F-O-O-D

Merry and Sam know the word 'food'. We now have to spell it out when they're within ear-shot, otherwise both cats start acting as though we haven't fed them in a week. I don't think it'll be long before they cotton on to the spelling either. And then I guess we'll have to switch to a bit of the old 'nourriture'.

Christmas Cat-astrophe??

The Boy and I must be crazy. We've decided to take the cats down to Cornwall with us this Christmas. Not through choice mind you; but necessity. You see we were a bit slow in booking a spot at the cattery - doh! And besides, they did so well at the cattery in September when we were away for 15 days ... they genuinely seemed to benefit from the change of scenery. I'm sure they'll have lots of fun sniffing out and exploring a whole new house by the sea. They'll have their own room, which will be kitted out with all their familiar bits and pieces. And to be honest, I don't think they'd care where they are as long as The Boy and I are on hand with a pocket full of cats snacks.

School photos

I thought I'd share some recent pics of the boys.


Sam is such a poser ...




... while Merry LOVES snuggling up with his dad.




And I couldn't resist this cute one of Sammy singing Christmas carols to me this morning :-)

Merry the Porker

Uh oh ... the vet thinks Merry is getting fat. We have to cut back his food by 10%.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bagsy not the one to break the news to Merry!

Merry's Transformation

Okay, so those of you that may have been following this blog may be forgiven for thinking we only have one cat called Sam. That's because Sam is so much more lively and entertaining than Merry. Merry takes himself far too seriously ... until recently that is.

I don't know what's gotten into him but all of a sudden he's really come out of his shell. HURRAY! So the major new milestones for Merry are:

1. Eye contact. Brilliant. At one time, if you moved your head to gain eye contact with him, he would move his head in the opposite direction. Now he will gaze into your eyes for a fair few seconds before he gets self conscious and looks away.

2. Purring. OMG. Last night when Merry started purring, Rob and I turned the TV down and listened in stunned silence. More often than not, when Merry tries to purr it ends in a coughing fit, so to hear him purring loud and proud was a rare and special moment.

3. Bubbles. Merry is still a chicken when it comes to lots of things and bubbles aren't an exception. He will shuffle out the way when one comes floating near him. BUT, he loves WATCHING them and gives an excited little squeak whenever I blow through the little bubble blower.

I'm so happy with the new relaxed Merry (no longer the misery cat) :-)




This blog is linked to Corrinne's website.

100 blogs old today!!!

This is my 100th blog entry - woo hoo!

Rob and I are back from our holidays and Sam and Merry are back from Leafy Oak Farm Cattery in rural Surrey. We're thrilled with how happy they seem, depite a two week (15 night) stay away from home. When we emailed the cattery after week one asking how our little boys were doing we got a lovely picture of them chilling out in their chalet, with a little note from Sam and Merry saying how much they were enjoying themselves. When Rob picked them up this morning he said they'd been upgraded to a bigger (3-4 cat) chalet :-) All in all, they look well fed and relaxed and seem to be settling back into the home routine without too much trauma. A highly recommended FAB approved cattery http://www.leafyoakfarmcattery.co.uk/

A handy tip: Rob wore a sweater to bed every night for a week in the lead up to our holiday and left it at the cattery with Sam and Merry. I really think it helped. The picture we got from the cattery shows them both curled up on it, even though there were two very comfy looking beds for them in the chalet.

We had a man round this evening to measure up for a cat flap in the conservatory. Now that the weather is turning, it's impossible to keep the door open like we have been doing over the summer months. The house is FREEZING. So we've bitten the bullet and ordered a snazzy chip activated cat flap called a Pet Porte. It recognises the cats from their chips, which means we don't have to wrestle them into collars. I can't wait for it to arrive.


This blog is linked to Corrinne's website.

Sam's poop

I have to share a funny moment with you.

Rob and I were watching TV one evening a few weeks ago when we distinctly heard a fart.

It was Sam. He'd assumed the Budda pose cats assume when they're washing their bellies and it must have just snook out.

Boy did we laugh. Neither of us had ever heard a cat fart before.


This blog is linked to Corrinne's website.

Sam's Gymnastics

The mid air clap with upper body tilt.

The star jump.

The full body stretch.

The tail balance.

And finally the backwards triple twist. BOING!

This blog is linked to Corrinne's website.

