Campus Cats

Cali went to her first Campus Cats meeting today. I think it's rather neat that this tiny feral kitten I caught under an air conditioning unit at the end of summer almost two years ago is now helping raise awareness for the rest of her siblings which are still living on the campus as part of the colony. She had a good time, she got to meet several new professors as well in her wanderings around campus before the meeting. She was tired and cranky though when we got home and showed her cattitude but a nice little cat nap and her outlook seemed to improve.

Temporary kitty

I've not been posting because I've had a temporary 4th cat. Smokey my dad's barn cat was injured and has come to stay with me while he heals. This is an older picture of him. He used to be rather feral but in his old age he's mellowed quiet a bit so he seems to be doing ok inside. The windows freak him out a bit since they front the back yard so he sees the dogs a lot. I think he's worried they can come get him so he's spent a lot of time in his crate, which is ok and is stuff full of soft warm blankets for him to lay on while he heals.

I can tell he's feeling some better today because he did not want to take his pill and he let me know in no uncertain fashion that he didn't. Lots of growling and general difficulty but he finally took it, which was good because I had to hoof it to work. It's good to have him feel up to making that much of a fuss. He was a rather sick kitty just a few days ago so I can at least tell that the medicine is working.

He'll probably be staying for at least a week, possibly longer depending on how he is healing. he had 8 days of medicine to take but he has a gash so until that heals he can't go outside and here he has the company of his kitty friends. Cali and Suki remembered him. Casper of course did not but there's just been some hissing and that's about it.

Busy day!

I drove a half hour to my dad's house today because his tom cat was ill. Did that after spending all morning cleaning my house in preparation for tomorrow when friends are coming over. What I need now is a good nap! It was all worth it though to have my Cali come cuddle up and sleep on my foot. She's a good foot warmer and since she is rarely a cuddly girl this is a treat for me. She's still sleeping exactly like that, even as I type this. Sweet baby :)

Cali story

When Cali was a little kitty I took her to my grandparents house. She went over often since they lived next door to my dad. It was Sunday dinner so the family was there as well as some friends who had also come to lunch. Cali was enjoying all the people. She loved to explore the house and jump up on the hearth, look in the toy box and so forth.

It was the first cold day and my grandparents have a set of gas logs. they turned them on to help keep the front of the house warm since everyone was a bit chilly since we were not used to the cold yet. Cali was running around like usual and jumped on the hearth and then jumped around the grate and into the fire! She jumped out just as fast of course!

Luckily she wasn't any worse for the wear, except for her whiskers which were all curled from the heat. I looked up stuff that said not to trim them but she kept messing with them, trying to bite them so I trimmed the curled ends off for her in the end and she seemed a lot happier. My dad's girlfriend is a nurse and she looked her over. She didn't even burn her paws. Lucky kitty!

Cali went to class again!

So Cali went back to the university today. She likes riding in the car and was quiet excited as you can see from this picture. That's her with her little harness on and then I use a doggie seat belt adapter to buckle her in to her seat so that in the event of an accident she stays in her seat. It annoys her a bit but she puts up with it to travel.

Cali is not a big fan of elevators as you can see, she just wants off this thing. She would much rather me carry her up the stairs. It's easier for her than walking I'm sure. I think it's the disorientation that gets her though with elevators really.

Then we stopped by the office for a few minutes. She always enjoys that. We shut the doors so she was able to be off leash though I had to make sure she didn't get into my bosses plants, something she is prone to doing.

After hanging out there we went to class for a bit, which she really enjoyed. She wandered

around and said HI! to the students then took a snooze in a back corner while the class watched a movie.

Then we went to see hubby and some of his friends who were also quiet taken with this

strange cat that walks on a leash.

Then we came home and she's taking a much deserved nap. Busy day for an itty bitty calico kitty.

