The Day After

We are working on figuring out our new dynamic around here.  I am missing the Zoey kitty today and it was made worse by the vets office calling to let me know that her ashes were back already. Ugh - that is the toughest part, going to pick her up for the last time.  I can't believe she is back at the vet's office so quickly.  In the past I had ordered two urns for the ferrets - with their faces painted on them.  I love them.  I did not, however, have anything for the kitties.  When you have as many animals I we do we decided that combined urns were a better approach.  So, I looked around online and found an amazing kitty urn.  It shows a wonderful scene of kitties at the rainbow bridge.  I also found a lovely engraved urn medallion with Zoey's information on it.  It will hang around the top of the urn and I can order for the other kitties when the time comes.  Hopefully that will not be for a long while.

Last night we let Bash, Theo, Maddie and Fiona come down to our room for a visit.  Kai, Tabby and Violet would have been invited as well - but they were all sacked out.  You simply cannot be unhappy with ferrets around to entertain you.  They did a great job of cheering us up.

Today I have spent a ton of time down in critter land.  The kitties and ferrets have had much extra love and attention - its a great distraction.  Emma and Winston are both doing great!  Emma has been a good pup today and Winston has been enjoying time outside in the almost spring sunshine.

Tonight I am thinking that it will be Vi, Tabby and Kai's turn for a play date.  Once the hubs gets home and we have some dinner I will grab them and let them have some play time - they will love it I am sure.  Tomorrow perhaps I will be brave enough to stop by and pick Zoey up.  Sigh....

Zoey - April 2001 - March 2016

I am incredibly sad to have to report that last night we lost our sweet Zoey kitty.  She had been losing weight over the last few weeks and  she took a very fast turn yesterday and passed away just after midnight last night.  I am grateful that I was with her at the end.  She was cuddled up in her blanket, comfortable on the bed in the critter room with Phoebe, Oliver and Aggie all in very close proximity.  She was visited over the course of the evening by the ferrets.  I think she knew she was loved, she in her familiar surroundings and she wasn't hooked up to a bunch of needles at a vets office (she really hated visiting the vet) with strangers. For that I am thankful.

We have had Zoey in our lives since she was 10 weeks old.  She was a beautiful, complicated spit fire who loved her mommy and could be very snitty to everyone else.  She was the first furry kid that my husband and I got as a couple and we went a long way to get her.  She was a kitten born to a cat of the neighbors of my parents in Colorado.  She was promised to someone else.  We met her when we were on a road trip and we left without her.  A few hours later we got a phone call that we could take her if we wanted to.  My husband was the hero and immediately turned the car around.  It was fate - she was definitely supposed to be in our family.

Unfortunately our orange girl was plagued with health problems pretty much from the beginning.  She had respiratory issues - a diagnosis or cause was never found but she often had breathing challenges.  She was on thyroid medication, had some dental problems, etc.  For a somewhat sickly kitty 15 years is a pretty long run. We have had many scares with her and we thought we might lose her a few times over the last few years.  I am so thankful for the time I had with her.  I like to think that she had a pretty great life with us filled with lots of affection, attention and companionship. I already miss her grumpy butt.

Rest in peace my sweet orange snagglepuss.  I hope you know how much you were loved....

Kitties - Year in Review

2015 was a pretty good kitty year I must say.  The kitties seem to lie their new space for the most part.  They have had a pretty healthy year as well.  Phoebe, Oliver and Zoey continue to do well on their transdermal medication for hyper thyroid.  Aggie continues to be the healthiest of the bunch at 17 years old.  Ollie and Zoey are 13 and Phoebe is 11.

All in all I am quite pleased with how they are doing.  I would love to see Zoey put on more weight - she lost a bit due to her dental issues.  Since I switched her to canned cat food she is starting to gain which is good.  Aggie and Phoebe are active and happy and Oliver continues to be my trouble maker - he is vocal and wants constant attention but he is the sweetest kitty and he is the ambassador of my little zoo - the one critter who gets along with every other animal with no issues.

I hope for continued good health - my feline portion of the zoo is getting up there.  Here's to a great 2016 for my sweet kitty fur kids:

Zoey

 

Aggie

Phoebe

Oliver

A Busy Week - the Recap

This week has been C R A Z Y - Wednesday Harlow was at the vet all day and once she since she came home there has been syringe feedings and medications and general craziness.  Here are some snaps and stories from the last couple of days:

To kick it off - I got a large box from Amazon the other day that had paper as the packing material. Winston got the paper out of the box and drug it around and decided to cover his bed:

I think all pigs love paper and he has played in that, slept in it and chewed on it for days - he has been a great little pig so I might have to invest in a roll!!  :)

The kitties are well - they just keep on trucking - going with the flow.  Here is Phoebe sleeping on the steps - and the stank eye picture after waking her up:

Here is Zoey - one with her angelic sleeping face and the other with her Billy Idol sneer she has since she lost a tooth --- can I get a Rebel Yell please???

