 |
| Time to be thankful and eat! |
We had a very nice Thanksgiving Day. Our friends, Bob and Patti, were going to come and visit for a couple of days, but Patti was sick and they had to cancel. It was becoming a tradition for them to spend Thanksgiving here with us. We do see them several times during the year though. They only live two hours away.
The day was warm and the cats were outside mostly. We sat down to eat at 2:00 p.m. and then afterward we went out to sit on the patio. It was nice to just sit and talk and listen to music. The cats and Sheila kept us company. Sheila lay behind the glider and the cats strolled or ran by. It was just a quiet, laid back day. Nice to have a day off!
 |
| Sunset |
When it started getting cooler, we got blankets to put around us just to keep the chill off. Time went by and suddenly it was getting darker. We had to round up the cats and bring them in. Jonesie is the last one to come in because he likes to make a game out of running back and forth, making us chase and catch him. But, once all were inside and accounted for, they were fed and after a long day, ready for their naps.
 |
| Lexi |
I have ordered the antihistamine for Lexi and it should be delivered this week. It will be interesting to see if it helps her congestion. I hope it works for her.
Mr. Creme will be going to the vet this week to get a fructosamine test to see how he’s doing. He may be gaining a little weight too, which is fine. He had lost some and the doctor said it would be good if he could gain it back. He’s never been overweight, but at one time he was a fair sized cat at 15 or 16 pounds. He was 13 pounds at his last vet visit. We have always had big cats. Jonesie is our smallest male, only weighing about 10 pounds.
 |
| Jonesie |
 |
| Mr. Creme and Debby |
We've been leaving the garage door to the backyard open so that Mr. Creme can have access to the yard and also the other cats can come into the garage to use a litter box or get something to snack during the day. Because we are afraid to let Debby outside, she stays in her 4x4 kennel during the day. We open the kennel door at night so she and Mr. Creme can snuggle if they want to.
 |
| Dash |
 |
| Kodi |
Our fraternal twins, (the frat girls) Dash and Kodi are fully grown now. They were a year old last September. We thought Kodi was going to be a very small cat, but she has sprouted up and is filling out. Dash has always been the bigger of the two. They are still skittish, even though we’ve had them since they were six weeks old. They were taught by their mom, Kiki, to stay hidden in the woodpile and I don’t think they’ll ever really be unafraid. But, they are nice cats. If they are settled in the cat tree or on the bed, etc., they will allow us to pet them. Kodi even comes up to our laps for attention. I don’t think Dash will ever do that though. She would be so nice to hold. She has the thickest, soft fur and she’s pure white.
 |
| Kiki |
Their mom, Kiki, gets full house privileges during the day. We do put her in her 4x4 kennel at night though. It saves us from dealing with problems overnight. We have found that on the times we left Kiki out in the house overnight, one of the other cats, probably Rhody, stalks her and if she’s on the cat tree or couch, she is afraid to come down. It just keeps peace in the family to separate them at night. Rhody is not a mean cat, but he has this way of following Kiki and then just staring at her. It makes her nervous. If she would meet him and touch noses, everything would be fine. He is just curious about her and she won’t let him get close enough to meet her.
 |
| Jason and Kaci |
Our twins, Jason and Kaci, and Jonesie are our two most well-behaved cats. The twins are five years old now and Jonesie is two years old. We wouldn’t take anything for them. Even when they were just kittens, (we got them when they were about five months old, Jones was three months) they played and tore through the house, but they never broke anything or chewed on things.
 |
| Rhody |
The other day I noticed that the dining room table pad had been chewed on a couple of edges! Who does that? We think it was Rhody. He hangs around with the frat girls and the three of them are so destructive. We have never had cats that broke so many things, got into everything, and now, chews on things. I keep a supply of glue to mend whatever I can save.
 |
| Two casualties of my destructive trio--in my intensive care glue repair shop (tape comes off soon!) |
 |
| Miss Ellie with her mom |
With the cooler nights, Ellie’s asthma has been bothering her more. She sleeps in a bed under the cat tree in my computer room. Sometimes when she wants to be held, I wrap her in a blanket and hold her on my lap while I’m working on the computer. She naps a little and then wants to get down and go back to her bed. I worry about her because she is getting so small. She weighs about 8 pounds now and although she looks tiny, she doesn’t feel boney. She’s always been small, but in her prime she was filled out and pretty solid. She weighed 10 or 11 pounds then.
 |
| Jezibel |
Jezibel also has asthmatic wheezing. The meds we give her and Ellie work well and we only give as needed. Jezibel, our oldest, will be 14 years old next July, but except for the asthma, she doesn’t seem to have any other health problems at the moment. Her weight is up and she looks good. We’re happy about that because her three “kittens”, Lexi, Mr. Creme and Ellie, all have their own medical problems. They will be 13 years old in March. Hard to believe.
 |
| Sheila gets her hair combed by her dad |
Our dog, Sheila, is hanging in there. She enjoys the cats and when they run around the house playing, she wants to join in like she is one of them. They like her well enough, but they don’t appreciate her attempts to be part of their games. She doesn’t get the hint though.
We took her for a walk the other day. There was hardly anyone around and still she tried to go off the side of the trail and under the bushes. She is just so afraid of being away from home. That is the only place where she feels safe and comfortable. We were hoping that by taking her out and exposing her to strangers, she would somehow feel more confidence in herself. She also could use the exercise. I believe in the saying that “if your dog is overweight, you’re not walking her enough”! The vet has said that Sheila could lose a pound or two. We don’t have her on a diet, but I think she does need more exercise.
She’s not like most dogs who like to play ball. It’s boring to her. She will run a couple of times and bring the ball back, but then it’s obviously not something she really wants to do. I think the border collie in her is telling us that she needs more challenges because she’s smarter than to fetch a stupid ball. ( Joke: “How many dogs does it take to change a light bulb? Border Collie: Just one. And he'll rewire the house while he's at it.”) I guess just herding cats is not enough to keep her busy.
More later....
TazzyD.... _^..^_
 |
| Tazzy D and me |
All your cats look happy!
ReplyDelete