Smokey's introduction

It's time to write about Cats - the core of why I started this blog! Deciding which one or where to start is harder than I anticipated.

I have 12 cats, I love them all equally (and sometimes hate them equally.) All of them will get their spotlight as time goes on. For now, I'll start with Smokey.

Smokey, is a Siamese cat. She has a sister from the same litter, who I will write about more on her own post. Smokey has her own following of people (some who think it's time for Smokey to have her own tiktok or social media account...). Everyone that meets her want's to take her home. I'm really not sure how she wins over so many people! It must be her overly friendly demeanor. She's always ready to meet new people - no matter who or why they are at our house.

Of all the things in her life, she loves nothing more than to be held & cuddled 24/7. More specifically, as close to your chest as possible or over your shoulder like a baby. This is no joke - I recently was trying to sweep the stairs and ended up holding her over one shoulder and one handed trying to sweep - a little more difficult than I would have imagined. When she gets attention and it's not in the form of a hold, she is more than happy to just take constant pets. If you dare to stop petting her for any reason, she will give you a gentle slap or nibble to get you back to petting.

In the cooler months or days she prefers to cuddle up under the blankets - and prefers to prop her head up on the pillow. Absolutely spoiled - I know. But, really who doesn't want a personal heater when its cold out or you feel crappy?!

Smokey can be extremely vocal - which at times can just drive you over the edge. She will cry (which sounds exactly like a baby) if she feels neglected. To drive her point home she will sneak into the basement and cry down there until we search her out and call her back upstairs. As if that isn't enough to get our attention, she will find a chair with a low rung and "choke" herself on it. She switches between these two methods to get attention from us. Gotta love her and her crazy tactics for attention.

She's also extremely helpful when I'm trying to craft. If I'm working at the table she needs to lay on whatever I'm working on, as close to me as catly as possible. This includes if I'm crocheting, or loom knitting. When she realizes I've settle in to work on a project, she has to lay right on top of whatever I'm doing. The only time she hates to be covered. Because it's more inconvenient for me.

Smokey's party trick - (which we don't let her do to often) She likes to drink beer or wine. More specifically from the beer bottle/can or from the wine glass. She turns her nose up if you try to give her a lick from your finger or a little bowl. We don't encourage this, but she will seek out a beer bottle or wine glass when company is over!

Till our tails cross again,

Mel

Managing a house of 12 cats

Hazel

Bear & ASh

Rollie

Tanner (Top) Peaches (Inside carrier)

Dobby

Vera

Jasper

Roughy

Smokey

Clara

Life with 12 cats - how do I manage it and what does Gene say (my amazing husband)?

I have come to terms with a few things after becoming the crazy cat lady - thankfully I got married so I don't fully fill the crazy cat lady definition!

I will spend a fortune on vet bills, cat food, litter, toys, and who knows what else for my super spoiled 12 cats. In the last 4 years we have single handedly spent more than $8,000 in vet bills, specialist, overnight stays, annual visits, sick appointments and dental work. You'll be reading about some of those over night stays in the coming blogs.

Laundry - you think laundry is never ending with kids? Try laundry with 12 cats, 2 who prefer to do their business right next to the litter box - not in it. Hello reusable puppy pads! I do at least one load of them a day. This is in addition to the throw away puppy pads that we use for the super fancy litter box. (Thanks Clara and Rollie!) Let's not forget all the beds, heating pad covers, couch & chair covers. They get done on a weekly basis, and I never seem to get it all done!

Nice, comfy, stylish furniture. Yep - we have the super old school couch and matching rocker. Wooden frame with the country print on the cushions. After many trials and tribulations over the best way to manage the cat hair/dander on the furniture - we found sheets to be the answer. A full size sheet fits the couch and actually stays on when we sit on the couch! Twin sheets work nicely on the chairs, folded and tucked in just the right way.

