Happy Cat Family

Hi Furriends, Bugsy here!
Thank you so much for the vibes and purrayers! My Goodness, a truck hit me and I didn't even see it! All I know is meowmy put me inside of that carrier and the rest is no good. I just don't understand why... Why my mouth is in so much owy...
Meowmy already told you what happened, so I will just update you. That night she fed me with a syringe... ouch, it hurt so badly! I didn't want to eat, I was telling her, but she wasn't listening to me furriends! The next morning though I woke up hungry, so I ate on my own.... Well... not exactly - meowmy fed me with a spoon, but still, it was better than the syringe thingy. I can only eat stinky goodness, so she feeds me all the time, like 5 times a day.
There are also the injections :( Meowmy has to give me injections twice a day (antibiotics) and pain meds three times a day. As you can imagine and see on the pictures, my favorite place is under the bed.
I really really don't like this situation... I hope I am all better soon, back eating crunchies and stinky goodness, and more importantly not taking these injections - I hate them, they hurt furriends!
Anyways, I am doing much better... Now I feel I have been hit by a VW bug instead of truck hehe.
Thank you so much for checking on me furriends!

Hi Furriends, Meowmy here!
Bugsy's dental ended up being today instead of Monday, and was pretty rough... he is not doing "so sexy"... He had three extractions, the roots were very weak and brittle, and came out in pieces, so they had to go into the bone to clean it up. He did get a bone implant put in... His records show he had a small hemorrhage... He had little problem being intubated, and with pain after the surgery (they had to up his meds).
I spoke to the clinic later today as Bugsy was still not eating, and they said he had a "rough, big day". They said I might have to force feed him, but his mouth is SO sore...
I gave him more pain meds and he freaked at me touching his mouth the poor thing.
I am hoping he will eat soon now that he is medicated again. So far it's been about 24 hours since his last meal, and all he did was take a few licks of my fingers moments ago.
I hate the thought of force feeding him- he is clearly traumatized and in a lot of pain.
I will be giving him clindamicyn injections 2x a day for the next 6 days, as he can't have any more antibiotics with his digestive system messed up as it is...
To top it all off his glucose came high- 180 out of max 159. They ran a second panel and second test was 177. I was told by someone that this slight elevation could be explained by stress.
My poor little baby is a mess...
If you pray, say a little prayer for him... At least for him to eat... If you don't, send him some vibes... I am getting ready to mix some food to force feed him...
My poor baby boy :(

Hi Furriends, Meowmy here!
At last I have some good news... all around! sounds like this is the beginning of a much deserved break for all of us here, finally!
Let's start with miss Gracie: She made a full recovery from her tooth surgery, and we were since she got here working on getting her on the right level of thyroid medication - she was for a long time off meds, then was way over-medicated. Finally her test last week showed she stabilized right where she needs to be: she is now taking 1/3 of the dosage she was taking when she first got here!
We were doing blood tests every 2-3 weeks, and I am sure glad she doesn't need to go through that anymore, as she had to be put under every time and that is always risky for an old gal like her. Let alone the stress of constant vet visits! But now she is doing great, and that is behind her - ahhhh relief!
Now Lucky: After her blockage she was put on a hairball formula, and is eating like a champ. She is still constipated from time to time, but I am managing it with hairball treats as needed. She is doing very well and happy! I am glad she turned that corner - those were some scary days of not eating and being completely blocked... I am watching her like a hawk!
Now our prince boy Bugsy!
I am sure you all remember the months and months of diarrhea ordeal Bugsy went through. All the meds he was given took a toll on his little body and affected his liver - his ALT level went way up and kept escalating so he had to be completely off drugs, even of his stomatitis treatment. Yesterday we went to the vet for his liver panel, and he checked all clear! All his numbers are good - ALT and enzymes -all good!
He is now back on his stomatitis meds and has a dental scheduled for Monday, as being off meds made his gums suffer and now we need to bring him up to date on that. But he will be a-ok.
He still has soft poop, but not diarrhea, and certainly not explosive liquid diarrhea like he was having before.
His vet examined his belly and said he could feel no gas and he showed no signs of pain - he was not jumpy like he was before during examination. Also, during his diarrhea he was rapidly losing weight, and he has gained some weight back - even though he is overweight, that is a very good sign given the circumstances - a sign that he is absorbing the nutrients better.
So, the vet said for now, no meds - just continue with the probiotics and change his fiber to pumpkin - he read some studies that pumpkin works better than psyllium.
Hope went for her annual/vaccinations and checked in with flying colors. The vet said he could not hear the murmur she was once diagnosed with. He even tried to listen with a pediatric stethoscope. His protocol is to do only the rabies annually and the distemper vaccine once every 3 years - I like that.
So furriends, there you have it - for once I have great news all around! whew! All I want is a healthy 2011!
Now if you can spare a few purrs for Bugsy's dental on Monday, that would be great - I am sure in my heart he is going to be just fine though.... He is my boy,the love of my life!
Thanks for reading and for being there for us!

