I’ve never had to monitor food for our felines before. It’s new to me. Plus, Bijoux is highly annoyed and killing everything from mice to a recent rabbit. (Don’t tell pup, we think it was Clover, our resident notch eared rabbit ) I get that she’s hungry. Sighs.

Darn that finding a balance.

Back to Bella. Weight gain, upset tummy, means one kitty can’t keep herself clean AND refuses to let me clean her up. Findings? One stinky, unhappy kitty, plus a call to the vet since none of the mobile pet services around here help out with cats.

Have I mentioned Bella is the one without claws? She wiggles alot, but she doesn’t do any damage.

So, our awesome vet, dropped by this week, and checked her out. Our darling girl has a new hair cut. I can’t decide whether she looks like a lion or poodle. Either way, she’s sporting a LOT less hair and feeling much better, although she wouldn’t admit it last night. Tonight? She’s either near me or near pup purring up a storm. I think she might be just as happy as we are that she doesn’t stink and her tummy’s no longer hurting.

I will say this…I’ve been giving her our USANA probiotic and some of our Proflavonal to help with her tummy and her wheezing (the other reason I called the vet). All of it seems to be helping, a lot.

Now, to just get used to her hair cut!

Dignity? Pffft, cooler

• Bijoux wants to be OUTSIDE, she picked up this habit from Gabriel. Her person? Pup. She hunts mice and birds. Can find her most mornings belly up on pup’s bed. Crazy cat.
• Bella – our princess without claws. She loves to be up high and will go tearing out the front door if she thinks Bastien is in danger or needs help. Not sure what she’s thinking there. Nick is her person. Can find her on his chest whenever he’s in bed or on the couch, purring up a storm. She is also fascinated with balloons and their strings. It is the ONLY time she gets vocal.
• Bastien – Fearlessly stupid…at least as far as the girls in the house are concerned. He’s almost a Momma’s Boy. He has to be WHEREVER I am. My desk. My chair, sleeping next to me on the couch. He loves shredded cheese.

While the girls still growl at him, every so often, you can find them nose to nose or sleeping near each other without issue. Thought their quirks would be a fun update

Mommy, I love you

Bad Mommy!

How bad is it that I forgot to put up pics and details about our most recent addition to the family??? OfficeKitten, otherwise known as Bastien….and yes, all the children in the house, two legged or four have B names. Deal with me. I’m a writer. And no, I have no idea why…if I have a daughter? Her name will be Briana Nicole…or Brie for short…something in my brain..I’m on a B kick, it’s twisted…LOL

You need a change here, here and here.

Back to Bastien, he’s about 8 months old now, short fur, hearty appetite, loud meow when he’s hungry, missing me or wants out…Pup and I picked him up from the local shelter at 8 weeks. He had a slight hernia…I almost put him back. Pup was having NONE  of it. Wise child. We weren’t planning on bringing home another furball so close to bringing Bella (Ki-Ki is her nickname) home. Hell, Bijoux was FINE with her. But, if Bella gets out, she needs a protector….I didn’t think Bijoux (B as I call her) would step up to the task….and then, introduce male kitten? War breaks out on the house. *sighs*

He’s gonna be a big boy….and he is SUCH a momma’s boy, proven by the fact that most of his pics are of him ON MY DESK…or curled up next to me…..He loves my desk, my lap, and anything I’m trying to eat. Don’t open a bag of shredded cheese….he KNOWS the sound. He’ll claw you for it! He will climb up the frig too. He wants out in the early am…and then, wants to cuddle and tell me ALL about it when he comes back in. If I am sitting at my desk, he’s right here with me. Sometimes, he’s trying to edit..and he has, in fact, killed a keyboard or two already. He’s gotten in trouble for paws on screen too

He’s fearlessly stupid as my husband calls him. He’ll go after the girls with no thought of safety…he’ll charge out the door after the crows who are STILL bigger than he is.

I can’t wait to see how he grows. He’s so adorable and loveable, I can only get mad at him when he’s killing a plant. Or meowing his fool head off way earlier than I am ready to get up.

~S

Thankfully, they’re smart kitties! Bella managed with water in the sink and terrorizing the pantry, poor kitten has no claws…DAMN IT (will vent about people declawing cats in another post). Bijoux was out, so I’m sure she helped to decrease the mouse and mole population as she always does. And thankfully, our observant neighbors put a bowl of water out for her. (Although, silly kitty has a pond AND a bin of water on the back deck.)

For the future, I’ll be investing in:

1. An electronic kitty door so Bijoux can go in and out at will with just her collar.
2. A timed feeding dish, so both can get their dry food.
3. A timed water dish, so they always have fresh water. Although, I’d like to find something that is more ….well, offers something more of a stream like a sink. Cause Bijoux is like Gabe was, and likes flowing fresh water. Silly cats. I may have to hit up a plumber who can help me rig something indoors and out.

I’ll be calling our vet tomorrow, just so she can do a check up of both girls. I want to make sure they really are ok. But, I’m figuring, since they’re both eating and NOT scarfing food, using the litter box and drinking, they’re good to go. Sage and Gabe used to go a week or more without when they’d run into trouble outdoors.

