Our New Feline Friend, Jabu

This beautiful guy showed up at our door last week. After checking him out to be sure he was ok, I tried to ignore him, thinking he would go home. He never left. So of course I started feeding him while putting out the word that I'd found a cat. I thought for sure he belonged to someone. He was neutered and not too bedraggled, so I figured he had not been outside long.  No one was looking for him and he had no collar or microchip.

After a few days of hanging out on my front porch, I decided to bring him in. We had some bad weather coming and I couldn't rest knowing he was outside. So I treated him for his fleas and brought him into my Florida room, separate from my cats. He was spooked for a little while, but then settled down and went to sleep.  Now he's flea free and seems happy to be here. I have named him Jabu and I guess he will be staying.

Wall Christmas Trees

Follow DJ Nodinsnest's board Wall Trees on Pinterest.

This year I'm looking for ideas for a wall tree instead our usual cat playground known as the traditional Christmas tree. I realize we are running out of time, so I went pinning and these are some I found.

What do you think? I'm still not convinced the cats won't just climb the walls too, but it's a thought.
My other thought is no tree at all, but not sure I can convince my son about that one ;)

Afternoon Cat Nap

 

It's hot here, real hot! Our outdoor stray "Scat Cat" stretches out on the front porch to sleep. I love that he fell asleep on his catnip mouse! He comes to eat and visit, plays with his mouse but still won't let me touch him. At least he's comfortable and feeling safe enough here to have a good long nap :)

Florida Tank Update

 Our Florida freshwater tank is doing great!

All the plants are growing and we haven't lost a single fish.

So far the Flagfish are getting along with everyone.

I tried to get some good photos of the males, but it's amazing how hard it is to photograph moving fish!

This is the best shot of the larger male Florida Flagfish.

  Isn't he beautiful!

Another Fish Tale

I know they may be hard to see, but our Molly had babies! If you look close you can see the tiny fry in these photos. There are about fifteen altogether. Not sure if they will make it, some will be eaten unfortunately. If they did all survive every time, we would run out of tank space fast! So we will let nature take it's course and see.

New Aquarium for our Florida Fish

Our ditch fish are getting new digs!  We have been busy setting up a 29 gallon tank for them. It's quite an improvement over the little 2 gallon they have been in. Right now we are waiting for the water to cycle and establish some good bacteria. There are some live plants, a few snails and a couple of common mollies in it for now.

So far all is well and we will add the others in a week or two.  On our last net dipping we caught two sailfin mollies and a flag fish.  We still have the 10 gallon tank with the pet store fish, but my son is obsessed with the ditch fish we found and wants to keep going to see what else we can discover. Florida has quite an array of critters in our ditches and canals. Not to mention a few not so friendly guys too, but we are steering clear of them!

Pillow Pet?

Our Desi is a pillow pet of a different variety! This is her newest sleeping spot, inside the pillowcase on my son's bed. Not sure why I even give him pillows, he never uses them. Just more linens to wash.

It's been a rough couple of months around our house. Between five weeks of bouncing "the plague" back and forth between us and me hobbling around for two weeks after a cat attack to my ankle, there's been a whole lot healing going on.

With any luck the grey clouds are clearing and it's all sunshine and smiles from now on. Happy Spring to you all!

It Was Not To Be

 

Even though I had hoped with all my heart that this Clara was healthy and would be with us for many long years, it was not to be so. Of all things, she developed megaesophagus to due PRAA, a condition that is rare in cats. She did manage to grow to four months old but only weighed 2.5 pounds.

 

I consulted with a surgeon to possibly repair the problem, but she was too small.

He wanted her to be 4-5 pounds. However this last week, no matter what I tried to feed her, she could not swallow and was loosing weight rapidly. She was no longer a candidate for surgery, so with a heavy heart, I euthanized her.

 

We miss her little face. Of all the orphans that I have bottle fed over the years, she was by far the sweetest. She just couldn't grow up. Sometimes when a mother cat abandons her kitten, there is a good reason. At least she was loved during her short time here with us. 

New Tires Come With Pygmy Goats

Taking our car into the shop for anything even a routine service, is always a nightmare for us. Not only do they always find more things to be fixed but since I have no way to drop off and come back for the car, we always end up waiting an eternity for it to be ready to go.

Last Wednesday was no different. The car needed new rear tires, brakes and an oil change. We arrived just before noon and as soon as we got out of the car, we hear these pitiful cries coming from the parking lot. There across the lot, on the grass, in a large kennel was a baby pygmy goat.

Now we have been going to this same mechanic for years and they know us there. The owner sometimes has his dogs with him, and they stay in the kennel. He knows that I work with animals and we talk about his sometimes. He brought the baby goat there that day, so his daughter could work with it after school. She was in a 4-H club this year.

The goats name was Sophie and she was just bleating her little heart out trying to get my son to come over to her.  The little girl that raised her was about my son's age and the goat was lonely in the kennel for attention, so he went and sat with her.

Four hours of goat sitting goes by and my son has been entertaining this little goat the best he can. Every time he tries to leave, she starts crying and jumping and kicking at the kennel fence. It also had been raining some and the goat was digging up the mud and getting her white coat all dirty.

Finally the little girl arrives after school. My son helped her get the goat's harness on and practice walking her. Apparently she was also supposed to show the goat for the first time that night at a 4-H meeting. Since Sophie was now all muddy, they decide that she must have a bath.

Sophie had never had a bath yet and the girl did not know what to do. Her dad suggests that she tie her to an empty car lift and get started with the hose. My son decided I needed to help and tells her "My mom can take care of any animal!"  Dogs, cats, yes and even a bird or two, but never have I bathed a goat.

So I tried to instruct them both from safe distance on what to do. However after a few minutes it was obvious that they were getting a bath and not the goat. As expected, I stepped in to help. Now I'm  somewhat tall and this is a very small goat. Without a table to put it up on, I had no option but to get down on the ground and hold on.

It was only a matter of time before the children were watching me and I was doing the work. The goat got a bath, mom got very wet and the entire staff at the auto garage got a good laugh watching the crazy lady wash a goat, in the auto shop, tied to a car lift.

The little girl was thrilled her goat was white again and was suddenly filled with questions about raising her. I'm very patience when in comes to children and questions. I homeschool my son after all, questions are my life, but now I'm getting tired. We had been at the garage for five hours, the car was ready to go and so was I.

As politely as a could I suggested she ask her father to get her a book about goats or to go Google some information. She was happy with that answer, whipped out her Kindle and went searching.
We then quickly said goodbye and hit the road!

In all my years owning a car, that was the first time a trip to the mechanic also involved livestock husbandry! I should have asked for a discount. At least my son enjoyed himself, and he still thinks his mom can take care of everything :)

Clara Too

Two years ago in November I told you about loosing our Clara kitten.  She was just over a year old when she died. We were very sad here for a while, Clara was such a tiny ball fire and fun.

Well, last week we took in another little orphan who just happens to be black and white like Clara.
My son instantly named her Clara Too, but she will most likely just be called Clara. Fortunately this little girl was older and stronger when she was found in a drain pipe.

She's about four weeks old now and I will be starting to wean her off bottle feedings soon. Today she figured out that her tiny litter box is not for playing in or for sleeping in. So no more messy towels to wash I hope!

We don't know for sure yet that she is completely healthy, but so far she is doing quite well. I think she is going to be bigger and fluffier than Clara one, and I don't think she will fool the other cats at all by using the same name ;)  She's awfully cute though, don't you think?

Happy Cat

 

As you can see, our new addition "Mishka", is making himself quite at home!

In fact, he has become so happy that now he is trying to establish control and is picking fights with our other cats.

 

His size alone intimidates them, so they usually retreat and no blood is shed. Hopefully this too shall pass, otherwise I may have to separate him.

 

I really don't want to do this because the only room to put him in, is my office. Computers and cats are not usually a good mix, especially ones with super long hair :(

Pet Portrait

After a long break from any kind of art or drawing, my son drew this picture of our new cat "Mishka" today. I was so thrilled to see this side of him again, I just had to post it for you!

I worried that his creative side was fading away. As you can see, I had nothing to worry about. Mommy is so very happy!

4th of July 2012

Happy 4th everyone! Enjoy your day and be safe when using fireworks.