Casper in the window

It was warm today. Hard to believe just a few weeks ago we were snowed in, unable to even get out of our drive way. Today it was almost 70! Knowing it will get cold again makes me a little sad. I'm so ready for spring, and even more for summer! Opened all the windows in the house (not counting those painted shut that is) and let in the fresh air.

Got a surprise this evening. The girls love sitting in the open windows and go from room to room looking out all day. Casper on the other hand finds the outside here scary. Too many loud cars going by, too much bass blasting. He was staying away from the open windows. Then tonight after his dinner he jumped up in the window, he's been sitting there for a few hours now and even went poof at Cali to keep his spot, which is even better because that's pretty clear kitty communication as well as standing up to her, two things he hasn't done well in YEARS! I may never know what started to bring about these changes, the move to being fully inside, the switch to wet food, the living in close proximity to the other two, and really I don't care. He's doing so well and I'm just grateful he's getting better.

Loooooong week

I know I've not been posting. It's been a long week. I'm still getting used to these days where I have to be at work at 8am, which is totally out of sync with my body's natural clock. So mostly I've been too tired to post.

The kitties are doing well. Casper seems to be doing more cat-ish things. He's been blinking at me consistently. I've even noticed him grooming more. His fur certainly is softer. All these seem to me to be good signs, signs that his brain may be healing more. Just a little earlier he even came up into the living room and was stalking around. I think he was impatient for dinner but hey whatever helps. I'll take all the good signs I can get.

I was going to take Cali to class today but the weather was so blah that I just stayed on campus. Went by the office, was late for class after meeting with my boss, who is awesome. I need to start working on that presentation for class. I'm excited to present my research. One of my other professors also gave me a flier for a conference in Indiana about human animal relations that I'm going to try to get my paper ready for. We'll see how it goes!

Casper eating

Waiting on Casper to eat. He's such a slow eater! The girls wolf their food down but he takes his time. I have to separate him from the girls because of that and the fact they he'll let them run him off his food. He's bigger than Suki and he dwarfs Cali, but it doesn't matter, if the come at him he gives way.

I give them wet food in the evening. They get kibble in the morning because money is tight and I can't afford wet for both at the moment, sometimes I can't afford it for just the evening. Working again now though so it'll get better soon. Man their food stinks though. I feed Cas back in my room so I can keep an eye on him. If you lock him up sometimes he freaks out and attacks doors and flooring so it's easier this way but having my room stink like their food isn't pleasant.

Cali-1 Mom-0

I was taking a nap today, minding my own business when Cali left tracks on my face. I really don't think she meant to. It had gotten dark outside and she could see the lights on the wall from cars driving by where they come through the holes in the blinds. Being both still very young and a formal feral her prey drive just could not resist the shiny little dots moving on the wall. Still they bled forever! Luckily they're not too noticeable, but it was not a pleasant way to end my nap to be sure. I think she felt bad once she realized she had got me because she came over and licked my nose.

As it is I needed the nap. It's been a long week because I'm still adjusting to getting up early to go to work. My natural rhythm is to go to bed at around midnight and get up between nine and ten. Tuesdays and Thursdays though I have to be up by 7 and the rest of the work week up by eight. I have a lot of breaks and plenty of time to come home but just not quiet enough time to nap. I'm having trouble getting to bed early enough, I just can't seem to fall asleep so I'm seriously sleep deprived. Hopefully I'll adjust in the next week or so. Lots of Mt. Dew for me lol

Cali is so cute. I have this big fluffy robe and she loves that thing. She just found it in the floor and was kneading like crazy and purring up a storm. The only things she usually purrs that loud for is food, little piglet that she is. Now she's curled up right in the center, just about a sleep, which is where I think I'll go to now.

Cali went to class today

I've mentioned before that I have a class this semester about animals and psychology. The professor had mentioned before that I could bring her and so today I did. She got a bath last night in preparation, mostly because Suki had an accident and Cali stepped in it and smelled like pee. I came home after work and picked her up from the house. She was very excited when she saw her harness, she knows what that means. She started purring and went straight to the door.

Once we got in the car she was very happy to. It's been weeks since we went anywhere, almost two months actually so she couldn't wait to look out the car windows. She was rather annoyed with her seat belt adapter because it made it hard to get in a good position to see, but she won't do a crate so I have to secure her somehow, just for her safety.

We got on campus a bit early, so I went to see Hubby who was in his class still, so I waited upstairs in the lounge. It was quiet enough that Cali wasn't overwhelmed. She got to see the head of the computer science department up there, a big cat lover as well as several professors who love cats. They all had to pet and love on her which she soaked up. Then daddy came. She's such a daddy's girl, she kept going over to him instead lol. He ended up walking with me to class because she wanted him to hold her, something she hardly lets me do.

The professor was excited to have her there and the other students seemed generally excited too. Once class settled down we closed the door and I let her off her leash so she could great everyone. She got up in a few laps, with permission, sniffed a lot of bags, she smelled other kitties according to the bags owners. Then she spent part of the time looking out the window. We were on the third floor so she liked the view. We watched a movie in there though and she didn't like that. I'm not sure why, we have a surround sound system at home and we watch movies and play video games and it doesn't phase her. The only thing I can guess was maybe the bears freaked her out since we were watching Grizzlyman.

After class we walked around the building a bit, meeting and greeting people, most of whom were surprised to see a cat walking around on a leash. She wanted to go in and explore every classroom, especially if there were people! The professor encouraged me to bring her back again which is wonderful because it would help in getting her ready to be a therapy animal, which is something that I would love to do!

Stressful

Having two special needs cats is stressful. I love all my kitties but Suki and Casper make it a lot more challenging to have multiples. Suki with her bad leg, and she sometimes has accidents. I think it hurts her sometimes because she gets rather cranky some days but there's not much we can do for that. Casper getting confused and startling so easy, missing all the social cues that kitties give and not doing a whole not lot of grooming, especially compared to the girls! If hubby steps in pee on the cat porch from Suki one more time I'm not sure what he's going to do. At least he was wearing shoes this time.

All that said I love my cats. Suki does her best, I think her accidents are her having trouble getting over the lip of the box but if I get one that's uncovered they ALL use it and I have long days this semester, they can completely ruin that box in a day. I just don't have that kind of money to spend on litter at the moment. I'm going to save up and try a cat genie or some such contraption. Hopefully that will help.

Still working with Casper on cat social signals. can't really say anything about progress yet but he kinda pseudo kneaded today, not something I've seen him do so maybe another good sign. I'll just have to keep working with him.

Poor Cali, this was supposed to be a blog about her. I've taken to calling her my tiny tiger. You never truly or fully tame a feral. You can see it in their eyes if you look. Even though she was so tiny when I got her, she's still truly a feral cat. She does so well now that I have little to post about her it seems, compared to the other two, who seem to have so many issues! I hear her attacking the scratching post in the other room, the little dear knows how to entertain herself. She is worth every drop of blood that I lost taming her lol. Maybe I'll post some stories from the times I let the blog lapse over the next few days.

Casper healing?

I've been working with Casper recently, trying to see if the blinking thing was just a fluke. He's doing it again, he's done it a couple of times now. Now if I could just get him to groom more, lol, but not sure how to encourage that. I figure if I keep interacting with him with cat signals maybe it'll help his interactions with the other cats. I'm a lot more forgiving than the other cats are if he misinterprets social cues and the like. I don't know what else to do that might help. I guess we'll just keep going this way and see. I don't see how it could hurt.

Melting!!

The snow and ice finally melted enough that we went to the grocery store today. I caved in an made a huge pot of beef stew too and man it was good. I don't have the money to keep up being a vegetarian at the moment. It's so expensive to buy the variety of food you need and every kind of cheap food seems to have some sort of additive in it that comes from animals, even ramen!

