Mia update

Mia is doing better. The meds seemed to be doing their job as her eye is clearing up and she isn't sneezy much anymore. Mom is happy she is feeling better. The visit to the stabby place with Mia was the first since I went OTRB and it was hard emotionally on mom. She misses me so much (as I do her)! It's hard watching from the Rainbow Bridge when mom is sad. I'm so glad Mia is feeling better. Now if we can just get Mosby to behave! He's cute but he sure can be a pest to Mia. 

sifur Mia

Thanks for all the paw-sitive thoughts for Mia!

xoxo,

Angel CJ

Mia goes to the vet

Mia has been squinting a lot lately and pawing at her right eye so mom made an appointment for her to go the stabby place today. In true calico fashion (or any kitty really), she meowed the entire way there. She was pretty good when she got there though.

Mia at the stabby place

That is until they put the thermometer thingy you know where. I can't blame her for not being happy. I remember my visits to the stabby place and where they put that thermometer thingy. I don't have to worry about that here at the Rainbow Bridge though.

Anyhoo... back to Mia. Poor kitty has a Upper Respiratory Infection and Feline Ocular Herpesvirus (more commonly called FHV-1). Mom knew when she adopted her a few years ago that she had scar tissue on her eye possibly from FHV but she hasn't had a flare up until now. The vet asked if there is any new stress in the home. Well, yes actually there is Mosby!

Mosby at home

Mia and Mosby aren't exactly buddies. It's almost comical becuase Mosby is doing to Mia what Mia used to do to me. Chase! I didn't like it when Mia chased me and apparently Mia doesn't like it when Mosby chases her. Karma? Ok, I admit I actually thought it was funny at first but if it's causing Mia stress then it's not so funny. Stress is what often causes flare ups of the FHV and I don't want to see my sisfur hurting. Mosby - play nice would ya? I'm watching you from the Rainbow Bridge and want you to be nice to your sisfur Mia so she can feel better, okay! Mia has been started on pills and eye drops to combat both the URI and the FHV. She's not an easy kitty to pill or give eye drops to so mom's going to have a challenge on her hands for a few weeks. Poor mom.

Pals if you would keep Mia in your thoughts until she feels better that would be pawesome! 

Thanks pals!

Love,

Angel CJ

The True Tails of Baker and Taylor

Mom likes to read and of course she loves cats so what better book to read than The True Tails of Baker and Taylor! 

What a great story about how cats can help bring together a community! Who doesn't love cats? Okay, there are a few people out there who don't but we'll just ignore them. After all cats are good at ignoring humans! Anyhoo, I don't want to spoil the story but if you have read it you know why mom cried at the end. It was a reminder for her how much she misses me. She actually had to put the book down for a bit to clear her leaky eyes. :( I sure do wish their were visiting hours at the Rainbow Bridge! I want to comfort mom and let her know I am doing great at the Rainbow Bridge. I have met many friends including brofur Cosmo. The catnip is plentiful and I am healthy again.

Mom says new brofur Mosby is doing great and has adjusted to being in her home. Sisfur Mia is still being a brat and hissing at Mosby but it's improving. They can now be in the same room together without much issues. There is some chasing. Is it mean that I chuckle when Mosby chases Mia? I mean she did chase me many times when I didn't want to be chased? Karma? I look over them and try to tell them to behave. Guess they are ignoring me. Hmpfff.... Guess I'll have to be a little more verbal. If a kitty can be heard from Kitty Heaven I sure am going to try! These 2 need to get along! I'll keep snoopervising from OTRB to make sure they do.

Until next time... take care pals!

Love,
Angel CJ

Meowing Diva

Mom says Mia is driving her crazy. She thinks Mia misses me since I have gone OTRB. She wanders around the house meowing in the middle of the night. This is new for Mia. She has never done this before. She certainly didn't do it when I was around. Mom says she is sniffing my beds. (I had some favorite things such as beds that Mia never really took a liking too and mom hasn't gotten rid of.) She's not really playing much either although mom did get her to play a little with the wand toy recently.