Hi Furriends, Lucky Here!
Have you met Shell? Shell is very special little kitty who has stolen our hearts, and many of the hearts around the Blogosphere. When she got at her meowmy's house, she was so malnourished that her skin would literally fall off her body with the lightest scratch. Her mouth had huge rodent ulcers due to severe Stomatitis - to a point that she couldn't keep her tongue inside her mouth... She had a bad URI, Herpes virus... She was peeing blood which the V-E-T thought was due to parasites... Fleas, hookworms... But she can't be treated for that either because she was too weak then.
You can know about everything she is facing on the post about her first vet visit, by clicking here. (Tell meowmy to get a box of tissues... She will need it...)
Even faced with all these hurdles, her meowmy saw her will to live - Shell was telling her, showing her she wanted to stay... and since the day her meowmy chose to fight with her, she has let that will shine through everyday, every minute!
Shell's recovery has been remarkable, in a very short period of time. The little kitty that was hiding inside of her cage is no more - Shell is jumping everywhere, including on a 7feet high window sill! She is eating, started gaining weight, and her tongue no longer hangs out of her mouth. Her wounds on her skin are healing. The ulcers in her mouth, even though they haven't improved a lot, have decreased in size. She even started eating dry food!
She is cuddly, sweet, playful and described as having the energizer bunny inside of her - she never stops and demands love and attention (which she has pleeeenty!)
Yesterday she started her stomatitis treatment with the same clinic Bugsy goes to here in Dallas - I am sure if anybody can fix her mouth, they can!
So, today's post if for Shell. We are thankful her meowmy rescued her... Thankful she saw her will to fight a good fight to live, thankful for her to come into our lives making our days brighter and happier, and most of all, thankful that she is getting better everyday. Thankful that she will never again go without food, without love, or a warm bed to sleep on. Thankful that so many of us, from everywhere love this little girl, without even having set eyes on her, and are helping her to get the treatments she will need to win this battle.
When it comes to Shell, we are just thankful for so many things!
Shell, this Thankful Thursday is for you <3

Hi Furriends, Lucky Here!
It is a bit cold today, and since we have no heater in the house, we feel purry snugly. Well, let me explain that - we did have heat until last week.... But you see, we live in an old old building, so it is either heat or air conditioner; since it was warm for a while the landlady had turned the air on... Good old Texas turned the weather the day that happened. Go figure - meowmy say's it is some gentleman's fault, I think his name is Murphy, or somefing like that. She said he is a lawyer, or has a law...
It is ok though... Don't you guys like cuddling when it's a little cold? Humm... so cozy!
Have a wonderful, super-easy Sunday furriends!

Hello furriends, Lucky here!
After five days, we finally got the hooman (aka Meowmy) to type. She says she has been so busy with work and everything else in her life right now that she really hasn't had to time to update our bloggie... I say she just doesn't know how to prioritize her life... After all, what can possibly be more important than US? Of course nothing! Can you believe she was working the other day until 2 am? TWO in the morning! Not fun!
Anyways, our apologies furriends - without opposable thumbs there is really nothing we can do besides wait on her to type our thoughts - sigh.
Well, on another note, today we have a "Philosophical Question" for you all that has to do with the picture below:

So, as the picture says, all our siblings have paws; none of us are bean babies. All of us have fur and spit hairballs.
There are four of us fur-kids, "raised" by a single-meowmy. Like in a bean family, our toys are in the living room, and we rule the house - the difference is they cry and we meow; we consider our way far less annoying. Our home is adapted to our needs - we have shelves on the walls, a big bed where we let meowmy sleep with, a place to fit our bathrooms, etc. You walk through the doors you definitely know it is a cat house... Meowmy makes sure we are entertained, put it that way.
So, here is the Philosophical Question:
Are we a "Normal Family?"
Is it "Normal" to have "so many" fur-kids and none bean babies? (not that we think it isn't, obviously)
Could Meowmy be replacing a "Normal Family" with us?
Is she, herself, "Abnormal" for having fur-kids and not bean-babies?
Has your meowmy ever been called abnormal for having too many fur-kids? If so, how did she react, and what was her response to that comment?
Sadly furriends, this is not just out of curiosity, this has happened to Meowmy, and has sadden her a bit... Not that it has changed at all how she feels about us, or anything like it, but she thought it was an unnecessary comment... So now she is curious to know if others go through the same thing and how do they deal with it?

Hi Furriends, Meowmy here!
The nice folks from SunnySeat contacted us to review their product, and of course we accepted!
The SunnySeat is a window sill/Perch that attaches directly to the windows or glass doors with big suction cups, requiring no tools, thus avoiding any damage to the window framing and painting.
It comes in a thin and long box, which the kitties came to inspect immediately!

Inside of the box, the product comes already half assembled, making the remaining assembly quite intuitive. The bed already comes mounted, the wires attached and hooked to the respective cups. The only thing you need to do is remove the cardboard and attach the bottom cups.

The instructions are one page - here is where IMHO the product lacks. It is more warnings than instructions, per se. And while the product comes pretty much assembled, there are some key points to make this item safe and effective that I would like to see it in the instructions. I will get to that later. As far as directions, the only thing you will find here, is to clean the windows and cups well, to hook the bottom cups first, and washing instructions. The rest is pretty much warnings.

So, here is step 1: Attach the bottom cup to the window first.

A detailed view of the suction cups - On their website/Infomercial, they say these are "Industrial Size Suction Cups" I can't testify for that, as I never seen and Industrial Suction Cup size before, but these are pretty big. Once you put it on plce they stay on well, and are easy to come off if you pull from the sides.

Onto Step 2: Attaching the top Suction Cups: Here is something that in my opinion it is important and is missing in the instructions: You need to make sure that the wires are completely straight. If you look from the front, you should see a perfect 90 degree angle. Remember, to detach a suction cup, you pull it from the sides, and if the wires are not perfectly straight, you are essentially doing that, constantly pulling them sideways until they detach it. They will fall. It can take a little while to get them straight, but it can be done. 

Now the kitty test! Lucky spent a few hours on it and loved it! I like that the cover is removable and unlike a perch, it doesn't get as hot so she was pretty comfortable in it. Almost like a hammock, good for warmer days.

After three or so hours, I checked the cups and there was no air in it whatsoever. I am sure it could gone much longer. I do think one would have to push the cups in a couple of times a day just for good measure, or at least check.
Something else I would like to see in the instructions, is how to properly attach the suction cups to make it stick longer - here are a few tricks I know:
1- Clean the window and the cups with alcohol and a paper towel (or newspaper) - not with a cloth, as it leaves fibers behind, removing some of the suction.
2- Moisten the center of the cup a bit - just the center before you apply suction - this will give you a better seal. You can put anything in there, just make sure it doesn't get it to the edges.
3- Of course, when you apply the cup, make sure there is no air left in, at all.
Lucky is 12.5 lbs or so, and the infomercial says it holds up to 40lbs.
I am not keeping it as I live on the first floor and for me it would mean having to leave the windows wide open all the time to use it - but it is a great concept for someone who is not on the same situation as I am.
I am donating this piece for an upcoming auction on the Blogosphere - it is in the package, and was used for the review only! I am sure a kitty will enjoy very much!
Below is the infomercial for it- of course it makes it look much easier than it is to place on the window... If you do it like that, I am sure it will be on the floor in not time LOL.
Thanks for visiting furriends, watch for this item to be showing up at a CB Auction Soon!

The SunnySeat Retails for:
2 for 1 Offer $19.99, + $15.98 S+H ($19.99 each, $7.99 each S+H)

*Disclaimer - SunnySeat gave me a free SunnySeat for reviewing purposes.

