Agatha - 1997 - 2019 - Rest in Peace Sweet Girl

It brings me such sadness to share that yesterday morning we lost our sweet Aggie kitty. I had gotten up early (4:30 am) to feed Miss Violet (ferret) and at that point Aggie was fine. She ate, got some loves, gave me some purrs and found a spot to snooze on her bed. When I went in around 8:30 am I found her in her forever sleep. She was comfortable, had been basking in the sun and slipped away peacefully to the rainbow bridge. It was quick and painless and she no illnesses or aliments - I wish that for all my critters, family and friends - a long life with no issues and a peaceful passing.

Aggie has been with me literally for half my life. She came to me as a three week old kitten when I was 26 years old. She has lived with me in three states, and five residences. She has survived me getting my 26 year old act together and finding my way to being an adult. She warmly accepted having a dad - my husband - and grudgingly dealt with the stream of new critters that found their way into our lives. She has known all of my critters from my first kitty Isabel to the latest addition of the three pups. While she wasn't always a fan she was a pretty go with the flow cat and always adjusted well.

Aggie was incredibly healthy - I never had to take her to the vet for anything other than routine checks, shots, etc. She has never been sick or taken medication. There was no indication that yesterday was to be her last day. I think her almost 24 year old body just gave out. While we have known that this day was coming and we have tried to prepare ourselves, it doesn't really feel easier now that she's gone. Our family feels incomplete.

We have been paying some extra special attention to Phoebe. She is our only kitty now and while she and Aggie weren't particularly close she is still having to adjust. Yesterday had me out of sorts for the bulk of the day. I wasn't overwrought with sadness, but more feeling an emptiness that something important is missing. It's so hard to lose your furry kids. I take comfort in the fact that Aggie had an incredibly long life. She was healthy up to the very end and she was spoiled rotten for the duration.

I will miss you terribly sweet kitty girl. Thank you for a lifetime of companionship and love.

Three Kitty Vet Visit

Holy Moly!  It's been forever since I blogged.  Guess I needed a summer vacation.  Today was a busy day as all three kitties had their semi annual vet visit.  They go every 6 months since Oliver and Phoebe need monitoring for their thyroid levels and Aggie - well - she is just plain old.   She turns the ripe old age of 20 this year - WOW!  I thought it was only 19 but I was mistaken.....denial I guess.

The results overall are pretty darn good considering they are all technically considered senior citizens.  (20, 15 and 11 years old).

Let's start with Aggie:

Her physical went well - eyes, ears, teeth, heart, skin, etc were all in good shape.  Her weight was down almost a pound from last time - she weighs7.14 pounds.  This is good as she was just a bit of a pudge the last time at over 9 pounds.  Her bloodwork looks pretty good.  There is only one area of concern which is around her kidney numbers.  They were a tiny bit inflated last October indicating the start of kidney disease and they are just a tiny bit more inflated this time.  The vet has put her on a supplement called Azodyl which I ordered for her today.  We also decided to try out a more kidney friendly diet so Aggie will be testing out a medicated cat food over the next few days to see if she likes it.  Aggie also got her FVRCP (distemper) booster.

Mr. Oliver:

Ollie's physical went well - he still has cruddy teeth - no surprise - but everything else looked good. The vet was kind enough to give me a new tube of ophthalmic ointment for Oliver's squinty eye he sometimes gets.  In regards to his bloodwork - everything looked great with the exception of his thyroid number which is a bit inflated.  We did a minor adjustment on his thyroid med dosage and that should fix him right up.  He is still my skinny mini - topping the scales at 5.3 pounds but the vet did say his body condition is good.  Hopefully with fixing his thyroid number he can gain a bit more weight.  Ollie also had his rabies booster.

Last but not least - Miss Phoebe:

Her physical went very well - a healthy girl.  And - her bloodwork is perfect - all her numbers including her thyroid number were in the normal range.  Woot!  She gained a bit of weight since last time - weighing in at 9.9 pounds.  All in all she is a very healthy cat.  She also had her FVRCP (distemper) and her rabies booster as well.

