Week in Review

This week has kind of been a blur - filled with work, business travel for the hubs, etc.  Life is busy....

For the critters its been a pretty good week.  The weather has been fantastic so the piglet has been outside a ton.  He loves it!  He is doing very well - happy and healthy.  He is also being quite well behaved.  We had workers in the yard twice this weekend and he was quite friendly when they offered attention.

Emma has been good - hanging out inside mostly - she is not an outside fan..  She has been a pretty happy dog this week - active and well behaved.  No complaints.

The ferrets are all doing just great - they are enjoying the fall weather as well - spending time in their outside playspace.  Madison's hair is starting to come back in on her belly especially. She is definitely feeling good - very active and happy.  The others are their regular crazy little gang - enjoying their crazy ferret world.

The kitties are doing well too.  They have recovered from the stress of their vet adventure.  Oliver is doing well on his antibiotics.  I got a Furminator and have been brushing them - I have enough hair so far to make three additional cats - wow.  I try brushing the ferrets but they don't like it so much..  Appetites are good, activity levels are good - all in all they are doing just great.

So - today is clean out critter land day.  I started this morning with their playspace - it was full of leaves and sticks from the hurricane.  It's nice and tidy so after work its on to the rest of the space - ugh.  Better than devoting my Saturday to it I guess.

3 Kitty Trip to the Vet

I finally got the kitties in for their annual check ups:

All in all - they are pretty healthy kitties - but - we did have some areas we could work on.

Phoebe - she actually had the best results this go around.  Her thyroid levels were perfect so there is no need to change her medication dosage.  Her blood work was perfect and her chemistry levels were perfect.  She - however - is a bit on the pudgy side.  Not horribly overweight but enough that we should make some changes in the old diet.  Glad to see that life in the cat world mirrors life in the human world... sigh. She could also use a teeth cleaning - will be scheduling that likely after the first of the year.   She is in great shape barring any changes or issues.

Aggie - my old girl is in pretty darn good shape.  There were three numbers on her blood panel related to her kidneys that were a tiny bit elevated.  They were just over the normal line - so not crazy high.  It could be a couple of things.  First - it could be that she just didn't drink enough this morning and was a touch dehydrated.  Or - it could be that she has the start of kidney disease.  I have a haunch that its the first for a couple of reasons.  I have had 2 kitties with kidney disease and I know the signs. She has no symptoms.  There are also other indicators on the blood panel that get outta whack with kidney disease.  All of her other blood panel results were normal as were her chemistry numbers.  We are going back in 6 weeks to do a recheck and see if her numbers go back down.  If not we will figure out the best course of action for treatment.  The other thing is that little miss - well - how shall we say it - is a bit big boned  (okay - she is a fat kitty - don't tell her I said that).  We have some work to do to get her back down to a healthy weight.

Oliver - oh my skinny mini boy.  I have been commenting on how skinny he is.  It is because his thyroid numbers are off the charts - poor little dude.  We have changed the dosage for his thyroid medication which should fix his weight issues.  He also has teeth issues.  He needs a dental cleaning but until his thyroid numbers are in line and he gains back some of the weight he can't go under anesthesia.  We will start him on a course of antibiotics to kill any infection/bacteria in his mouth. Then we will beef him up a bit, likely give him another round of antibiotics and then do the dental work.  Guessing that will be after the holidays for the dental stuff.  In the meantime - he goes back in 6 weeks with Aggie and gets his thyroid level check to see if the increased dosage is doing the trick.

My morning was crazy - kitty drop off at the vet at 8, conference calls until 9:30, dentist appointment and then kitty pick up and home - then work and meetings and such.  And now a breather before I make a few updates to a presentation I have tomorrow.  Needless to say - there are no kitty snaps from the vet visit since I wasn't present.  They are very happy to be back home and hanging out in critter land.

One last side note for anyone with multiple kitties - I used to put them in separate carriers and it was miserable - howling and panting and other icky things when we got in the car.  I found a few years ago that if I put them all in one large carrier they do great.  We had a total of 5 our 6 little mews on the way - they were perfect angels.

General Updates

It's been a bit since I have done a blog post - seems like the world is a whirlwind right now.  All in all things are good!

We made it through the storm - thankfully it was nothing more than some heavy rain and gusty wind. Winston and Emma are both quite happy its gone for different reasons.  Emma is happy its not raining because is she totally stressed out when it does.  Winston is happy that he gets to spend the majority of his day outside - he hates being stuck inside.  He has spent the last two days out from morning til night.

Ferrets - everyone is happy and healthy and playful and fun - I just love that little gang.  Not much new and exciting to report for them.  I need to give them some time playing down in our room - it's Tabby and Violet's turn.  I will say that they seem to like their new water fountains - I frequently pick up ferrets who have wet feet - they love to splash.

