Purranoia.....the fear that your cat is up to something. - Unknown

Last week we noticed some bumps and sores on Kaci’s chin.  Charlie had told me that he noticed something on her chin earlier, but he thought it was dried food or something.  He said when he scratched it, she seemed to like it.  I couldn’t imagine how she got food on her chin because she’s always been such a fastidious groomer.

Several years ago Toby’s chin looked dirty and when I felt it, it was bumpy.  We took him to the vet and discovered he had “cat acne”.  It was caused from using plastic food bowls.  Something in the material irritated the chin when it rubbed on the side of the bowl.  We got a cream to rub on the chin and it went away.  We also started using only glass food dishes.

Kaci only eats from glass dishes, so we were a little concerned about the bumpy chin.  The sores also looked open.  I could also feel a large bump.  With what we went through already with Taz and his cancer last year, we don’t take anything for granted.
 
Charlie took Kaci to the vet.  Sure enough, it was diagnosed as “acne”.  Charlie texted me and said “Kaci has zits”.  The doctor “popped” the big one.  I asked how and Charlie said, “Between her fingers”.   Just like we would take care of a zit on our face.

We were given a cream to apply twice a day to Kaci’s acne.  At first she protested, but then she decided it felt pretty good to have her chin rubbed, any way she could get it.

Kaci

This morning I was petting Kaci and rubbed her chin to check the acne.  I was surprised to feel a HUGE bump further up under her chin.  Upon checking it, it looked like it was full of fluid.  Still paranoid about bumps, we made an appointment to take her back to the vet.

Charlie texted me, “Kaci has a BIGGER zit.  She’s got antibiotics to take”.

When he got home, he said the vet had popped it.  Again I said, “How?”  He put his two index fingers together and demonstrated.  I said, “That must have hurt!”  He said, “Kaci actually seemed to not notice”.  I thought that by the size of that thing, they would have to lance it or something.  The vet said that it actually had a little head on it so it was ready to blow (my words, not the vet’s).

So, we have two weeks of Clavamox pills to give to Kaci, twice a day.  The doctor said that they don’t know why cats get this chin acne.  Like people, cats can have skin problems too.  I’m just glad it’s not anything more serious than acne.

Our seven month old kitten, Rhody, is as big as an adult cat now.  He’s over 10 pounds and still growing.  We don’t know what we have here.

Rhody

When we went over to get him from my friend, Sandi, she told us that they had lost Rhody in the house one time and her husband started calling him “Chewbacca”, the Wookiee from Star Wars, just to have a name to call him. Of course, we thought that was cute, but there was no way we were going to name our new kitten “Chewbacca” or “Chewie”.  He became Rhody.

As Rhody grows, he is starting to look more and more like a Wookiee, so that was not such a far-out name for him.  When I pick him up I call him my little Wookiee.  He’s not a long haired cat, but he has a lot of fur and a really fluffy tail.

I’ve seen pictures of cats like him at the shelters and they describe them as Russian Blues.  I looked up the Russian Blue breed to see if that is really what Rhody is.  Of course, I wasn’t thinking a pure bred, but maybe he was of that breed.  I found that:

The Russian Blue cat breed originated in the Russian port of Archangel. As a result it is also known as an Archangel cat, along with Foreign Blue, Spanish Blue, Russian Shorthair and Maltese cat breed.  Rhody is not really a shorthair.

What Is Special About Russian Blue Cats?

The most special trademark of these breed of cats is emerald green eyes. Rhody’s eyes are not emerald green.  They are kind of yellowish green.  This is a fairly new color for Russian Blue cat eyes, which are usually yellow. These cats have very dense fur coats that are very soft and double layered. He does have this coat.  The undercoat is extremely thick and comes in solid colors of black, white and blue.

A Russian Blue (love those green eyes)

Physical Attributes Of The Russian Blue Cat

Although these breed of cats have a muscular body, they are not heavy. That rules Rhody out. Russian blue cats have almond-shaped eyes that are widely spaced, and their ears are pointed.  His eyes aren’t almond, but they are widely spaced and his ears are pointed.  Their silhouette is slender and graceful. No, not Rhody.  They tend to weigh anywhere between seven and twelve pounds, (he weighs almost 11 pounds already) and have a lifespan of around thirteen to fifteen years (let’s hope this is true with Rhody).

Russian Blue Cats As Pets

Russian Blue cats make great indoor pets because they are the least destructive of all cats. Again, this is not Rhody.  This cat is the most destructive kitten we’ve seen and very clumsy.  They tend to be very cautious when it comes to new things, so be wary of changing its environment and introducing it to strangers. He does run and hide when people come to the house, but so do all of our other cats.  Regular brushing of their coats is needed for them to remain lustrous and healthy. Apart from that, they are easy to care for.  Rhody has a beautiful coat, but that fluffy tail does get him into trouble in the litterbox.  We have had to trim it so it will be easier for him to maneuver his potty routine.

From the picture, Rhody is not a Russian Blue.  But, he is a big, beautiful blue kitten and we don’t need papers on any of our cats to know they’re special to us.

Aren't they cute?

Who's entertaining who?  Rhody is in the pen too.

Me with Dot and Dash

The kittens are getting bigger every day.  The mother, Kiki, is going to be spayed this week.  We set up a play pen in the family room for the kittens.  By putting them in the pen, they are exposed to TV noise and some of the other cats in the house.  They do not like Sheila though.  Fear of dogs is something that they will have to overcome and maybe never will.
 
More later.........