Caturday

 Karen Jo:  You kitties all read the posts on the Tabby Cat Club about how to drive your parents crazy, didn't you?

All:  Of course we did.  We all belong to the club.

Karen Jo:  One of you decided that Derby had a good one by yacking on the carpet and staining it.  I found two yak spots by the computer desk with Stinky Goodness and kibble in them.  Now who eats in the computer room and gobbles as much Stinky Goodness as he can hold?

Bambino:  Why are you looking at me?  I have never yakked up anything.  Horus and Oja are the yakkers around here.  Oja eats in the computer room and she's so . . . (Oja glares at Bambino) er, floofy that it was probably her.

 Oja:  I only yak up hairballs.

 Horus:  Don't look at me.  I hardly eat the Stinky Goodness.  I prefer the kibble.  I admit to nomming on grass when I escape and I did barf that up one time.

 Spyro:   I eat in the kitchen most of the time and I have never yakked up food, only hairballs.

Rocio:  I hardly ever eat in the computer room any more.  Oja and Bambino gobble it all up between them.  I am lucky to get a bite.  I have been eating in the safe room when I get any at all.

Karen Jo:  Oh, poor you.  I have seen you going around and checking every dish to see if there was any Stinky Goodness left and if there is you clean it up.  I guess the yak will remain a mystery.

Karen Jo:  Thanks to all of you for your responses to my post "Who's the Alpha?"  I am glad to know that there doesn't have to be an alpha cat and I will stop trying to figure it out.  I think I have figured out a little bit about Rocio's behavior.  The other morning Horus was annoying Rocio something awful.  I put a stop to it, but a few hours later Rocio started annoying Oja.  That one wasn't too bad, so I just told Rocio to knock it off and he eventually did.  A couple of hours after that, Oja and Rocio were giving each other nose kisses.  There was a blissful period of about 10 days when no cat was annoying any other cat, so I do think that Rocio has stopped annoying Oja just on his own.  He only does it now when Horus has been picking on him.  Why Horus picks on Rocio I don't know, unless it's some kind of status thing.  Oja is becoming more tolerant of Bambino.  She even licked the very end of his tail when they were both in bed with me.  Maybe all my cats will be friends with each other eventually.

Caturday

 Spyro:  I found the best cat bed.  There are two big white boxes in the kitchen and this white basket full of nice soft stuff is up on top of one of them.

Karen Jo:  That's my laundry basket, Spyro.  I see that I will have to be better at folding my laundry once it is dry if I don't want cat hair all over my underwear, socks, towels and sheets.

I am just relaxing while Spyro is taking a nap in the laundry basket.  I just got brushed and Mom got a lot of fur off my tummy.  Spyro is great fun, but he can be exhausting.  He is always running and jumping and playing.  I am sharing everything with him.  He even got in my ham-mick and I just ignored it.

Karen Jo:  I was a little surprised at that.  There were two places that Emma never dared to go -- Herman's bed by the heat vent and his ham-mick. Spyro chased a toy under the ham-mick, then got up in the ham-mick to reach down and bat it around some more.  Herman kept his head turned the other way, but didn't do a thing.  I think I can safely say that there is absolutely no jealousy at all between Spyro and Herman.

There is some new food around here.

Karen Jo:  I took Spyro to the vet on Thursday just for an introductory visit.  It turns out that there is no statistically significant difference in the lifespans of cats who get Interferon from the time they are diagnosed and those who never get Interferon at all.  The vet assured me that it won't hurt him.  I will give it to him on the same schedule as I give it to Herman.  Spyro might just be in that statistically insignificant group that it helps.  The vet also emphasized the importance of giving Spyro high-quality food.  He has outgrown his need for kitten food, so I went to the pet store and got him some grain-free all natural kibble from the same company that makes Herman's weight control formula. While I was there, it struck me that Spyro might be persuaded to eat grain-free all natural canned food as well.  I got him several cans of Wellness.  When I opened the first can and served some to Spyro Thursday night, Herman dashed in, pushed Spyro out of the way and ate more than half of the serving. This might help explain why Spyro attacked the Temptations that night while I was out. Friday morning, Spyro just sniffed at the Wellness.  I wanted him to eat it, so I stuck a few Temptations into it.  That did the trick. Spyro ate almost all the Wellness. Now he wants Temptations on his food at every meal.  Spyro seems to know that the food in his room is his and the food in the kitchen is Herman's.  Spyro has sniffed at Herman's Medley and Fancy Feast and nibbled at his kibble, but he cleans the dish in his room.  That brings me to a slight mystery that I found this morning.