Kitties - be proud people - I finally made their vet appointment.  We go bright and early in the morning for them to get their annual blood work and physicals.  Ollie and Phoebe will get their medication for hyper thyroid renewed and we will see if there is anything else that needs to happen. Other than that bit of news - and a zillion gross hairballs - all is well with them.  Coat change season is in full force.

In other news - Emma is cracking me up tonight.  We did some redecorating in our living room and we have been spending lots of time out there in the evenings.  Emma hates this - she wants us in the bedroom so she can go to bed.  She goes in the bedroom and barks hoping we will relocate.  Silly dog.

I will post some pics of the kitties at the vet....and try to make some time to get some snaps of the rest of the gang.....

Catit Senses 2.0 Drinking Flower Fountain

I have water stations down in critter land - two of them.  One is a large continuous water bowl - the kind with the large bottle on top.  The other is the same version of that - just a bit smaller.  They work well but I feel like they get grubby so quickly and the quality of water isn't fabulous.  In the past we have had fountains - ones that have the continuous movement of water and filtration.  The problem we had was that they only hold a small amount of water  - with lots of critters - it was a constant refilling effort.

I found this little gem on Amazon.  It's called the Catit Senses Drinking Flower Fountain:

It holds a pretty good amount of water.  The pump inside is very quiet.  The water doesn't sit in the green ring it comes out of the flower and then goes back into the bucket to be filtered again.

The ferrets - LOVE - it.  They have all visited it multiple times today.  The kitties like it as well - but they are not nearly as animated as the ferrets.  I also ordered a frog fountain for their other bathroom - it should come this weekend and we will see if they like it.  I think the ferrets will really enjoy it because it splashes.  We shall see.

I will try to get some pics this weekend....

We're On Lockdown

So - after having exposure to sliding glass doors for just over a year....little Mr. Piglet has figured out how to open them on his own.  I knew it was only a matter of time.  Yesterday he was outside in the late afternoon.  I hopped in a shower and when I headed back to the living room he had opened the door, headed for his room and was waiting for his dinner. Crazy pig...

The new rule is if he is outside the sliders have to be locked.  He is a smarty for sure - this morning I put him out and he checked all the different doors to see if any of them were unlocked.  Little snot. He is napping in his tent - trying to keep him out this morning as we are very clouded over and I am not sure how long rain will hold out.

Nothing to See Here

So - there really is nothing to see here...

Last week was so nuts with both the humans on business travel.  The weekend was pretty much a recovery period that felt like it was about 7 seconds long and now we are back into the the wild and whacky work week.

Piglet and pup are both quite happy to be back to a regular routine - they are both doing well. Winston has been enjoying this lovely weather spending a good portion of his days outside.  The kitties are doing just great.  I am going to call the vet tomorrow to see if they can get me in with the cats on the same day I have a dentist appointment - I can drop them off - head to the dentist and then pick them up on my way out....fingers crossed.  Ferrets are all doing great - energetic and happy.

Like I said - nothing to see here...maybe later this week I can get some new pictures.  It's Tabby and Violet's turn to come down to our room for a visit.  May try to do that tomorrow....

September Month in Review

I really cannot believe that it is October.  How crazy is that?

September was a pretty good.  From a health perspective:

Ferrets - everyone is doing well.  Madison went in for her vet visit due to hair loss.  Ended up being a bit of a coat change and a bit of the symptoms for adrenal disease so we gave her an implant to treat the adrenal parts and we are still losing hair due to the coat change.  She is one naked baby!  Other than the funky hair - she is quite happy and active and seems to be feeling just great.  The others have started their coat changes as well - nothing anywhere near what Maddie is doing.

Kitties are good - I am going to try to get them in for annual vet appointments in the next couple of weeks. They are all feeling good but I need to get Ollie and Phoebe in for a blood draw so we can check thyroid levels and renew their prescriptions.  Aggie - well, at almost 18 she is just going with the flow....  crazy cat.

Emma is well - she has not enjoyed the abundance of rain we have had in September.... but - I think she is feeling good and is doing just great.

Piglet is fantastic.  He is happy and doing well - he loved having his Auntie come for a visit early in the month.  For the most part of his month he got to stick to his regular schedule which makes him a very happy piggy.

Business travel occurred this month for both of the humans.  Lots of travel for the hubs - only a few days for me but unfortunately they overlapped.  Thankfully our pet sitter was able to step in and cover our crazy schedules.  They all did great with her.  Little critters were cooperative.  Kitties let her do their meds, ferrets "helped" her with chores, Winston was a good boy and did not misbehave and Emma did well - she hates it when her herd is incomplete.

All in all - it was a good month - it just flew by way too fast.  Thankfully I think I am done traveling for the year.  Now its time to go heads down in prep for the holidays.