Jasper AKA Bear

Jasper is next up on the introductions. He's quite the cat in so many ways. Absolutely adorable and full of love, and costs us a pretty penny. Just a few years ago he had a brush with death - it nearly killed me in the process. I will write more about that later.

He has a litter sister - Clara, you'll meet her soon enough! He made his grand entrance to my life as a tiny little baby who ultimately would be bottle fed for the first several months. He was found in a roll-off dumpster that was emptied at a recycling center that I worked at in Philly. Knowing that being so small, motherless and needing to be bottle fed his chances of survival at the SPCA were low - so I took him home. This would be my first time bottle feeding kittens. What an experience, one I would do again - but with a better idea of how tedious it is!

He was worth all the trouble and time back then, and is still worth every penny I have spent on him. He loves to be pet, cuddles (especially on your lap) and doles out kisses. He loves the other cats, on his own terms, but mostly prefers to be alone. The other cats tend to stress him out, so then he pees everywhere except for the litter box. We set him up in the oversized bathroom upstairs, installed a screen door so he can see everything and all the other cats when he wants, and then go hide when he wants alone time.

Trust me when I say he truly enjoys his bathroom kingdom. He routinely gets visitors and pets cause it's the bathroom we use the majority of the time. All the things he needs for a happy cat life are filling his room - cat tower, scratcher, bean bag chair, cat bed. We even had to remove the door on the bathroom cabinet cause he went thru a phase of wanting to sleep in the cabinet. Occasionally I'll let him out with the general population, but he has to be closely supervised.

He tends to win over the hearts of all the ladies - especially our friend Babs. She always makes time to hang with him, one time we even ate dinner in the bathroom with him. (true cat lovers!)

He single pawedly is keeping our vet in business. He was diagnosed with diabetes just under 2 years ago. Diabetes is challenging enough on humans - even more so with a cat! Lots of ups and downs with his insulin/food intake - we finally got it pretty well under control. Just had to set him up with a ridiculous feeding schedule and an automatic feeder. (the one time I truly love new technology!) He gets insulin 2 times a day (a bottle of insulin alone is $125, not including the syringes!) Every 4-6 months he gets a Librya installed, its a glucose monitor that we have to scan multiple times a day for 2 weeks to make sure his levels are within a good range. That is upwards of $200. He absolutely loves Mariah (the girl who shaves and installs his monitor).

Jasper is always looking for a new friend, so if you're in the area stop by and give him some kisses!

Till our Tails cross again,

Mel

Washers & Pets

Deciding to be a proud pet owner of 12 cats - has it's highs and lows. Rarely do I think, WTH was I thinking taking in all these pets. Most days I truly love having unconditional love from them, they don't talk back and are just happy to have food, water and cuddles. Which let's all be honest....no human is as happy as our pets are! They live the best life - not having a care in the world.

Meanwhile - they sure do run up a high tab of expenses. We've been in our house for almost 10 years now. About 5 years ago we replaced the washer that came with the house. It was an old one, and had started "walking" no matter how you loaded it or the size of the load. Fast forward - we are purchasing a new washer. Which infuriates me to no end for so many reasons. The top two being - cost and that I feel the washer should last more than 5-7 years (which is the average for new machines these days).

We went to a local appliance store to see what they had and get pricing. The older gentleman that helped us, asked How many people in the house? Well..there's 3 adults and 12 cats. He looks at me like, who cares about the cats. I further explain that I do a lot of laundry due to some senior cats who pee on puppy pads, not to mention their beds, furniture covers and our regular laundry.

So we continue to look at washers - Maytag has a fancy pants washer made for "pets". What is so special about it? Not much, it just "removes" cat hair. Last I checked, all washing machines/dryers will do that. Now I truly would have gotten that one, because it had all the features we needed, and theoretically should hold up to a multiple pet house, and the price wasn't horrific.

