The Month in Review

This was a busy month for critters mainly because the hubs and I traveled for a week.  Emma went to the kennel - while she was there she had her yearly checkup and got caught up on her vaccinations.  She also had a bath.  The little critters stayed at home and for the first time ever we had a pet sitter come.  I was nervous about it but it went beautifully and I am so grateful to my friend for taking on this somewhat icky task while we were gone.

Once we returned we spent some time getting back into schedules.  The latter half of the month was pretty uneventful from a critter perspective.  We had an earthquake and a hurricane in one week - that's exciting but much more so for the humans and not such a big deal for the critters.  The cat tree was purchased and assembled and it seems to be a hit.

All in all August was a good month - all the babies are happy and healthy - can't ask for more than that!

August Snapshots

Here are the snaps from the month of August:

Bath Time For Clooney

The little weasel weaseled his way into somewhere stinky and this morning I decided the smelly little critter needed a bath.  I don't bathe him often - in fact I think its been close to a year since his last bath.  Ferrets have a natural oil to their skin and bathing them strips them and makes the skin dry and flaky.

Anyway - into the tub we got and we pulled up the bathmat that we drape over the side so he can enter and exit whenever he wants.  Just a couple of inches of water and a cup and we got all wet.  Then a little shot of Emma's puppy shampoo and a rinse.  Then we did the dry off.  This makes the little guy so fluffy and to top it off he gets so overly excited that he runs around like a maniac.  I think he will sleep good today after so much excitement this morning.  Hopefully I can find where it was that he picked up the stink....

Aggie and the Laser Pointer

All the kitties like playing with the laser pointer but I have to say that I think Agatha is the most entertaining to watch.  I think this is partly because she is somewhat shy and embarrassed about playing in front of the humans.  She is tentative to chase the laser beam but once she gets going she is very cute.

My favorite thing she does though is when you shine the laser pointer on one of the other kitties.  Aggie will head over and try to brush it off as if to say "hey, you have something icky on you - let me get it".  It's quite cute.  If you shine the laser point on her - like on her front paw she ends up smacking herself trying to get it off.

As a side note - Emma detests the laser pointer - her hearing is so good that she hears some sort of high pitch and as a result she runs and hides under the bed.  The little boys - neither has good enough eyesight to play much with the laser.

Sunday After the Storm

It's an absolutely beautiful morning after the hurricane.  Critters all have "spring fever" symptoms.  The screen door is open which they love.  Earlier three of them, Oliver, Phoebe and Clooney were utilizing the cat tree and having a good time.  Emma is over her need to hide under the bed and has been out this morning.

Today will hold several critter chores - cat box litter change, Nigel's cage clean out to include his load of laundry and a thorough vacuuming of the house to try to de-hair.  Hair is my nemesis....

All in all we came through the storm just fine!

Hurricane Irene Has Arrived

Oh yeah - she's here.  So far its not terrible - just rain and some big scary gusts.  So far we still have power.  At this point - no critter angst to report.  Even Emma is out and about and not hiding under the bed as she often does when its rainy.  Little critters are sleeping as if nothing is different and kitties are snoozing with the exception of Phoebe who is playing with her toys in the hallway.  No one seems particularly stressed out by the weather.

Otherwise its pretty much a regular Saturday morning.  We have news coverage on watching the storm on the coast.  I invited the hummingbird in - he declined - I bet he thinks a hurricane is safer than inside with 4 cats.  If it doesn't worsen we should keep power - fingers crossed....

The Zo Girl

I love this one of my Zoey girl - isn't she cute:

She loves the bottom cubby on the cat tree - she has been in there several times -now if I can just get her to sleep in there instead of on me on the bed we will be in great shape!!

Cat Tree

I finally broke down and bought the kitties (and Clooney) a cat tree.  I have been looking for awhile but geez - cat furniture is expensive.  I ran across a sale, free shipping and a coupon which made this purchase very reasonable.

So far - I think they like it.  Ollie is sleeping on one of the perches as I type.  Phoebe is laying on the platform that has the toys available to play with.  Aggie spent a good deal of the day laying in the enclosed parts and Clooney utilized the ramps to fully investigate the different spots.  Zoey was up there for a bit but she is much more interested in the huge box that the thing came in - she has slept in there for most of the day.

