Monkey is Sooo Bad

She came home without her collar last night. That's the second collar she's lost.

Monkey slept on top of me all night. Any time I moved she would scream, hiss, and growl.

Gotta love the Monkey.

Cat Update

I have a lot of cat news. We are fostering a very cute, very tiny flame point kitten that we’ve name Benjamin Buttermilk Biscuit, or just Biscuit for short. Monkey and Major hate the new, but temporary addition. Noodles took a few days to warm up to him and now he’s usually quite pleased to have him around. I think Noodles likes being an older brother, except when Biscuit is on Noodles like a shadow and Noodles doesn’t want to partake in kitteny things. At times like that Noodles will usually run around and try to loose Biscuit. It works sometimes. Here are some cute pics.





Monkey went out on Friday morning and didn’t come back until this morning. I remember sitting in bed shortly before Monkey arrived, thinking how peaceful the house was. Major was sprawled on the bed at my feet, Noodles was on the cat perch next to the window, and Biscuit was sleeping in a little tent next to the bed. There had been no interruptions in the middle of the night either by Monkey screaming to go out or her banging around in the kitchen being obnoxiously loud. I had obviously worried about Monkey and had gone around the neighborhood Saturday and Sunday evening, looking for her (note to self and others, consider how stupid you sound yelling your pet’s name in the middle of the street when coming up with a new pet name). But aside from my worry, I think the stress level in the house was a lot lower than usual. I am really curious as to where she went. Sometimes when she comes home she’s covered in spider webs. As much as I worry about her when she’s gone for more than 24 hours, that’s just what Monkey does.

Last week we trapped, neutered, and returned our first feral cat. It was a big tomcat that had scratched Monkey a bit and terrorized our back yard. He would visit often in the middle of the night, driving our cats crazy. Major would go insane, yelling and growling at the cat through the kitchen glass door and of course we would all wake up trying to figure out what was going on. The cat was extremely feral and aggressive and so our friend who helped us get him neutered named him Satan. After he got fixed, tested, and vaccinated, we brought him home and later that night we released Satan (I love the sound of that). Over the weekend as I was looking for Monkey, I saw Satan sitting on the front porch a couple houses down, engrossed in a bath.

Goodbye Sluggo

On Thursday, the husband and I had to say goodbye to our sweet, little munchkin Sluggo. The blood transfusions and procrit (red blood cell production stimulant) were just not working. What was keeping him going was probably the prednisone steroid med he was taking. After the blood transfusion, Sluggo was back to his almost normal self. He woke me up one morning around 2 am to play fetch. I happily obliged.

After about one week, Sluggo started to deteriorate quickly. He lost the pinkness in his nose and pads he had gained with the transfusion and laid down in the corner of our closet. I made him a little bed in there with food and water. On Wednesday morning he wasn’t excited about food and only licked the gravy off his canned food. On Thursday morning he refused to eat anything. He was still drinking water but had very little energy.

Sluggo spent his last hours staring out the window, perched on his new window seat. He saw a few birds, including a hummingbird. He would react when I would talk to him or pet him but his movements were very slow.

The husband and I struggled with the decision of when to take him to the vet. We wanted him to be at home with us for as much as possible, as long as he wasn’t in pain. As hard as it was to say goodbye, we feel we made the right choice and our happy that we were able to do one last good thing for Sluggo.

The house seems quite empty without him. We only had him for 1.5 years but his presence was always felt since he was super active. Except in the middle of the day – he was a great at taking naps. He loved playing fetch with his special cat nip stuffed carrot and favorite hair bands. He would love to “help” us change the sheets on the beds but it was more of a game for him in which he would get under the sheets, lay upside down, and stick his legs straight up, claws piercing through the sheets. He always took offense to Monkey’s growls and hisses and he would let Noodles steal his treats every once in a while (but not his toys). When we would sit on the couch, watching TV, he would come over and sit in our laps, kneading super fast, digging his claws into our legs. We would have to use a blanket to protect our skin. He would give us gentle but determined bites on our hands to get us to pet him.

I’m not sure if the other cats know what’s going on. They started keeping their distance pretty early on, except when they would go into the closet to try to steal Sluggo’s leftover food. Major and Noodles are being very friendly and loving towards us and Monkey isn’t as whiny.

Here are a bunch of great pictures of Sluggo, and his BFF Noodles.

Here's a close-up of Noddles (front) and Sluggo (back) a few days after we adopted Sluggo. Noodles was 20 days older than Sluggo and we adopted him about 2-3 weeks before Sluggo.

The kittens really were inseparable until almost the end.

We would joke that we got Sluggo as a chew toy for Noodles. When Sluggo first came home, Noodles was on him like a shadow.

