to love, but I don't.

So we are each getting something special each day that we especially like, and that seems good.  Eating dinner together with TBT watching over us ta protects our "special foods" and that is comforting.

So Many Vet Visits

TBT:   The Mews and I have gone on too many vet visits this week!  I'm tired of getting them into PTUs and driving to the vet.  I'm tired of sitting in waiting rooms and small exam rooms.  I'm tired of pulling out my credit card.  The Mews are tired of sitting in PTUs and getting poked, prodded, probed and stabbed

It started Wensday.  I previously mentioned that Marley needed a renal panel and that resulted in a Sub-Q drip.  And he goes back later today for another (and 2x a week for a month).

On Thursday, Ayla and Laz went in.  Ayla for a 6 month senior exam; Laz for an exam and for me to discuss "calming options".  Which is really where I start today.  Both got positive exam results.

So I talked to the vet about Laz's cat-on-cat aggression.    We discussed him for about 15 minutes.  The options were about what I expected.  Calming collar, meds, behaviouralist.  But I didn't know there were "calming treats" and she had never heard of "vibrating collars" (and felt "iffy" about that).  

So I asked for the order of things to try (least to strongest).  The result was that I buy a calming collar.  At the same time, I give Laz a calming treat and a crushed calming pill.  The vet provided a bag of calming treats and arranged a prescription for a prozac-like calming pill.  I expected her to resist the idea of calming med pills.  We will save a behaviouralist for later if those don't help.

But it doesn't end there.  After we got home Thursday, I realized that Ayla wasn't eating.  She normally eats any food I provide.  Wet, dry, treats...  A problem is that I'm not positive about how long since she last ate.  Well, Marley had to be "fasted" since 8 pm Tuesday, which meant the other Mews were too.  I don't know for sure if she ate Wensday afternoon or evening.  I know she didn't eat Thursday.  

Friday I kept deliberately trying to get her to eat anything on Friday.  She recognizes the food bowls.  She saw there was something it the bowl.  She would sniff but she wouldn't eat.  And it wasn't the "fussy" kind of sniff.  She kept putting her nose to the bowl.  It was either that she couldn't eat or couldn't smell the food.  I tried several flavors of wet, offerred kibble, offerred treats.  No luck.

And I never see Ayla drinking water.  Maybe she sneaks drinks from the toilet.  Maybe she only drinks from the regular water bowl at night.  I think wet food is her only source of water, though.  Well, she is 16 so her water habits must work for her.  And the bathmat showed no sign of pee or poop today...

And I noticed another problem with Ayla.  She became unsteady on her feet Thursday after returning from the vet.  I'm sure that is coincidence; she didn't get any shots or meds at the vet that day.

But she was having some awkwardness.  She likes to sit on the aquarium hood lately (it is warm there).  I saw she walked on it uncertainly and I saw her slip a paw of the edge and almost fall.  She also like the bathroom windowsill.  I can usually hear her when she jumps down.  It's a light sound, but I hear it.  Friday, I heard more of a "thud".  I think she fell off.  Friday, I saw her walking down the hallway and she had a definite mis-step; a slight stagger.

So Friday afternoon, I became concerned and called my vet and described both issues.  They said they were literally over-booked (and had even used up all their "squeeze-in" possibilities) and said I should go to the Emergency Clinic immediately.  

Which I did, of course!  A technician did a quick exam for anything obvious (internal oral blockage, breathing difficulties, abdominal sensitivity, etc) and then took her away for the vet to examine her.  He came back and said he couldn't see any obvious either and suggested x-rays and a blood test.

After a while, he came into the exam room and said "good news, bad news".  Both were the same.  He couldn't find anything wrong with her, except that she had a very solid stool in her colon and she was dehydrated.  He suggested an enema for the hard stool and a Sub-Q injection (by them) and "appetite pills", and an orally-administered "something" (for me to do at home).  

If she is not eating by Sunday, I am to bring her back.  

So right now, I have Marley needing 2 regular vet visits per week for a month (while I observe how to do Sub-Q injections) and probably for life (he is 13).  I have Laz needing a calming treat once a day and 1/4 of a crushed pill in his food 2x a day.  And now I have Ayla not eating and being dehydrated!

Between the vet visits Wensday, Thursday Friday, and (Marley) later today, I will have spent about 6 hours cooling my heals at vet visits.  And $1200 on exams and meds.  Well, at least I'm retired so I have time.  And who needs money anyway?  😜

I'll be going through the vet reports and listing the various meds and test results (I'll have to call the regular vet for Marley's renal panel numbers - somehow, those are not in the documents they gave me).

It seems that I may have to set up a small medical station for Marley (Sub-Q supplies) and Laz (calming treats and pills).  And Ayla may turn out to need some kind of regular treatment.  I'm sure glad I have a spare bedroom (The Mews Room) as dedicated space for all that.  I'll get separate plastic containers Marley and Laz there (and a small one for Aylas oral stuff that needs to be refrigerated).  I have a small dresser in there that will serve as an "operating room".  

I will get used to the procedures and (hopefully), so will they.  They might even get so accustomed to be handled for treatment that they will even tolerate me clipping their claws!

My project for later today is to make lists of procedures.  Both "how to Sub Q" and "who gets what when".  

Such fun...  😣  

And BTW, my apologies for not visiting lately.  It feels like most of my waking hours lately are spent worrying about The Mews, stopping fights, collecting them into PTUs for vet visits, sitting in vet exam rooms, getting them home and soothing their stress from the experience, and remembering to control their feeding on a more deliberate schedule (basically, if they said they were hungry, I fed them).  And other free time, I grocery shop, cook, do yardwork, keep track of which Mews are outside or in, and clean litter boxes.

We'll get through all this...  They are with me for life.

Hoping for future days with pics like this...

Tuesday 3-Fur

 Dinnertime.  Part of the best time of the day.  And even better, it happens 4-6 times each day!

Laz tends to back away when somecat pushes a nose into his bowl.  Usually it is Marley (and TBT takes the bowl from Marley to wherever Laz is sitting).  But Lori was hungrier than Laz this time.  

Thankful Thursday

 We are thankful for Dinnertime today.  Ayla generally likes to eat separately so is not here..

Marley is always a bit of a problem, of course.  He pushes his bowl when he eats.  Which gets him closer to ours.  Which means he just moves to the next closest bowl.  

TBT watches over us while we eats.  To stop Marley from just eating all our food.

Sometimes, he looks away fer a instant, and Marley is right in there,  eating ours!  He moves the foodbowl to where we are and watches again, so that helps.

You can see our difference in sizes pretty well here...

Caturday Saturday

Dinner together...

Flash

And low-light.

 

Easy Like Sunday

Even with Loris current "distraction", we still need to eat.  We managed an EASY moment here...

Ayla eats unner the bed.