This is Sophia.
She came from the same place as Kristi and Katia, and she is also pregnant – unlike Kristi and Katia, she’s friendly. SHE NEEDS A FOSTER HOME. If you or someone you know is in this area and would like to provide a home for her and for her kittens (that’s a time commitment of about 4 months), drop an email to Forgotten Felines. Know what’s awesome about fostering a mother cat and her kittens? She takes care of them, and you get to just hang out and enjoy their antics. It’s awesome!
(I would love to take them myself, but SOMEONE thinks that a third pregnant cat in that room would be too much and will not be swayed. WHAT DOES HE KNOW??)
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Several of you suggested the awesome name Spitz for a potential kitten name. It is a great name, which is why I used it back in 2015.
That FACE!
Y’all have given some excellent suggestions, thank you – keep ’em coming!
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About the yowling, I wonder, do cats use echolocation, like bats? Is she sounding out the new-to-her space?
I have no idea, but I love the possibility, so we’re going to say YES. That’s exactly what she’s doing!
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Our former foster Paul Simon, who went home to Lisa and his new sisters Maggie and Raven last week, now has his own Facebook page. Go follow him!
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Phoenix with her crown is on Cats Beavers and Ducks!
Is it sad that I was like “What Phoenix crown picture?… Oh, THAT one!”? I love that picture so much!
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Oh Lordy, that closeup. “Our next item for auction is a basket of sweet cuddly toys and … uh … [brightly] pure malevolence! Who’ll start the bidding? Anyone?”
Seriously that’s one of my favourite L&H pictures ever. Cracks me up every time I risk the further withering of my soul to gaze upon that baleful glare. Worth it.
I love that comment so much! (That picture, too. Oh, that FACE.)
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Does anyone have any suggestions for the prevention of hairballs? I have a long-haired cat who grooms herself frequently which results in her gakking up hair which looks like a tightly-wound cigar. I brush her every day. I know when her tummy is upset because she is quiet but when she throws up the “cigar,” her demeanor changes and she is happy again.
I had heard (at some point) that egg yolk can help with hairballs. I haven’t tried it myself, but I bookmarked this page here, over at The Cat Site, it might be helpful.
I’ve used Laxatone in the past, and I’m not really sure how well it works because I have yet to find a cat or kitten who would willingly eat it – even smearing it on their paw ends up with the gel flung all over the place and gel paw prints across the floor and very little ingestion of gel by the cat.
So how about it, y’all – hairball remedies?
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I have a question! What keeps your kitties from going UNDER the fence? Do you worry about hawks and owls?
The fence reaches the ground, and the ground under the fence is pretty hard. I haven’t seen any of them even attempt to dig, though of course you can never say never.
I don’t worry about hawks or owls (though maybe I should!) I’m hoping the fact that the cats are so big and there’s a ton of much smaller, easier-to-catch prey around will keep the hawks happy.
I don’t worry about owls because I was under the impression that they’re nocturnal. Am I wrong about that? (Wikipedia says that most owls are nocturnal, but some are crepuscular.) The cats don’t go outside until after sun up, and are in about half an hour before sundown.
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Did Alice wander much outside at Crooked Acres?
You know, she did occasionally go outside and especially liked to hang out under the bushes near the patio, but she wasn’t outside all the time like some of the others.
She has finally been out in the back yard a few times, and doesn’t seem to be terribly impressed.
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I was watching a Vet show and they were treating a puppy for heartworm. Can cats get heartworm? I would think they could get bit by a mosquito same as a dog, so why wouldn’t they get heartworm too?
BTW-They caught it in the puppy early enough to treat. He survived the treatment and is doing fine.
Yep, cats can get heartworm, but their systems aren’t as hospitable to heartworms as dogs’ are. Frankie tested positive for heartworm last year (poor Frankie, what a hot mess he turned out to be!) and our vet said to just continue to treat him with Revolution monthly.
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Question, what if a cat climbs from the OUTSIDE on the fence? Hope it doesn’t plunge him into the backyard, unable to get out.