Karen Jo:  The following paragraph contains graphic descriptions of the stuff that comes out of kitty innards, so if that makes you squeamish, just skip this bit.  When I got up to feed the boys their breakfast this morning I found a long, thin line of yack, as if the kitty had backed up while yacking, right by Spyro's food.  Closer inspection allowed me to determine that the yack was mostly kibble and it was several hours old.  I went to the bathroom and found something long, thin and dark on the floor right next to the litter box.  I thought that some kitty had kicked some poop out of the box, but it turned out to be a hairball. The question is, who did the yacking?  Spyro is the kitty who gets up the most in the night and it was his food, but the hairball was very dark gray and a Spyro hairball would be lighter in color, I think.  On the other hand, Herman has a history of gorging himself on kibble, then yacking it back up.  The color of the hairball matches most of his coat and Herman has been grooming himself much more lately.  I think Herman did the yacking.  Now the question is should I try to keep Herman out of Spyro's kibble and if so, how?

Did you really have to bring all of that up?

Karen Jo:  You brought it up first

Yuck!  That Wellness is pretty good stuff.  I would help Spyro eat it if he would ever leave any.

Karen Jo:  I am glad to hear it.  You might just get switched over eventually. When you run out of Medley I am not buying you any more.

No more Medley!  That's mean!

Karen Jo: You need to lose weight.  If I don't get you any more Medley, that will cut down on the size of your meals.  You don't eat it half the time, anyway.

This diet business is really beginning to stink.

Karen Jo:  Chase Spyro around some more and you might get the weight off with exercise.

More Tummy

Here's another tummy shot. You can see where I was spot shaved on my leg and side for my last big mat. Mom is falling asleep at the keyboard, so we will keep this kind of short. The solid poops are back. I didn't barf yesterday, but I did barf again tonight while Mom was at work. This one didn't upset Mom much, as she said it looked like I ate a lot of dry food, then took a big drink of water some time later. Lots of dry food plus lots of water means barf every time. I am not acting at all sick, so she's not really worried. Mom went to the vet to get me some more medicine and asked some questions. The bald spot is probably due to overgrooming or possibly a mat that I pulled out myself, though Mom didn't notice any mats in that area. The vet also said that the little bit of grated cheddar that I get every morning after I take my Interferon won't hurt my digestion at all.

Did you know that Bed Monsters can appear at both ends of the bed? I beat up some near my Mom's head this morning. They wiggled around and tried to get away, but I got them good.

Tummy Thursday

Mom took this picture because the Kool Kittie Krew wanted to see my pudgy tummy. I am still doing well, but I got all barfy today.

Karen Jo: You certainly did. You barfed this morning and again while I was at work. It wasn't a hairball and it wasn't because you ate a bunch of dry food, then drank a lot of water. It was all Stinky Goodness both times and I can't figure it out, unless you did eat some of the green pea and duck and it was too rich for you. I did take the green pea and duck away about eleven this morning, so I don't get why you would barf again this evening. I won't give you any more of it and we'll see if the barfs go away. If they don't, then it's back to the vet. I am feeling so frustrated. I do everything I can to make you all well, then something else happens. You are also going bald. I found a bare patch on your back just behind your shoulders. The skin looks perfectly healthy, no scales, crust or redness, no sign of ringworm, just no fur. This happened once before, when you were really sick. Your elbow got bald. I thought it might be from your sitting in the meatloaf position all the time and just rubbing the fur off on the carpet, but I pointed it out to the vet and she didn't seem to think it was anything to worry about. The fur there has grown back again. I wish I knew what was going on. I am definitely not bringing another cat into the house.

Abby wanted to know if I am an Alpha cat. Mom just doesn't know. I kept my hoo-has until I was almost two years old and that tends to make males want to be Alphas. I boss Mom around some. I insist that she get up early in the morning and get my breakfast and I decide when I want to be petted and when the brushing session is over. However, when I see Mom with the syringe, I know that I am going to get my medicine whether I want it or not, so I mostly cooperate. I have ridden to the vet twice with other cats in the car and I didn't react to that in any way. I just made my usual grumbling meows about being cooped up.

Mean Mom

It's been forever since Mom helped me blog and she hasn't been much fun lately, either. She has been really mean to me. First, she let me run out of sardines again.

Karen Jo: Sorry, Herman. I did find your sardines on sale and got you a bunch. You won't run out again any time soon. I did try to make it up to you with chicken, cheese shreds and a crumb of cooked hamburger.

The cheese was OK, but I didn't want any of that other stuff. I wanted my sardine!

Karen Jo: I know. You complained about it loudly and long, in your most petulant voice.

You haven't been playing with me much, either. I wanted to play soccer the other day and you just ignored me.

