new logo! This one was created by the wonderful Aly in GA. Thanks, Aly!
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I don’t know what the weather was like where y’all are, but last night just as it started to get dark – when the trick or treaters usually start showing up – it began raining like hell. I had to go to Ardmore to pick up the kittens, and when I got back an hour later, it was still raining and there were no trick or treaters in sight. I had to go to the pet store to meet the shelter manager and pick up some stuff for the kittens, and when I got home, there were trick or treaters all over the place.
Since I had no desire to keep getting up to answer the door, I put all the candy I’d bought in a big bowl, put it on the front step along with a note that read “Take one”.
“No one’s going to just take one,” Fred told me. “They’re going to grab as many as they can.”
I did not care in the slightest. I had candy, I wanted the trick or treaters to get rid of it, and I didn’t care if one of them poured the whole bowl of candy in his sack.
There was a steady stream of trick or treaters (I could hear them walk up to the door and say “It says take ONE”) and an hour after I’d put the bowl out, I looked out to see that there were two pieces of hard candy left, and a slug crawling up the side of the bowl.
I hope one of the little brats who took a handful of candy ended up with a slug, too. That’d serve ’em right!
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I brought Maxi’s kittens home last night and put them in Maddy’s room. I got them settled in (Inigo kept walking around making a questioning chirping sound. Apparently he was disturbed by the change in scenery.) and when I walked out the door, all the cats in the house were gathered around staring at the door.
Maddy, especially, wanted to know what was going on. I believe if she had the power of speech she would have said “WTF, lady? That’s MY room!”
When Fred got home from the house, we went upstairs and gave them all their medication (they saw tapeworms coming out of Princess Buttercup at the vet and said that most likely all the kittens have tapeworms, so we gave each of them a dose of Drontal for that, metronidazole for the giardia, and Albon for the coccydia). The boys were ultra friendly, crawling around on us, playing, letting us pick them up and pet them, purring very loudly. Princess Buttercup is very shy, but even she came out of hiding a few times to let Fred pet her.
We came back downstairs to watch TV, and decided to go to bed early so we could stop and play with the kittens for a little while on our way to bed. I went upstairs and Fred said “I just stepped in a pile of puke inside the door! While I go downstairs and turn the computer room light off, why don’t you clean it up?”
This, for the record, goes against the “He who spies it cleans it the hell up. Complaining is allowed.” rule, but I was game. I took the baby wipe he handed me and went to our bedroom door to clean up the puke.
“Where is it?” I yelled down to him.
“Right inside the doorway.”
I looked and looked, and didn’t see a single pile of puke anywhere.
“I don’t see it!” I yelled.
“You can’t miss it!” he called back as he came up the stairs.
“Apparently I can!” I said.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Looking for the pile of puke!”
“It’s inside the cat room,” he said, looking at me like I was an IDIOT. Which I am.
“Oh. Well, here, you clean it up. I have to go to the bathroom.”
He called me a bad word and went into the cat room to clean it up.
As I came out of the bathroom, I heard him make an exclamation of serious disgust.
“What?” I said.
“I thought this was a rubber band,” he said, and flipped on the overhead light. He held out the baby wipe, which was wrapped around half-digested cat food. “But it’s a TAPEWORM!”
Fred went back into the cat room and ended up finding another two piles of vomit, and the last one he found was NOTHING but worms. I’d never seen a tapeworm up close and personal before, but there was no doubt it was a tapeworm – it was flat and wide and very very long. Also, it had segments. There was a long, skinny worm (or worms) mixed in there as well.
I freaked OUT, because I had NO IDEA that a cat could ever vomit up worms. I know they come out the other end, but as far as being vomited up? I’d never heard of such a thing.
“I’m going to call Susan,” I said, and did. In fact, I left her one message, and when Fred found the pile of nothin’ but worms, I called again to let her know that Princess Buttercup was vomiting up a LOT of worms. I could have called her on her cell phone, but I didn’t think it was an emergency, so I figured if I didn’t hear from her, I’d call her in the morning.
We went back into the cat room and played with the boys and kept an eye on PB, who looked like she wasn’t feeling well at all, but then she came out of the carrier (where she’d been sleeping) and started playing like she felt just fine.
Susan called me back about an hour later and asked if I was sure they were tapeworms PB had been vomiting up (I was), and we discussed what I should do (give the kittens Revolution today, because it will kill some of the worms, then wait a few days and give her another Drontal (did I mention that Fred dug through the piles of cat vomit until he found a half-digested Drontal pill? Now THAT, my friends, is a man.)), and at one point she said “You’ve just got all KINDS of parasites going on, don’t you?” and laughed.
INDEED.
This morning, PB seems to be acting just fine, if skittish (which is normal for her). The first thing I did when I walked into the room was give them Metronidazole which they hate because it tastes nasty, but they forgave me, and soon Fezzik and Inigo were flopping all over me, wanting to be petted, and purring their little butts off.
These kittens are just so sweet. I’d love it if they all got adopted together (not going to hold my breath, though), but I’d be happy if they got adopted in two sets of two, too.
“Stop looking at me, or I’ll barf up a tapeworm in your lap.”
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Someone asked in yesterday’s comments if my mother was adopting Maddy. That’s a no, though she did say a few times “If this one didn’t already have someone adopting her, I’d bring her home with me!” Which I don’t believe, because when they were here last year she and my father absolutely fell in love with
Jodie and Rambo, and they didn’t adopt them. I just don’t think they’re that interested in having their own cat, though they love visiting and loving on ours.