We will be pet sitting and sedating dogs as usual. Many, many dogs including my own, hate the noise so it's a stressful day for us.

Remember your pets this 4th and keep them safe and comfortable.

Our New Addition

Meet Mishka, he's our new addition. Mishka is 10 years old and was given up by a friend who has become too ill to care for him. He is a beautiful Siberian Forest Cat and so far is fitting in well.

Compared to my other cats, he is a giant! Even though he only weighs about 15 pounds, he is so very long and tall. When he stretches out, he covers the entire length of our dining room table!

Culvert Cat

This is Scat Cat's favorite sleeping spot these days. Unless it's raining and the water is flowing!
He still won't let me touch him, but he seems ok otherwise.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Our three amigos, who almost never share the same spot! The planets must have been aligned just right, so I quickly snapped a photo.

In other news, my son had his first real fall off his bike this week. While he did get a pretty good case of road rash on his elbow and knee, the only thing he wanted me to know was that he didn't hit his head.

There he was laying in the road wailing and crying and he kept saying over and over "My head is ok Mom, I didn't hit my head. It's ok Mom!"

Guess who "wants" to wear a helmet now? :)

Scat Cat

Our feline friend is still hanging around. I guess it's been about a year and a half now, so we decided to name him. We went with "Scat Cat" because he still scatters whenever we get too near. Also I tell him to scat when I catch him stalking a bunny or squirrel.

I was hoping to have him neutered and vaccinated by now but alas, he's just not that into it. So we feed him and toss him a cat nip toy now and again. He plays with it and comes twice a day for food. He likes to sit under my car or roll around the driveway in the sun.

He sniffed my hand once but that was as close as he got. I suppose he might warm up yet. Until then, Scat Cat just hangs around to eat and play and that's ok with us :)

A Tour of The Christmas Tree

Toby Can Walk!

This is a very happy update to my story of Toby who came to live with us in May. He is a sweet little poodle /bichon cross who had a back injury a year ago and was partially paralyzed from his hips down. After some intensive nutritional and physical therapy, he stood up on his own to eat about three weeks after moving in with us.

Now he has been with us for three months and he is beginning to walk short distances on his own. He can't do it on my tile floor but on rugs and outside, he can walk about six feet before falling. I am more than a little amazed at this dog's ability to repair his spinal function! We will still use his dog cart for long walks because it is important that he keeps his spine in proper alignment to continue therapy.

The injury and surgery to try to repair his back was in August of 2010. The neurologist warned me that his condition might be "as good as it gets" when I adopted him. He has now proved her wrong. A whole year later, he is standing and walking! His gait is far from perfect, but I have no doubt he will improve even more.

All I hope for is that he can walk around my home with ease and comfort. He may never be able to run and jump but that's ok. Dogs and cats abilities to repair and rebuild spinal injuries are somewhat of a miracle. So to anyone who has a pet with a back and /or spinal cord injury, don't give up! It may take time (a lot of time and work) but they still may walk again.

Life In The Car

How did we get to June already? I seemed to have missed the whole first week! My pet sitting business has picked up considerably over the same period last year. I'm quite surprised (but not complaining) as the economy seems to be worse overall. We have been on the road morning, noon and night this week, walking and feeding pets.

While that may sound like fun (and most of the time it is!), trying to fit in meals for a rapidly growing six year old around that schedule, has become a challenge. His appetite is huge right now and he can hardly make it to his between meal snacks without a melt down. So I try to stock the car with healthy (not too messy) snacks for the road. Favorites are Kashi cereal bars and crackers, whole grain fig newtons and apple slices.

Most days I have a cooler (it's already 400 degrees in Fl. ok not really, but it's hot!) with sandwiches and yogurt for our lunches. The hard part is having enough cold water to drink. We are never in the car long enough between houses for the A/C to even cool it down.

I hope this continues through the summer with vacation travelers. It would be nice to get ahead of the bills for a change. We technically home school year round, so lately a lot of that has been in the car as well. My son brings lots of books to read and we play verbal math games too.

The only down side, is that we have not been home much to get things around the house done, but I guess it can wait. So we are off again now... with our life in the car!