Ollie was sacked out while the camera was out:

And my eldest girl Aggie - so pretty and doing so well:

Various shots of the ferrets follow - they are doing great thankfully - it's always scary when one of them gets sick wondering if the others will come down with it.  So far no one is exhibiting any symptoms like weight loss, icky outputs or lethargy so I think we are okay - knock on wood.

The handsome Bash

Trying to get the camera

Its the eyes - so sweet

I love it when I come upstairs and find these little faces waiting for me

Theo one the left and Kai on the right - waiting for gravy

Gravy is so popular that sometimes Theo does his best meerkat impression

The beautiful Miss Violet

So - I have more pics and more stories plus an update on Harlow and how she is doing - but - I am out of time for this morning so it will have to wait til my next post....stay tuned.

Four Kitty Vet Visit

Can I preface by saying that I am really glad this only has to happen once a year....ugh!

The good news:

• I put Ollie, Zoey and Phoebe in Winston's carrier and they did great - safety in numbers I guess. Since Aggie and Phoebe don't really get along Aggie got her own carrier.  No howling in the car - thank goodness.
• Physicals for the most part went well - they are a fairly healthy bunch
• Aggie, Phoebe and Oliver were all well behaved and polite kitties

The bad news:

• Ollie may need to have his thyroid meds adjusted - he is down in weight and his heart murmur is back which can be caused by outta whack thyroid levels
• Zoey has some dental issues - in fact she pitched such a hissy fit at the vet that she bit me and lost a tooth while we were there so now she is on antibiotics
• Zoey is now even more cranky than usual and giving pretty much everyone in the household a really crappy attitude.

So - now we wait for blood results and hope that everyone is okay...will post the details once I have them.  I took a few pics at the start of the appointment.  Once the vet got started no snaps as I am the kitty consoler so its hands on...

How Intriguing - Four Kitty Post

My sweet Miss Agatha is doing just fantastic!  Her health seems great and she is a happy and go with the flow kind of girl.  She has been spending lots of time with me during the day while I work and I think she is happy to be back on a regular schedule - she is a creature of habit for sure.  I am quite pleased with how she is doing - love that old girl to pieces!

Crazy Oliver - the ornery boy - he keeps us hopping around here.   He has been doing great with the exception of hairballs.  Since Oliver is the ambassador of the zoo he feels the need to bathe himself, the other kitties, the dog, the pig and the ferrets - this results in some frequent and pretty gross surprises.  His weight seems to hold steady and he is certainly full of piss and vinegar.  He is due for a vet visit soon so I will make sure he is in tip top shape for sure - we would be sad without all these kitty shenanigans!

Miss Phoebe is fantastic.  She is full of energy, constantly playing with her toys and always up for some human interaction.  She is quite the sweet girl.   Little Miss is still pushing the envelope of naughtiness - trying to see just how far she can go without getting into trouble - then once she is in trouble trying to cute her way back into my good graces.  It's not hard - she is too cute for her own good.

Oh Miss Zoey - she is something else.  Zoey seems to be doing quite well.  She is cranky like always.  Her weight is holding but she is quite thin - I think as a result of the hyperthyroid.  Her appetite is good, and all systems seem to be functioning like they should.  I dread the fact that she needs a vet appointment as well - she is so awful at the vets office....but I will be taking her in to make sure she is all good.  Love that girl....

How Intriguing - 4 Kitty Update

The kitties are doing great!  All of them seem to be pretty darn happy these days.

Aggie - my go with the flow girl is doing just fantastic.  She has been quite interactive and much braver in her old age hanging out downstairs during visits from strangers over the holidays.  Her health seems to be quite good.

Zoey - little Miss Snagglepuss is doing fantastic as well.  She is active and in love with the new toy she got from her Aunt and Uncle for Christmas.  When she is not spinning the ball around the tube she is laying in the center or using the cat scratcher.  She had been coughing - trying to rid herself of a hairball I think - but that seems to have resolved itself.  She is much better and doing great.

Oliver - my ornery boy is doing well.  He has been playing quite a bit with Winston - they are fun to watch. He finds his share of trouble still but he keeps us entertained.  His health seems great with the exception of being my hairball kitty....leaving me all sorts of surprises...gotta love it.  He is enjoying hairball meds in an effort to slow that down.  I guess that's what happens when you are the resident bather of kitties, dogs, pigs and ferrets...

