Wow, Joe Bob is an old man! I had no idea! Is he your oldest cat?
He’s actually 11, not 12 as I initially said in yesterday’s post (grrr, math!) Maxi’s our oldest cat at 12 years old, and Joe Bob’s the second oldest. Our cats are getting old!
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Wow, maybe it is the perspective or the size of the baskets, but Newt looks so much bigger than Stefan. I thought it would be the other way around.
It’s partly the perspective, but Newt is bigger than Stefan by about a pound and a half (almost 16 pounds). Stefan’s also a pretty muscular 13 1/2 pounds, whereas Newt’s weight is… less muscular.
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I will never, ever know how you can get seven cats (kittens!) to sit still, line up, and look at the camera, all at the same time. And you make it look EASY!
Believe me, it is NOT easy. It requires a feather teaser, the ability to wave it wildly, and the willingness to take a LOT of pictures!
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I find it funny that Fred’s nicknames for Susie and Ken Adams are the same. To me, Ken Adams and Art Vandelay look the most similar – I always get them mixed up!
It’s ’cause Susie and Ken Adams both have the same “haircut” – though I think Susie’s is less noticeable because she has the gray splotches on her face that detracts from the hairline. I find it easy to tell Art and Ken apart because of Art’s “part.” It’s all about the hairdos with these kittens, I guess!
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Okay, so I have a question for you all. It is gross, but I know you can handle it because, as cat keepers, we know gross. So we have a two year old male cat, a very large (though not overweight) and friendly orange dude. When he came to us a year and a half ago, he was kind of a mess–upper respiratory infection, giardia, etc. He is, thankfully, over all of that, but he has the. Worst. Smelling. Poops. Ever. We’ve taken, ahem, samples to the vet, and they come back clean. He eats the same food as our other two cats (high-quality grain-free stuff), and we’ve tried probiotics. With the latter we’ve seen some improvement, but things are still pretty horrific. (It doesn’t help that he doesn’t cover.) Any thoughts for how we can save our noses? Every time he poops my husband and I quote that Seinfeld episode where Kramer feeds Rusty the horse beef-a-reeno…
Would you be interested in trying raw feeding? I’ve heard from raw feeders that there’s pretty much no smell at all when it comes to litterbox leavings. If that’s not an option, and given that he’s on decent food and probiotics (which would have been my other suggestion), maybe a small air purifier next to the litter boxes? It probably wouldn’t completely kill the smell, but it might make it a little more bearable.
Rest assured, I FEEL YOUR PAIN. I used to say that Sugarbutt (who also suffered horribly from Giardia and Coccidia as a small kitten) had an intestinal tract that detoured through the depths of Hell and he’d leave fire and brimstone in the litter box. It was the most horrific smell, and I swear it was just about visible coming down the hall from the litter box. GAH.
Readers? Y’all got suggestions? Chime in, I wanna hear!
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My computer wasn’t working correctly before but I wanted to talk about Jake. Every time I see his picture or you mention him in this blog, I hear, “It’s Jake! Jake from State Farm!” Does anyone else do this?
Well, I didn’t do that until now! 🙂
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I have a question for Friday-and I know you have gone over this before…but I need a bit of advice.
My daughter adopted a year old cat a week ago. Right before her finals-and she came home yesterday, to a 2 cat, 2 dog household. I was pretty unprepared for this, but our beloved cat Simba (who from first glance, many years ago, fell headfirst in love with my daughter, and never wavered in his affection) died in January. She told us 3 days ago about the adoption, and honestly-now that I see this adorable face, I can totally understand how she couldn’t leave her college town without this cat.
My question is this-the cat was in a free range shelter, and was fine with other cats. We put up a baby gate so the new cat could see the dogs, without being bothered-but the problem was she saw one of our cats, and they seemed to hate each other on sight. She saw the older cat (19 yrs old) earlier, when we let her wander around the living room when the dogs were outside. She didn’t pay any attention to him, but the young female cat? Growling, flattened ears, hissing.
I realize now, we rushed things, she only got to our house yesterday. I consulted several sites, and I realize that we should have moved much slower. BUT…our young female cat isn’t friendly at the best of times, but she leaves everyone alone. This was a level of aggression from both cats I am not used to, because we have only had 3 cats in 30 years, all brought in as kittens.
Sorry this is so long, but I would really appreciate any thoughts on how to integrate the new cat into the household. Luckily, she seems happy to hang out in my daughter’s room for now-but I would love for her to have the run of the house at some point in time. The two dogs really aren’t the problem, it is the 3 yr old female cat I am afraid will cause the problems.
I’d say back it way, way off. Make your daughter’s room the cat’s territory for now – put a litter box and her food and water in there, and keep her in there for now, with the door closed. Plan on doing this for several days, if not weeks. Then, go watch this Jackson Galaxy video, and do everything he says. Plan to take it SLOW. And maybe add Feliway plugins to the household for the time being, it might help smooth things over.
If anyone else has more to add, I’d love to read it!
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What is the white “box” in the video with a black cat stencil on the front?
That box – shown above with Susie in it; can you tell she just woke up? – is a hideaway that I bought from Zulily last year. Zulily doesn’t have it in stock any more, and I’m not able to find a place online that offers them. The official title is Wooden Cat Hideaway House/ Litter Box Cover, and it’s made by Etna Products.
Ours sits in the hallway upstairs – Stefan likes to sleep in it at night sometimes, and the kittens have started hiding out in there to snooze during the day. I think it’s adorable – I don’t know that I’d recommend putting a litter box in it, though.
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Stretchy, sleepy Ken Adams.
Princess Consuela, ::thlurrrrrp!::ing in the pie plate.
Chanandler Bong checks out the ceiling fan.
Then bites the wand of the feather teaser.
I don’t know what I did, but Art Vandelay looks appalled by it.
I like how you can see Princess Consuela’s swirls (she’s staring at the ceiling fan.)
Snoozing Chanandler.
Regina, hanging with the babies before she went off to Petsmart yesterday.
And Princess Consuela got in one last snuggle (and nursing session).
The trip to Petsmart went okay for Regina. She was pretty quiet unless I slowed down or stopped, then she’d send forth an inquisitive “Mwrowr?” I worried that she’d go into her litter box to hide once I put her in the cage, but while she checked out the litter box, she came back out. I think she’ll be fine – and will probably welcome a respite from 24/7 mothering.
The kittens seem to know that something’s different, but aren’t sure what. At nap time yesterday, I started out with Bert Macklin laying on me, then Art and Ken joined the pile. Eventually, Susie (who had been sleeping on the cat tree) came over and piled on. I imagine that, given a few more days, I’ll be laying under all six of them.
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“Kittens, you say? And no mama to hiss me off? Don’t mind if I do (eat their kitten food)!”
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Previously
2015: Skelton is all “Oh, these kitten ears are PARTICULARLY moist and tender!”
2014: “No, seriously. I can nap now?”
2012: No entry.
2011: “Yeah, come on down here, BRING IT ON!”
2010: “Mooooom! The couch is eating kittens again!”
2009: No entry.
2008: Here’s a hint: Mister Boogers? Not the man.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.