He was coming to understand that...he was really and truly safe. They did not love him for his glossy tiger coat, nor for his white shirt front and white paws...they loved him because he was himself. –May Sarton, The Fur Person

Lexi and Mr. Creme’s vet visit went well.  The doctor was happy with Lexi’s improvement.  Seems the combination of the allergy pills and the new antibiotic, Veraflox, finally helped the congestion.  We still need to give the allergy pills each day and we have the Veraflox to give “as needed”.  Since it's an antibiotic, it shouldn't be given continuously because it could lose it effectiveness.

Mr. Creme is feeling pretty good about himself

Mr. Creme had blood drawn to make sure the bladder infection had cleared up.  The results were good.  His infection was gone.  Doctor gave us kudos for noticing a difference in Mr. Creme’s behavior.  That was why we took him in.  We know him and we can tell when something is different.  Since we caught it early, we were able to clear it up.  We’re happy that his blood glucose is good too.  We love our Mr. Creme.  He was 13 years old on March 22.  Hard to believe.  We’ve known him since he was born.

Old patio 9'x12'

New patio 12'x22'

A few weeks ago we decided we wanted to replace the enclosed “cat patio” with a larger one.  We have had that patio since we moved back here from Virginia in 2004.  It has been nice to have because we were able to have a place for cats who didn't do so well in the house with the other cats. 

Lexi and Jezibel didn’t get along well with others, so we put Jezibel in one 4x4x6' kennel and Lexi in the other.  They were there only at night and were in the yard during the day. 

Then we rescued Kiki, so Jezibel was “promoted” to Charlie’s work room upstairs.  That was fine since she likes being near him.  Kiki took over Jezibel’s kennel.

But, the patio had always had problems–it had a leak in the roof which we could never get repaired.  It was built around a chimney and was not properly flashed.  The people who installed the patio came out several times to try to stop the leaks.  We never knew the leaks weren’t fixed until the next rains came.  We’d call them again and they finally stopped returning our calls.  We knew they couldn’t help anyway.  So we called our roofer.  I think he came out three or four times.  He thought he had it fixed, but as soon as it rained, the leak was still there.  He didn’t charge us for the work after the first failure.  He was determined to fix it, but just couldn’t. 

We gave up trying to get it fixed and kept a plastic pail nearby if it rained.  It was awful.  But, the cats stayed dry since they were not near the leak.

Because we were getting a bigger patio, we had to have the sprinklers and water faucet moved.  Our yard maintenance guy came to move the sprinklers that were near the old patio and he would wait until the new slab was laid to put the new ones in.  He also moved some bushes that were near the old patio.

The plumber came over and re-routed the faucet and added a new faucet near the other end of the patio.   

All of these were expenses in addition to what we were paying for the patio installation.  It was adding up!

When it was time to demolish the old patio, we had to clear everything from it.  We moved Kiki’s 4x4 kennel to the garage.  Lexi was moved to my work room.  Everyone has adjusted.

Old patio slab almost gone!

New patio footprint

The patio was taken down and the concrete floor slab was broken up.  A new floor was poured.  The old patio–9'x12', would be replaced by a 12'x22' patio.

New patio slab

5 cats and an incomplete patio

After the new slab was poured, it took a few days for it to dry enough to walk on.  It was going to be another couple of weeks before the patio structure would be installed because all of the materials were not in yet.  It was nice to walk out on the open patio and see the whole yard for a change.

Our yard guy came over and finished the sprinkler system.  When the sprinklers came on, the outside edges of the floor were wet and we noticed that it was also wet next to the house.  I thought since we had fog and some drizzle overnight, it was probably due to that.  The sprinklers would have to be adjusted because I didn’t want the water hitting the outside of our new patio.  Plus the water would make spots on the glass windows!  Can't have that.

On that Tuesday, the day before the new patio was to be installed, the sprinklers were due to come on early that morning.  Later, I noticed that the patio was wet again.  But, it hadn’t been foggy or misty.  The day was sunny, so everything dried.

The next day, Wednesday, the guys came to install the patio structure.  They were done by that Friday.  It looked great.  Because of the tools and materials in the yard, we had not had the sprinklers on since early Tuesday morning.  They were due to come back on Sunday.