Catching up with S&M

It's been a while since I last wrote, primarily because there's been nothing to report. Sam and Merry continue to go from strength to strength, particularly Sam who has turned into the dopiest, most loveable 'lap cat' in the world. He loves being stroked and tickled and picked up. He also loves his food and has grown loads since taking the anti-parasite powder.

Merry still struggles with physical contact and is determined to keep his distance most of the time. Having said that, however, he loves The Boy and will always try and get close to him when he gets home from work in the evenings. I simply don't get a look in when all three of them are snuggled up on the sofa together ;-(






That picture of Sam stretched out in his spotty PJs makes me laugh. Look how long he is.






This blog is linked to Corrinne's website.

Sam and Merry

Our two little boys have responded brilliantly to the anti-parasite powder. Their appetites have settled, they're happier, more energetic, they're even getting friendlier. An astonishing difference really :-)


This blog is linked to Corrinne's website.

Sleepy Sam

Hang on Sam, you're not supposed to sleep on the Watch Tower. It's called a Watch Tower for a reason you know!!!

We gave Sam half a Piriton tablet, as prescribed by the vet to help the inflamation from his bee sting go down ... and after an hour or so he started getting really, reeeeally sleeeeeeepy ** Y A A A A W N ** Luckily he found the perfect spot to doze ... z z z z z z z z z z z z z

This blog is linked to Corrinne's website.

Spoke too soon

On the way back from taking Sam to the vets about his paw, we bumped into some neigbours who we haven't spoken to before. On discovering that they also had Bengals we embarked on a rather enthusiastic story swapping session, which included the benefits of not letting them out of the garden. "Well, at least they don't bring us frogs and mice and birds and things," said the neighbour.

Anway, not 15 minutes after getting back home, Sam and Merry came racing into the dining room from outside smashing ornaments and almost ripping the blinds from the window.

"What the ..."

"It's a bird," shouted The Boy launching himself off the sofa.

Sure enough, on the kitchen window sill was a very frightened (but still breathing) sparrow. A big splodge of blood and feathers on the window above him showed where, in his panic to escape, he had smashed into the window.

After a quick call to the RSPCA we were advised to take the bird to our nearest vets ... so off we went again, with the little sparrow in tow.

The vet, to be honest, was pretty useless. First of all she let the bird escape from the box so it was flapping around the surgery banging and crashing into things, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. So now the poor little thing was more frightened than ever. In the end she opened the surgery door and let the bird fly away. I have to admit I was really annoyed with her. It felt like we'd made matters 100 times worse for the bird by taking it to the vets. Tssk.

So anyway, a rather eventful morning all in all.


This blog is linked to Corrinne's website.

Paw Sambo

Sam learned the hard way yesterday that while bees and wasps are fun to chase, they don't necessarily make good friends. He got stung in the paw, which proceeded to swell to twice its normal size. A quick trip to the vets (where Sam is on first name terms with the receptionists), two jabs (steroid and anitibiotic) and a course of Piriton later, we're another 45 quid down. We're never gonna make it to the Maldives in Spetember at this rate!!!!

This blog is linked to Corrinne's website.

Both cats doing well.

I usually speak too soon on these matters, but what the heck ...

Sam and Merry have been on the anti parasite powder for 3 days and things look good.

Sam -- and The Boy can vouch for this -- has developed an appetite like we've never seen before. He's ravenous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He even ripped into a bag of cat biscuits that we'd left on the side in the kitchen.

I got 5 sachets of the powder prescribed by the vet to share between the cats over 5 days. This meant splitting the sachets in half. Since this is quite a fiddly thing to do when you're being hounded by two hungry, meowing cats, I decided to do the measuring up in advance. So when the RSPCA home visit lady arrived on Wednesday for the 6 week (yup) check, I had lots of little bags of white powder on the side in the kitchen ... goodness only knows what the poor woman thought when she saw them!!!!


This blog is linked to Corrinne's website.

Puzzled

Hmm, I was in Pets at Home today buying kitty litter and I thought I'd have a look at some different cat bicuits to see if there were any that boost the immune system. And I was puzzled to see that some cat biscuits are fortified with tomatoes and grapes plus all sorts of other things that are supposed to be toxic to mogglings.

I give up!!!


This blog is linked to Corrinne's website.

