Tabby Tuesday and a Bonus

Here I am just getting ready to fall asleep for the night.
It is very comfortable on the Mom Lady Person's bed.
Here is a bonus picture the Mom Lady Person got of all 4 of us on the bed at one time. She has never been able to do that. And what was even more amazing was that she was in bed with all of us.

Meezer Monday

Sitting on and protecting your brother is hard work.

Bullfight

Mom works in the town next to ours. Well, actually our town/city surrounds the town where Mom works on 3 of the 4 sides. Anyway, the town has a very large Portuguese population, and across from her school is a bullfighting ring attached to the Portuguese Hall. They have bullfights there about 2 or 3 times a year. In the United States, the bull CANNOT be physically harmed during the bullfight, so they put a velcro pad on the bulls' backs and the torero (bullfighter) has little stick-like things with velcro on the end that he tries to get on the pad on the bull's back.

In other countries, those would be little swords. Anyway, there was a bullfight last night and Mom went. She said it was very interesting, and it was a good thing the bulls couldn't be hurt because she would have refused to go if the bulls were. She said the best part was seeing so many former and current students and their parents. They were all surpised to see her and the teachers she was with but in a good way.

Here is one of the bullfighters on horseback. There were 2 on horseback, and there were supposed to be 4 on foot, but the last two bullfights got called off by the official. We aren't sure why, but what he says goes. Apparently there are very strict rules that the toreros must obey and if he says the fight is over, they are not allowed to come back out. He called the last two fights before anything happened.

Here is one of the bulls. He had just finished being fought on horseback and you can see the colorful sticks stuck to his velcro pad. It is hard to see, but his horns were encased in leather to help protect the horse.

We know that this isn't an activity that is approved by all people or cats, and we understand if you don't approve. Mom says the fights lasted less than 10 minutes each, and the bulls were a bit tired at the end, but were still ready to keep fighting. Mom was actually cheering for them and liked the fiestiness that they showed. The bulls got the better of the toreros a couple of times and got their capes away from them and pawed them.

Togetherness

This is how we were sleeping last night before Mom fell asleep herself (WITHOUT) posting for us. As you can see, the three of us are touching. It didn't last long, but Mom was happy.

~

In other news, Mom is having a hard time typing because she was "Thumb wrestling" with her fourteen year old nephew and sprained her wrist. We knew there was a reason humans shouldn't be trusted with opposible thumbs. They go and hurt themselves doing things with them all the time that they shouldn't. Mom says to tell you she won tho, and is so far undefeated but probably won't be for long if she has to injure herself to ensure a win.

Our Vet Visit-UPDATED

Well, as many of you know, we had our new V-E-T visit yesterday. We weren't used to being in the car that long. The V-E-T was 30 min. away. Tavi got car-sick about 5 minutes before we got to the V-E-T. This is the waiting area. They have cat artwork all over the place. And Mom said that it was a very comfortable space. "Very Homey"
Here we are in our stroller waiting to go in to see the V-E-T. Mom brought our stroller because she said it would be easier to get us around, and with Tavi getting car-sick, it helped a lot.
Tavi looking out of the door in the exam room.
Tiki looking out the door in the exam room. We each took turns exploring.
Tavi saying "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"


Some of the artwork in the exam room.
Bigify to read what these two say.

Tavi waiting to go home. We slept all the way home with minimal fuss. As for what the V-E-T said, we'll start with the good news. Tavi looked good. The V-E-T said that if she didn't know that he was 15, she would have guessed 10 or 11. She said that he was a good weight and not to change anything with him. Mom was concerned that he was getting a little pudgy, but she said she would rather see just a bit of pudge on a 15 year old cat, than a skinny one, so he is good. He weighs 12 lbs 9 oz.

Now for me, Tiki...I have lost about another pound since November and weigh 7 lbs 5 oz. The V-E-T was concerned about the weight loss and gave us some names of different types of food to try. She wants me on an all protein diet with NO Temptations or Greenies treats. If I want treats, I can have freeze dried chicken, turkey, venison, beef or liver. We got samples from the V-E-T. I can also have meat people food as long as it isn't fried. It can be baked, broiled, boiled, grilled, etc, so we are happy about that because it means we can all have that. Our room mate has already said she is going to stock up on chicken for us and keep some boiled for us all the time. She is so nice.

The V-E-T was also worried about my kidneys, so I had to have blood and urine stolen. I yowled the whole time. The V-E-T did a quick kidney test and I now have to have Sub-Q fluids. I got my first treatment at the V-E-T so Mom could learn how to give them to me. In the picture below, you can kind of see the bubble of fluid under my armpit. It made me wobbly to walk because I was off balance. Until we get my lab results back tomorrow, I have to have them every other day. It didn't bother me to get them today. It only took about 5 minutes, so it wasn't bad at all. The really bad news is that I have to go back in a month, and so does Tavi. Tavi has to have his blood stolen then. Mom couldn't do both senior panels at the same time.