If a cat climbs from the outside, then yes they’ll get stuck in the back yard. I’m hoping that won’t happen, but expect that it will at some point!
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I have always wondered how you keep fleas at bay. I have been on the receiving end of flea ride alongs but that was usually a new member of the family or bad luck. How do you keep the cats flea free long term?
We treat with Revolution monthly, year-round, and have since right after we moved to Crooked Acres. We’ve tried both Advantage and Frontline, but I think Revolution works better.
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From Carolyn:
And now another advice question. I brought home Bailey (1 1/2 year old male) to be brother to Tiny (5 month old male) on Saturday. Some background: Bailey had no reaction to any of the cats in the shelter, and I took Tiny to the Vet for quick visit Friday. He was held while in the waiting room with the 4 office cats. Tiny was calm, and seemed interested it the big cats.
Bailey’s in a spare room with all the bells and whistles. Tiny’s been spending lots of time on the other side of the door, and while he floofed the first time (yes, Spellcheck, “floofed” IS a word) that was it, although he does squeak at the door occasionally. They’ve both put their paws under the door, and (forgive me for giggling at this) sometimes when Tiny squeaks at Bailey, Bailey jerks his head back like he’s been sprayed with water. Yesterday, since things had been going smoothly, I opened the door while holding Tiny so they could see each other. That went ok. So later I brought Tiny into the room again. All was quiet until Bailey started (calmly) walking towards us. Tiny squirmed a lot, so we left the room. This morning I held Tiny (on the floor) and opened the door just a little so they could see each other. Bailey walked towards the door, and Tiny loudly meowed at him and floofed, so I shut the door. My plan is to continue letting them see each other occasionally until Tiny is calmer about seeing Bailey. I was also planning to put Tiny in the room and give Bailey the run of the house tomorrow while I’m at work. They’ve both been able to smell each other on me. Am I doing ok? Anything I should be doing differently? I’m hoping that by the next Friday I’ll be able to have them out together under supervision, and if all goes well, letting Bailey out of captivity next Monday. Too ambitious?
On another note, my current naming options are keeping their current names, or going with either Pumpkin and Shoofly or Peanut and Moon Pie. Votes?
I think you’re doing the introduction exactly right (and we need an update on how it’s going, please!)
I am partial to Peanut and Moon Pie, but Pumpkin and Shoofly are cute, too.
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In other news, I had an adoption returned to be fostered while his mama was overseas. He is a sweetheart, but shy. It’s been 9 months. Mom isn’t returning. He doesn’t get along with two of my horde. He cuddles with me every night, but he needs to be in a home with fewer apps cats. The fighting and marking are getting worse. Anyone want to adopt a handsome Russian blue looking five year old boy?
If anyone’s interested, let me know and I’ll pass your info along to Gail!
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Do you have any concerns about the neighbors complaining about the cat fence or the number of cats? That was a huge concern when we moved here to this sub (we were on 5 acres before). I was convinced someone would find out how many we had- 17 at the time- and call the township although they were all inside.
But it’s been nearly 4 years now, we’re down to only 11 cats, and only half of those go out into their kennel enclosure. I don’t worry anymore.
We’re not too worried about them objecting to the fence – the realtor who sold us this house talked to the neighbors to our left before we made the offer, and they had no objection. The neighbors on the other side actually told Fred that they didn’t care at all about the cat fence. We’re hoping that they’re never able to pin down just how many cats we have, since they’re not all out there at one time (and probably never will be), and it would probably take a lot of attention-paying for them to figure it out. I know it’s early days still and we might find out differently, but this seems to be a relatively laid-back neighborhood.
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I happened across this website the other day in an unrelated fashion so I will pass it on to you and any others. They do sculptures/jewelry/etc. with ashes from pets/people or both.