Mia the Diva

I have to admit that I never really was buddies with Mia even though she tried to be my buddy. (I was buddies with Cosmo and never really adjusted to Mia whom mom adopted 2 years after losing Cosmo in the fire). It sounds like Mia misses me. What's mom to do? I don't know if mom is ready to adopt a new kitty yet but maybe it would be good for Mia if she did? Is Mia just being a Diva now that she has the house to herself? Or is she ready for a new brofur or sisfur?  Looking out for mom and Mia from the Rainbow Bridge is hard!

Keeping kitty safe over the Fourth of July

Who's looking forward to the Fourth of July? or better yet, whose kitty is looking forward to the Fourth of July? I know my sisfur is not! Mia doesn't like loud noises which means she will be under the bed most of the weekend. I'm ok with loud noises as long as it's not a fire truck screaming in to the apartment complex with its sirens blaring!

Anyhoo... here are some tips to keep kitty safe this holiday:


1. Turn Down the Volume

Cats and fireworks don’t play well together. If your cat is scared of thunder, she’ll definitely be scared of the nonstop booming on the Fourth of July. Close your windows and turn on a radio — tuned to a station that plays mellow music — to counteract the noise of fireworks.

2. Keep Kitty Inside

If your kitty is normally an indoor-outdoor kitty, don’t let her go outside on July 4 or the surrounding days that fireworks are being shot off in the neighborhood. This will keep her safe from any number of dangers, such as getting lost if she bolts in panic during fireworks displays. 

3. Give Kitty a Place to Hide

Frightened cats will seek shelter, immediately. Many cats will run and hide under a bed or in a closet when the doorbell rings. Imagine what they will do when a bottle rocket goes off nearby. It will help your kitty if you prepare a sanctuary in advance. If you don't have an extra room, try a cat bed inside a closet in an interior room. Another suggestion is to rub a towel or small blanket with her scent and put it in the bed. Show her where it is well in advance of the 4th, so she will know it's her own "safe place." 

4. Make sure kitty has proper, updated ID

If kitty does manage to escape, this will increase the chances of her safe return. If she isn't microchipped, it's a good idea to consider getting it done before the holiday.

5. Get Her a Thundershirt

The Thundershirt, which has been soothing dogs through storms and other anxiety-provoking situations, is now available for cats to provide a sense of safety and well being. Recent reviews show that the device, which is designed to produce a light pressure all around the torso, is working just as well for cats as it has been for the canines.


6. Consider Tranquilizers

No, not for you (although you might want one!), but for your kitty. If your favorite feline is normally the skittish type, you might want to ask your veterinarian about a mild sedative or tranquilizer, just to get the cat through the day. If you're not fond of drugs for cats, there are some natural remedies that have a calming effect. 

7. Spend some time with kitty over the holiday

Try to take time out from the activities of the holiday to spend a few minutes with your cat, every couple of hours, petting her and talking to her. She needs to know you haven't abandoned her during these stressful hours, and the brief break will be good for you, too.

Have a Happy and Healthy Fourth of July pals!

xoxo,

CJ and Mia

 & 

Whisker Stress - What is it?

Whisker Stress - what is it? Well I know I had whisker stress when my whiskers were burned off in our nasty fire a few years ago but I don't think that's what the V E T is talking about.

See? No whiskers....

Do you or have you seen a kitty that doesn’t want to eat their kibble in their bowl, preferring to pull it out one piece at a time with their paw, then eating it off the counter or floor? Or maybe a kitty that only seems to like to eat the top layer of food out of his (or her) bowl, acting like he needs to get a refill, even when there is still plenty of morsels left on the bottom of his dish? You may be witnessing Whisker Stress! Mom always thought I did this because I was afraid brofur Cosmo was going to eat all the food but I still do it. I even did it when I was the only kitty in the house after Cosmo passed away and before mom adopted Mia. Mom isn't particularly fond of my need to drag food all over the floor to eat rather than eat from the dish but I am spoiled so I get to do what I want. 

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Many cats suffer from whisker stress daily, and your kitty might too. Domesticated cats that live and eat indoors don’t have the luxury of eating their food anywhere they’d like.  A feral cat can hunt down her prey, and consume it wherever she pleases. Circumstances are much different in a domestic environment where the human is in charge of when, where, and how the kitty will eat (we'll pretend the human thinks they are in charge for arguments sake!). So how do a cat’s whiskers play into all of this?