That said the cats are doing good. They got wet food again since mommy got paid. Casper had been getting picky and not wanting to eat. Now that he's inside and I have the other cats to compare him to I see more and more things that he doesn't do. Like he doesn't do the blinky thing that cats do to be friendly, he doesn't groom like my two girls either. I read a factoid that said cats groom 30% of the time, he doesn't groom anywhere close to that. Mostly he sleeps either in his "bunker"- a cat crate with his mini-cas and a bed in it, or he sleeps on my bed at the head on the pillows.

Anything out of the ordinary scares him. For example as I was writing this hubby was sitting on the bed and point out that he was stalking something. it was my hairbrush, it's not normally on the bed but I dried my hair earlier and left it there. It freaked him out, even though it has to smell like me he wouldn't even get close to it, he just backed up with I tried to get him to smell it.

He ducks when you go to pet him. He's been hit twice in his life, both reflex actions on my part when he was younger and pounced on me while I was a sleep, neither time was hard since they were half awake flailings in reaction to having a furry bomb land on my head. I've never purposefully hit him. Of course I don't know what his early kittenhood was like so who knows if that is actually a symptom of his injury or something more related to his experiences.

Despite all his eccentricities he's a great cat though, a real sweet snuggle bug with me and unless the other two mess with him he's well behaved. Well except for the two times he pee'd on my clothes after we moved to the house but move stress is normal for cats and even more expected in one in his condition. He's my Casper and I love him. :)

Not much to say

Been stuck at the house with hubby and the cats. Until today I'd not left the house since Sunday night. Not much to talk about because of that. The cats have been getting along pretty well over all. The dogs are still enjoying the snow though it's finally starting to melt. I think Kai was happy to see it because he started rolling around in the grass like he did with the snow. Loki wanted to play fetch but we saw blood on the ice the other day so I figure one of them cut their foot so I didn't play with him. Don't want my pup to get hurt. We have to go out and about tomorrow anyway though, we need groceries since we've just been stuck here. It'll be good to get out and about though.

Casper

Still stuck at the house with hubby the cats and the boys and it looks like tomorrow will be the same. Work and class are canceled again. Hopefully I'll get back to work soon, I have to get paid so that the bills get paid! I don't work for the whole month of December since university is out for break but that means I don't get paid either so the bank account is getting rather thin at the moment. Still I can make it another round of bills but I'll be eating ramen for sure.

On a good note, and what the title of this post is about Casper did something today I'm not sure I've seen him do before, or at least not in a long time. Casper's brain damage seems to have affected his ability to relate to other felines. He does ok with people most of the time but he seems to routinely miss cues from the other cats, such as Cali trying to play with him. He always seems to think that she's trying to actually attack him instead of just playing, which ends up in a fight because he then feels like he has to defend himself.

Today Casper did something perfectly normal, he blinked as cats will do, and when I blinked back he blinked again just like any other normal kitty. Since he normally struggles with these interactions this was a pretty big moment. His eyes recently started dilating and contracting properly so I wonder if this is another sign of him possibly having some rewiring happen in his brain.

Also he and Cali were laying on the bed together, not just both on the bed but actually touching and snuggled up against each other, which up until this point had never happened. He's only just adjusted to her even existing after more than a year so I take that as a good sign as well. It's nice to see them getting along better, now if he and Suki would get along my life as far as the feline part of it goes, would get a lot easier.

I guess it'll be just something that I basically have to wait and see on. Maybe it was a fluke but just maybe at the same time he's improving even more. Hopefully he'll continue to improve because I know that it would improve his life and his enjoyment of the world around him. Well, one can only keep hoping I suppose.

Pictures of the Dogs

The black one is Loki and the white one is Kai

Snow dogs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLuCft9B4K4

The cats are not the least big interested in the 4 inches of white stuff we have recieved. The dogs however are another story. They have been having the best time playing, even though it has about a 1/2 inch of ice on top of it this morning. I thought Loki would be cold but he doesn't seem to care. Every time we go out they want to play. We came in just so Loki would go get warm. I don't worry about Kai too much, he is a husky after all, so his coat is built for this kind of weather.