Sluggo came with ringworm (we found out a few days after we adopted him), which is a fungal, skin infection. Ringworm doesn't really bother the cats but is pretty gross and highly contagious (to people too), so we had to give the kittens weekly baths, and daily application of ointment and oral meds. Their "quarantine" lasted about 3.5 months.

Great picture taken at ~1 year of age by my brother-in-law. You can really see the intensity in his eyes.

Sluggo was quite photogenic, despite his solid color.





This is one of my favorite pictures of Sluggo. His nose and ears were very pink.

Little Sluggo

Sluggo has Leukemia. He received a blood transfusion over the weekend and so he is currently doing much better. The vet expected the transfusion would last between one and three months. We have a vet appointment later this week to find out how his body accepted the transfusion. We’ve discussed options with the vet, but they really don’t recommend trying to do monthly transfusions to try to keep Sluggo comfortable and healthy. At least when it’s time he won’t feel pain, he’ll just be very tired.

Sluggo is 21 months old. When he was a kitten his test for Leukemia came back negative, but the vets think his disease started in his bone marrow so a blood test wouldn’t indicate any illness. I am very sad. I don’t want to loose our kitten. And I don’t want Noodles to loose his brother, his BFF. This afternoon we’re taking Monkey, Major, and Noodles to the vet to get tested. Leukemia is contagious between cats. There is a vaccination against Leukemia, but it is only recommended for indoor/outdoor cats. Monkey and Major have been vaccinated, Noodles and Sluggo were not.

For the time being, Sluggo is mostly back to his normal, spunky self. He loves to run around and play fetch. His favorite toys are one of my hair rubber bands, his catnip-stuffed carrot, and a rainbow colored mouse that makes noise when you shake it. He loves bananas and will gnaw on anything he can find. When I wake up on my own in the morning, I usually find him wedged between my legs. Otherwise, he’ll start kneading on me and he’ll wake me up with his razor-sharp claws. Sluggo loves to get petted and as a thank you he’ll give you lots of love bites (soft little nibbles on your hand). He’s a big love munchkin. I’ll probably be posting lots of pictures of him in the next few months.

Sluggo and his BFF Noodles. This was taken at my parents' house when they were taking care of them during their ringworm phase (hence the brown spots). The kittens got into the fireplace and were covered in soot. So my mom gave them a bath (she only got one little scratch in return) and they sat in the cupboards, recovering.

Furry Thoughts

Our white fur ball is very sick. Sluggo has really bad anemia and it doesn't look like it's the good or easy to care for kind. He's going to a specialist later today and they will redo some blood analysis. The blood analysis last night yielded results that were very grim (the lowest counts the vet had ever seen). It's probably premature to worry since they don't have a definite diagnosis yet but when the vet mentions bone marrow transfusions, it really makes me worry. Please keep him in your thoughts.

He's lost the pink in his nose.

Good Monkey Picture

Here's a good Monkey picture taken by my brother-in-law at my parents' house.



Monkey is the most photogenic of all our kitties. Waffles was pretty good too.

A Little Something in the Meantime

I am working on a post about our trip to San Diego and Baja California. Until I get that ready, here's a cute picture of Mr. Noodles the Pirate and Sluggo when they had ringworm. This picture was taken by my mom when we left the kitties at my parents' house when we went to Costa Rica. My mom had just given the kittens a bath because they had gotten into the chimney. All the brown spots are where the kitties had ringworm. We had to treat them by giving them weekly sulfur dips, daily medicine, and twice-daily cream application to their spots. We all hated it.



But they recovered and the ordeal gave them a special bond. They are total BFF's now.

Awwww, Monkey

Here are a bunch of cute Monkey pictures.

Here she is being a super model with a ribbon around her neck.



Here she is next to a glass of champagne on New Year's Eve.



Here she is as a tiny kitten. Look at those ears!



Here she is when she got a stick in her eye. Notice her swollen right eye. All her stuffed friends gathered round to offer sympathy.



Funny story. When the husband and Monkey and Major first moved in with me when I lived in Austin, Monkey stayed in for about a week. This was rather unusual because even though she was about 1 year old, she was already quite adventurous and loved being outside. But then again this was a new neighborhood and it was East Austin. When she finally went out, she stayed out all night. When she came back the next morning, we noticed her right eye was swollen. We figured she had gotten stung by a bee. The next morning it was still swollen so we took her to the vet. On first inspection, the vet too thought she had been stung by a bee and took her into the back area to get a bee sting treatment of some sort. A minute later they came back out and it turns out she had gotten a stick stuck between her eyeball and eyelid. The stick was about 1/2 inch long by 1/8 inch in diameter. Who knows what she did to get that stick in her eye. Fortunately her eyeball wasn't scratched and she fully recovered from the trauma.

