TBT: Some very interesting comments recently...
The black whisker was a surprise to me. Well, I should have expected it on black/dark cats. But I haven't had a black cat for 50 years and I wasn't noticing loose whiskers back then. They just got vacuumed up. When I started collecting whiskers, all The Mews had white ones. You really only "see" what you look for. I wonder how many of Binq's black whiskers I just never noticed.
I mentioned Ayla was trained by her breeder to pee in the toilet, but lost the habit due to the presence of regular litter boxes for Skeeter and LC. I don't recall Lori's breeder mentioning that and she has been here 3 years anyway, so would have lost the habit. I wonder if she has been doing that sometimes all along and I just never noticed before. Well, it's not like I stand around in the bathroom all that much.
About Marley and Taz size... Marley once weighed 16+ pounds. A couple of years ago (when he first showed signs of kidney problems), the Vet said he wanted Marley to lose 2 pounds. He weighed about 14 late last Spring, and may weigh 13 now. Yeah, the kidney problems are slowly getting to him even with a special diet and sub-Q injections. But he is over 14 years now, so such things are (sadly) to be expected.
And Taz has actually lost weight. 9.2 to start and 8.5 now. I think that is due to his increased activity outside since he arrived. He runs around outside a lot. More about food below...
I love seeing The Mews eating together. Well, Marley, Taz, and Binq always do. But sometimes Lori goes weeks wanting to eat alone. It doesn't have to be far away. Just out of sight of the others. And she likes corners to eat in (harder for any other Mews to get their nose in her bowl. Sometimes, she won't eat unless in the bedroom with the door closed.
But the meals are what I wanted to mention. The Mews get 6 meals a day. I read once that a feral cat needs 6 mice a day. So I feed them a little more than a "mouse" of canned food each meal. Basically, they each get about 1.5 ozs (half a Fancy Food can each, each time). Marley gets more just because he is larger.
As I mentioned, Marley is very slowly losing weight. Taz seems to be holding at 8.5, Binq is gaining weight (about 1 lb since she arrived). Lori seems to have settled at 7+.
I understand about Marley losing weight gradually. He's getter older and there are the kidney issues. I give him all the food he will eat. And I do the same with Taz. He is always meowing at me in the kitchen while standing next to the food mat, so I interpret it as wanting more food. I always give him some extra whenever the other Mews are outside. I like plump kitties!
One weird thing about Marley's kidney care diet (Royal Canin and Hill's prescription food. Marley doesn't really like any of the flavors. But the other Mews love them! Which amazes me. I had to search about that. The Royal Canin kidney care diet has 3 flavors, all based on pork liver. Years ago, I read a dystopian sci-fi book where the main character said "when we were poor, we ate pig liver". I've never eaten it, but I presume that means it isn't that great. LOL!
But Lori, Taz, and Binq will eat it with gusto. Maybe it is just "different". But they get 10 flavors of regular canned food, so how different does food have to get?
But what is a post without some pictures?
Binq's favorite toy...
I will try to live-trap it and bring it to some place that can check for a microchip. If not, get a good picture of it and post it around the neighborhood and a local website. I won't adopt it; 4 mews are almost one too many for me. But if I could return to an owner missing it, that would be a good thing.
I had an unwanted visitor cat who stayed around for a week once before Ayla was successfully spayed. I got a good picture. Printed several copies and put them in ziplock bags and went to post them on street signs. I only got to the 2nd street sign before a teen girl bicycled up and said that was hers. He was an intact male but kept inside. And escaped.
She was so happy to see him again.
And then he escaped again and I got him again (he was friendly). But that time I walked to her to her home and told the parents they needed to have him neutered or he was going to the Shelter the next time. I volunteered to pay for it. I don't know what they decided to do, but I never saw in my yard again. I hope it was merely neutered. But you do what you can...
So I hope to find the newest intruder cat has a home and that I can find it.