Artful Ashes and another one Spirit Pieces.
and
For Shailynn: when my beloved Zoey passed away from CRF (same as your beloved Meshoo), I had her ashes made into a memorial glass bead which I wear on a silver chain. It’s a similar style to Murano glass, and I found Elise of Koi Creek Beadwork on Etsy. She offers a range of colours, but I worked with her to make a custom colour which matched Zoey’s beautiful eyes. I can’t tell you how much it helped me to have her with me. Elise sent back the ashes she didn’t use.
Her website is here, with links to her Etsy shop.
Thank you for those links!
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So, this is an improvement over their first day with us (wherein they spent the entire day hanging out in the crate).
Please note Kristi’s open mouth as she greets me. Or tells me off; I’m not sure which.
Katia’s nervous.
“Watching you, lady.”
She is just so pretty, isn’t she?
“PARDON ME, I am also pretty!” Indeed you are, Kristi.
So I’m making definite headway with at least Kristi. I’ve been able to pet her, though she looks very nervous when I reach for her. I actually got her to purr for me several times. She spent the day on that cabinet in front of the window, and Katia spent most of the day with her though as the day wore on, she started retreating to the closet when she heard me coming into the room because she is a bratty bratty brat. I saw a bit of belly movement on Kristi, though not much because she was laying on her belly most of the time. In a perfect world she’ll decide I’m not so bad, and will flop over onto her side so I can get a good look at what’s going on.
I don’t feel like birth is super close for either of them, though I think we’ve established that I really don’t much know what I’m talking about with regards to pregnant cats and when they’re going to give birth, so who knows? We’ll see!
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We’re looking forward to a lazy weekend.
“Tryin’ to nap here, lady.” (Dewey)
Poor Newt and the very rough life.
Relaxed yet alert, in case any dish towels go rogue.
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Previously
2017: He was such a big lovable hunk that he quickly earned the nickname Lunk.
2016: Fred had to go out and provide safe passage.
2015: Meet Peter, Paul and Mary.
2014: No entry.
2013: No entry.
2012: (This picture does no justice to the size of the belleh.)
2011: No entry.
2010: I mean, seriously – have you ever seen such happy monkeys?
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: Smilin’ Joe.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
They are both very pretty mamas! Can’t wait to see their babies, how cute are those two litters going to be?!
Although I roll my eyes and say “so.lame.” as I watch ice dancing at the Olympics, not quite getting the fact that I AM WATCHING ICE DANCING, loser (“that’s a sport? Oooo, but look at that jump! Cute outfit, look! Wow, so cool!! Yay!!”), I will throw in my suggestion – Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. I think Scott would make an excellent kitten name.
I just want to put out there for everyone with outdoor kitties and little dogs….hawks and owls will/can go after pets under 12 lbs. They may not be able to carry them off, but the wounds from their talons are horrible. Ya’ll just be careful! Also, remember that all birds of prey are protected by state and federal law. and if you harm one or threaten one in any manner, you are subject to a fine and prison term. We have A LOT of hawks and owls in my neighborhood. One of my neighbors lost their cat that way, another was seriously wounded.
This site says 20 lbs…for being attacked.
https://www.thespruce.com/protect-pets-from-birds-of-prey-386699
Mine haaaate Laxatone, but they get it anyway because they’re super hairball prone. At this point I squeeze it out onto my hand in one room, stealthily swan into their room, and smear it all down their side before they realize what’s what. The trick is to try to make it a thinner coating because if you just hit them with a glob if it you’re gonna be on a stepladder trying to get it off the ceiling.
Laxatone does work. One of my cats will eat it in his food (and for some reason is regularly constipated, which is why he gets it). I’ve also heard that original Vaseline can help with hairballs if the cat will eat it.
I get the catnip flavored Laxatone and the kitties will eat it when mixed in with their food. Occasionally, I can even get them to lick it off the tube. They don’t like the regular flavored Laxatone, but they have no major objection to the catnip flavored.
I’ve never seen that version! will have to look for it 🙂
I also have used (under direction of my vet) a small pinch of Restoralax (in USA I think it is called Miralax?) powder in food, which also helps for constipation.