All in all it was a good visit.  The kitties were great in the car and were very well behaved and cooperative for the vet and the vet techs.  These guys are good to go til February or so of next year.

You can barely see Aggie - she is on the left, Ollie in the middle and Phoebe on the right 

Aggie and Oliver - its the only time these two are friends - when they feel like they are safer together than apart

Ollie and Aggie

Oliver

Aggie

Aggie

Phoebe

Ollie

Phoebe

Kitty Post

I don't post about the kitties all that often - it's not because I don't love them.  It's because we have three spoiled, lazy kitties who are old enough now that they don't find themselves in the shenanigans some of the others do.

They are all three doing well.  Healthy, happy, all of them at a good weight - no complaints.  In the critter bedroom there are lots of beds, toys and places for the fur kids to investigate.  They have these cubes that hook together that have been in their room for ages.  Mostly the ferrets use it but rarely the kitties.  Yesterday I went to visit and low and behold both Phoebe and Oliver were in the cubes.  I moved one of the puppy beds down to critter land as well - those little pups are now big pups who no longer fit.  Let's just say that Aggie is happy they grew.

Little Critter Updates

My little critters are doing so well!!  I adore that crazy bunch!

Let's start with the kitties.  They are all doing very well.  Aggie is maintaining her new svelte figure (she lost a bit of weight after the vet identified that she was too chunky).  Oliver has kept on the weight he gained but he is still pretty skinny - I am working on that with some high calorie supplements - hopefully that will do the trick.  Miss Phoebe is doing quite well - she is happy and easy going.

Phoebe

Aggie

Somehow I didn't end up with a usable picture of Mr. Wiggly - aka Oliver.  I will try for one tomorrow....

And the ferrets - they are all doing just fantastic.  Violet seems to be really thriving on her meds - she is active, maintaining her weight and often I catch her playing and dooking (making the ferret happy noise).  The other girls are all just great.  Madison has come back full force from her baldness and she looks amazing.  Fiona is a lovely as ever and Tabitha is becoming more and more engaged wanting to be picked up even if it is only for a short time.

Violet

Fiona

Madison

Tabitha

And the boys - oh those boys.  They are all amazing!  I was worried that Theo might be losing weight so I started weighing him every day to ease my mind.  It worked since I weighed him for 10 days and he was within 10 grams of the same weight every time.  I think he looks thin because he doesn't have the fluffy winter coat like Bash and Kai.  Speaking of those two - they are both doing great as well.  All three are full of crazy ferret antics whenever I visit them in Critter Land.  

Theo on the right with Fiona - they are sleeping in one of their favorite spots - they got in a box that had a 8 pack of toilet paper.  Needless to say they shredded it to bits and the TP bed is a favorite of all the ferrets.

Kai on the left and Tabby on the right (and Bashy in the background - at least part of him)

Bash

Okay - sorry for the quality of these snaps - I got a new phone and I am still trying to figure out all the settings of the camera.  I figured something was better than nothing.  I will post about them again soon!

Two Kitty Vet Visit

Yesterday morning Oliver and Aggie went back to the vet for their blood work rechecks.  Aggie had some elevated numbers related to her kidneys and Oliver's thyroid numbers were whacky.  I don't have any pictures of my two cutie cats because I did the handy drop off appointment where I take them in and then I go and do 14 other things while they work them into the schedule and then I swoop back in and pick them up.  Works great - yesterday I went to the eye dr to get my glasses fixed, went to the bank, hit Starbucks and then a quick run to Costo - then home before my first conference call started - woot!

They sent the blood work out to the lab so I had to wait for the results - I just got an email from the vet and the news is all good.  Aggie's numbers were better. Her BUN number was still a bit higher than it should be but the classic markers that indicate kidney disease were within normal range. Thank goodness!  Aggie is 18 years old so I was concerned - I am quite relieved!  She is, however, on the high side of normal so we will put her on the same 6 month schedule that Oliver and Phoebe are on and we will keep a close eye on this so we can quickly intervene with treatment should something develop.  The other good news - my little pudge lost 3/4 of a pound since last weigh in.  She is still a bit heavier than she should be but now in a range that is not risky to her health.