Some Closure

About 15 months ago, our beloved cat Waffles was attacked by a dog. Waffles was really THE best cat in the world. He was extremely loving and had a great purr. Often he would start purring as soon as we looked at him. He was also a great traveler and would often accompany us on car trips and even flew to Boston with us one Christmas (and had a great time in the snow). Even though he was a cat, Waffles was a little clumsy. He liked to climb the narrow plank above the blinds in front of our sliding glass door. The time he slipped and was stuck, dangling by his claws as I struggled to help him down, was his last attempt.

Waffles was attacked in our apartment complex by a chow/golden retriever mix, almost like a small, cinnamon-colored bear. Waffles was about 14 months and he loved exploring outside. Our neighbors would always find him chasing butterflies. Even outside he would purr as soon as he saw us pull into the driveway. I was on business travel when he was attacked. I remember the morning before, as I was getting ready to leave for my trip, Waffles went to the door and stretched himself, reaching for the door knob. I gave him one last pet and let him go out for his daily adventure.

The dog attacked Waffles at the innermost corner of our apartment complex. Our landlady heard the attack and she called the dog off. Waffles had very little obvious injuries. He only had a few puncture marks near his neck and his lower jaw was fractured. However, he fell into a coma. During the attack, the dog had him in his mouth and shook him like a toy (a characteristic of chows). In an attempt to help figure out what was wrong with him, we drove him to the UC Davis veterinary hospital (one of the best in the nation). An MRI showed that the trauma to his brain was extensive and the neurologist recommended that we put him to rest. It still hurts to remember after all these months.

While our landlady had witnessed the attack and the police knew which dog it had been (this dog had been involved in previous incidents), there are no lineups for dogs. The only way something could have been done was if a policeman had witnessed the incident or the dog had been caught.

On Sunday afternoon I was in the kitchen when I heard a dog bark. I went into the backyard to figure out where the barking was coming from, when I heard more barking and I heard a cat growl. I hoisted myself onto our back fence (we have an empty lot behind our apartment) and I saw the same dog attacking our neighbors Siamese cat, Seymour. Seymour was on the ground, I could see blood on his inner thigh, and the dog was trying to bite him. I started screaming and the dog hesitated and started running away. I remembered what the cops had said about the dog having to be caught. So I started calling after the dog in a soft, friendly voice (I am amazed that I was able to do that despite my anger). I jumped the fence, scraping my wrists pretty bad and losing my slippers on the way over, and chased after the dog.

The dog didn't run very fast and he kept looking back at me to see if I was following. He ran across the major street and started running down his block (we know where the dog lives). I panicked and sprinted ahead to cut him off; I didn't want him to get to his house and seek refuge. When the dog got to me, he stopped and sat down. At that time, I yelled at a man leaving his house to call the police. He did. I stood there, in the middle of the street, looking at the dog. I started feeling bad because I knew that it was really the owners fault, not the dogs. Sure, the dog had attacked, but the owners had allowed their dog to get out (often) and for the dog, attacking a cat was just a game to him. Actually, I think the dog is a girl. But, as she stood there, panting and looking perfectly harmless, I could also see the blood on her muzzle. If the dog was euthanized, at least she would have a less painful end than Waffles.

We waited about 5 minutes when the dog's owners pulled out of the driveway about 4 houses down. They yelled for the dog and the dog got up and started running in the opposite direction. I ran after him. The owners asked that I help them catch their dog. I chased the dog back across the busy street and down a side street. At that time, the owners caught up with us and a 16 year old kid brought the leash. I told the kid the dog had been involved in a cat attack and that we were going to wait for the police. I grabbed the leash and walked back towards our apartment complex with the dog. The police arrived soon after that.

Seymour is most likely going to be ok. His injuries are to his back leg and there is mostly only soft tissue damage. The dog was handed back to the owners on the condition that they surrender her tomorrow. Otherwise, the police department said they would build a case against the family. Supposedly. I am amazed that the dog was not taken by animal control. Perhaps if the dog had attacked me the police would have taken the incident more seriously. Perhaps if something had been done after the first incident (I don't know the details), Waffles would still be alive. Perhaps if something had been done after Waffles was attacked, Seymour would be ok.

I am still sad that Waffles was taken from us so horribly and so soon. He really was the best cat. He was the cat I dreamed our kids would get to meet. But we were lucky because we appreciated him every day we had him. My husband and I would always comment on what a wonderful cat he was. I am glad that he was in our lives, even if it was for a short time.

Cutie

Another thing I have been terrible about doing is posting cute pictures of our kittens. How is this for completely adorable??!!

The Twins

Here's a cute picture of our kittens. They are about 11 months old and the best of friends. Sluggo, the all white kitty, is obsessed with fetch and is an early bird. He tries to get us up every morning around 5:30 am by playing fetch with himself on the bed or scratching at our legs. Mr. Noodles the Pirate is a three legged orange munchkin who knows he's special and is super spoiled (that's probably our fault). Now that it is warm they don't sleep together as much but they still have their daily play fights and chases.