I hope they will start sleeping on there and giving me more space in the bed???  Might be wishful thinking....

Hurricane Planning Critter Style

Since our east coast earthquake apparently wasn't exciting enough now we have an unwanted visitor - Hurricane Irene barreling towards us.  I posted some time back about how I created emergency kits for the critters with food, water, toys, treats and supplies.  I don't think we will need them for this event - at least I hope not.  I did take stock on what supplies we have on hand to ensure everyone has enough food and treats and we do have emergency water should we need it.

Luckily its still summer so if the power goes out we wouldn't have to worry about Nigel getting too cold.  Worst case - we do have the snap and heat pads we can use should we need them.  The nice thing for the critters is that they are not nearly as impacted as the humans by a power outage - while some of them do watch TV they are not sad when its off.  They can nap in the dark just as well as when the lights are on.  Fingers crossed for minimal impacts....

Just for the Record - Kitties don't Like Earthquakes

Yesterday we experienced an unusual east coast earthquake.  Having lived in CA for several years in my younger days - this was not something to get all that hopped up about.  Emma seemed to be fine with the whole happening.  Clooney and Nigel slept through the whole event.  Kitties - now there is another story - they did not care for said earthquake AT ALL.  All four of them happened to be snoozing on the bed as it hit - they assumed that panicked cat stance - you know the one with all four legs spread apart and the deer in headlights look?

They were very uncomfortable.  Interestingly - earthquakes are so rare here that I assumed the washer was out of balance or some other explanation - never really crossed my mind it could be an earthquake.  It wasn't til I saw my neighbor at the mail box and she asked if the house just shook.  Huh - who knew?

Just for the Record - Kitties don't Like Earthquakes

Yesterday we experienced an unusual east coast earthquake.  Having lived in CA for several years in my younger days - this was not something to get all that hopped up about.  Emma seemed to be fine with the whole happening.  Clooney and Nigel slept through the whole event.  Kitties - now there is another story - they did not care for said earthquake AT ALL.  All four of them happened to be snoozing on the bed as it hit - they assumed that panicked cat stance - you know the one with all four legs spread apart and the deer in headlights look?

They were very uncomfortable.  Interestingly - earthquakes are so rare here that I assumed the washer was out of balance or some other explanation - never really crossed my mind it could be an earthquake.  It wasn't til I saw my neighbor at the mail box and she asked if the house just shook.  Huh - who knew?

Random Monday Snaps

Some days I go nuts with the camera - it takes lots of tries to get something good and I always need content for the blog.  Here are a few cute snaps from today:

Wish List - Barns and Coops

Do you think my future outdoor critters could be happy living in this?

LOL - that may be a bit of overkill - but it is beautiful.

How about this one?  Maybe not teal but I love the turret:

It will be called Porkingham Palace and my micro pigs - Harry and Pancetta will live there happily.  They will share with the cow, the goats and maybe the chickens - although - I kinda like the idea of a separate coop:

Of course they will be free range chickens with lots of room to roam - fully fenced with zoo netting so they don't have to worry about predators.  There sole purpose in life will be to be happy and occasionally provide me some eggs.

Outdoor Critter Update

Not much exciting to report on the outdoor critter front really.  We have the hummingbird feeders up and have frequent visitors.

We have a house finch nest full of eggs - its been full of eggs all summer - I think the parents abandoned the nest.  We have lizards.

No additional snakes to report - thank goodness.  And we still have our cardinal family and our two redheaded woodpecker families.

Germs

Did you know that ferrets can catch viruses from humans?  Evidently they can catch colds and flu and experience many of the same symptoms like fever, sneezing and runny noses.  Unfortunately the hubs picked up a bug on the plane during our vacation so he is on total Clooney restriction til he is feeling better.

Interestingly enough - some believe that hedgehogs are immune.  I have kept Nigel away from the hubs as well - just to be safe.  Kitties and Emma are not in danger of catching our germies but really he doesn't much feel like engaging with the critters anyway so they don't get much exposure.

Hopefully the hubby will be feeling better soon - I know Clooney misses wrestling with him....

My Newest Favorite Oliver Picture

I snapped this one the other day when Ollie was hanging out in the window sill enjoying the afternoon sun - love it:

Tell me he is not a ham:

Sleepy Weasel

Clooney does love to get his picture snapped - even when he is sleepy: