Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! We are now in Los Angeles visiting my aunts and uncles and cousins. And there are puppies too:

There is my sweet 17 year old, Scruffy and 

dear Manny.

I will have to get a picture of Fluffy the black cat tomorrow.

9, Chani, Sheamus Popoki and Popoki are being taken care of by Jan back home.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope you have a happy and safe and lovely holiday.

A little peace of Heaven

Having all three sleeping in my lap or on my legs... This is my version of Heaven

In which Chani snoopervises making the bed

Chani: One of my favorite times is when Mama Marlene strips the bed and changes the sheets. I always help her out  by making sure all the sheets and blankets are properly furred.

Looks pretty good here

Oop, missed a spot. Let me get that for you.

Not done yet.

Give me a minute. I am double checking everything.

Ok. All clear!

Nice place for a lovely stretch. Purrrrrrrr

Thursday tidings from the Chan-Chan girl

Mama Marlene calls me Princess Grumpy Pants quite often.

Can you blame me when she puts ridiculous hats on me?

Well, I am still her best clothing model. Here I am helping her with sizing and styling. She isn't using pre-made patterns when she sews us outfits. She is doing it all on her own with very little sewing training. She is way too stubborn and impatient to actually take classes these days.

As well, such is life.

New Friend, Penny the Siberian Husky!

Many years ago, when I still lived at my parents' with Q who came before, I would house sit for my friends, Pam and John. Well, actually, I was dog sitting. In the beginning, there was Conan, a giant Husky and Natasha, a tortie cat full of tortitude. Later, Sonia, a rescue Husky came along and it was always fun to be with these two pups. Natasha would usually hide from me. Although, she did use me for heat once on a cold night while I was sleeping. She would have gotten away with this secret brief moment of tolerating my presence if I hadn't woken up in the middle of the night to find her resting comfortably between my legs. She left as soon as I woke up.

 At any rate, years passed and dear sweet Conan, lovely Sonia and standoffish Natasha all crossed the Rainbow Bridge and took a small piece of my heart with them. Sonia passed earlier this year. After a number of months grieving, John told Pam, "Pam, it's time we adopted a dog." Pam replied with, "Well, what good timing. I've been looking at BASH."

And that is how Penny came into their lives.

Hi everyone! I'm Penny. Originally, I was called Penelope, but my new parents thought Penny suited me better. I'm a smart, pretty 3 year old girl. Marlene thinks I have the best eyeliner.

 

Now, although I have been trained really well - I sit and come when called and I'm ever so gentle when taking food or treats from the humans' hands - I've got a bit of separation anxiety. You see, I just love my dad and I can't bear to be apart from him. I love my mom too, but not like my dad.

 

So, Marlene comes over and takes care of me when my parents need to go out to a wedding reception or a silly birthday dinner. She takes me for walks to help me out with my anxiety, but I still miss my dad horribly. I'm so happy when he comes home!

One silly thing that I do is I kind of do this low growl or mooing like a cow when I get hugged or kissed or getting petted. It sounds like I'm angry or about ready to attack, but no. I'm just lowing. Sometimes I do that when I'm enjoying the attention I'm receiving. Sometimes I just do it because I want to. Now, I'm not too fond of being hugged and kissed, but I am tolerating it. Dad says I have to get used to it. I guess I can try. 

Mom is trying to train me to ring the bells on the door like Conan and Sonia who came before. Apparently, that was their way of signaling they wanted to go outside. Honestly, I think she needs to just listen to me.  I indicate when I want to go out by gently singing the song of my people and wait by the sliding glass door. Why do I need to ring the bells? Humans!

Here's my curly tail. Marlene thinks it is just awesome. "Such excellent curl", she says. And it's pretty funny when I wag my tail according to the humans. I don't quite understand why they think it's funny. It is just my tail and it looks like a vibrating poof ball when I wag it. I think it would be rather cute instead of funny. Sometimes, I just don't understand the humans.

So welcome to our little blog, Penny! We are so happy you are here with us!

Shameless Sheamus shows off

On Manly Monday

As does 9

And Sweet Popoki

Shoot. This didn't publish last night so I am a day late. Ah well

Selfies

Unfortunately, the human had to be in the selfies... But, we still love her.

No, Chani is not pleased.

9 doesn't mind. 

Sweet Popoki is ok with it too. 

And Mama Marlene took care of a bunch of kitties this summer. First up, Kazi who she has posted before.

Kazi's sisfur, Buddy

And a new friend, Shiro

Wordless Wednesday

Chan-Chan girl

How I love my Pink Blankie of Doom. Especially when Mama Marlene lies down on the couch and I can claim her lap.

And really, it's about time she features me on the blog!

The boys

Make it difficult to make the bed. They distract me with their handsomeness

Brrrrrr or Chani loves the space heater

Aaaaaaaah, Mom has turned on the space heater for me.