Mom said I was up and about more than she has seen me for a while, so hopefully these sub-q's will do me so good energy wise.

UPDATE-2:20 pm PST. Mom here. I just got off the phone with the vet with Tiki's blood results and it isn't good. She said the kidney disease was much more advanced than she thought and he has to have fluids every day. She classified his kidney disease as level 4 out of 4, and the fluids are to preserve what function he has left. She is putting him on some medication also to help bind the phosphorus he eats (in meat) so that his kidneys won't have to work to take care of that. And his liver function levels were out of whack too. She wants to do an ultrasound on his abdomen and maybe take a biopsy if she sees anything. She said it could be an infection because of the diabetes or the kidney disease, but it could also be something worse like lymphoma. We are going to do the fluids for the next month with the medication and a Vitamin B suppliment and when he goes in for his recheck in 4 weeks, hopefully I will have enough saved for the rest of the tests he needs. I am trying very hard to be strong for my baby boy, but it is hard. The vet did say that she couldn't give a prognosis as far as his kidneys were concerned but that it sounded hopeful that his energy level was up last night. Purrs would be appreciated.

Thursday Vet Visit

Well, today is the big day. Oh no, not for me. I don't have to go to the vet. Tiki and Tavi are going. Mom will take her camera and get pictures of their appointment if she can. We will try to update later this evening with what she/he says, but if not, it will definately be the topic of tomorrows post.

Meezer Rule Wednesday

When you are shut somewhere you don't want to be, MEOW and MEOW and MEOW at the door until it is opened.

Tabby Tuesday

Mom said I was looking particularly handsome yesterday, so she took a bunch of pictures of me. I liked this one the best. We hope you have a great Tuesday.

In other news, Mom figured out how to "move" our blogroll )in the order we usually visit our friends) to the computer we are using now, so we should be catching up with you the next couple of days.

Meezer Monday

Mom was sick this weekend so this was how we all spent the weekend. She slept and so did we - sometimes with her and sometimes not. She is feeling much better today.

Tabby Two Month Saturday

Hello, I thought I would give you an update on how I was doing. I have been here two months today and the nice lady mom person was giving me pets yesterday, and she said it feels like I've gained some weight. She said that she can still feel my ribs and backbone, but that there is some meat there now. I don't know if I like the sound of that, but she said it was a good thing. I am also exploring the rest of the house more. I still like to hang out in the nice lady mom person's room, but if she doesn't feed me fast enough, I will follow her to the kitchen and demand my food.


I have also let the Tavi cat lick my forhead a few times without hissing at him. He is okay. He gives me a couple of licks and then walks away. He doesn't shove this togetherness thing down my throat.

The Cody cat is a bit more demanding of my attention, but in a nice way. He keeps coming up to me and settles down near me. He doesn't do anything, except sometimes give me a nose kiss. But he doesn't force anything. He is just letting me know he is near if I want to snuggle. I am not ready for that, but I think I might be one day. I mostly hang out with him under the bed. He is okay as a younger brother type of kid.

The Tiki cat sleeps all day either on the bed near me or in his Garfield bed. He doesn't do anything, so he is okay. He mostly ignores the fact that I am there, so I have decided to do the same thing. Every once in a while, he will give me a sniff and then walk away.

There is another thing that sleeps like a cat, but is a lot larger than any cat I've ever seen. The nice lady mom person calls her Camie. I don't know what to make of the Camie cat thing. She hasn't done anything too me one way or the other, and I have to walk by her to get to the water. The other cats seem to like her. They are always rubbing against her and giving her baths. I think I will reserve judgement on her for a while longer yet.

I hope this finds you all well. I hope you all have a pleasant weekend.

Love ~ Miss Jade

Meow Like A Pirate Day

Instead of Meowing like a pirate, which we aren't very good at, we thought we would tell you the story of a famous pirate and what happens when pirates loose their head.


Edward Teach was one of the most famous and feared pirates of his time. He was a giant man, over 6 feet tall with long dark hair and a long dark beard. Most kitties and beans know him better by his nickname - Blackbeard.

One of the things Blackbeard would do to make himself look scarier was to braid hemp fuses into his hair and beard and then he would light them where they would smolder and smoke and encircle his head in a wreath of black smoke. And he deliberately went out of his way to make himself appear to be ruthless. He liked having a bad reputation. It must have been easier to plunder ships if people were too afraid to fight you for what was rightfully theirs.