*breathes a deep sigh of relief and goes to give loves to her kittens*

Namaste

~S

Content in her carrier with Pup's puppy and tshirt

Well, day two. She did really well over night, responded well to the medicine and off we went at 1pm to the Internal Medicine Doctor. I am only irritated about them not being able to read the xrays from the other vet.

Baby Girl seems to have been talented enough to get THREE BLADES OF GRASS stuck in her soft palette and her nose. The third piece being the most severely lodged.

Only our cat.

I go back over to check on her in an hour. We’ll know more then as to whether I can bring her home tonight, or tomorrow. Poor thing.

But…that picture to the left is one of the most precious I’ve been able to take of her in a long time

First, Nyxie, who I knew wasn’t coming home. Then, Gabe…who I didn’t realize wasn’t coming home. And now, Bijoux is there overnight at least.

Waiting patiently to go back outside!

She came in this am trying to cough up what I thought was a furball. So, I let her in and off I took pup to TKD camp. I come home, pass Nick who tells me she’s still trying to cough it up. I get inside, and check on her, she tries to cough again and this time, screams.

I have never heard a cat scream, and never want to hear that sound again. Poor kitten. So, while I’d made Bella a well kitten appointment, I called back to rush Bijoux over.

Talk about not pleased with me in the slightest. She’s only been in the car one other time, and that was coming home from the shelter two years ago. She talked the entire way. Her xrays were good, her blood work fine, but she was obviously in a lot of pain and unhappy. Dr. Moore is great about being upfront and kind. She’s methodical and keeps you informed every step of the way. Right now, Baby B is getting lidocaine for the pain…and another drug to coat her throat and help it heal. If she’s not better in the am, then we’ll be going to the internist to get her throat scoped in the afternoon. I’m not sure what that entails, and don’t really want the description of it LOL…but we’re working on finding out what the problem is and fixing it the best we can.

On the plus side, she’s apparently in great health otherwise! I’ll keep you posted.

Namaste

Pretty in sleep

I usually wait a few months (ok…sometimes like maybe TWO) before adding to the feline family…but we were all really missing Gabe and feeling like Baby Bijoux needed company.

Nick and I were both thinking big male Maine Coon…we came home with small, gray and a lady.

So, welcome to Belle or Bella as pup has been singing around the house all night. She is allowed to wander the house when Bijoux is out. We need to introduce them slowly to each other. Although, I think Belle will adapt quickly having come from a house with lots of other pets. Baby B….well, she’s used to being princess, so it may take her a little while.

Accordingly, Baby B is out hunting in the suddenly cold weather we’re having, and Belle is curled up sound asleep on my lap while I’m working (she just fits too LOL). She’s snoring slightly too because of the rasp she’s picked up from being in the shelter for two weeks. And, I’ve learned she’s missing her front claws….so her outside time is going to be limited. (May have to get that big brother for the girls after all…..)

She was quiet the entire ride home. I’ve never had a quiet cat in the car. The only time she talks is when she’s displeased about being left in the laundry room on her own. Hey, I would be too, but…the household intros have to go slowly.

I’d add more pictures, but the camera is in the other room, and she’s sleeping rather contentedly on my lap. She’s so no signs of moving any time soon either. Stay posted…I’ll have more pictures of both the baby B’s soon!

Gabe’s history

In 1997, my husband and I, then boyfriend, had finally moved out to an apartment on our own. With me came Sagesse, as my mother wanted to keep her sister, Curiousite (Sage and Curry for future reference). I have always had two feline companions feeling they preferred company. I think in retrospect, Sage might have just preferred being the only cat…as Gabe was definitely a handful for her.

A family friend had kittens, so I went to visit and fell in love with the gray and white furball with a tail too long for his body. He came home with me. He was a handful to start. He spent most of his young life in trouble. He was into everything. Curious. Playful and could go from friendly to mean in a matter of seconds. I swear his eyes would go red when he hit a mood. He mellowed a LOT as he got older.

He was our hunter. Our warrior. He brought home birds and finished them off in the bathtub. (At least it made for easy cleanup.) He ate everything he could. And when the mood struck….and could vibrate your entire body with his purr. Playful and a fighter….he went after crows, foxes and even went toe to toe with a deer one day for threatening Baby Bijoux, our newest addition. All in all, I only had to really get after him when he tried to go after our little guy….he just wasn’t sure about small humans. And he learned quickly that mommy could be faster than he was. He learned to keep a healthy distance between him and the uncoordinated child.

He crossed over on Saturday, March 21st. He’d been feeling badly…and I’d let him go a couple fo days, as that was his usual way of dealing with any upset. But, the third day, I pulled him out of the leaves on the deck…cold and light. He’s never cold. Off to the emergency vet to find out, Liver Cancer. He was in the end stages and we’d never even realized he had it. He was a fighter to the end.

He is missed. He is honored. And he will always hold a special place in my heart. And, so, to remember all our felines, I’m going to work on building this site to help honor their memory….and their impact on our lives.

Namaste.