A call from the RSPCA

Crikey, we are getting a visit from the RSPCA tomorrow, the post adoption follow up. Why am I so nervous??!!

This blog is linked to Corrinne's website.

You gotta admit, Merry sure knows how to snooze happy.

Check his smile :-)

Darn Bengal Forums ;-)

I'm gonna stop looking at forums ... what's a Bengal mommy to do??!!

http://www.bengalcatforums.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2584&sid=742bc2b3ab8e0bc24d472880a699a886

Getting to the bottom of it ...

Okay ... we have bad news ... and we have terrific news.

The bad news is that Sam had ANOTHER relapse. Vomiting, runny bottom, lethargy, and loss of appetite. The Boy and I decided to wait and see what would happen in 24 hours, and the good news is that it did clear up. However, as per the vet's advice, we decided to get 3 pooh samples. Luckily she said it didn't matter if it was Sam or Merry's pooh and it didn't matter either if it was mixed with cat litter, which is a good job really, because Sam's pooh really was like water.

Anyway, I got a call from the vet today to say that in preliminary tests the samples had tested positive for Giardia, a gastro intestinal parasite that causes all Sammy's symptoms. So the terrific news is that we have finally got to the bottom of it (pardon the pun). We pick up some medicine tomorrow and treat them both.

The vet said that they are running tests for a few other things too, so fingers crossed we don't find anything else OR we DO find something else and it's easily treatable.

Poor little sausages; symptoms of Giardia include belly ache and headache. I can't bear the thought of my little babies with a headache ... not if they're anything like mine, lol.

Anywayz, after a little bit of research it turns out that another symptom of Giardia is foul smelling litter deposits. Eureka. Also, it can be dormant for months and even years, and can be triggered in many ways, including stress (ie when we put them in the cattery).

Thought I might also say that scrambled egg is REALLY GOOD for poorly mogs. It was the only thing Sam ate (well, nibbled really) when he was sick, and it really perked him up :-)

Full of beans

Samwise Stinky Bottom Huffer Garstang is back to his old self. The vet saw him tonight and gave him a clean bill of health.

When we took Sam to hospital, the vet asked us if he had been anywhere near grapes or raisins. The answer was no, but the fact of the matter was WE NEVER KNEW THAT GRAPES AND RAISINS ARE TOXIC TO CATS. So we took it upon ourselves to find out what else is poisonous to mogglings. A simple Google search revealed some startling facts. Garlic, onions, tomatoes, green potatoes, grapes, raisins, pork and chocolate are all bad for cats; the worst being grapes, raisins, garlic, onions, potatoes and tomatoes.

Anyway, it's great having Sammy back to his usual daft self.

Poor Merry doesn't seem to have half as much fun as Sammy. He's so obsessed with food. If he's not mooching round the kitchen, he's meowing for food. I can't believe he's starving for a second. In fact he's actually beginning to look a little porky round the middle.

Hey good news ...

... just as I finished writing the last blog, Merry came tearing past followed soon thereafter by a rather rambunctious Sam.

A very good sign indeed.

Brave wikkle pussy mog

Sambo the Rambo Cat had his jab and apart from doing a terrific Shakin' Stevens impression, was very brave.

The Vet wants to see him again tomorrow for another jab. His temperature is still high and she wants to make sure he's eating (and keeping his food down) before she discharges him.

He ate most of his dinner this evening, which I fortified with 100% chicken treats. And I've made him some scrambled egg (on the recommendation of the vet) to tempt him with later.

We've spent over £400 in vets bills in 24 hours ... so fingers crossed he gets better. I know it's money well spent and we'd pay it a thousand times over for the Sambo Mog but still: FOUR HUNDRED POUNDS!!???!!! Something tells me The Boy and I will be talking pet insurance very soon.

Sambo Skitter Pants' Hospital Visit

... okay, forget the blog where I told you Sammy's tummy was okay.

Two days ago Sammy stopped eating and started vomiting. The Boy and I decided to play the 'wait and see' game in case it was a 24 hour bug or something. Then yesterday when I got home from work, there was vomit AND diarrhoea on the floor. Sam, bless him, looked awful. He looked gaunt, was walking slowly and didn't seem engaged at all. I whisked him off to the vets minutes later after watching him have a wee in the garden only to realise it wasn't wee after all. Not to mention the white frothy vomit that followed.

