Purrfect Dozen Crew

I've written individual blog posts about the purrfect dozen crew, but with so many cats, it's challenging to keep track of them all. For readers, here's some background on each cat, even if you don't recall their names.

Mid-cat introductions, we found ourselves short of a dozen cats (we miss Rollie so much!). We are holding steady at 11 cats (I entertain the idea of getting another cat daily) - this makes Gene slightly happy (the holding steady at 11). He's waiting for us to get down to a more manageable number of pets. As I had only been writing about the current cats living with us, I have one cat whom I miss dearly and wish she were still here. She didn't make the blog posts because she is in Kitty Heaven, and I just haven't been able to write about her. Peppermint - the absolute best cat a girl could ever need or want.

She was a tuxedo cat - all black with a little bit of white on her nose, under her chin, and some on her paws. She was the mother of all mothers to all of our cats. She had been around the block and knew what would be allowed and not allowed in our house. She was the mother of all mothers of cats - a no-nonsense kitty lady. With her help, our house was better managed. She trained all the new cats on what the laws were.

One time she actually hit Dobby. We had our Christmas tree up, and Dobby, standing on the couch arm, was getting ready to leap into the tree. Peppermint got up from her snooze to smack Dobby, effectively stopping her from actually getting to the tree. While she would act like she didn't like or want anything to do with any new cats in the house, she was very loving towards them in her own way. They followed her lead, letting her have the top pecking order spot.

When we first got Peppermint, she refused to eat regular cat food. She turned her nose up at it and would only eat people food, table scraps, and meat. It took us a good year and a half to get her to eat cat food. She grew accustomed to it, but always had the urge for some good people food—specifically steak. As she got to her final years in life, her diet reverted back to people food. I would make chicken or steak for her daily, and that's what she would eat.

She was as deaf as a brick wall, but man, could she hear/sense when you opened the fridge or freezer door. Anytime you opened one of the doors, she expected to be given her meat. Every holiday, party, or mealtime, she would conveniently find her way to the kitchen, switching from patiently watching to snoozing, knowing that she would be getting her own plate of food. Many times, she would end up with the cutting board—the best part—full of drippings and little bits of meat. If she wanted food and no one was around to give it to her, she would yell—loudly with her piercing meow—to fill her plate (aka drop the food right on the floor!). There is a huge hole in my kitchen without her constantly by my side.

I always said that we had a special bond—and a strong one at that. I can't even put into words the bond or what it is that made it that special. But she was a huge piece of me in so many ways. She was the best cuddler, finding the right nook to curl up as close to my body as catly possible.

One thing she was good at doing was mousing. In her later years, she did less and less of that. Not to worry, as she did make sure that we have at least one good mouser left, even if the new mouser is a little lazy about hunting them.

I have so many fond memories of Peppermint and all the cute things she would do and what a great companion she was. There would be no way to replace her, but I sure do miss her and still cry.

She has a seat in my car. I keep a picture of her on my dashboard, so she's with me every day, everywhere I go. Her ashes stay on the headboard, so she sleeps with me every night just like she used to.

Till our tails cross again,

Melanie

#Purrfectdozen #tuxedocats #momcat #felinefriend #cats #catcompanion #catlife

Vet visit again?!?

Over the years, we have come to expect the unexpected with the cats. We may think we've figured out all the little nuances of them—just for them to change. The same goes for vet visits/sick visits. We just spent almost 2 months going back and forth with various cats at the vet's office—I thought we would be clear of vet bills for a few months.

Jasper, however, has other plans. Currently, he is the most "sickly" or needs the most attention from the vet's office. Diabetes will do that, along with his smoldering pancreatitis and other health issues (not to mention his secret love for all the people at the vet's office!). Lo and behold - he has been getting sick - throwing up bile. The mystery of are you sick, did you eat something, just a hairball that's not quite ready to come up, or who knows what?!?

Now add in that we noticed his stomach is a bit distended on both sides. It looks like he has little love handles on his sides, which is not a normal thing for cats to have. They have the "pouch" that hangs from their belly, but that is different. There are a few different things that could lead to this, some more serious, some less serious. Either way, none of them are something easily diagnosed at home.

My hope is that it's just some pockets of gas, or it's just a pancreatitis flare-up. Something that is manageable and treatable. So we've made an appointment to see his favorite Dr. - now to wait patiently for Monday morning to come along so we can get some answers. Meanwhile, I'm going to hope that we don't enter the cycle of all the other cats feeling like they need some love from the vet's office! The budget for vet visits is a bit tight this month after Clara's almost-surgery appointment!

Say a cat prayer for Jasper, an update blog will be posted as we get some answers for him.

Till our tails cross,

Melanie

#Purrfectdozen #jasper #vet #medical #feline #catlife #felinediabeties #smolderingpancreatitis

Roughy picks a new favorite human!

This is the exact thought that runs through Roughy's head everyday.

It's no secret that Roughy is a mean, aggressive, orange boy who still showers people with love and affection—just on his own terms. What was a secret? How quickly his alliance with any single person would change! Sure, we humans pick our favorite pet, kid, aunt/uncle, parent, grandparent, etc. But we sure don't let on that we have a favorite. That memo never made its way down to Roughy.

Roughy's favorite human was my cousin Joe. Roughy taught him that cats hate water and don't "stay" on command. Once, Joe placed Roughy on a truck tailgate and told him to stay, but Roughy left as soon as he was unattended. Open windows meant adventure for Roughy. Joe was the fun person who could get away with anything.

Roughy moved on, though - he realized that his human mom would be more than happy to spoil him - in a different way. One-on-one time - no other cats - for nap time, gentle pets - staying away from his back and never too much petting at one time. I would also always warn the other cats not to mess with him, or they would pay the price when he decided to fight them. I used to say we both looked forward to our nap time - he knew the difference between the true nap time and when I just wanted him to chill out. If I said nap time too late in the day, he would walk away. But say it mid-day, and it was a sure thing.

He slowly started favoring another person - Wally, our favorite long-distance hiker. Wally quickly learned the no-pet zones and stuck to them. He also started putting Roughy in a "headlock" and then pulled his arms away, saying he slipped out of it. To say Roughy loved that would be an understatement. Wally became his truest best human friend - ready to spend hours sitting on the couch binge-watching TV or playing video games. When Wally got the hiking itch and hit the trail, I thought Roughy would be back for his nap time routine with me.

Sadly for me - not the case. He moved on to Scatter, Wally's girlfriend. I'm miffed - because she gives him all the things I used to. The big exception is she's home more than I am - so now he has nap time, bedtime, and whenever he wants! He hunkers down on her bed and settles in for a long haul of sleep - no matter the time of day. When she leaves for work, he walks around the house looking for her, stands in front of her bedroom door, and cries because he wants to be let in. It's like her room is really his room, and he just lets her stay there. It could be that most of the other cats don't hang as long in her room, so he truly feels like an only cat in our multi-cat house.

Whatever his deal is, he has single-pawedly figured out how to manipulate all the humans around him. The days of him being scolded are long gone—we realized that if we scold him, he spitefully pees in places; reprimand him, and he takes his frustration out on the other cats. So he is the true King of the house. His favorite human may change, but it's always whoever gives him what he needs or wants at the current time.

Can't say that we blame him—he figured out the system and is making it work to his full advantage.

Till our tails cross,

Mel & Roughy