I had no idea they have a catnip flavored Laxatone! I’m going to look for it too, just to have on hand.
my vet gave me a maple flavored Laxatone for Miss and she’ll sit there and eat it out of the tube if I let her
Oddly enough, while Laxatone didn’t work at stopping her hairballs/vomiting, Sophie loved it. Would eat it right off my finger. Cats are weird.
Boo Cat won’t eat Laxatone, but he has an inexplicable love of vaseline. So fancy flavored vaseline is Not Okay, but he’ll eat vaseline off my finger and purr loudly the whole time. It’s cut way down on the hairballs. But Vladimir won’t eat it. He’ll see me giving it to Boo and run up all “Boo is having a delicious treat, why am I not having a delicious treat?” Then I offer him some and he gets offended.
That is an absolutely perfect description of Katia. Poor shy kitties! It would be so nice if you could get at least Kristi to turn around!
Oh, how I WISH I could have Sophia, if only you could transport her to me! (Joking…. kind of.)
So I guess you need skater names? Peggy, Dorothy (oops but you already had a Dorfy), Sonja, Surya, Scott, Brian – or you could go with last names like you did for the Coaches – Fleming, Hamill, Boitano, Torvill, Dean, Bonaly, Button, Hamilton, Petrenko, Harding, Kerrigan… so many great names! Big lists here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Olympic_medalists_in_figure_skating
Oh, no, not Harding! Don’t want to suggest bad behavior to a little kitty! LOL
Carolyn: also try feeding them on opposite sides of the door. They will start associating something very positive with the smell of the other cat. And add high value treats – for example I used to have a cat that would do anything for cheese.
Hopefully those girls will continue to relax as they realize they are safe.
RE Hairballs–I use Temptations hairball treats which my long haired boy loves. And at the end of winter when his belly fur is really long, I trim it. He still upchucks, but hopefully not s much.. No Laxatone for him, although his deceased 20 year old sister loved the stuff.
More name suggestions: Tenley (Tenley Albright) Fleming (Peggy Fleming), Maia (Shibutani), Hubbell (Madison Hubbell), Rippon (Adam), Rudy (Galindo), Tanith (Belbin White) – a mixture of old and more recent
Kristi has unique coloring — torti and grayish mingled. Don’t think I’ve ever seen that mixture of color. Interesting. They are both gorgeous, and sure to have some pretty beebees!
I’ve definitely heard barred owls hooting and presumably hunting during the day but it is rare. Fingers crossed for the gang.
OK, I’m going to cheat a wee bit in my name suggestion for the handsomest little boy: Tonga. In honor of that lovely oiled Olympian who switched sports just so he could march shirtless for us all again!
For hairballs, we have found a lot of success with plain coconut oil. The cats (and dog) go crazy for it.
We have a pair of barred owls that live in/around our yard. Last summer I’d see them out around 7pm or so (when it was getting dark around 9pm), but they are definitely more chatty/active from around 11pm to 3am. And by chatty, I mean apparently trash talking each other’s mamas. It gets loud and sounds very grumpy. We also have assorted squirrels, possums, and raccoons. If the owls are keeping those populations down, it’s not obvious!
I just want to hug the stuffing out of Archie—every day he makes the supreme sacrifice of guarding against rogue dishtowels. What a hero guardian!
Hairballs:
My cats think Hartz Hairball Remedy is the bomb. It’s mostly petroleum jelly and flavor. When it got harder to find, I made my own by mixing Malt Syrup and plain petroleum jelly (about 1 part syrup to 4-6 parts jelly). Now they get straight plain petroleum jelly and still follow me into the bathroom for their “candy.” I give them a small pea-sized dab to lick off my finger (visualize up to 5 cats and every other finger of both hands) whenever they want, usually every 2 or 3 days. It reduces hairballs and is very cost effective. Side benefits: petroleum jelly does not run like many brands of furball medicine, and any extra on my finger gets rubbed on my elbows or backs of hands! Two birds, one treatment.
What about snakes?!?! I’m terrified of them and I know down South, y’all got a lot of them. How do you handle possible intruders and have any cats ever met one?
