This is Charley (from MSN)

This Is Charley

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Snoopy & the Sox - Basket cases!

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Caturday!

This morning we went walking and when we got around to our lake, I spotted one of our moocher cats. He looked like he was fishing! Too bad the picture is so fuzzy.


Our two cats are as lazy as ever. Here is Snoopy sleeping on what she has deemed "her" bed.



Sakaura has taken over "my" bed!



There is still no friendship growing between these two. That is okay - they both know their own spaces. Sakaura tries to get into Snoopy's space, but she is afraid to push too much. So she (Snoopy) spends a lot of time in "her" bedroom, while Sakaura goes pretty much where she pleases - except into Snoopy's room.

Little Known Feline Ailments

I have been chuckling here reading this list of Little Known Feline Ailments.

Sakaura definitely has a case of

IRRITABLE BOWL SYNDROME

Symptoms:

The cat seems discontent with what is in the foodbowl. In multicat households this is manifested by cats going from one bowl to another in search of something more enticing. Afflicted cats may also follow the owner to cupboards and demand to investigate every opened can or packet in the hope of a better meal. In severe cases, cats show excessive interest when the owner opens a can of baked beans.

Treatment

An ever-changing selection of gourmet meals is the cat's preferred solution. This entails enrolment on cookery courses and animal nutrition courses. Alternatively, offer a buffet selection of both canned and dry kitty foods purchased in small
packages while advising it that its ancestors had to make do with nothing but mouse. Explain that Big Sid, the local feral with the appetite and table manners of a furry bulldozer, will be joining the cat at meal times. Most modern cats will opt for the buffet rather than risk losing it to Big Sid.

Snoopy, on the other hand, displays autistic behaviours. Not that all cats don't do this to some extent - she is just a bit over the edge. It is okay though. We know her routine and Don is getting to be very good at "reading her mind" so we can anticipate what she wants when she wants it. Don's son, Greg, is autistic - he and Snoopy would get along except Greg is as much afraid of cats as Snoopy is of strangers. Can't win!

All's quiet

Cats are co-existing.



Saki has a new tent.



And Snoopy is full of Valium.

She's just relaxed. She is fine and seems in control. They just hate each other.

Cats in the "hood"

This morning we walked and ran into three of the neighborhood cats who posed for photographs - well not really - but I got the pictures anyway.


This guy did a pretty good job of hiding in the grass. He was trying to catch a chipmunk. He became distracted by us walking by and the chipmunk was able to run quickly across the road and escape (for today at least!)



We've encountered and petted the cat above before. He's very friendly. When he was younger Don used to fear he'd follow us too closely to the highway.


This cat was just a kitten last year and he did try to follow us home. Today he was interested in pouncing on something in the grass.

Weeks of progress down the drain

So this morning Don thought he should put Snoopy directly down into Sakaura's face. WRONG! Sakaura hissed and screamed - Snoopy hissed and growled, and dug her claws into Don's bare arm as she was twisting and turning and try to figure out how to escape. Poor kitty - her heart was beating out of her chest - but she finally caught her breathe and relaxed.

I can not convince him that they will NOT EVER be friends - he needs to just let them be.

She's in there

We had an incident the night before last that was a bit strange. Sakaura screeched loudly two or three times during the night. When we woke, Snoopy was nowhere to be found. Don looked everywhere - except an obvious spot, of course. She was sitting on the sofa where he normally brings her after she eats her meals.

I must assume that sometimes during the night she decided to go to the bathroom or go over to the "people bathroom" where her food is to get a bite to eat and ran into Sakaura. She has a few "safe places" - and the sofa is one of those. So she must have figured a way to get there to spend the rest of the night.

They just are not going to get along - but Snoopy is at least getting to be a wee bit more independent. I'm not sure if this is progress - it certainly is not what we would expect after almost 6 months.

Exotic Origins

We went shopping at BJ's and picked up an empty box to load the odds and ends in. We always look for a box the cats will like and this one was a hit. I am not sure of the exotic origins for this mysterious "shelter cat" - but she does love boxes.

Snoopy is too unsettled still to even consider sitting in a box.

Food finds

Sakaura is the pickiest eater ever. This morning I tried a can of "cheaper" food that I thought I remembered her liking and was I ever right. she loved it. Snoopy liked it as well, but then Snoopy likes everything.

So I know we can't feed them this all the time, but it is a nice alternative to the Fancy Feast since it is a large can we can split and it costs the same as one of the smaller cans, so literally half price dining.