The vet told me that Sam's temperature was dangerously high and that he was dehydrated and in some pain. So I agreed to keep in the hospital overnight where they put him on a drip, and pumped him with painkillers and antibiotics. This morning when we picked him up he looked brighter, but still hasn't eaten.

The vet couldn't really tell us what was wrong with him. She suspects it's 'something infectious' but can't say what. He's due back at the vets this evening at 10 past 6 for another antibiotic jab ... and if he's still under the weather they'll run some tests to get to the bottom of it (excuse the pun).

My poor little Sambo. He's such an entertaining little cheeky chops usually. Hopefully he'll be back to his usual bubbly self soon.

I know this is a Bengal blog BUT ...

I just had to share these pictures of my sister's two new kittens. So fluffy and small and cute.

My likkle cheeky chops

Cat Watch Tower Renovations

We changed the cat tower to make it easier for the cats to get up and down. The ladder was okay to climb up, but neither cat liked climbing down it, particularly if they were in a hurry. Now they don't launch themselves off the top with invisible bungee chords any more. Phew!

Update

Sam and Merry (aka S&M) have been on a half and half (normal/prescription) diet for a few weeks now and I'm happy to report that both cats are doing well. No upset tummies. We're going to give the science diet a go soon and see how they do on that. If that fails, we'll stick to the half and half diet.

We're talking about giving them a third meal each day as they both seem to be hungry all the time. They've been wormed so it's not that. I left a huge pile of cat biscuits out the other evening to see how they would react. I honestly thought they would eat a few biscuits and leave the rest. But 15 minutes later, Merry was still munching his way through them ... so much so that I had to take the bowl away from him. I genuinely thought he would pop. We were hoping to be able to leave biscuits out for them at all times for them to nibble on when they get peckish, but that's not going to be an option given Merry's Prader Willi Syndrome.

We put them in a cattery for three nights last weekend as a test run for our big two week holiday in September. Unfortunately when I went to collect them on Monday morning, Sam was in a right old state. He looked terrified.. His eyes were wide and he was shaking. He looks like that cat in Shrek when he's scared ... poor little sausage. It's taken him a good few days to get back to his normal lovely self. Now The Boy and I are in a quandary as to what to do with them when we go away in September :-(

Other news since the last time I wrote: Merry escaped from the garden through the only gap in our home made cat proof fence. This is in the corner of the garden where climbing roses cover a pergola. We thought that maybe it didn't need cat proofing as the rose bush is quite dense and the thorns quite sharp. However, Merry didn't worry about this when he spotted the neighbour's cat walking along the top of the fence. He literally launched himself vertically through the roses and shot off into the big beyond. When we found him a few minutes later he was in front of the neighbour's house, under a bush, looking very frightened indeed. Needless to say, we have cat proofed the entire garden now.

Other news ... we've noticed that when we leave the bathroom door open (which we don't do very often because of Sam's obsession with toilet roll) Merry leaves us a lovely big pile of vomit. Hmm.

We're still trying to decide if we like The World's Best Cat Litter. It does a terrific job if the cats are weeing and pooing normally. But if one of them does anything too smelly or runny, it seems to hold onto the smell for ages. Otherwise it's really good. We LOVE the way you can remove a 'brick' of wee only seconds after the cat has finished in the litter tray.

Merlin

Just a quick update on my mum and dad's dog, Merlin.

Apparently his profile didn't even reach the TIA website. He was matched immediately with an older lady who lives up near the Yorkshire dales.

I trust TIA. But I can't help worrying about Merlin. Is he happy? Is he confused? Is he wondering what he did wrong? Is the lady nice? Is she strict? Does she make Merlin sleep outside in the howling gales? Is he chained to a fence, shivering and cold and crying for Piglet?

You see how I torture myself??!

My mum and dad put my phone number in with his paperwork, and requested that the lady call me in a few weeks time to let me know how he's settled in. I have a feeling she won't, but it would certainly make me feel a whole lot better if she did.

I'm gonna miss ol' Merlin :-(

Poor little Sambo ...

... he's got the squirts real bad. Day three and the house is beginning to smell like a public latrine. Not even the Oust is touching this one.

You can tell he's not 100%. He's usually such a hussy when it comes to kissing and cuddling. Go near him at the moment, however, and he just gets aggro. I've got the scratches to prove it.