Oh, yes, please, Miz Robyn, post the link to the snake video! I have to admit I love your half-outraged/half-terrorized scream.
Stefan to the rescue… I found it in the 2016 year in review, and it’s also listed in the sidebar best videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlp5acsuPkM&feature=youtu.be
I’m so glad Kristi and Katia have each other – and that they get along! My mom had a mother-daughter pair, and the mama never wanted anything to do with the daughter.
And Archie — keeping the kitchen safe!
Update on Tiny/Bailey. First, a thanks to Connie for her suggestion. Secondly, there’s been a hiccup. There’s been no contact except what they can do under the door because Tiny pretty much stopped eating. Monday he ate some chicken and Temptation treats, but not his food. Tuesday the same, Wed AM he wouldn’t even eat the chicken or treats. He spent most of Wednesday and Thursday at the vet, getting hydrated, warmed, syringe fed and loved on. And came home to sleep with me each night. Wednesday night I got him to eat some watered down food off my hand. Thursday night I got Tiny to eat a teaspoon of chicken baby food. He still spent a fair amount of the time he was home hanging out outside the door to Bailey’s room. I was concerned that the not-eating was stress related, but it seems (to me) that if Bailey’s presence was stressful Tiny would avoid the area rather then try to barge into the room when I open the door. PLEASE let me know if I’m wrong. So Bailey had the run of the house Thursday while Tiny was away.
So this morning Tiny still didn’t want to eat, so I syringe fed him about 7-8 cc’s, with the other 2-3 cc’s going all over Tiny, down my leg, on the floor, etc. My vet recommended I take him to the emergency vet hospital. He’s there now. The sonogram showed no blockages, but some swollen lymph nodes. He’ll stay overnight and be treated for for the runs and dehydration, with a goal of getting his GI system calmed down and back on track.I also ordered some FortiFlora to see if that will help Tiny eat.
The good news is that, in the waiting room, I put my hand in to pet him and he proceeded to grab my finger and gnaw on me. And in the exam room as I was talking to the vet, he sat on my shoulder and bit my face.
So that’s the drama at my house. Bailey’s at least got the run of the house for the day. My main concern with the two cats is whether the stress of Bailey has caused Tiny’s not eating. If not, I’ll probably start more face to face time (after Tiny starts eating again.)
And Bailey just sat on my lap for the first time and now he’s rubbing his face against my head.
PS the name combinations are neck and neck with votes, but I probably won’t make a final decision until Tiny stops giving me grey hairs and heartburn.
I know they’re more recent skaters but Yuzuru Hanyu! You can use Yuzu as a nickname which I think is cute. For a girl Yuna Kim!
Two name suggestions: Kerrigan and Harding.
I don’t know if it would work for cats, but ages ago I raised bunnies and when they get hairballs, they’re not able to throw them up. So I would have to use a baby eye dropper and give them papaya tablets dissolved in pineapple juice. The acid would dissolve the hair.
If you really want to be very old school, there’s Sonja Henie and Axel Paulsen (everyone has heard of the Axel, or double-Axel, named for Paulsen)
If you want to be very old school, there’s Sonja Henie and Axel Paulsen (everyone has heard of the single-Axel, or double-Axel, named for Paulsen). And what about Katarina Witt?
My favorite skaters were Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski
Will they be OK together when they both have kittens?
I have a question for anyone having to feed two separate foods to 2 cats. We just got back from spending almost all Sunday morning at the emergency vet. She determined that Anna had pancreatitis. She’s keeping Anna overnight ( or 2 or 3) to stabilize her. The vet said we will need to feed Anna a prescription food, which her sister, Bella, won’t need. What are some of your tricks for keeping them eating their own food?
Annnnnnd…… we have kittens!!!
Good job, Mama Katia, congratulations!!
Our Olympic ice skater Arianna Fontana won three medals at the Games in Korea, would you take her name (Arianna) in consideration for one of the newborns if there will be any girl among them?
Hugs to Mama and kittens from Italy!!