There will always be an upset stomach, and never at a convenient time. Running late for work - there's a little puke pile. Walking bare foot or just in socks - hello slimly little bile. No matter what, every time I have to decipher - who was it, is it just a hairball, they ate a piece of something they shouldn't have, does this mean a trip to the vet?

Poop scooping....so much litter scooping. With a grand total of 9 litter boxes, it's a daily thing. Forget trying to do it every other day, cats have perfected the true meaning of spite. Not scooping gives them the right to pick any other place in the house to do their business.

I know, you're dying to know what does the amazing husband say about all these cats? Let's call it a love/hate relationship. He loves them as much as he hates them. Ask him, he will straight up tell you he hates them. Deep down, he does love them, well at least most of them. The hate runs stronger for some because of the horrific behavior. If I try to bring in another pet, I'll be the one without a roof over my head. Normally I would disregard that - but he's been pretty strict lately. He also doesn't keep it a secret how much of a pain they can be in every way possible - always a puke pile, always litter where it shouldn't be...(how the hell do they get litter in the fully made bed?!?!?), we just bought food/litter, how long is this medicine being given...the list goes on!

He feels strongly that they create a ton of work & extra expenses. There's no way I can deny that. They are work, they are expensive. But most days they make up for it. You might wonder how they make up for it? They are completely unbiased, non judging, don't talk back and love unconditionally. Not to mention, they sense when you are sick, feeling down or just need some love with no strings attached.

Till our tails cross again,

Mel

Double Trouble at the Vet

As you can imagine, vet visits with cats can be tricky. They know as soon as the carrier comes out - someone's going somewhere and not to a fun place. Fortunately our vets office is amazing and makes the entire visit easy. They know the personality of each of my cats and how best to handle them. Dobby is mostly good at the vets office. If you thought only humans got car sick, you're wrong. Dobby is a pro at getting car sick. Literally 2 minutes in and she's emptied her stomach, made a mess of the carrier and stepped in her mess. Fortunately she usually does that only on the way to the vet. What fun....apologies to the Dr. & vet techs. Much like at home she has to explore everything as if it's her domain. Dobby is nicer about letting them know what she doesn't like. She will try to walk away, back away or duck her head, to avoid whatever you might be trying to do to her. Now we add in Roughy who is full of attitude and not afraid to let you know what he thinks whether by speaking cat or dolling out the swats and bites as he sees fit. He treats all humans the same, doesn't matter if you're the Dr., his favorite human, or just someone giving him some love. I'll touch more on this later, but these two are the best of buds and the worst of buds on any given day. Roughy has what I call a red flag (they call it a note) on his chart. It says "Minutes" and it literally means they have a few mere minutes to do his exam, bloodwork, shots, etc. We go in armed to the vet by giving him some gabapentin which is a staple in my cat basket! (this time he ALMOST got anti-diarrhea instead). We give him the meds mixed in with some wet food - usually works great. This time - not so much so he only got a lick of the meds - not gonna be super helpful! So I was only slightly surprised when they both decided to sit nicely and wait for the Dr., I could only hope that this would be the start of a very good vet visit. It was a good visit mostly - so what more could I do but laugh when low and behold....Roughy had enough and actually swatted the Dr.. enter face palm here... like seriously...she was practically done with the exam and shots. 30 seconds more and we would have gotten a gold star! The upside to seeing the same vet for 10+ years, she's used to his bad behavior, and was prepared for when he takes aim. Dobby followed up and was the perfect angel for her exam. She just had to walk all over the computer, stick her head in the trash container and prance around - making sure all was up to par! She was also glutenous and ate all of the squeeze up treat that was for both of them! At home she's not allowed to have a whole squeeze up - it gets shared among them all. As far as vet visits go this was business as usual. Right on down to the bill over $200 for 2 cats to be up to date on shots. One of my goals for this year - take one cat a month to the vet. 12 cats, 12 months - easy peasy!

Till Our Tails Cross Again,

Mel