Phoebe - my sweet girl is doing well but suffering from some winter allergies - as are her humans.  She is bright, active and eating well - she is just very sneezy.  I feel her pain as I have been very sneezy myself. When it gets too bad I give her a drop of nasal meds in one nostril to make her more comfortable.  Her sneezes don't produce any gunk - just sneezes so I am pretty sure its allergies.

All in all - things in kitty world are good.  Everyone is due for a trip to the vet so I will be taking them in over the next few weeks along with the ferrets to get everyone checked out.

Critter Classic - Zoey

Look what I found!!!  I was tidying up a mess that the baby ferrets had made - they got onto my scrapbook shelf and pushed several of the books off.  I am glad they did because as I was stacking I took a look at one of the very old scrap books and I found these - pictures from when Zoey was a tiny baby kitten!!

These first two I think were taken at my parent's old house in Colorado.  The first one is Zoey with the hubs, the second is her back behind a piece of furniture.  These would have to be taken on the first day we got her so she was about 10 weeks old.

This one is truly a find - Zoey in our kitchen - and that is Isabel in the background.  Oh I miss that kitty - its been almost 4 years since we lost her and she is the whole reason I started blogging!

Here she is playing in a shoe....classic kitten material!

And last - her sleeping next to the fridge - crazy cat!

I had forgotten I had these - no idea where the negatives or original digital images might be.  Apologies for the red eye - can't do much to fix when it is a picture of a picture.  So happy to have them and to put them on the blog and into the blog book for posterity!  :)

Four Kitty Post

It's been forever since I did a kitty post:

In general the kitties are well - they all seem to be healthy and happy!

Oliver - he is still my ornery boy.  He is trying to get used to Winston - he is our ambassador of the zoo and gets along with everyone but Winston challenges him with his head butting and kitty bowling tactics.  They play often and when Winston gets too rough Ollie heads for higher ground. His health is fantastic and he is full of energy.

Phoebe - little Miss is overdue for a vet visit - I need to make an appointment for her but she is doing just great.  She is unsure of the piglet and avoids him most of the time.  Phoebe is still my toy kitty and brings her ball up every night for tossing.  All in all she is doing very well.

Aggie - my old girl is just perfect - no ailments to report.  Aggie is in denial we have a piglet and she pays him absolutely no attention.  She is active and interactive and occasionally I catch her playing with her toys like a spring chicken.  Very pleased with how she is doing.

Last but certainly not least - Miss Zoey.  My snagglepuss is not loving the pig - surprise, surprise! She is a pretty mellow girl otherwise - hanging out mostly downstairs but venturing up to sleep with us every now and then.  She is very stable healthwise  which is great given some of the challenges we have had with her.

Overall - there are no complaints in kitty land!!  :)

Four Kitty Post

It's been pretty ferret intensive around here lately so I thought we were likely overdue for a kitty update. In general I am happy to report that all four kitties are doing fabulous!

Aggie - my old girl is cranking along happy and healthy.  Her strong trailer park genes keep her healthy I guess.  She is still the people food beggar - occasionally we indulge her...Her latest favorite spot is a chair cushion that the ferrets pulled down off one of the dining room chairs.  She has been laying on it soaking up the morning sun.  She seems quite happy which makes me happy!

Zoey - my snaggle puss is also doing just great.  She is feeling good, spending time with the humans, trying to be more tolerant with the ferrets.  Her favorite spot at the moment is smack in the middle of the kitchen island.  Counters used to be off limits til I gave up - she was determined and once she sets her mind something you can forget it.  She is slated to go into the vet in September - U G H - how I dread that appointment - and I am sure she does as well....not to mention the folks at the vets office.

Oliver - as reported - my boy is the picture of health which is just super.  He is full of ornery as usual.  He is quite the favorite with the ferrets and he has been quite sweet and gentle with Clooney.  He finds all kinds of trouble - not sure how he keeps thinking up new ways but he does!  His favorite spot these days is at the end of my side of the bed.  He and Phoebe are still attached at the hip - they do love each other so.  I am quite pleased with how Mr. Kitty is doing!

Last but not least - Miss Phoebe.  She is doing quite well - much better after a bought of stomach issues of unexplained origin that magically resolved themselves.  She is still my toy girl - dragging out many toys each day.  Each evening she brings her red pom pom up on the bed and we play 43 rounds of fetch - I throw and she retrieves.  She is better at fetch than the dog.  Her favorite spot lately is on the chair in the entry way - she lays draped over the arm of the chair and is the official greeter when the humans return home.  It's a sweet little face to come home to for sure!  She is next up at the vet - she hates to go but is usually very well behaved.

All in all - kitty land is calm and happy and for that I am grateful!

Four Kitty Post

We haven't done a four kitty update in a while.  I am happy to report that things are good in kitty land!  Seems like all four kitties are healthy and doing just great.