Next up - he recommended a Spin Queen (and if you're like...wait that sounds familiar but it's not a brand name the general population would purchase - you're right!). Spin Queen is a commercial washer typically seen at your laundromat or apartment complexes. The great thing is they are more durable than the standard residential washer. (After all, they are meant to be over used and abused by people who don't care.) It's the same size as a standard washer, minus the coin operation feature. I'm most excited that it doesn't have that stupid auto lock thing that all the new machines have. Call me crazy, but I like to start the washer and fill it while the water is running and then rinse my detergent cup right into the wash.

So as you're all cracking up going this lady just bought a commercial washer because of her cats. You can switch to crying when you hear how much we paid for this non-fancy pants, take a beating washing machine. Roughly $1,400. Yep, that's a lot more than I wanted to pay, but - the price tag is worth it when we get a 5 year warranty with it AND it should last us 25+years.

Is it fancy and silver (how I imagine all my appliances eventually being) Nope, but it will get the job done.

Rough days, rough cats & naps

Here we are, the start to another week! I have a love hate relationship with Monday - It's the start of a new work week. BUT I only have to work in the morning, I'm home by 12 most Mondays. I know we all hate Monday's equally. The joy in my Monday comes with a cat. His name is Roughy. Keep reading to hear about him and the love hate relationship I have with him as well!

Roughy's deal: He is straight from the streets of Philly (quite literally!) I've always said I want a cat of every color - at that time, I was lacking an orange cat. Little did I know, I would soon have one! Gene's sister found Roughy when he was about a year or so old. Getting into trouble, which should really be his middle name! He was caught up in the grate at the drive thru to a bank she worked at. She saved him, brought him home, where he quickly got into fights with their other cat. So he moved along to my grandmother Beth's house...a holding spot till we could get him to our house in Annville.

His quick stay at Beth's house was so/so....he loved to sleep in bed, but would also show some bad habits. My favorite - he ate the entire corner of a loaf of bread - from one end to the other. Can't say I blame him, I love my carbs, but did he really have to munch on each piece of bread?!?! He quickly moved from there to us, a friend picked him up and drove the almost 2 hours to our house with him.

Where he met my cousin Joey...and this is where the good times really start! Joey was around much of his first year in our house. There was a learning curve for both of them! Roughy, learning how to live in a house, Joey, how a cat lives/behaves/etc.

To this day, I still laugh over two incidents (and wonder...if that's why roughy is the way he is). Joey one day when we weren't home, took Roughy outside (no lease, no carrier) realized he needed something from inside the house. Told Roughy to "Stay" on the bed of the truck. He comes back to no Roughy anywhere in the yard. Anyone else and I'd be like for real?!?! You thought that would work? Cats are nothing like dogs!

One other time, he opened a 2nd floor window looking over the sunporch roof. Forgot to close it and left our house. (We weren't home this time either!) I get home to find the window open, count cat heads to make sure all are accounted for....Then call Joey to give him hell. He's lucky for whatever reason the cats didn't notice the window was open!

So Roughy, is thickheaded, big attituded and super cute! He's always trying to escape outside. So we are constantly checking that the doors are closed and latched. He will do his darn-dest to get outside if he feels no one is watching. His attitude comes and goes like the wind. He will meow/nudge you for pets, but watch out he will change his mind with no notice and give you a bit, swat or growl. He loves a good fight with the other cats, sometimes playful, sometimes not. Just depends on his wacky mood!

I love him when he's being cute and friendly, hate him when he's being mean to the cats, and spraying to mark his territory. After a long time, we realized that he is much better behaved if he gets "Nap" time with Mel. I know - it sounds absolutely crazy but it's true....mid day when I'm home I'll take a short nap. If I yell out "Roughy, nap time!" he comes running and hunkers down in bed with me. He looks forward to this time with me, and somedays will follow me around crying until I go for a nap.

Who doesn't love a good cat nap?! Especially when the cats curl up and purr/drool the time away with you.