I looooove you, Space Heater. Such lovely warmth you produce.

Sigh... So very wonderful

I had started to turn on the heater right before bed, just to take the chill out of the air and because I wasn't using the heater. It was chilly, but not that cold.

Until last night. The temperature has really dropped and our condo's heater is broken as in the electric pilot light igniter is not working. My handyman friend took a look, but he can't fix it. I have a call in to a contractor who might be able to stop by tomorrow and check it out. 

Oh, and PG&E was useless. If I just needed a pilot light relight, I would have to wait til 12/11. Yes, that is the next available appointment. And I couldn't get anyone on the phone at PG&E to ask about options (I wasn't sure it was a pilot light relight that was needed) and when I emailed that question, the response was: PG&E does not do repairs... So very helpful.

I am freezing and so are the cats. So, we have two space heaters going on in the bathroom and bedroom as well as the electric blanket. The only good thing is that the cold is leading to some major cuddle time with all three cats at the same time.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We hope you all have a wonderful day. Long holiday if you are in the States

Sweet Sheamus Popoki

I mentioned the other day that Sweet Sheamus Popoki was ill. This happened a few months back. We had just finished having Popoki over as a guest. I had taken Popoki to my parents' and returned home. 9 and Chani were their typical selves, but I couldn't find Sheamus. Now, in the past year or so, Sheamus would join 9 in welcoming me home. I was a little concerned, but just kept my calm and thought, well, he'll come out when he feels like it.
After a while, I just had to find him. The stress and worry was getting to me. I finally did find him hiding behind the couch. I spoke to him and told him how much I loved him and to come out when he was ready. Well, not too long after, he did come out and yowled. It was quite odd and he sounded distressed. So, I picked him up and put him on me. He yowled again and just lay on me.

Now, Sheamus is not a lap cat. He's gotten more affectionate with me, head bumping my arm for pets or attention. So, when he stayed on me, I got even more worried. Finally, I just had to call the emergency vet. My boy was not feeling well and yowling. In fact, he yowled right as the vet tech answered the phone. She told me to bring him in right away and I did.

This was at 9pm at night.

I took Sheamus in, he was taken to the back. Not too long after that, the vet came out and told me that Sheamus couldn't urinate. He had a blocked tract. There were crystals in his urine and they'd clear it out, put a catheter in him and help him drain his bladder. They would also x-ray him to see if there were any crystals in his bladder. If there were, he'd need surgery. But, the chances of that were fairly slim as Sheamus is only 4 years old and such.

I was told to go home and they'd let me know if he needed surgery. I went in and said good bye to Sheamus who was quite put out that I was leaving him in a strange environment. I tried to tell him that it was for his best interests, but of course, he really didn't understand.

I went home, was a wreck and tried to sleep. Well, at 1AM, I received a call. Poor Sheamus did indeed have crystals in his bladder. Did I want the surgery performed? YES, of course I did.

The surgery was performed and Sheamus was kept at the vet for a few days. Fortunately, I was allowed to visit him.

Here is Sheamus at the vet, seriously unhappy with me.

You have betrayed me...

Not going to look at you

After I brought him home, I tried to make him as comfortable as possible. 9 would hiss at Sheamus because he did smell quite differently. 9 got over it sooner rather than later.

My stitches... and my missing belly fur... whimper



When I brought Sheamus home, he could barely move. He also couldn't control his bladder.  I'd pick him up and move him and he would urinate. So I covered the front room with a sheet I don't use and bought a bunch of puppy pee pads. I bought a new litter box that was uncovered and low to the ground so Sheamus would have an easier time going to the bathroom. The hardest part was to stop 9 and Chani from using that litter box. I also confined Sheamus to the living room during this time.


My shaved paw. You can see the needle mark.


My other paw. This time with a green bandage. I'm not sure why I have the bandange and Mama Marlene doesn't remember.


Eventually, she put a soft collar on me because I was having a hard time eating with the plastic one.


It didn't take too long, but Sheamus did return to his rather shameless ways.


No belly fur to stroke, but Sheamus still shamelessly showed his belly.


I would interchange the plastic cone and the soft one. After about 2 weeks, Sheamus was cone free and stitches free.


It was starting to get a little chilly, so I asked my mom to make Sheamus a sweater. He obligingly wore it for about 5 minutes before wriggling his way out of it.


I am feeling much better now and allowing Mama Marlene to hug me again. And I am head bumping her arm for pets too.


Sheamus' belly fur isn't grown back yet, but it's getting there. The undercoat is in and he seems to be working on growing his glorious long fur.



My sweet boy is feeling much better and being his typical sweet self. Now, I get paranoid about him and if he is peeing. Also, he's on a special prescription diet which he doesn't like at all. He likes the dry food, but not the wet. I'm mixing his prescription food with some low ash cat food. He likes the low ash stuff, and eats around the prescription. I'm just going to have to keep a very close eye on him.