When I got up Sunday morning, I went out to the new patio and was horrified to see that the floor was wet in the spot next to the house.  I called our yard guy and told him, but didn’t ask that he come over since it was his day off.  He came right over. 

He found the problem, worked on it, adjusted the other sprinklers and left.  We thought it would be fine....until Tuesday, when the sprinklers came on again.  Sure enough, the floor was wet in the same place. 

The yard guy came back and realized the leak was from a different area.  This time he got it.  But, he will have to come again and route a sprinkler to a couple of spots that lost coverage. 

A finished wall & a promise of no leaks!

Kaci checking out her new digs

So having the patio is great, but not without a few problems and extra expenses along the way.  We expect to have the floor sealed next week and when all of that dries, we can start using it.  The floor will be shiny and will look like tile.  Also, supposedly easy to keep clean!

Inquiring minds want to know:  Who's Buffy?

Stay tuned.......
My middle name is Devil,
Tazzy D =^..^= 

"Procrastination is the bad habit of putting off until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday." ~Napoleon Hill

OK, it’s been more than a “few hours”, but I have finally made myself write again. 

Our solar panels were activated February 20 and we received our first electric bill on March 6. There were only partial savings from the solar since it had not been working for the full billing period, but it was significant.  Of course, now we get a separate bill for gas, but with the combination, it still will be much lower. 

With solar, we would not be required to pay the electric portion of the bill monthly if we didn’t want to.  The entire year’s bill would be due in February 2014.  But, we will pay it each month, as always.  They do require that the gas bill be paid monthly.   

We can monitor on the computer how much energy the panels are producing each day.  The graph shows the hours of sunlight and also the diagram of the panels.  When they are blue, they are working. 

Last month we took a “day off” and went up to Simi Valley to visit the Reagan Presidential Library.  It was on a Friday.  We left home at 10:00 a.m.  Our ticket time was 1:45-2:00 p.m., but it’s a three hour drive and being Friday, we had to allow for traffic.  It was sometimes slow, but not that bad. 

I was looking forward to seeing the Air Force One exhibit.  Going through the plane, I did expect it to be much bigger.  Of course, that particular plane had been used in a couple of previous administrations and was upgraded to the 747 used today, after Reagan left office in 1990. 

Another highlight of the Library was the replica of the Oval Office.  It was set up the way it was when Reagan was there.  There were some items that had actually been in the office then.  Even though it wasn’t real, there was a certain feeling to it that made it seem so. 

Our last stop (after the gift shop!) was outside to the gardens.  It was landscaped to look like the South lawn at the White House in D.C.  There is a beautiful view of the hills and orchards below.  The day was clear, so we could see the ocean in the distance.

President Reagan’s gravesite is on the grounds.  It is very simple, but beautiful and peaceful.  We left the Library after three hours of touring and it was a very nice visit.

Updates on the cats:

Mr. Creme had blood work done a couple of weeks ago.  They did a full panel as well as a fructosamine test for his glucose levels.  The doctor called and said that MC had a bladder infection!  We had no idea, although I had noticed that he was not eating as well as he should and that was why we had the tests done, but we thought it was something to do with his diabetes.  She wanted to put him on antibiotics ASAP because she didn’t want the infection moving to his kidneys.  I took him into the clinic and he received an antibiotic injection to get into his system and some Clavomox pills to take for 10 days.

Lexi’s congestion was just not getting any better.  I was giving her the allergy pills, but they didn’t seem to have any king of effect.  We took her back to the vet, hoping that she could suggest something else.  We were getting to the point of considering taking her to the Veterinary Specialty Hospital to see a specialist for help.

The doctor listened to Lexi’s breathing and determined that her chest was clear and the congestion seemed to be just in her nose.  She said to continue giving the allergy pills and gave us some liquid to try.  It’s called Veraflox and it’s new.  We gave it once a day for about 10 days.  There was noticeable improvement after a few days.  By the time she had her last dose, her breathing was almost clear.  Definitely a difference we hadn’t seen in a long time. 

Mr. Creme and Lexi will go back to the vet tomorrow for a recheck.  We will find out if the Veraflox is something we can use as needed or if it is something that Lexi will have to have regularly.  We also don’t know if there will be any changes in Mr. Creme’s insulin dosage.  Dr. didn’t go over the blood glucose test two weeks ago because she was more concerned about Mr. Creme’s bladder infection.  I suspect there is something that will change though.