It's not like Sambo to have an upset tummy. Hope he'll be okay.

Merry the toddler

I bought Sam and Merry a toy box at the weekend to keep all their bits and pieces (cat nip mice, balls, teddies, squeeky toys, etc) nice and tidy. No sooner had they all gone in than Merry was taking them out again. Tsk.

Nora the piano playing cat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0zgQAp7EYw&feature=related

Well worth a watch to put a smile on your face.

The great cat litter test

The Boy and I are testing various cat litters.

We are currently using a litter which is called: The World's Best Cat Litter (yes, really!). It claims to be earth friendly and biodegradable and is made from whole kernal corn. It certainly smells like corn. And the texture is lovely. It's soft and velvety unlike the Sainsbury's one we've been using which looks and feels like rubble from a building site. It also claims to last a month, even with two cats. Which is a good thing since it costs in the region of £20 a bag.

So far so good. It's doing a fab job. The cats have been using it for almost a week and it still smells as fresh as it did on day one. And The Boy and I are in awe of it's amazing clumpability. The only thing we're not sure about is its claim to be flushable. We are under the impression that flushing animal waste down the toilet is a no-no, since it introduces toxins to the water system that can't be killed by water treatments.

In any case, we like the litter so far ... let's see if it's still doing such a good job in 3 weeks time.

Watch this space!

Sammy's freckles ...

Here's a better picture of Sammy's freckles :-)

Kissed by the sun ...

Does anyone else have a cat with freckles?

Sam is malting quite a bit on his temples, revealing some of the cutest fair-weather freckles I have ever seen on any living creature (on the picture you can see them about an inch above his eye). They're just too cute; I LOVE IT :-))))))

The Boy thinks we should get some sun cream for him in the summer. Not so sure about that myself ...

Lord of the Flies ...

Chez mentioned that Frodo and Gandalf have started hunting small mammals; shrews and mice and rabbits. Thankfully we don't have to worry about that with Sam and Merry. The only thing Sam hunts is flies, which he always ends up eating. He's amazingly quick at catching them too. The other week I watched him stalk a large blue bottle which I could still hear buzzing when it was inside his mouth. Bleurghh!

Dinner time.

This is on a good day. Sometimes you'd think we hadn't fed them for a week the way they cry and carry on.

Making a donation to the RSPCA is easy. Simply make your cheque out to the RSPCA and send it to: RSPCA Ashford Garden Cattery, 34 Station Road, Ashford, Kent, TN23 1PH

Merry looks for Freya ...

This was Merry's response to the video of Freya meowing. He looked everywhere. I wonder if he remembers her.

A clumsy lummux

Sam, bless his cotton socks, is as clumsy as they come. If he's not crashing into things, he's falling off things. For the most part he seems none the worse for his misadventures ... but this evening we noticed a pea sized lump on his head. It's a mystery where it came from but I can only imaging it made his eyes water, whatever it was.

We had to remove the ball-on-a-string from the cat tower last weekend for health and safety reasons. Sam and Merry were fighting (as usual) on the platform, 7 feet up, when Sam fell off. He managed to cling on for a second or two before he plunged, grabbing for the string en route. Unfortunately he got tangled up and sort of hung upside down for a second before doing a back flip and landing on the ground with an almighty thud.

After some TLC and of course some chicken treats, Sam was a-okay. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for me and The Boy.

Sammy with his head in the clouds.

Merry does Yoda ...

Latest Mug Shots: Samwise (top) and Merry.

Merry's unusual profile

Does anyone else think our lovely Merry has an unusual and/or unique profile? We think he has a real 'big cat' sort of look, with his loooong face and protruding jaw. When the vet looked in his mouth, I noticed his bottom teeth are unusually crooked. It made me love him all the more.

A kiss for mommy?

Sam isn't quite sure what to make of his mommy's request for a kiss.

Sam in a Box

At last, spring has sprung, which means I'm finally able to hang my washing out in the sun to dry; something I had the pleasure of doing yesterday morning.

Not long after I'd finished pegging out the laundry, The Boy and I heard a loud clatter from the conservatory. Merry came flying out, frightened half to death. However, Sam was no where to be seen.

We soon discovered why.

