New Years Eve...

Here we are - the last day of 2012.  I love to see the new year come - its like a fresh new start to everything.  Here are my 2013 wishes for the critters:

Emma - for 2013 I hope to include you in my fitness regime giving you more time outside being active.  I hope you continues to have good health and you are able to enjoy life with fewer stresses and anxiety.

Nigel - for 2013 I hope you are a happy and healthy little critter.  I wish for continued progress towards even more tameness and lots of happy interactions with your critter siblings.

Zoey - for 2013 I wish my Zoey continued health and a continuation of her current zest for life.  I hope you continues to have great interactions with your critter siblings as well.

Agatha - for 2013 I wish my Aggie good health, more time interacting with your humans, and a new found affection for your sister Phoebe.

Oliver - for 2013 I wish my ornery boy Ollie his regular orneriness - for I would be sad without it even if sometimes it makes me crazy.  You could stop picking on your sister Aggie as well.

Phoebe - for 2013 I wish you a toy filled year as you are the lover of toys more than any other critter here.  I hope you continue to love your Oliver and Emma and that you and Aggie find a harmony in the coming year.

Clooney - for 2013 I wish you a healthy year and a recapture of your playfulness you had when you were a baby that still shines through every now and then.  I hope you and Madison continue to make progress towards friendship this year.

Madison - for 2013 - continue to be joyful - and influence the rest of the household to partake in that joy.  Oh - and be nice to your brother please.

For all my babies please be healthy and happy and enjoy your life just half as much as your mother enjoys having you around for then I know how happy you will be.

Happy New Year!

Year End Miscellaneous Snaps

Here's a few pics of the critters that never got posted for whatever reason:

Critter Ornaments in Action

Here's some snaps of the handmade critter ornaments on the tree for the first time....

Zoey

Clooney

Madison

Oliver

Aggie

Nigel

Phoebe

Emma

And of course we never forget our sweet Isabel:

2012 - The Year In Review

So - 2012 was a pretty good critter year all in all.  Probably the most significant event from a critter perspective was the addition of my joyful Miss Madison in January.  She is truly the sweetest little thing and we are so happy she is a part of our critter family!

In regards to critter health:  February brought a bought of ECE for Mr Clooney - luckily he recovered quickly and does not seem any worse for the wear.  He is still a bit skinny but his appetite is great and he is very active and happy.  In March I felt terrible when I cut Nigel's toe nail too close and he bled like crazy.  Thankfully that healed up quickly and he forgave me - UGH.  Phoebe struggled a bit with allergies this spring and summer - she responds well to colloidal silver and occasionally a nose drop or two. Diet was up and down this year.  Ferrets love junky cat food - kitties love junky cat food - mom finally gave in and determined that junky cat food wasn't really that much junkier than what I was feeding them anyway.  Emma had a change in diet as well and has seemed to respond well.  This fall Miss Emma found some sand fleas at the beach and brought them home with her.  They found their way to Madison but no one else.  Treatments, baths and vacuuming up powders ensued - I think we beat them.  I haven't seen any in several months.  Which brings us to our latest little funky left side issue with the hedgehog.  So - for 8 critters we didn't do too bad in the health department.

Travel:  The kitties did not travel this year - and I think they are fine with that - Oliver howls, Phoebe pants and Aggie cowers.  Only Zoey likes the car.  Emma had several trips to the beach which she loved.  The ferrets and the hedgehog also came to the beach - Clooney and Nigel are old pros but this was the first for Madison.  They did well and cohabitated in their pen and actually got along fairly well.

You know my gang is getting older - my Agatha is 14 now, Ollie and Zoey are 12, Emma will be 10 in March, Phoebe 8, Clooney turned 4, Nigel turned 2 and Maddie was 1 in November.  Love those babies.  Looking forward to 2013 - lots of time with them, stories to document and fun!

Nothing Like an Unplanned Blogging Hiatus....

Wow - this holiday season took alot out of me for some reason.  It just seemed harder this year and I am not sure why.  So, the last six days were spent prepping for a Christmas party, hosting a Christmas Eve dinner, spending time with family on Christmas day, coming down with a horrible cold on Christmas day and spending the time since trying to recover.  This is the first time I have even had the energy to be thinking about the blog.

To catch you up on the latest from critter land.... things are good.  Nigel seems to be doing pretty well.  I can still see him favoring his left side a bit but he is running quite a bit on his wheel each night so I am content that we are on the mend.  Clooney and Madison are both doing well - I have been trying to steer clear of all three of the little ones as they can catch cold bugs.  Kitties seem to be doing great - Zoey has been full of it the last few days - pushing the limits of orneriness.  Emma is going strong - she stayed with her grandma on Christmas day while we were with family - its a good thing - she would much rather have a play day with Quincy than hang out with her sick mommy anyway.

They did well with lots of people in and out of the house for the holidays.  I was particularly impressed with Nigel who was passed around and petted by lots of strangers with very little protesting.

Glad to be feeling well enough to be blogging again....

Kitty Christmas

Since Miss Emma got her Christmas present early - I thought it was only fair that the kitties, Nigel and the ferrets get theirs too.  The kitties got 2 gifts this year.  First they got this cat tree thingy that hangs on the back of the door.  They seem to like it.  The ferrets also like the lowest level.  The other gift is pure genius.  Its the Bolt Laser cat toy and the cats absolutely LOVE it!  Its a laser with a mirror in it.  You push a button and the thing randomly moves - it goes for like a 15 minute cycle.  The cats are loving this one.  Merry Christmas to my feline babies....

December Snaps

Here are some random shots from the last week or so:

Little Mr....

Some snaps from yesterday - Nigel coming out of his bed to see whats happening.  While I think he is favoring his one side a bit I do believe that there is a significant improvement from over the weekend so my guess is there was a muscle issue of some kind.  For his Christmas present I ordered him a bed warmer and he seems to just love it.  I figure the heat would feel good on his side if its hurting him and a toasty bed feels good no matter what.

I think I am over that panicked feeling I had during the weekend and feeling pretty optimistic that he is going to be just fine...  I love the last picture in this series - most hedgehogs sleep curled up in a defensive position. When I see him sprawled out on his belly with those back legs sticking straight out behind him I feel like he feels safe and content.