Oliver's results were good as well - his thyroid levels were back to normal so we have the disease back under control.  Additionally - my skinny mini gained almost a pound since his last weigh in which is great - he was very, very skinny!!  So - there is still one area of concern which is his teeth - they are a mess.  The good news is that the gum inflammation seems to be gone from the round of antibiotics he took.  He desperately needs a deep cleaning and potentially other dental work but I think he is still on the thin side and I don't want to put him under anesthesia.  So - I think the plan is to continue to try to pack on the pounds for him over the holidays and after the first of the year if his weight makes it safe we can take him in for dental work.  Phoebe also needs her teeth cleaned so we will take her in as well.

All in all I am quite pleased - we are good to go on kitty health for the time being.   Next week - Violet (ferret) goes in for a glucose test to make sure she is on the right dose of pred - fingers crossed her results are as good!!!

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.

Three Little Kitties

Okay - so they aren't so little any more but they are cute.  Ollie, Phoebe and Aggie are all doing just great:

He loves to bitch at me - Ollie

Phoebe

He reminds me of Puss in Boots from Shrek with the big eyes you can't resist

Phoebe

Giraffe impression

Phoebe - she was actually pretty cooperative - she hates the camera 

The princess Aggie on her pile of pillows

Aggie

She's doing great for going on 18....

Winston's Cooling Mat and the New Chair

Wow - I feel like things have been in a whirlwind around here.  I finally finished up a large, long running work deliverable - woot!  Hopefully now I can get back to a more regular routine....

I bought Winston a cooling mat for outside.  Did you know that pigs can't sweat? Overheating can be a real problem.  We usually have him play outside from about 7:30 in the morning until 11:30 or noon and then he comes in and naps for the heat of the day and then heads back out around 3:30 and plays til 7 or 7:30.  He has access to lots of water and shade but I still worry he will get too hot.  This mat is pressure activated and supposedly cools to 7 to 10 degrees below whatever the ambient temperature is.  The gel inside is non toxic so if he uses his pokey hooves to make holes it should be okay.  I had him check it out yesterday before he came in for dinner - he seemed to like it - laid on it for about 45 minutes....today he has been on and off all day - I think it does make him cooler.  I got it on Amazon for $39 - not too bad....

I was correct in my assumption that the kitties would love the new chair in my office.  They basically live on it now - silly cats.  The ferrets like it too - but mostly when I am in it - they climb up for snuggles - love that!

Assembled, Tested and Waterproofed

With some help from the hubs - we finally got the outdoor critter run assembled.  It's pretty cool!! We brought the kitties and the ferrets into the living room to test it out.  Once it was critter approved - we moved it outside and I put a couple of coats of waterproofing spray on the exposed wood.  We will get it set in place and over the weekend my handy dandy father in law can do the measurements and we can figure out the best way to "connect" this to the opening of the sliding glass door.  The last thing for me to do is to add a second layer of the metal caging around the bottom panels - that way it will be doubly reinforced in case of a breach - I want to make sure there is no way for them to get out.  I also need to pick up a few small suitcase locks - there are some locks on the outside that open small doors that I don't want accidentally popping open so I thought I would just take the extra precautions - can't be too safe.  Can't wait to see these guys enjoy this once it's set up and they can play outside.  More pics to come....

Ollie and Fiona - first in - they seem to like it

Then Phoebe joined in the fun

Violet and Aggie

Violet and Madison - Tabby and Fiona in the background

Bash

Maddie checking out the climbing factor

Fiona, Maddie and Tabby - and Ollie kitty - with his puss in boots eyes

The gangs all here - (except Phoebe) - that is Tabby on the left, Violet and Fiona; Aggie kitty at the top - you can just barely see Theo behind her, Kai, Oliver, Madison and Bash

Tabby, Kai and Fiona

All seven ferrets - Bash left, Tabby on the ramp, Theo, Violet peeking on the left, Madison standing tall, Kai and Fiona

 

Madison and Theo

Getting sleepy

Giant pile of love

Maddie

Bash 

Kai

Everyone is lounging