I did too much though. My leg is not happy. That video shoes it was worth it though :) We don't get snow all that often down here so a little pain today for ecstatically happy puppies and a priceless video seems like a fair trade to me.

Recent pictures of the cats

Possible bad weather

My knee is doing some better. My sister brought me my crutches so that helps too when I need to get around. Cali has decided she's a heating pad. She's spent a lot of time the last few days with me in bed laying on or next to my leg. Sweet girl is trying to help the best way she knows how.

There's winter weather coming. I know 3-5 inches of snow doesn't sound like much to our northern friends but we don't have the infrastructure here in the south to deal with that, especially since it's supposed to come with up to 1 inch of ice accumulation as well. I'm kinda hoping we don't have class on Monday. I know it's just the start of the semester but it would keep me off my leg another day which would be good for me, even if I have to sacrifice some pay.

If we loose power tonight that will suck. I'm hoping we can stay warm. I'll bring the cats in the main house if it does, they're pretty good furry heaters plus they'd be warmer and the whole house will stay warmer if we close off the sun porch. It's wonderful to have those big windows but even double pained they sure do let out a lot of heat from the rest of the house.

If we do loose power hopefully hubby's parents or my boss will still have power. Both their houses are nearby and if it went too long we could go to one of their places if need be. Just pack up the kits and a litter box and go. The dogs should be ok. They have two warm houses stuffed full of soft hay so they'll be very warm. I made sure to get food for all the animals. Most people were buying bread and milk and there I was with a cart full of 50lbs of dog food and 20lbs of cat food and not a bit of people food. I've got plenty of canned goods, my animals come first.

Well if I don't post for a day or two, you'll know why now, and I'll be back when we have power again, if it does go out.

Short post :(

I totally fell on campus and pulled a tendon in my knee and as much as I enjoy writing these posts I really just don't feel like it, even with the Motrin from the infirmary. I'm going to go snuggle with the furry horde and hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.

Work work work work.....

Came home to unhappy hyper kitties today. Hubby came home but didn't let them out during his break, which made then super annoyed. On the upside I will probably get to lead a class over animals and psychology which is pretty sweet. Oh and Cali can come to class for that one. She'll be happy to get out and about I know. She likes car rides.

She's grown to be such an interesting kitty. She loves car rides, but not in a crate. she wears one of the seatbelt adapters and a harness like a dog. She sits on the center console all royal. People usually laugh at her if they see her like at a red light or something. She also likes to do tricks, she'll sit and play fetch and walk on a leash. I call her my dog kitty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znSHsgQp8Wo

That's her doing her tricks. I don't have a recent one of her walking on her leash but there are a lot of other videos on youtube of her and the other kitties, if you like watching silly kitties and some of the puppies since we have two large dogs as well, Kai and Loki a Husky and a Lab mix. very sweet boys who have the back yard as their territory.

Suki's weight loss

Suki's lost more weight! I did a weigh in for the girls today. I didn't bother Casper. Suki's down to 12.8 lbs which is much better than the 16.8 lbs she was when she came to live with me. She's playing a whole lot more now too. She and Cali have been tearing around the house together. They seem to have fun, which is good but really it's just nice to see her playing.

I know that people don't recommended that you have two female cats but my two seem to get along better than either of them get along with Casper. I think with his brain injury Casper doesn't always get all the signals right in cat on cat interactions. He does ok with me and hubby but he doesn't seem to want to play or understand that Cali wants to play when she tries. He just hisses and runs away.

We took down all the Christmas decorations today and boxed them up. I wanted them all away before I have company over again. Cali helped of course, just like she helped when we put them all up. She seemed to think she was Maru and kept jumping into the boxes before we put the stuff in them. It didn't take as long to take down as it did to go up. Everything was boxed up and away very shortly, then again we only have two small boxes of decorations since this is our first house and we've not been in it a year even.