Sam (being his usual inquisitive self) had jumped inside the basket, but because it was wider than the blanket box I'd put it on, it had flipped over (with Sam inside it) and fallen to the floor, trapping poor Sam beneath it.

I have to confess, I laughed my socks off.

Merry Update

Hallo, just a quick update on Merry.

We decided to take Chez' advice and wean him off the prescription food slowly. So this week we have been feeding him a half and half mix of prescription food and Hi Life fish. And guess what?! His poos have been perfect.

The only hiccup was a bit of blood that I noticed on one of the poos whilst emptying the litter tray. I'm almost sure it was Merry's and this is something The Boy and I are monitoring closely before we panic and rush him off to the vets. I'm hoping it was just a little bit of straining that caused an anal fissure.

In the meantime we'll carry on with the half and half mix.

Over all, The Boy and I are happy with the way things are looking. No more runny poos. No more smelly poos. (The poos used to be so smelly we had to put tea towels across our faces to stop us from gagging when we emptied the litter tray not to mention the tonne of scented candles we were getting through each week). No more pooey paw prints on the furniture. No more emptying the litter tray three and four times a day. No more replacing the litter two or three times a week. No more hungry cats.

And best of all Merry seems happy too.

Merry

All the signs are pointing to a food intolerance.

I got some good advice from Chez, who suggested we try and wean him off the prescription food slowly. Maybe it was too much too soon. This is something I will chat to the vet about this evening. I will also attempt to get a stool sample from him (that's Merry, not the vet) and see if we can shed some light on the situation.

I feel gutted for Merry. He was so miserable eating the same old boring chicken and rice food day ...

... after day

... after day

... after day ...

... after day ...

... after day.

Think Eeyore.

As soon as he came off the prescription food and onto the Hi Life, he was like a different cat.

Think Tigger.

It's such a tricky situation with Merry. We want him to be well AND happy and at the moment it's impossible to find the balance.

If we didn't have Sam eating normal cat food, it would be easier. At the moment we have to separate the two cats at meal times, which Merry hates. He gets really frustrated and anxious about being separated and not getting the same 'yummy' food as Sam. In fact, Merry spends so much time fretting about this, that it disrupts his mealtime anyway. It's quite tough all round.

Any ideas??

Uh oh ...

... there was a big pile of foul smelling, mushy poo in the litter tray this evening. Could it be that Merry is back to square one?? He's been soooooo happy since we put him on the Hi Life diet yesterday morning. I don't think I could cope with him moping about for the rest of his life if we had to put him on prescription food indefinitely. He hates it.

Please Lawd, pleeeeeease!

Cat Fence

When we got Sam and Merry we had every intention of letting them roam the neighbourhood. It's a fairly quiet area with one residential through-road.

However, since getting the cats we've noticed that some cars scream up and down at frightening speeds (we estimate 60mph in a 30mph zone). It's only one or two idiots, but one of the neighbour's cats did unfortunately get hit and killed.

So anyway, we made the decision to keep Sam and Merry confined to the garden until we can afford a house in the countryside. This, of course, left us with the problem of how to contain two lively, agile creatures, both of whom have Higher National Diplomas in climbing.

We looked at two different options:

Firstly the Purr-fect Cat Fence enclosure which is a normal fence with an inward turning arch at the top. http://www.purrfectfence.co.uk/

Secondly the Katzecre system, which uses rollers. http://www.katzecure.com/gallery.php?type=single

Unfortunately both were out of our price range (between £500 and £1000).

After scouring the Internet, The Boy found a website that explained how to make a cat proof fence using drain pipes. http://www.kittyklips.com/quotes.htm

Sounds ugly I know, but we tried it and it works! What's more it cost us no more than £75.

The Back Stroke

Caught Merry in another excrutiatingly cute sleeping position this morning.

Merry worships at the alter of Hi Life

OMG, what a difference food can make in the life of Merry. He is walking on air after wolfing down his flaked sardine and mackeral breakfast.

Merry's poo

Merry's bottom has settled considerably this week. He obviously has a sensitivity to food. But he's finished his prescription food now and tomorrow he moves onto the Hi Life diet with Sam. I'm hoping it'll put a smile on his face ...

