cageyness

Instant weight loss...for cats

nobody@vox.com(cageyness) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:53:52 -0700

Forty-five minutes, mutliple sneezing fits, one giant pile of fur, and one very pissed off cat later, I am reminded (again) of why it is SOOOOO worth it to take the furballs to a groomer for their summer buzz cuts.

Pile o' hair

Pissed_off_cat

Skinnier_fat_cat

Better yet, I'm going to hire someone to make a house call. It makes sense with the other long haired critters in the house. There's one more cat and three dogs who need trimming. I don't think me and my allergies can take it.

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Bad pet momma

nobody@vox.com(cageyness) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:40:55 -0800

I'm feeling awfully worried and guilty at the moment. My girl cat, Lilu, named for her bright orange fur and likeness to the heroine from The Fifth Element, came up to me tonight for some love. So I petted her, rubbed behind her ears, and then started scratching down her back when I felt two big tufts of matted hair. As I have done a dozen times before, I got up to find a pair of household scissors, then came back to corner and calm her so she'd let me cut the mats out. As usual, she squirmed a bit and squeaked a bit, but I cut the mats free and let her go on her merry way.

Well, about ten minutes later she came back over to me for more love so I started the whole process again, petting and loving on her, and then...one of my fingers slipped over a strange wet spot and, gulp, into some sort of indentation. Lilu didn't react at all, but I instantly knew what I'd done. In cutting the matted fur I had cut her too.

I hobbled together a pet first aid kit (why on earth don't I have one of these ready at all times?!) and closeted my poor baby into the laundry room with me. She squirmed and squeaked as usual, but was generally calm, even letting me buzz the fur away from her wound with the pet trimmer. It didn't bleed much at all, but it's a cut clear down to the muscle; there's a little elongated slice missing from her skin where the matts were and I can see the sheen of fat and tissue. It must be painful, but the only time she seemed to be in pain was when I rinsed it out with peroxide and put some antibacterial ointment into and around it. (Could that be possible? They say animals have amazing pain tolerance.) I tried to wrap a makeshift bandage around her to keep the wound covered until I can get her to the vet tomorrow, but she slipped her way out of it twice.

Poor Lilu. She ran into the office on her own, making a beeline for it after the Johnny cat gave her the evil eye. I went in to pet her and calm her down with some Peace and Calming oil, and I left her food and water. I'll bring her a cat box in just a minute too. I wanted to bring her into my bedroom tonight, but I don't want to spook her anymore than she already is. Maybe I'll stay in the office with her instead.

I'm suddenly in the middle of a swirl of guilty thoughts about how I'm not taking care of these animals well; that I'm neglecting them; that if I'd brushed Lilu more, she'd never have developed those matts in the first place...

Enough of that, though. I have to go take care of my baby and spinning my wheels won't help. Sigh. Still...bad pet momma.

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If he weren't so cute and fat and soft...he'd be dead by now

nobody@vox.com(cageyness) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 23:28:04 -0800

I don't actually mean that. Truly...anyone who knows me knows I do not stand for animal cruelty and the above is a literary exageration.

That said, the bed I made for Frankie-fat-butt just a couple of weeks ago is no more. Someone--possibly him, but hard to say for certain with 3 other cats in the house--peed on it; just soaked it!--while I was at my aunt's house over the weekend.

They don't like when I'm away. This is how they bring the message home. Loud and clear.

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"...dogs and cats living together! It'll be anarchy!"

nobody@vox.com(cageyness) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:27:34 -0800

Two's a crowd

So I made Frankie a bed of his own

but he often makes it to Evita's first.

and she just takes the little one. Ridiculous!