Hello Furriends, Meowmy Here!
For those who don't know, Gracie has been in her own little area, separated by a baby gate and SSSCat on my computer desk since she moved in. She is terrified of the other kitties, especially of Bugsy, who absolutely LOVES her and simply can't leave her alone :)
I have tried everything on the book - scent exchange, the vanilla trick, have feliway running in every room, sloooow intros, etc. with no luck.
Well, yesterday as I am seating on the couch the SSSCat goes off - I have it set up on my desk for Bugsy to not jump over to her area... Imagine my surprise when I saw that it was Gracie who was actually crossing over to their area!!! She came right over and laid on the couch next to me! Below is the dialog she had with Bugsy....... right before Lucky came running as a good old alpha and put her back on her place. She did have a small "fight" with Bugsy, it was kind of scary for meowmy....
Today she crossed over again! Right now she is laying down peacefully on the couch while Lucky is on the other side (also on the couch), Bugsy is on the cat tree, and Hope is on the floor on the living room! I think we might be making progress here furriends! As they say, when dealing with cats, it is all on their terms, and their time!

Hi Furriends, Lucky here!
Whew, the weekend is finally here! Thank Goodness furriends! Meowmy has been working so much she hasn't had a lot of time to play with us these days.... Oh well... She says she has to do this to get us nom-noms and stuff. Purrsonally I think she can do a lot better on the playing department; I thing it might be time for an intervention. Let's hope she does better next week - for now we are already enjoying some free time with her.... purrr........ so good!
Have a good weekend furriends!

Hi Furriends, Lucky here to give a healthy update on effurybody in the house!
Let's start with the most impawtant kitty in the group - you guessed it: me! I am doing GREAT! Meowmy fed me with that syringe thing until Sunday night, then she started feeding me some yummy num-nums and I loved it! I am eating all on my own now! I was afraid I was going to get the runs like brother Bugsy because she changed my food just like that, but nah - didn't get it - I guess I was so plugged up and constipated my belly just averaged thing out inside... Purry cool, huh? The only special treatment I am getting is now I have a set time to eat, since Bugsy and Hope can get really sick if they eat my food. Meowmy says she is training me to be fed on a schedule - sounds scary, I know. Now I eat 4 times a day - in a month she wants me to eat only two. T-W-O. She says I better re-learn to snack on my brothers food or else I will just have to wait for meal time! I am going to rebel! Thing is, meowmy travels and auntie Kelly only comes in twice a day so... Oh, yeah I am also getting something that is called Vaseline every other day so I don't plug up again with the hairballs - yuck it is disgusting!
Ok, now onto Gracie, her update is super quick! Gracie is doing great too... Meowmy and the V-E-T are working hard on adjusting her thyroid medicine, and she goes to the doctor to have her blood stolen effury 2-3 weeks to check on her levels and adjust the dose. When she came here, she was WAY over medicated, taking three times as much medicine as she is taking now! She is going back to the V-E-T next Wednesday. She made a full recovery from her tooth problem, but in the last visit her doctor said she will need a dental sometime soon, her teeth are kinda nasty, she probably never had a dental before that poor girl!
Bugsy: Bugsy is doing good, but his poop is "iffy". I tried to make meowmy explain what that means, and here is what she said... "Iffy" means that it is not really diarrhea, but it is not really formed. It got formed after DiaGel, but now it is kinda mushy. Sorry for being gross furriends. Meowmy is not taking him to the V-E-T just yet because she wants to make sure what "side of the wall" he is going to fall on. You see, when he was having diarrhea, it was explosive liquid diarrhea, and it is definitely not like that anymore... We don't know if he is dancing the samba on the top of it and smashing part of it or what is going on... We just want to make sure before starting him on Steroids or taking him to a specialist. All the meds he took affected his liver, so he has a liver panel scheduled for March 25th. Also, because of that, his dentist took him off his stomatitis medication, so his gums are getting worst - he will need a dental as soon as he gets the all clear from his V-E-T, and hopefully at that time he will be able to go back to his treatment (I bet he will not be happy about that). Because of all these things, meowmy wants to be really really sure of what is going on before moving onto any kind of drugs again.
Anyways, although not 100%, things are WAY better around here, and meowmy doesn't seem so freaked out anymore. At least there is no crisis going on at the moment. Let's hope that from now on all continues to get better - meowmy deserves a break! I am doing my part - I promise to tell my brother and sisters to do the same!
Thanks for checking on us furriends!