Karen Jo: When I have my coat on and am headed toward the door to go to work is not the best time to try to start a soccer game. The last few times I tried to play with you, you only wanted to play for maybe a minute. I think maybe you haven't been feeling so good lately.

You shut me out of the bedroom again this morning.

Karen Jo: I'm sorry, Herman. My allergies started very early this year and they have been worse than they have been in many years. The last three weeks I have just been a walking snot machine. It has drained all my energy and made fun things, like brushing and playing with you and blogging, seem like chores and the chores seem almost unbearable. Luckily I am going to my doctor tomorrow morning about my TSH test and I'll ask her about getting a referral to an allergist. Yesterday after I got my teeth cleaned, I got home and had no energy at all. I had dinner very early, then lay on the bed to read for a while. You came and cuddled with me.

Yes, and you disturbed me.

Karen Jo: I woke up about 8:00 pm, realizing that I had been asleep for a couple of hours and needed to pee. I am sorry that I disturbed you, but I did get up and give you new food, when I figured out that you weren't going to eat what was in your dish, then I got into my jammies, flipped on the TV and went to bed. You woke me up about midnight, wanting more food, so I got up and got it for you. You woke me again at 3:30, wanting new food, and I gave it to you. Then you decided that you didn't want to eat that food and woke me up again at 7:00, 8:00 and 9:00, wanting different food and that last time is when I shut you out of the bedroom, because I really needed that last hour of sleep before I had to get up.

It wasn't until I found the mustard yellow puddle of poop in your litterbox and you barfed again shortly after I got home tonight that I finally figured out why you haven't been eating your Stinky Goodness like you used to. I upped your The Missing Link on Sunday to the recommended level and it is too much for you. This is exactly the way you reacted when I gave you the Newman's Own, which was too rich for you. No wonder you were always bugging me for new food. What I was giving you was disagreeing with you. I am really sorry that it took me so long to figure it out. I threw out what I had given you tonight and opened a new can of Stinky Goodness and cut back The Missing Link to half the recommended dosage. You were doing well on that, as this picture of your fur shows. Actually, this picture was taken when you were on three-quarters the recommended dose, but, thinking back, I realized that you were beginning to get pretty picky about eating your Stinky Goodness even at that dosage.

Thank goodness we got that straightened out. Does this mean that you won't shut me out of the bedroom any more?

Karen Jo: I hope that it won't be necessary any more, Herman. Now if only I can find a way to brush out those tangles you are getting on your chest. I am looking for a metal comb, but I haven't found one yet.

Does this mean more brushing for me? Yay!

Not Such a Great Day

I lie around like this lots. That's why Mom has a lot of pictures of my just lying on the carpet. Today started out to be a great day. I woke Mom up for breakfast before dawn and she didn't grumble or anything, just got up and fed me and went back to bed. I joined her again after I ate. She woke up again earlier than usual and started moving around, but I didn't bug her and we both settled down again after a bit. She got up for good at her usual time and I started bugging her for my sardine. I don't usually get my sardine for about an hour after she gets up, but I was hungry. I finally bugged her so much that she gave in and I got my sardine early. Score! Mom didn't have to go to work today, so we played a bit and I got a couple of Temptations for scratching on my platform. About lunch time, the bad thing happened. I barfed, one big puddle and two small ones. I was a good boy and barfed where I always do, on the plastic mats under my food dishes. Mom was scared at first when she saw green in the barf, but then she remembered that my Temptations are green.

Karen Jo: That did really concern me at first, Herman. I don't know what made you barf this time. You haven't gotten any new food and it's been a couple of days since I upped The Missing Link in your Stinky Goodness. I have given you two Temptations close together before without any problems. Your sardine was from a brand new can, so it wasn't old or anything. I didn't notice a hairball in the barf, though the first puddle was pretty big and there could have been a small one in it.

Whatever caused it, it isn't serious. I am feeling fine now. A couple of hours afterward I had a big drink of water and a little while after that I started eating again. I played with Mom a little bit more and we had a really long brushing session. I even got a second brushing session later. Mom got one of the little mats by my elbow out with the brush. I won't let her cut them out. I don't like those scissors at all.

Karen Jo: I'm not going to force the "cut the mats out" issue. They don't seem to be bothering you at all and maybe as your fur grows I'll be able to get them with the brush. It amazes me that you scrim away from the scissors, but when the brush really pulls on your fur, you just accept it and keep on purring.

What are we going to do tonight?

Karen Jo: I am going to work/play on the computer. I am way behind on our visiting. You may come sit in the rocking chair and keep me company, if you like.

We'll see. I may just lie around the living room like I do when you are at work. I may take a nap on the kitchen rug. I may whap my nip ball where you can't see it again. Hahaha! I have made Mom find my nip ball four times today already.