"Friskies^® Flaked with Tuna & Egg in Sauce"

I have some other non-Fancy Feast cat food flavors that she will eat - most of them involve tuna of some sort.

Back to the routine

All seems well here. What a relief, since I've really been waiting for some sort of delayed reaction to the weekend at the boarding kennel.

Snoopy was off her meds, but we started her up again once we got home. She's moving about at her normal pace - and doesn't seem highly stressed.

Sakaura is over her tummy problems and spent the night sleeping at my feet. And right now she is grooming herself! Good girl.

A sigh of relief (so far)

We boarded the cats for the weekend. Dropped them off on Saturday morning and picked them up late Monday afternoon. So far - so good. Sakaura does seem to have a little bit of diarrhea but I am thinking she overate last night. She's been on a diet of dry cat food, and she ate an entire can of Fancy Feast when we brought her home. I assume digestive upsets may be common with the change of food, plus the stress of being out of her routine.


Snoopy appears well. She's still very much to herself, but she's not visibly ill and has easily slipped right back into her routine (read: eat, sleep, repeat, repeat, repeat).

Oddly enough when we went to settle our bill, there was no charge. I sort of understand, but this was totally unexpected.

Sunday pictures

It is easy to post pictures on weekends - of course, it's always cats sleeping. Isn't that all cats really do? What a life?
Snoopy is awake, but I wish her eyes were shut - they always have that evil yellow glow.

Sakaur, as usual, is asleep.

No change - that's good?

I am starting to look at things from a different perspective here. The status quo is good. Cats are not fighting. That is good

Snoopy's hair is gradually coming back. She's eating well. She's maintaining her weight. She no longer needs the insulin.

She's not a shedder and never has been. But she has an awful undercoat that mats and she will not allow us to brush her. It's a never ending battle.



Sakaura, on the other hand, is shedding like crazy. I'd forgotten that happens to most long haired cats when the season changes.



She went to the vet on Thursday. Don took her and said she was relatively well behaved. At least she did not bite or scratch the vet. He pronounced her healthy - said she's at a good weight and we should try to keep her at or around that weight. He also recommended brushing her teeth - Don's theory is that Dr. K has found cat dental cleaning a profitable business, since no cat that we've ever owned would allow us to clean their teeth.

Snoopy still will not come into the living room on her own. She will, however, still move from her "bedroom" to where she eats and to the downstairs litter box on her own. That is progress (as small as it may seem).

Time for some new pictures and cat news.

As you can see Snoopy can be quite relaxed now sleeping on the sofa. She still will not come out on her own, but it is one of her "safe places" and she will relax there forever, if we bring her to her spot.

We purchased a "tent" for Sakaura at WalMart on Saturday and she likes it but is a bit rough and sometimes it gets quite a beating. This morning I woke up to find it totally flattened out on the living room floor.

There is much less hissing and spitting these days. The cats are not bosom buddies but I think they both are resigned to the fact that they have to live in the same house. We can deal with that.

Sakaura continues to be a picky eater. What she will eat one day she will blatantly refuse a week later. It's become quite a challenge to feed her most days.

So sleepy! (and adorable!)

The little darlings

Time for some new pictures of the little darlings. Sakaura takes a much better picture - she doesn't get those flaming yellow (or red) eyes.



Snoopy, on the other hand, has such large black pupils that always seem to catch the flash. Her hair is growing out a tiny bit - I wish it could stay about this length

Teeny tiny baby steps

This afternoon, in a very brave moment, Snoopy chose to go on to the sofa rather than run down the hall to "her room". Don had brought her over to the slider so she could look outdoors. Sakaura was downstairs asleep on the futon, so "the coast was clear". Snoopy was very uncomfortable and started to run away from the slider and jumped up on the sofa where she is sitting now, bathing herself.

Now I'd have loved it if she'd have sat there and looked out at the squirrels and birds, but I love the fact that she chose to stay out here with us instead of running away to hide.

Of course, now Sakaura has made an appearance, which has Snoopy a bit wary, but she's not tried to run away (yet).

How cute is this?

No news is good news

Cats are still co-existing. In fact, when I got home yesterday they were both sleeping in the middle bedroom - just not too close to each other.

I am a bit concerned about leaving Snoopy at the boarding kennel again. Last time we made a trip, we came home to two sick cats - one did not survive, and she only survived after hospitalization and coming close to death.

We can not stay home forever though. So we are only going to leave them a couple of days - with a big warning that they are monitored closely and not put in a common area.

With that said, I think we will need to take Sakaura in to the vet to get her shots updated. Her last trip was in May, 2007. Must make a note of that.