Sharing again

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pet mama drama

nobody@vox.com(cageyness) — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 15:20:02 -0700

frankie is on a rampage. his ears are chock full of yeast. i've caught him scratching at the back of the sofas. and, oh yes, he peed on evita's new bed while i was in boerne (bernie) this weekend. the fun part is that i didn't know he'd peed on it until after i vacuumed it. (my friend and petsitter had not yet told me about the incident, but had soaked up as much of it up as possible with paper towels. i couldn't see the stain and my allergies had rendered me cat-pee oblivious for a few blessed moments.)

luckily, the bed is totally washable so i put it through a hot cycle with bleach, twice to be sure, and let it air dry overnight.

as for the sofas, i have brought the scatmat out of the closet and placed it on the floor right where the little bugger will have to step if he wants to scratch. (yes, i am electrocuting my cat, slightly. yes, it is an uncomfortable sensation for him, i'm sure, but i'm doing everything i can to train and re-train him and i am absolutely not the kind of person who would simply abandon him because of his pee issues even though he has ruined carpet, many clothes, and a sofa--all of which had to be replaced, because i also can't live with a pee-smelling house. so animal rights folks, of which i count myself, please be kind. this cat really has it very good.)

i cleaned his ears out this morning with some nifty little cotton swab things i found at petsmart. you snap one end and the cleaning solution drops through the tube into the other end. i have to say they really did work better than regular cotton swabs with alcohol--my old method.

the fate of the vacuum, however, is still undecided. remember that i used it on a pee soaked bed when i got home on monday. not fun. the entire f'ing thing absolutely stunk of pee and there was no way i was going to use it on anything else. so i took it apart last night and scrubbed out the hoses with mr. clean and with my nature's magic enzyme cleaner. then this morning i scrubbed out all the pieces that actually have contact with the floor: brush roller, wheels, plastic casing, etc. and left it all to dry. (and yes every inch of smelled horribly of pee and so it needed to be torn apart and cleaned. i was not just being a neat freak here.) i will finish the disinfecting ministrations tonight by applying some Thieves oil to everything and then putting it back together.

keep your fingers crossed that he gets back on track and forgives me for needing to leave town yet again. i might actually board him just to be sure that he doesn't lose it while i'm gone. and to be sure that i don't lose it when i get back.

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ok, this is just too cute

nobody@vox.com(cageyness) — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 20:59:23 -0700

it's getting kind of ridiculous though. maybe i should just buy them all a twin bed to share.

you're the best of friends

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grass is fun

nobody@vox.com(cageyness) — Sat, 26 May 2007 10:57:38 -0700

Johnny and Frankie Meet Cat Grass

How's that for a misleading title? Actually, does anyone call it grass anymore? Anyway...

So, tired of shooing the kitties away from my thriving peace lily (no that is not a euphemism), I decided to cultivate some cat grass from organic seeds. No it's not catnip, just greens that cats are supposed to love and that are supposed to help with digestion, etc. The stuff finally grew tall enough to be munch-able, so I served it up this morning for a snack.

They love the stuff! Best pet money I've spent in a long time.

And aren't they adorable?

These are just two of my/our (grrr) four cats--all rescues. The dogs are rescues too. Pics of them one of these days.

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this and that takes up most my time

nobody@vox.com(cageyness) — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 16:33:46 -0800

i pulled an all nighter two nights ago and an almost all nighter last night. no, no, not for school, for work. i completed a layout for a print publication that also needs to look purty online. it's bee-u-tee-ful. and i'm tired.

the husband gets home tonight. he's be in the EP (el paso) for the last week or so and i've been holding down the fort. the house is clean. my room is in order. i even got a little sun today while listening to my italian cds and fending off the dogglies. unfortunately, i still have to clean the catboxes. not only is this the most disgusting chore, i cringe at the amount of litter we're adding to the landfill. the next house we move to, someday, i plan to toilet train the cats.

the intel shell implodes this weekend. it was just two blocks from my old office downtown. i will miss it--just for the memory of walking toward the music that blared from it one night last summer. a wonderful production was staged there called Requiem and i caught the dress rehearsal quite by chance. it was lovely.

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