Just checking in......

I have lots of updates and will be posting in a few hours.  Stay tuned!

TazzyD =^..^=

I gave my cat a bath the other day ... they love it. He sat there, he enjoyed it, it was fun for me. The fur would stick to my tongue, but other than that . . . Steve Martin

It’s time to get back to Taz’s blog.  I’ve been away from it since Thanksgiving, but I’ve kept some notes to catch up.

We thought we might be able to get away for a few days in December to go up to Monterey.  The weather was bad down here, rainy and cold, but worse up there, so we decided to postpone the trip until Spring. 

There is a State park, Forest of Nisene Marks, north of Monterey which we like a lot.  We try to visit the park whenever we are in the Monterey area.  The last time we were there, December 2011, it had been raining quite a bit and the trails were too muddy to hike on, so we didn’t go there on that trip.

There are beautiful Redwood trees and ferns along the trails.  When we lived closer, in Monterey, we went to the park at least once a month or so and never got tired of it.

Dogs are not allowed on the trails though.  On a visit one time, we took Chelsi there and someone told us that a ranger was on the trail turning people back if they had a dog with them.  It’s a shame that dogs can’t hike with their owners in most of the parks here.  We always kept Chelsi on a leash, even though she didn’t need it.  She was not like Sheila, who, unleashed would take off for parts unknown and we’d never see her again!

Mr. Creme had a fructosamine test a few weeks ago and his blood glucose was well within a good range.  Unless we notice his appetite failing or a weight loss, he won’t have to have another test for 3 or 4 months.  He is stable at 6 units/day insulin (3 a.m./3 p.m.).

The B12 pills he takes for his weakened legs have helped so much.  He walks normally now.  He is also able to jump up to his table which has his bed on it with no trouble.

Lexi is doing well on her antihistamine allergy pills.  I give her ½ in the morning and ½ at night.  She seems to be less congested, although she still sneezes some.  I think she does feel better though.  We had some cold nights and since she sleeps on the enclosed patio, I have a little radiating heater which I keep on low at night.

We’re letting the cats outside into the backyard almost every day now.  They are staying in the yard too.  Not long after we put the lattice on top of the fence, Jonesie figured a way to escape.  He jumped up onto the gate and climbed over the lattice and into the front yard.  We managed to fix the problem.  Charlie bought some shade cloth from Home Depot and covered both gates.  I’m not sure why it works, but the cats don’t go to the gate anymore.

I like to let the cats outside in the yard, but I couldn’t do it if they were not going to be safe.  The birds have to be safe too.  Jonesie not only likes to watch birds, he will stalk and catch them when he can.  I usually put a box lid over the bird bath to keep the birds from trying to drink or bathe while Jonesie is out.  I moved the feeders up higher and so far he has had no luck catching a bird.  I know it’s a natural instinct that cats hunt and if Jonesie catches a bird, he is not punished.  We just feel bad for the poor little bird and try to make it hard for Jonesie to catch another one.

We had solar panels installed on our house a week ago.  They have not been activated yet.  Everything is in place, but the electric company needs to complete paperwork and we won’t have energy going until next week sometime.   

Installation took three days.  The first day, our electricity was off for 7 hours so they could upgrade our electrical panel.  The next day they started installing the panels on top of the house.  It was very noisy.  Mr. Creme and Debby were in the garage in a 4x4 kennel to keep them out of the way.  The garage door was open part of the day.  The cats in the house stayed hidden because of the noise on the roof.  On the last day, they had to finish the rest of the panels and do the hookups.  It was supposed to rain that day, so the guys arrived early, 7:00 a.m. to try to get ahead of the rain if they could.

I left for work at 9:00 a.m. and it was pouring rain.  The guys were still on the roof working away.  As I drove away, I looked up at the panels and thought how ironic it was.  Solar panels being installed on a dark, cloudy, rainy morning.  I sure hope they start paying for themselves soon.

More later....
TazzyD.... _^..^_

Me and Taz

KITTENS ARE ALWAYS THANKFUL FOR ATTENTION, FOOD, AND A WARM PLACE TO SLEEP–AND WE’RE ALWAYS THANKFUL WHEN THEY’RE CONTENTED, FULL, AND QUIETLY SNOOZING!