The role that whiskers play in cats is mainly to augment their short-distance vision.  A kitty has approximately 8 to 12 of these whiskers on each side of their face, arranged in horizontal rows that fan out sideways on each side of the upper lip, plus some tufts of shorter whiskers above their eyes, on their chin, and even on the back of their forelegs, just above the paw!  

It took a couple of months for all my whiskers to grow back. This pic is 3 months post fire and you can easily see my whiskers have returned! 

Whiskers are deeply-rooted, and rich in blood vessels and nerve endings that provide your kitty with information about surrounding objects and even air movement.  This exceptionally sensitive tool assists kitty's in many forms of navigation.  Each whisker functions as a mechanical transmitter, conveying pressure applied along the shaft to receptors in the follicle at the whisker base. So imagine what forcing those delicate instruments into a food dish must feel like. Ouch! The good news is that cat-friendly designers have come up with lots of beautiful flat feline feeding dishes to help your kitty avoid whisker stress. They look like elegant serving platters, wide and shallow, with plenty of room for your kitty to pick up the food with their mouth, without their whiskers touching anything. I am not sure why mom hasn't bought sisfur Mia and I those elegant serving platters, uh mom????

In short, making sure that your cat has an adequately sized food bowl could make a tremendous difference in how comfortable he (or she) is when he’s eating his food. It’s amazing what you will learn when you take the time to OBSERVE your kitty's!

How does your kitty prefer to eat?  Do they behave strangely sometimes when eating?  Do they stop and start again? Do they refuse to eat when they seemed hungry just minutes earlier?  Your kitty just might be trying to tell you that they have whisker stress and a new food bowl is a necessity! I'm wondering when mom will get the hint... to be fair, she has changed how she feeds us our dinner (on a saucer instead of from a bowl). Mom also knows that I prefer to drink water off the floor rather than from a bowl so she will sometimes intentionally spill the water on the floor so I can lap it up. The sink is a good option for water too!

Do my pals have any strange eating or drinking habits I wonder? Is it whisker stress or are they just spoiled like me?

From fires to flood... Can't a kitty catch a break?

So mom got the call yesterday that nobody wants to get... "Come home, there's an emergency!" Um... deja vu! At least this time it wasn't a fire! (That awful anniversary is coming up next month.) This time it was a flood. 

See the temps have been brutally cold the last few days with highs only in the single digits and teens. The temps have been so cold us kitties haven't gotten any deck time lately! But worse, it's been so cold that apparently a pipe in the kitchen froze. So... when the temps got up in to the 30s yesterday that pipe decided to thaw out. And thaw out it did.... it burst and rushed water right in to the wall and in to our home! Here's a pic of some of the damage.

Kitchen where the pipe burst from behind the washer.

And because the pipe decided to burst while mom was at work, Mia and I got scared. Mia ran to the bedroom to hide while I tried to escape out the front door when management & maintenance came in to try to stop the water leak. That's when management called mom and said come home. Because the water was all over the kitchen floor and spreading to the living room as well as down the wall to the neighbors apartment, maintenance needed to enter right away to try and stop the leak (by turning off the water and containing the water from the burst pipe). They grabbed me as I tried to escape out the front door and put me in the bedroom with Mia. They made sure our food and water got put in there too. It didn't take mom too long to get home once she received the call. I am pretty sure probably broke some speed limits but I won't tell! When she got home she wouldn't let us out of the bedroom but she did feed us our nightly dinner of wet food and made sure we had toys to play with while she talked with management to determine if we could stay in the apartment that night or if we would have to go somewhere for a few days. It turns out the damage wasn't so bad that we would have to leave but us kitties will be confined to the bedroom for a few days until the damage to the wall and floor is repaired. I hope they fix it quick, I don't like being cooped up in the bedroom! I'm thankful that the emergency wasn't worse. I still have nightmares from the fire and don't need any more emergencies. I'm getting to be an old kitty (I am 13!). Can't a kitty catch a break? No more emergencies please! I am pretty sure sisfur Mia agrees! 

