Pets

New Kitteh

/ hsoi

How did this happen?

We now have a new cat in the house. Well, kitten.

If I remember the story correctly, my in-laws were driving and saw this little kitten lying on the road. They stopped to check it out (they rescue many animals; seems to have become an informal hobby), thinking it was dead. Turns out, it was only stunned (pining for the fjords no doubt), but was covered in fire ants and was probably going to die. They took it to the vet, got her checked out, shots, all that. Kitty seems to be OK. They were going to give her away, and being as small and young as she is (we estimate 2-3 months old) I know there’d be no problem with that because the cute is strong with this one.

And as a result…. we have a new cat.

We get to the in-laws yesterday and get told about the kitten (they kept it in the bathroom because some of the dogs would probably play too rough). Kids go to visit and of course, instant love and cries of “Oh Dad, can we keep it?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

So what do kids do when Dad denies them? Turn to Mom.

Wife sees kitty. Falls in love.

“Honey, please?”

“N…..” *begrudging groan* “Fine.”

Later Wife tells me she was having a talk with Daughter. “Mom, I know why Dad said we could have the cat. Because he can’t say no to you.” 🙂 Damnit… my secret is out.

I said we could bring home kitty on one condition: trial period. We have two other cats, which I shall refer to as Gordita and Twitchy. Gordita and Twitchy are very well bonded to each other. I wasn’t sure how a 3rd wheel would work into this, especially a little kitten that doesn’t know its place (yet). Furthermore, Gordita may be a little runty butterball, but I’ve never seen a cat that fights with such intensity or has such lightly quick reflexes and awareness — she’s amazing. I wasn’t sure if she might scrap, and if so if kitten might be honestly harmed. Twitchy is the wild card. She’s nicknamed Twitchy for a reason. I wasn’t sure if she might smack kitten around, or if Twitchy might go and hide under the bed never to be seen again… that’s not good either. So, I told Wife and kids that keeping the kitten required a trial period just in case there were integration issues. Honestly, I didn’t expect any real issues, but better safe than sorry.

So we get kitten home and start the integration. Little kitten is first introduced to the litter box (vital!). We kept her shut in the laundry room for a bit while we unpacked and said Hi to the other cats. Then we let kitten out and she started to meow. Immediately other 2 cats come slinking down the stairs in search of this new meow. Much curiosity ensues. Good thing is kitten isn’t totally inept and is old enough to scrap. There’s lot of sniffing, poking at each other, and kitten knows how to turn sideways and make herself big. But she also seems to know she’s a little thing by comparison.

Gordita follows her around trying to watch every moment. Twitchy was a little wary and freaked at first, but eventually just watched from a distance. Eventually, Gordita lost interest and Twitchy got to a point where as long as kitten didn’t invade personal space, she’d be fine else get a hiss, growl, and perhaps a smack. And that’s about where things are as of this morning. Kitten is running around learning where things are and playing with anything she finds on the floor. Oh, and the strange kitten she saw staring back at her from the reflection in the dishwasher… that one will be dealt with later. 😉  Other 2 cats are just going about their business, watching kitten, ignoring kitten, ensuring kitten stays out of their personal space.

I think we’re going to be keeping her. *sigh*

Oh, and Oldest named her. He said the first thing that came into his head and the other two kids liked it, so, it’s official.

Ritz Bitz

Ritzy for short.

🙂

Goodbye, Mufasa

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

As noted yesterday, Mufasa — orange cat — was not doing well.

After I woke up this morning, I’m walking to the kitchen. I see Mufasa lying on the floor of the dining room. I check on him and realize that he died overnight.

He is now at peace.

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Pet food – label knowledge

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Before Wife and I were married and we had solo cats, we fed them expensive food. The more cats we amassed, the more food we went through, and so we had to mind the budget and as a result for the past some years the cats have just eaten what we find at the grocery store (the past some years it’s been Friskies Feline Favorites). We do feel them table scraps as well.

Thing is, older orange cat has always had vomit issues, and as I’ve mentioned elsewhere on the blog we believe his problems are something else. We have tried dietary changes for him and currently are on a big dietary change for him, but still there’s vomit. Thing is, one of the younger cats has been throwing up a little more often than one should expect. Plus when she does, it’s fairly undigested food. So Wife and I have begun talking about making another switch in food. Given all the discussions we had with our vet regarding orange cat and how diet might be involved in his problems, our current thinking is the cheap ingredients.

I’ve been Googling and researching on pet foods, and found an excellent resource:

The Dog Food Project

While it’s talking about dog food, the Label Information 101 page is most informative, giving you a Rosetta Stone for interpreting food labels. How to sort the wheat from the chaff. A list of Ingredients to Avoid.

Fantastic resource.

As a result, I’m headed to the pet store. I’m going to pick up a bag of Royal Canin Indoor Adult 27 and see how that does for the cats.

Cat update

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

The two older cats were slated for the one-way trip to the vet earlier this week, but Wife belayed that action. Too many things were tugging on her mental and emotional state, so she wanted to postpone it.

It was good that she did.

Seems Orange Cat is getting better. It may not be lymphoma. He may just have some ugly digestive problems. He’s been on a steady diet of canned food and it seems to be improving his situation. He’s still not totally right, there’s still something abnormal with him, but his condition’s a bit better so… we’ll see where it goes. One day at a time.

Other cat tho… she’s continuing on the slow downhill course. The tumor on her hock continues to grow. She’s still managing OK. As I’ve been thinking about it, if she was out in the wild, she’d just have to live with it. Does she have any “feelings” one way or the other about it? I don’t know… it may just “be” and she just exists with it. I really can’t say. But again, she doesn’t come across in pain or much discomfort. So she chugs along. I know there will be a line to cross that says “it’s time”, and it’s coming. Just not right now.

So… we’ll see. Life’s kinda funny and interesting.

Latest on the orange cat

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

As mentioned previously, the orange cat has problems. Finally got the blood tests back.

I believe the wife said intestinal lymphoma. 

Nothing we can do.

Some things could be done to address symptoms, but more or less he’s on his way out.

Sad.

This is Wife’s cat. She’s broken up and very torn. The diarrhea all over the house is driving her crazy, but she’s not ready to say goodbye. It’s a big mixed bag of emotions.

Stay tuned.