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

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. - William Arthur Ward

I’m still seeing the chiropractor once a month and having acupuncture at least once a week.  I do notice an improvement though.  I’m walking every day now and have added some running.  The routine is to walk for about five minutes, run for five, walk, run for five, walk, etc.  I have worked my way up to running a total of 30 minutes.  I don’t know how long it will be before I can run that 30 minutes non-stop like I used to do, but I am hoping that I’ll be able to do that sometime soon.  Even if it never happens, I am so much better than I was a year ago.

Mr. Creme’s last fructosamine test showed high again.  It was 630 and his blood glucose was 333.  We increased his insulin from 2 to 3 units in the mornings and remained at 2 units at night, for a total of 5 units per day.  He still eats well and I think he is maintaining his weight well.  He’ll go back for another test in a week or so. 

Lexi still has the congestion.  We talked to the doctor about it and because of Lexi’s hyperthyroidism, we are limited as to what meds we can give her because it may cause high blood pressure.  But, the doctor suggested we try Chlorpheniramine.  It is an antihistamine.  I plan on ordering a bottle when I order my next supply of Advantage for the cats.  That way I will get free shipping because a bottle of Chlorpheniramine is only $6.99.  In the meantime, Lexi is still eating and acting normal.  I think her congestion bothers me more than her.  I’m still using the vaporizer for now.

A couple of weeks ago we noticed that Rhody was squinting in his left eye.  It was tearing up.  We kept an eye on it (no pun intended) and when it didn’t seem to get any better we took him to have it checked by the vet.  She said there were two abrasions on his eye.  We have no idea how he got them.  But, she sent eye drops home with us to put in his eye three times a day for a week.  Charlie took him back to the vet to have his eye rechecked and it is fine now. 

We have decreased our TV watching time.  I used to turn the TV on as soon as I woke up in the morning and watched the news.  Now I get my news during the day, by newspaper and radio.  I find other things to do besides watching TV.  It’s amazing how quiet the house can be.  Of course, I still record my favorite soap opera, “Young and Restless” and we watch that in the evening.  It’s nice to have an escape from the real world.

I also never thought I could enjoy coffee or tea without adding sugar, but I have stopped using sugar.  I am having hot tea in the mornings instead of coffee, and enjoying it.  When I was visiting my friend, Patti, in Palm Springs last week, I did have a cup of black coffee and was surprised that I actually liked it.  Miracles do happen.

The cats are still enjoying their outdoor freedom.  We don’t let them out if we are not at home, but if we are home, they are allowed to spend the whole day in the yard if they want to.  We go outside periodically to count heads and make sure everyone is doing okay, but it’s so nice that they are staying in our backyard.

When we bring them in at dusk, they have their dinner and then while we are having our dinner, they are nowhere to be seen.  I’ve always thought that our cats were happier to be outside, but we have always been careful to not let them just roam.     

We’re happy and relieved that Jezibel doesn’t go into the front yard anymore.  We were lucky that for all of those years she was allowed to roam, nothing happened to her. 

Of course, there was the time three years ago that she was attacked by two dogs who had gotten out of their yard from the street up the hill behind us.  They chased her from our yard into the neighbor’s yard.  If our neighbors had not been in their open garage and come out with a broom to chase the dogs off, Jezibel may have been killed. 

We rushed her to the emergency vet.  She was bitten and in quite a bit of pain, but thank goodness nothing was broken and she didn’t have to have surgery, just some stitches.  It could have been much worse. 

Jonesie has become quite the little sweet cat.  He allows me to pick him up and hold him and he likes for me to talk to him.  When I’m sitting, sometimes he comes up to my lap.  I’ve been hoping that he would spend more time with me, but he is still a little standoffish.  I will keep working on him.  We don’t really have any lap cats.  Jason will come and sit with me for a little while sometimes. 

I still miss Taz very much.  It’s been two years and I miss the attention that Taz gave me.  He was always nearby or sitting next to me.  He was really special to me.

Happy Thanksgiving!  Enjoy your day and remember that we do have a lot to be thankful for.
 
More later....
TazzyD.... _^..^_

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also--Matthew 6:21

Have you voted?  Mom and Dad voted today!