Tearful Tuesday

Mom has leaky eyes this week. She lost a friend to suicide a few days ago and it's been hard to cope. It was a sudden loss (aren't all suicides?). This one is tough as this person is the last person you thought would end his own life. He was a firefighter, a father, a friend to many. He posted inspirational quotes and songs on Facebook and even talked a few people out of attempting suicide. He contacted mom after our first fire to ask if we needed anything and were ok. He picked up the phone. Who does that these days? We are so involved in technology and particularly social media we often don't pick up the phone anymore or have face to face conversations. Mom will always remember that he picked up the phone to find out how we were doing. Don't get me wrong, all the Facebook, twitter and blog luv was great but sometimes you need to hear a voice, see someone in person, get a hug. It's no secret mom has struggled since our 2 fires. She has experienced nightmares and some depression as a result. It's tough to ask for help, especially when you don't know how people are going to respond. Mom has lost a few friends because of her struggles and that makes me sad. Friends are supposed to be there for each other - especially in times of need. Us kitties are there for each other. We can be there for our humans too! I'm not much of a lap kitty since the fires. Something has changed in me but I still like to sit next to mom and purr to let her know I luv her. Sisfur Mia isn't a lap kitty really either but she does something really cool, she hugs mom! Yep, that's right, she will climb up on to mom's lap, crawl up real close to her face then wrap her paws around her neck and HUG her. It is the darndest thing to see! Yep... just like in this picture!  You can't see the paws around mom's neck but they are there!

And it's the reason why mom adopted Mia last year. See... mom volunteers at Wayside Waifs and likes to work with the shy kitties to help them get adopted. Mia was one of those shy kitties. When mom opened the kennel door Mia came right to the front of the kennel and put her paws on mom's chest then reached up to hug her. Mom couldn't believe it! She never had a kitty hug her like that before. She knew right then that Mia had chosen her as her new adopted family. That's how Mia came to be my sisfur. Oh Mia's a pain in the rump all right. She chases me around, plays with my toys and eats my food but when she hugs mom... well that's priceless!

Anipals take care of your humans! Whether it's a hug, a hop in the lap for a nap or just sitting next to your human so they can hear you purr.. let them know you luv them especially when you sense they are hurting. A little luv can go a long way to help each other!

Luv,

CJ 

It's my "Gotcha Day" Anniversary!

December 26 is my "Gotcha Day"! On this day in 2001 mom and the Pottingers/Prices went to PetSmart in Shawnee and picked me. Actually I am pretty sure I picked mom to take me home but I'll let her think she picked me. Anyhoo, I was a Christmas present from the Pottingers/Prices. They were smart and got a gift certificate so that mom could choose me. Too many times people try to choose a pet as a gift for someone. It's much better when the hooman recieving the gift gets to choose their forever friend!

 

Mom doesn't have any pics of me when I was a kitty because well... the world wasn't quite digital then like it is now. Mom had some actual pictures of me from my younger days but they were lost in the fire last year. But mom does have some digital pics of me pre-fire and moving forward. Some pics are below. It's been an adventure. I am so glad I survived the fire and am still here. I even have a new sisfur!

 

Here are some pics of me pre-fire:

Aren't I a handsome kitty??? Mom always called me a "pretty kitty".



I have always liked boxes! But what kitty doesn't?





This was brofur Cosmo who passed away in the fire.



Brofur Cosmo and I hanging out in our favorite spot in the old apartment.





I loved getting in the laundry!





Iz helping with the laundry!



Yep. laundry's done!





I love bags!

 

And here are some pics post-fire up to today...

 



Day after the fire. I'm at the emergency vet where I spent 3 days receiving care.





First day in new apartment after the fire.

 



Ouch! I was still in pain for about a week after the fire. Mom did good giving me meds and helping me heal.





I still have my earz in this pic!



This is me several months after the fire. My earz are half gone and the fur hasn't returned on my nose but Ize otherwise a happy healthy kitty!

 



This is my new sisfur Mia. her "Gotcha Day" is November 1, 2013.





This is me today (12/26/2013). As you can see I am still a handsome kitty!



 

Thanks again to everyone who helped me and mom after the fire. I am a lucky kitty! 2012 was a tough year because of the fire and 2013 was an even tougher year for mom personally. I am praying for mom that 2014 is our best year yet! Happy Holidays everyone! May 2014 bring joy and many new memories to treasure!