It's back to work tomorrow. I hope that I can keep up this pace but I'm working in six different classes this semester plus my own classes and a volunteer position as well. I'll be busy to say the least but my goal is to try and post every day, so we'll see how it goes!

Casper

As I said I would yesterday here is Casper's story. A lady was giving away kittens during a heat wave several years ago in a wal-mart parking lot. My hubby, before we were married, was working nearby in the same shopping center and so I was going to see him at work. I couldn't resist stopping to see the kits and this one got in my lap. It was so hot and he seemed to just want to get out of the heat. So I took him with me. I was living with my father still, this was several years ago after all, he would not allow inside cats. So once Casper was big enough outside he went with the rest of the cats there. We lived in a quiet neighborhood with not too much traffic so we didn't think it was that big of a deal, until he got hit.

I felt so bad. We were going out to dinner and he came up to the porch and let out the most pitiful meow. I saw his little leg was broken. What I didn't realize at the time though was that he also had brain damage. I called the vet, after hours, who asked about his condition over the phone and said that he would have to have surgery based on where the break was and to bring him in first thing Monday.

He had to have pins put in his leg but came home the next day. It took us a while to assess the range of his disability. It's not like a cat can explain things to you. He has been slowly healing over the years. His eyes would not dilate and contract properly for several years. They began to do so again this summer, showing that even these years after the accident his brain is rewiring and healing.

He had a hard time after the move. He wasn't used to my hubby being around all the time, plus the new house. I had to kind of rush the move too because when I moved out he wouldn't eat for my dad and started to loose weight, so I just had to go and bring him here. he won't be happy when I start to work Wednesday either though he tends to adjust to those kinds of changes the quickest.

All in all he is healthy and happy as he can be. We try to keep things as normal as possible for him, so that he feels the most comfortable he can without curtailing our social lives. When company comes over we just let him be. He usually just sleeps on my bed quiet contentedly the whole time anyway and he's started to get used to the friends that come over the most and will come out and see them sometimes, which I take as a good sign as well.

Suki

I know I've been mentioning my other cats but I've not really told you about them here, it's all been about Cali. So I thought that I'd tell you about them and their stories. You see Cali is my only "normal" kitty. Suki and Casper both have disabilities. Since my Su is older I suppose I'll start with her.

Suki was a kitten that I gave to my cousins when they were younger. Unfortunately their neighbors dog came and attacked her. They were unable to pay for any vet bills and we thought that she was going to have to be put down because she could not walk. I went and picked her up to take her to the vet, fully thinking her back was broken.

The vet said however that she had no broken bones, but she did have major damage to the tendons and ligaments and possibly some nerves in her back legs. She would walk again, though with a limp, but he saw no reason to put her down if I was willing to work with him to take care of her. Luckily it was summer so I had the free time I needed, otherwise it would have been rough.

She had no bladder control at first nor could she get into a litter box so she lay on a puppy pad for about a week. Every time she went potty I had to clean her up. After that she started getting up and moving to a puppy pad and a few weeks later she was back to using a litter box.

She still has a limp, even now years later. She doesn't seem to notice much though, except that she can't jump very high. Otherwise she runs and plays like normal. She's a bit overweight because my grandmother spoiled her before I moved out. She felt sorry for her I think, but that is not a problem anymore and she's losing weight at a healthy rate now.

She's a healthy cat and I'm glad that I was able to take care of her so that she can be her fluffy happy self.

New Years

Was out last night until today :P Waaaaay too late. The kitties didn't mind. They got to cuddle up with mom in the bed for most of the day. They've also gotten to be out for most of the day too. They'll be up tomorrow morning though because we have to go celebrate my birthday with my dad's family so we'll be gone all morning. They'll be ok. As for me I'm going to try to catch up on my sleep tonight lol I'm getting too close to thirty to be staying up until 5 am I think.