Kitty update....January 2010

As a result of my "Global Neighborhood" post the other day, Dean received an email from one of our readers in Austria! In the course of the email our new friend asked how Scruffy, our former feral cat, is doing. You can click on his name to read his poor, pitiful, history - but we also need to update on all of the cats!

(Scruffy update...evening January 11, 2010: Dean took Scruffy in to the Vet today. They have admitted him for the next few days. His chest x-ray looked pretty good, however his blood pressure was very high. He does have a lot of head congestion, lab work was done and he was started on antibiotics and blood pressure medication. In fact, one of his meds is the same as what Dean takes! The Vet also felt that getting his blood pressure under control may help the very definite blindness that he has. Due to his increased need for medication, it was decided to let him stay at the Vet's while we take a short trip to Texas. While Jason, our cat-sitter is more than capable to give Scruffy his meds, it might be a lot to ask since these are new meds for Scruffy. We will give more of an update after we return and have the Scruffy-man home with us on Friday.)

I have managed to get a 'head shot' of each cat (with the exception of shy Lance) over the past few days...their names are included so you can tell each from the other. As far as how Scruffy is doing....he's causing us some concerns lately. He has become 'overly' well nourished, to say the least. He tends to eat anywhere from 1 - 3 bowls of food for dinner every night, so he's really packed on the weight! That's not so concerning, considering he was like a little skeleton kitty when he moved indoors last Spring. We have been noticing that his eyes are looking cloudy, and I can see cataracts quite easily when looking into his eyes. He still manages to get around his territory just fine however. We have also noticed that he is recently sounding very congested, and frequently has a runny nose and sneezes more than usual. His noisy breathing is very concerning to us, and so Dean is planning to take him in to the Vet to be checked out. We're hoping that it isn't anything too serious, maybe just a cold... As for the rest of the gang...as you can see, they were none too thrill to have Mom taking pictures of them when they were trying to relax, but they tolerated it fine! It's always amazing to me that they get along as well as they do. Sure, there's the occasional 'hissy fit', but not on a daily basis. Atticus is particularly fond of Scruffy, so he always tries to lay where he can see him or be near him. He will even go so far as to cuddle up next to him at night, when we turn the heat down a bit at bedtime! On any given day, Annie (the talker) and Hannah will pick the perfect places to sunbathe in the yard, sometimes that's on top of the grill (if need be). Girls will be girls!

Since Mia did her disappearing act a few months ago, she is now staying closer to home. She still prefers to not mingle with the others, so she is allowed to sleep in the guest room (which she prefers). We're one of the few places where the guest room comes with it's own kitty to cuddle! Mia doesn't like to socialize with the other cats, but she loves human attention and is more than happy anytime we have company staying over night!

Pixel is our other 'non-social' cat. He loves people, not too fond of cats however. He is becoming something of a "Mama's boy", letting me pick him up and snuggle him at will!

Hootie still comes when ever we call any of the cats... Hootie loves to be loved, which is easy to do!

Marley loves being indoors, but is more than happy to keep Lance company in the garage at night. Marley is the only one of the group that Lance likes to be around. They eat dinner together every night, and share Lance's heated blanket in the garage. Marley is an all-around good guy, in cat world!

Sugar Pants...I think he may be getting smarter? He's so pretty, but isn't the brightest of the group. He has figured out (finally) how to go out the cat door, but doesn't quite realize (yet) that he can come back in that same way. He'll get it eventually..it's only taken him 5 years or so to figure it out this far!

Fortunately, we have wonderful neighbors who don't mind that we are running the local rescue group here. I've left out the current ferals who live in front of the house - only because I don't have their pictures available to post. They are Yellow Cat (because three other yellow cats just aren't enough), and Hootie2. Hootie2 is, obviously, a carbon copy of Hootie...though I think he may be a bit younger. They enjoy being petted and fussed over when we are in and out of the house. They have each made their way into the house on occasion, but decided that they weren't ready to join the rest of the colony. They usually greet me when I come home from work in the morning, and are happy to walk me to my car when I'm going to work in the evening. They are, of course, all neutered - with the exception of Yellow Cat, and he's looking worried!