Eventually, people were so afraid of him that even tho he was officially pardoned, the Virginia Governor decided to send the navy after him. The mission was commanded by Lieutenant Robert Maynard. Maynard found Blackbeard's ships in the coastal waters of the Carolinas and gave chase. They were fired upon and Maynard decided to have his men go below deck to lie in wait. Blackbeard and his men boarded Maynard's ship, thinking they had killed most if not all of the men, when suddenly Maynard and his men rushed up on deck and a fierce fight ensued.


Some say that it took over 5 gun shots and 20 stab or sword wounds before Blackbeard finally fell dead. Maynard chopped off his head and threw his corpse overboard where it was said to swim around the ship 3 times before finally sinking to meet Davy Jones.


Some say that Blackbeard's head was hung from a spike in Bath as a warning to other pirates. Eventually, it found it's way to Williamsburg, VA where the owner of a tavern that Blackbeard liked to frequent decided to turn his skull into a punch bowl. He gave the head to a silversmith who chopped the top off and covered it in silver and it was used in the tavern for many years and many parties until it disappeared one night. Some people say that since the time Blackbeard's head disappeared, a large, dark haired, giant of a man with a big, bushy beard wanders the streets of Colonial Williamsburg looking for something. So, let this be a warning to all you pirates out there, DON'T LOOSE YOUR HEAD, OR YOU WILL SPEND ETERNITY LOOKING FOR IT!

Thursday Thirteen

We haven't done a Thursday Thirteen in a while, so we thought we would do one for today.

Here are thirteen things Mom has done in the last week or so that we don't like.

1) She has been coming home from work entirely too late. The other day, she didn't get home until almost 8:00 at night, and she said she was at work the whole time. She gets off work at 4:00 and we live 2.1 miles from her work, so it never takes her more than 7 minutes even if she gets all red lights.

2) We haven't been getting enough cuddle time - see #1.

3) The toddler that lives with us (he belongs to our roommates) has become infatuated with Mom and will not leave her alone. So that means he is constantly in our room which means he is always trying to give us pets and take away our lap.

4) Because of 1 and 3, we haven't been getting any time to visit our friends. Mom has promised that that will change when she gets home tonight. She said she is shutting our door and not opening it for anyone.

5) Mom mentioned something about the V-E-T in a week. We don't like those letters. She said that this one is further away, but will help with Tiki's diabetes.

6) Mom hasn't been opening food we want to eat. Granted, it is the same food we have all the time, but we just don't want to eat it. We are mad at Tiki because he got baby food the night before last because he wouldn't eat it. Mom said that was because he had his insulin and had to eat something. We don't think that is fair even if he did share with us.

7) Mom keeps insisting on washing our ham-micks and Camie's bedding. We don't like that. We get them all nice and furry and littery and she goes and washes them.

8) Mom is only scooping our litter box 2x a day. She comes home at lunch. She should scoop it instead of taking a nap.....well, maybe not. We do like our naps with her. Hmmm - what does everyone else think on this one?

9) She said she is going to be coming home late again tomorrow, but not because of work. She says she has to visit an seniorbean that broke her hip. She said she is 92 and is very sad because she won't be able to go dancing for a long time. So she needs to go visit her.

10) She still isn't opening our bedroom door on demand. We want to get out and explore at 2am and she won't let us.

11) She gets mad when Tavi starts chewing up her papers for not letting us explore. He likes to sink his teeth into the paper and just rip chunks out of whatever it is.

12) Mom gets up too late in the morning and doesn't spend enough time worshiping us. (Mom here - I am NOT getting up any earlier than I have to in the morning. I am NOT a morning person and wouldn't be any good at worshiping you anyway. I don't really wake up until I've been at work for about an hour anyway).

13) Mom needs to find us another Garfield bed. We don't care that it is about 10 years old. We want another one. We don't fit in there together.

Meezer Rule Wednesday

My Rule for today is:

When your mom gives you food you don't feel like eating, look miserable until...

You get what you really want to eat.

Award on Tuesday

We received this award from Kilroy and we are supposed to send it on to 7 kitties. We think just about everyone has this award by now. If you don't, consider it yours.

Thank you Kilroy.

Meezer Monday

Here I am just hanging around contemplating what I am going to do today. I think I am probably going to just sleep on Camie's bed and think.

'Til We Meet Again

We just learned that Daisy's sister Pixie went to the bridge and we are very sad. We will miss you Pixie and hope that you have all the bananers you could ever want.

Begging for Treats

Wow, Mama put up my picture again. It isn't often that I get to blog twice so close together. Here I am begging for treats. Mama filled up my treat jar last night. Tiki and Tavi don't seem to like Temptations as much anymore, but they do like Greenies. Mama says they have to be "in the mood" for treats. Me...I'm never not in the mood. Miss Jade is a lot like me in that she also loves treats anytime, anywhere, but Mama doesn't let her have too many, because of her tummy troubles. We hope you all have a restful Sunday.