Phoebe - she has been hanging out with me a lot lately - and she has wanted to be lap kitty which is unusual but you aren't going to hear any complaints from me.  For the last 2 days she has been in pom pom heaven...you see, Theo the wonder ferret found a bag of pom poms in my craft supplies and got it open and then proceeded to spread pom poms all over the place.  Phoebe who is my toy kitty could not be happier.  Its funny to watch her play with one and then kick it aside to play with another - so many pom poms, so little time....

Oliver - my ornery boy is still ornery!  Wouldn't have it any other way.  He is so pushy and wants to be on me at all times.  I must say that this gets a bit trying at times.  Literally - I cannot be seated for five minutes without him wanting to be on me.  This includes booting off any ferret or cat who might already be on me... geez.  We have had lots of screen door open kind of weather which he thoroughly enjoys and I enjoyed yesterday when he decided to have a long conversation with a dove on the porch.  He was on the inside of the screen door and the dove was outside.  Ollie meowed at the dove and the dove cooed back.  This conversing went on for several minutes and then the dove hopped down the stairs and headed over to the bird food smorgasbord for a bite to eat.  I wonder what they were saying?

Zoey is doing great - she seems quite engaged and active.  Today in fact, I was a bad cat mommy and left her outside on the deck unattended while I went and ran errands.  Luckily she is my kitty with no desire to explore the great outdoors - she just laid under the table on the deck and soaked up the sunshine.  She came to the door and asked to be let in which was when I realized I had left her out for a couple of hours.  Very happy that she stayed put - she is my good girl...

And last but most certainly not least - my eldest girl Aggie.  She is doing so great.  No issues to report - she is just a happy, go with the flow kitty.  Aggs is on a people food quest these days.  It's quite funny - she never ever ate people food and now she wants a bite of everything you have.  If you forget to share she lets you know with either a loud mew or a little tap with her paw.  She is kinda choosy - she doesn't take everything you offer - but she does have the expectation you will offer and give her the option.  Love that old girl to pieces....

So there you have it - updates from the kitty world...

Outdoor Critters

Okay - not really - outdoor critters in my world don't exist yet.  My kitties are not outdoor, the ferret no and Emma is not a big fan of outside.  Outdoor critters in my definition would be our future cow, goats, micro pigs and chickens.  Someday...

I do, however, have 2 critters who are in love with the porch.  Clooney, my eldest ferret and Zoey the orange kitty.  Now - don't get me wrong - all the critters love to go on the porch but when you let them out there is a circus act trying to keep them all from escaping.  Not the case with Clooney and Zoey.  Both are content to be on the porch - they investigate, lay in the sun, watch the birds and the bugs go by and they don't have a pressing need to venture past the porch.  I would never leave them out there unattended and I am not saying they wouldn't go off the porch if given the opportunity, but they are different from the others as it is not a primary goal to get off the porch.

Clooney came out with me this morning while I watered plants - he checked out the porch and then laid down in the sun and waited for me to finish.  Then I opened the door and he came back in with me - such a well behaved boy.

As the summer rolls around I am thinking of getting the ferrets a sandbox and setting it up in their playpen.  They should have fun and since only Theo can escape I only have 1 critter to chase!  I will post some outside pics over the summer but for now - in honor of Throwback Thursday - some links to previous outside posts:

http://grantzoo.blogspot.com/2012/05/littlest-boys-outdoor-adventure.html

http://grantzoo.blogspot.com/2011/05/front-porch-shenanigans.html

Happy Birthday Zoey

It may be tax day but around here we are celebrating Zoey's birthday!  She is 11 years old today!

Zoey was an adorable fluffy white kitten - born in Colorado - across the street from my parents house.  The story goes something like this:  I saw her and fell in love - she was promised to someone else.  We were on a road trip and had left for home and got a call from my mom after being on the road for a few hours that we could have the kitty.  My husband (boyfriend at the time) turned the car around and headed back for her.  She was a lovely traveler on the way home and she made fast friends with Isabel and Aggie - the kitties we had at the time....

Zoey morphed from an all white kitten to a beautiful marmalade and cream colored cat.  It's believed that she has some lynx point Siamese in her blood line.  She also morphed from a happy purring kitten to a somewhat persnickety adult kitty.  She has certainly mellowed over the years but she can still be hissy, growly, and unpleasant to strangers and especially to the vet.  She loves her humans though and is quite loyal.  She gets along well with all the kitties, is peacefully co-existent with Emma and is not a huge fan of the ferrets even though they try to be friends with her often.

We have had a few health scares with Miss Zo over the years but for the time being she is quite stable and seems to be doing well and enjoying life.

So - happy  birthday to my girl - you were so worth the miles we spent turning around to pick you up and make you a part of our family!!!