Sniffing Sammy

A weird thing has happened to me over the past two weeks. I have developed an obsession with sniffing Sam's fur. I find that if I am sitting on the sofa and Sam comes and sits next to me, I just have to bury my nose in his fur. As you can imagine, Sam isn't overly happy about this, judging by the funny looks he gives me. But oh ... he has such a lovely, furry, kitteny, fluffy, warm kind of smell :-)

Merry's depressed again

At the risk of sounding like an overly protective mother; I'm worried about Merry. He seems so depressed. He's not taking an interest in anything at the moment. He won't give eye contact. He won't engage in play. He won't accept any affection. He's being really quite autistic. All he wants to do is lie in his igloo in the conservatory and mope.

I don't know if he's in a grump about his prescription food, which he's rapidly getting bored of.

Maybe he's not feeling well ... I just dunno.

I wish I wish I wish we could just go in there, pick him up and give him a big ol' cuddle.

Patience Garstang, patience.

Merlin Update

The nooz from up north is that Merlin isn't overly fond of cats, so I won't be able to take him in. I'm devastated because it means he has to go to a dog rescue centre and I'll never see him again ... but I'm sort of relieved that the decision has been taken out of my hands.

If anybody can offer a forever home to a friendly, intelligent eight-year-old Lurcher / Border Collie cross called Merlin; who has one blue eye and one brown eye; and whose favourite thing in the whole world is a little toy piglet; and who gallops across the field like a stallion; and who is patient with other dogs in the park that can't keep up with him; and who is so good he never takes food off your plate even if you leave it on the floor; and who loves nothing more than a tummy tickle; and who is gentle with children; then please let me know.

BTW, Merry and Sam are both responding well to their new diets. I walked into the house this evening after work and ... IT DIDN'T SMELL OF POO!!!! Hurray :-)))))

Merry sleeps like a pro ...

I think we need cat insurance ...

Phew, what a weekend.

The claw trimming went really well. I was worried that the boys would FREAK. But they didn't. In fact they were almost good. Sam had a little bleed when the vet cut one claw too far down, but even that didn't seem to bother him.

The Boy and I took the opportunity to ask the vet a load of questions:

1) Does Sam have a cloudy eye?
The vet had a good look in Sam's eyes. He said he couldn't see a problem per se, although he thought there appeared to be a little corneal oedema. After a quick Google, I discovered that this is often as a result of injury and can make a cat's eyesight a little blurry.

2) Is there anything that can be done about Merry's runny bottom?
The vet was concerned about this because he said cats' poo should be firm and solid. It shouldn't even be fudgy, which is what we've classed within the normal spectrum until now. He has put Merry on a prescription diet for a week and wants a poo sample. He also gave us worming treatment to apply to both cats and some probiotic powder for Merry.

It's turning out to be a nightmare feeding the boys different diets. They're so used to swapping meals half way through (don't ask us why, it's just a thing they do). Worse still, we tried feeding Sam that Hi Life food, which is 60% human grade meat (apparently) and he turned his nose up at it!!! He wouldn't touch it. What an eejit. It smells fab!!

Then today, I thought Sam had been stung in his mouth by a wasp. He looked really uncomfortable around the mouth, licking his lips and frothing. And his chin looked quite swollen. After talking to the emergency vet on the phone, I was informed that yes, it was an emergency and a consultation would cost £122. Yikes. The Boy and I chatted about it for a while, and then The Boy suggested that maybe it was the worming fluid, which I'd applied to Sam's skin in the wrong place. I thought I was putting it between Sam's shoulder blades, but his body was twisted, so I'd actually put it within licking distance on his shoulder. After watching Sam for a little while, The Boy's suspicions were confirmed. Whenever Sam tried to lick the worming fluid off his back, he started frothing and licking his lips wildly. The poor little sausage looked really uncomfortable. Poor old Sammy boy. He's not having a good weekend.

And my other news, which throws a spanner in the works, is that I might have to take in my mum and dad's dog. He's a beautiful, gentle Lurcher/Border Collie cross called Merlin. I'm not sure how Sam and Merry would cope with this. It's still early days on this one and the boys will always come first ... but it's something I have to seriously consider.

Like I said; a crazy weekend.

Pets at Home Shopping Spree

I spent £75 on the cats this evening. Yup, disgusting isn't it. I haven't even spent that much on MYSELF this month! I bought ... are you ready for it ... a radiator bed; an automatic cat feeder (cos we're off to see an exhibition tomorrow and don't want the boys to go hungry); a radio controlled mouse; a funny shaped ball; some cat nip spray; some 100% chicken treats; some Hi Life cat meat; and some 60% chicken cat biscuits.

