One Day at the Vet's....

December is the time of the year I spend almost every weekend at the vet's clinic. Most of my cat's annual vaccination are scheduled at this time. I saw a poster with a feral cat standing in the corner and the caption was "Homeless Not Worthless". I felt a pinch in the region of my heart. I agree wholeheartedly.

Update on Gummy Bear

Gummy's collar is off and it's business as usual. His spraying behavior has lessened and we've noticed that he's not as aggressive as before. And I was really surprised earlier when I saw him playing with the kittens. He was like a little kitten himself. He was tender with them and it was more like nibbles and not really bites which he gives the others and us humans. He was so cute hiding beside the refrigerator waiting for his playmates to finish drinking. He's currently playing tag with Jelly Bean, the smallest kitten of the 4.

Chester

Chester is probably one of the nicest cats I've ever met. Good thing he's living with us. He is a brown tabby and now also a fat cat. His favorite activity is sleeping but he also likes to play with his toys now and then. He's the first cat we adopted from the streets who was already full grown as we always make it a point to adopt when they are kittens so as not to cause problems with the other adults in the house. He's like a puppy, he answers and comes to us when we call him - and I mean EVERYTIME we call him. Even a nod of the head will suffice for him, he'll come answering. He also knows how to follow directions, when he was still living outside, he would accompany us to the store and when we'd tell him to wait, he will wait and we would go home together. He's now an indoor kitty and safer inside the house.

However, last December 30, he decided to sleep in a basket which was a container for some Christmas giveaways. I don't know what happened but the basket fell with him still inside. He couldn't put weight on his right hind leg. He had an x-ray and fortunately he didn't break any bone. He was given pain killers and my Mom massages his leg every so often. He's doing better now, just saw him sleeping in the clothes hamper earlier. I learned a lesson never to leave baskets where they can reach them and where they might fall.

Gummy Bear Got Neutered

Gummy Bear was neutered last December 24, 2009. We waited long because one of his balls had not descended. Buts since he was becoming aggressive and spraying all over the house, we consulted with his vet and she said they would do the operation. When I got him, he had stitches as the vet said the operation was not a simple neutering and they had to look for the undescended testicle. His being such a fat cat didn't help either. He looked so cute with a collar. But still the feisty cat when we had to clean his wound. The stitches were removed last Friday. I haven't seen him spray yet and hopefully this urge will be gone for good. He's still our grumpy cat though. :-)

Mallow's babies

Last end September, Mallows went missing. We looked all over but could not find her. Then after 2 days she came home with bite marks on her nape. Sure enough, she showed signs of pregnancy after a few weeks. Last October 2, she gave birth to 4 kittens. Her water broke a few days before. She started giving birth in the early morning hours. My brother and I were there to see to her comfort, sooth her and cut the cords, remove them from the birth sacs and keep the kittens warm. It seemed that she was new to this birthing business. The last kitten was breech but after a few tries and persuasion she was able to push him out.
We named them Mochi, Uni, Jelly Bean and Chili. They are nearly 1kg each now but still run to Mommy Mallows when they want to nurse. She is such a good Mom to them. Some afternoons, I would see them playing with their Mom or Mallows cleaning them. And Mallows was never aggressive with us nor with the other cats. Good work Mallows!

The Ones Who Started It All

These are my two "senior citizens", Bitty and Peanut Butter. Bitty's 9 years old and Peanut is turning 8 this December. I remember the days I first saw them vividly. Just like humans, we have to be extra conscious of their needs. As it is, they have special needs at present that we attend to.

Bitty was born without sight, his eyes are like two black buttons, which make him look like a teddy bear. He has also been diagnosed to have the beginnings of arthritis, although, thankfully, he has not shown any indication that it is bothering him. I try to encourage him to exercise as his activity consists mainly of sleeping. I have scratch marks and bite marks on my hand from our play yesterday. It's a treat to watch him play. We watch his diet and he weighs around 3.5kg which his veterinarian said is okay for him.



Peanut Butter is very sensitive to certain types of food and food brands. He develops skin rashes when he ingests these, he has sores which looks to be very itchy and uncomfortable. His favorite activity is also sleeping and he is a whopping 5.5kg.

From these two lovely boys, they are now 15 in total. And we have learned from these two on how to care for them and the differences in their behaviors and characteristics. And we are still learning now on how to properly care for them in these prime years. As I am writing this, I am stranded in the office while they are home with my family. It is raining hard and flood waters have entered our house. I miss them and pray that everyone and everything will be alright.

Mallows needs to get shaved again

I'll be bringing Mallows to the vet this afternoon. I felt bumps on her back and underarms when we were playing the other day. It's difficult to clean these spots with Betadine because of all the fur. I've asked her vet to shave her and so Mallows has an appointment this afternoon.

When I bring her out of the cage, she runs after me, she looks so funny because of the collar. When the car is in the garage I usually bump my back or head on the side mirror when she chases me, ouch!