Saturday Bath

Here we are in our daily bath. They often end up in a wrestling match, but Mom put a stop to this one.

We also send our thoughts and purrs out to the victims of the Southern California Metrolink train crash. We purr that those that were injured heal fast and those that lost loved ones find peace soon. We are also purring that those of our friends who are in the path of Ike, remain safe.

Formerly Feral Friday

We want to apologize again for not getting around to visit all of you. Our room mates lent us a computer to use to go online, and we have been trying to visit as many of our friends as we can, but since it doesn't have the browser we are used to using and it doesn't have our favorites saved, we are using our blog roll to visit you and it is throwing us off a lot. We aren't used to visiting our friends in alphabetical order - mol. Have a good weekend everyone. We hope everyone in Ike's path stays safe!

Mama's Thankful Thursday - UPDATED

Mom here: I am taking over the blog today. I am thankful that Miss Jade took such a short time to integrate into the family. As you can see, three out of my four babies were sharing a small space yesterday just as I was getting ready to go to sleep.

I am also thankful that although Tiki has lost a lot of weight again, as evidenced by the above picture, and he has been experiencing more lows than I would like, he is still fighting to stay healthy and demanding food and loving. And every time he does go low, he fights hard to let me know that something is wrong so that I can help him.


Finally, I am thankful for all of the friends we have made who have purred for all of us, but especially for Tiki. It has been a bit discouraging to see him reacting so strongly to his insulin (which is supposed to help him, not hurt him) all of a sudden, and your encouragement has helped more than I can say. I am going to be making an appointment to take him to a vet who specializes in feline diabetes at the end of this month and will update you all then. **UPDATE - Our appointment is Thursday, September 25 at 3:00 pm PST.

Meezer Rule Wednesday

I have been hanging out in the ham-mick by Mom's bed (the blue one). This green one I am in now is between the chest and the TV, and is kind of "out of the way." Not that anything is out of the way in our room, this is just not in our traffic pattern, so to speak. Anyway, My rule for today is... It is sometimes nice to get a fresh perspective, so take a nap somewhere new.
As you can see, I am once again ensconced in my Garfield bed, but this is after its bath. It came out of the washer and dryer looking very clean and almost as good as when it was brand spanking new. My rule for today is.... if your bed has to be washed, make sure you get in it right away to start putting your stink on it as soon as possible.

Tabby Tuesday

Here I am hiding under the blanket when the Nice Lady Person came home for lunch yesterday. Do you see all those fuzzles on the sheets??? Those are from my my furs - hehe. The Nice Lady Person said she never had fuzzles like those before I came, she only had short furs. She now has lots of fuzzles all over her sheets, towels, blankets, and clothes. I just have to add my furs to all the others around here.

Smooches ~ Miss Jade

Meezer Monday

This is where my Garfield bed is supposed to go. As you can see, it isn't here. Mom is washing our beds again. This is the first time this bed is being washed. It needed it, but I hope it comes out okay.

In other news, we may not be able to visit all of our friends as much as we would like to. Mom's laptop cord finally bit the dust, and taking into account the age of the computer, Mom is going to be building a new one, but it is going to take a while. We will visit as many of you from Mom's work as we can, and Mom promises to post from there as well for us during the week, but we don't know how our weekend posting or visiting will go.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Here I am just hanging out in my Garfield bed. It is pretty comfortable, even if it does only sleep one comfortably. Beds are so much better when you can fit two or more on them, aren't they.

Gone but Never Forgotten

We just got to know Texas in the last couple of days, but he was a wonderful cat and will be missed by many. We can't wait to see you again at the bridge. We are happy that you are now pain free and waiting for us, but sad for those you left behind.

Tavi's Thankful Thursday

I decided to do a Thankful Thursday today. I am thankful to all of you for asking if Tiki is okay. He is. Mom had to give him two squirts of syrup again. She has been cutting down on his insulin, but he is still reacting very strongly to it. This was the 4th time in a week that he was low, but this time and the last time we blogged about it were bad. So, I am also thankful that Mom knew what to do to get him well again, so I could relax. Thank you all for asking about Tiki. It means a lot to all of us.

Meezer Rule Wednesday

When you aren't feeling well*, it's okay to be pampered by your mom.

*My blood sugar was low again last night.

Tabby Tuesday

We had such a relaxing day yesterday. I can barely keep my eyes open. We hope you all have a great week.

Meezer Monday ~ Happy Labor Day

This is how we plan on spending this holiday. Happy Labor Day everyone. We hope everyone who is having a BBQ or party has a safe one. Oh, and remember, no one is supposed to wear white after today, so all you whitesters and tuxies better dye your fur some other color.