The food is for Merry. We're trying him on the Hi Life diet for a while because the girl in the shop said it was better than Felix for cats with sensitive tummies. The meat looks great ... almost made me feel hungry. Best of all, it didn't seem any more expensive than Felix. It's just a bit more difficult to find in regular supermarkets. But that's okay.

Tomorrow we're taking the boys to have their claws trimmed. I'm not looking forward to it. WISH US LUCK!!!!!

Question ...

How can you tell if a cat is truly happy?

Poorly Merry

Poor Merry is off his food again. This morning he hardly showed any interest in his Felix. Bearing in mind he's usually the one doing an Oliver on us twenty minutes after eating his dinner.

Last night a delightful smell of cat pooh wafted through the house. Usually we leave it an hour or two to 'solidify' before removing the offending article ... but this was simply too horrid to ignore.

Upon entering the conservatory I discovered why. Our precious little Mezza hadn't even made it to the litter tray before spraying nasty, watery diarrhoea up the door and across the floor. It was, without a doubt, one of those rare rubber-glove and face-mask jobs.

Now I'm worried. Why does Merry have such a poorly tummy? Is it because he insists on eating weeds in the garden, or has he been eating things he shouldn't in the house? Two of Sam's plush carrots have now disappeared without a trace. What if they're blocking up Merry's intestines??

Thank the Lawd we've booked them in at the vets to have their claws trimmed on Saturday. I feel a bit of a question and answer session coming on ...

Donating to the RSPCA is really easy. Simply send a cheque made out to RSPCA to: RSPCA Ashford Garden Cattery, 34 Station Road, Ashford, Kent, TN23 1PH.

Da Boyz are in da hood

Is it possible for cats to be blokes' blokes? Sam and Merry have a definite preference for The Boy. Not only do they get genuinely excited when he comes home from work; they follow him up the stairs and cry plaintively outside the bathroom while he's on the loo; they jump onto his lap while he's watching telly and gaze at him adoringly; they actively seek out his affection whereas mine is given the 'sloppy-kiss-off-an-old-smelly-aunt' brush-off. In fact, this morning when I got up to do the morning feed (so that The Boy could have a lie-in) the cats looked positively disappointed ...

Nope, Sam and Merry definitely prefer hanging out with da boyz.

Unexpected joys ...

Rain, cats and pristine floors do not mix as we discovered yesterday. Pawprints for ENGLAND. As soon as Homebase opened this morning, The Boy and I rushed out and bought a door mat for the cats. Not entirely sure they'll use it ... but it's worth a try.

A cat's eye view

I've been wracking my brains for a way to enable Sam and Merry to see over the garden fence. Up until now they'd have to climb onto the fence or the shed, neither of which they're allowed to do. And I do feel sorry for them being only a foot tall. Then I discovered the magnificent Catplay Station aka Twin Towers on the Internet (see earlier post) and a light switched on in my head. The result? My very own cat watch tower. It cost me £30 in materials and took me less than an hour to construct. And the cats seem to love it. It means they can see over the fence in all directions, and there's no chance of them using it as an escape route. Hurray. (P.S. It's cemented into the ground so it's entirely stable).

Evil mommy!

The boys don't know it yet, but I've booked them in to have their claws trimmed next weekend. HWA HWA HWA!!

I don't know whether to feel more sorry for the cats ... or the vet!

Oh my GOD! The cats would LOOOOOVE this!!!

... I found this amazing cat play station on the Internet. It's at a website called http://www.catplay-stations.com/combination_three.htm and costs a reasonable £165. Oh I WISH I had the money right now!!! Sam and Merry are itching to climb.

We got an initial ball park figure for the cat fence ... £700 to £1000. I know; I nearly choked on my coffee too.

Making a donation to the RSPCA is easy. Simply make your cheque out to the RSPCA and send it to: RSPCA Ashford Garden Cattery, 34 Station Road, Ashford, Kent, TN23 1PH

Sleeping positions

Merry has the weirdest sleeping positions. He loves sleeping on his back like a human. Here he is having an afternoon snooze with The Boy.