The cats are going outside every day now.  We go out and count heads every hour or so, just to make sure they have not found a way to escape.  So far the lattice extension on the fence is working.   Usually around 6:00 p.m. we go out to catch them and bring them into the house.  Even after being outside for several hours, Jonesie is hard to catch.  He doesn’t want to come back inside.  But, we have learned not to leave any of them out after dark.  We might never catch them.

I put this out for me to lie down on, but looks like Kaci, Jason and Lexi had other ideas

Dash, in the window, would like to be outside with Kaci, but we can't catch her in the house, much less outside!

We will go off of Daylight Savings Time next weekend, the 4th of November.  That means that the cats’ outside time will be cut down an hour to 5:00 p.m.  I can’t believe this year is almost over.

Jonesie and Mr. Creme

It’s time for Mr. Creme’s fructosamine test again.  Charlie is taking him to the vet tomorrow.  It’s been about three weeks since his last one.  We did a blood glucose test on him the other day and it was 504.  Still high, but coming down.  The vet wants us to only do a test once a week.  She’s afraid we will start adjusting MC’s insulin dosage I think.  We would never do that though.  She told us that some people check the BG and if it’s high they increase the insulin, etc.  That’s a dangerous thing to do.  He still gets 2 units in the morning and 2 units at night.  He’s eating well and he looks good.  I also increased his B12 pills from 1 a day to 1-1/2 a day.  There’s no danger of over dosing on B12.  I noticed that his back legs seemed to be more wobbly, but with the extra ½ pill, they are better.

The vaporizer for Lexi works well.  The pre-moistened wicks are kind of expensive and there are only about 6 in a box.  We bought a bottle of the liquid which is used in water vaporizers.  I soak the wicks in it because it is the camphor based solution used in the pre-moistened ones I was buying.  It works just as well.  At least Lexi breathes better.

Her diarrhea seems to be cleared up (knock on wood) over the past week or so.  I hope it doesn’t come back.  With all the tests she went through, we still don’t know for sure what caused it for such a long period of time.  The vet is convinced it’s food allergies, but we tried changing her food for a couple of months and nothing changed.  I have her back on her original food and I think that may be helping.  We’ll see.

Willie, our boarder cat, will be going home next week I think.  I received an email tonight from her parents.  They are on their way home from West Virginia, leaving before the storm hit back there.  They started driving and didn’t stop until they were out of range of the storm.  After driving for 24 hours, they made it to a hotel in Arkansas for the night.  They are pulling a packed trailer so I’m sure they are not going really fast. 

Willie has been here since May and I know she will be happy to see them.  We manage to give her attention, but it’s nowhere near what she gets as being the only child at home.  She’s a really sweet cat, but she really doesn’t get along with our cats, so we keep her in her own room most of the time.  Sometimes when our cats are all outside, I will open her door and she comes downstairs for awhile.  It works out fine, but of course, when our cats come back inside, she has to go back to her room. 

A couple of years ago we decided to replace the carpet in our family room with laminate wood flooring.  We liked the way it turned out.  That left only two rooms downstairs with carpet, the front living room and the master bedroom.  Last week we had those two rooms done in wood flooring too.  It looks really nice. 

The floor guys were here for a couple of days, so we had to shift our cats around.  We didn’t want any of them hiding somewhere and not being able to get to the litter boxes, so we put Dash, Kodi and Rhody in Charlie’s computer room.  They were fine because they just slept all day as usual.  We just knew where they were.  None were allowed to go outside during those two days except for Lexi.  We never have problems with her being outside.

It was funny, at the end of the second day, after the guys left, we opened the door to let the cats out.  They scrambled downstairs and when they saw the floors, it startled them.  They all scattered in different directions, sliding, as they ran.  Cats are so paranoid.  But, no one was hurt and they quickly settled down.  They just notice every little change.  Of course, this was a big change I guess.

Rhody and Jonesie, the cautious one.

If there is so much as a sock on the floor that wasn’t there the last time the cats were there, they will stop and watch it and paw at it.  If it moved suddenly, they would jump out of their skin.  Jonesie is the funniest one to see when he reacts to something new.  It takes him a little longer to decide that whatever it is, it needs to be slapped at a few times to make sure it’s safe.

More later....
TazzyD.... _^..^_