Maddy’s going to her new home this weekend. I’m going to miss the little brat, for sure. I can’t believe she’s the same kitten we got when she was three weeks old (hard to believe it’s been almost 7 weeks!), she’s such a little spitfire that I could sit and watch her crazy antics for hours.
All of today’s uploaded pictures are
here.
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The Sugs is disturbed.
The Sugs is taking his life in his paws.
HATE.
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Previously
2005: And I don’t WANNA.
2004: Fuckin’ yawnsville.
2003: No entry.
2002: Bob Riley’s campaign strategy is to say “Nuh uh!”
2001: Did you know that they make foam cups in espresso size?
2000: No entry.
1999: Such appetizing topics, eh?]]>
Can I just say that the photos of Meester Boogers at the end of each entry just crack me up. Every single day, I cannot wait to scroll down to the bottom to see how much he hates everyone. He sure is a cranky old man, isn’t he.
I wonder if Miz Buttercup puked up all those worms because the meds were working? Her body had to send them somewhere, right? (Bleh, by the way. Just BLEH. Shudder.)
I just love, love, love Mr. Boogers.
Eew on the worms…
oh – c’mon – no pics of the worms?
At least having the smallville gang around will help lessen the loss of Miss Maddy. And thank you thank you thank you. I was skeeerd to death I was going to scroll down to find pictures of worms. Bless you.
Gross.
I am just happy you didn’t take pictures of the tapeworms!
Gross, yeah please do not post photos of the pile of tapeworms. Gah! Poor PB.
Love that photo of maddie sleeping with her paw on the side of her head. Cute!
Honestly, it never occurred to me to take pictures of the worms, though once we’d gotten them all cleaned up (I made Fred flush them so they wouldn’t come back to life in the middle of the night and climb out of the trash can and come looking for me) Fred said “We should have taken pictures!”
I’m glad we didn’t.
*shudder* Ick factor warning might have been useful on the tapeworm story. Glad I wasn’t eating spaghetti, lol! 🙂
I’m gagging just *thinking* about the tapeworms. YUCK!
Meester Boogers must be really really mad. All these kittens invading his home. Poor Boogie!!
Isn’t there some kind of life cycle tie in thing between tape worms and fleas? Like if they have one then they have the other? Altho I assume the vet would have noticed if they were flea infested, and you guys would have too.
And I think if cats are outdoors chances are huge they will have worms, which is totally gross. Did you guys worm Mommy Kitty and Daddy Kitty?
And you two are the best kittiy caretakers ever, bless you, and I agree with the others, THANK GOD there were no worm pictures.
I was scrolling down slowly……just in case…….
didn’t wanta see no worms.
Toby is such a pig he never even flinched at the Metronidazole which I sprinkled in HUGE amounts on his food. (The dose goes by weight, apparently.) If he didn’t eat it all I could wipe up the excess medicine with a piece of bread and he was delighted to eat it. What a goof!
NOTE TO SELF: DO NOT READ BITCHYPOO WHEN EATING FETTUCINI…SHE WRITES ABOUT TAPE WORMS. Seriously, today of all day I picked the wrong thing for lunch!
But, since I’m commenting I’ll add a positive…you are truly a kitten hero!
Yikes. Add me to the list of people skeered to death that I’d see a pile o’wormage picture. GAH!!!
For the record I’ve seen puppies puke tapeworm when they’re really loaded with them. Poor little PB!
Also loving the hateful pic at the end of every post. You must keep up that practice!
Ugh, thanks for the visual on the worms. I too had not thought worms came up that way, but my beloved dog apparently had quite an infestation as a puppy and I learned the hard way that worms can indeed come out the “front” end…all over my bed, in the middle of the night. It is most definitely not a pleasant memory, with the nearest vet 45 minutes away and it being Xmas eve. Aw, the memories.
She is now 10 years old and still suffers from severe reflux – and I attribute it to the nasty worm incident, since they just aren’t supposed to come up that way.
I have never seen a dog eat so much grass, or be plagued with a sensitive tummy in such a chronic way.
But I still love her to bits amd am thankful for her everyday.
The only reason I mention my experience, is to say that maybe her adoptive mommy should make sure pet safe grasses are available for PB in case her experience is similar.
Much love…
Wow, that worm stuff was the last thing I wanted to be reading while eating a plate of tuna with miracle whip. Gag.
Your new logo got me thinking….how do you like your new Suzuki Reno? I am looking at cars (Huyndai Accent, Toyota Yaris, and the Suzuki Reno), wanted to know your thoughts.
The tape worm and puke stuff save dme from a late night ice cream binge, thanks 😉
Glad to hear Maddy is going to a good home. She is a darling 🙂
Worms… something my mother always said we would get from eating uncooked cookie batter.
Oh, man. Those little kitties are lucky to be inside getting medicine. Hat’s off to Fred for his dogged pursuit of worm evidence.
Can you take lots of pictures of Maddy before she leaves? I am going to miss her too!!!!
what are the chances of tracking the larvae from room to room and infesting the other cats? You guys are true CAT HEROES, gotta love you for that. I can’t believe how beautiful those cats are to be so wormy.Will they be put up for adoption? My Mother always told us if we swallowed a cat hair that it would turn into a worm in our stomach. I’m so glad that is not true. How does Spidey Man feel about those kittens?
When I adopted my old dawg Rufus, he’d been on the streets for a while, and when the vet did the parasite tests, he came back positive for EVERYTHING. The vet was shocked, he couldn’t believe a dog could have THAT many parasites and still be alive and somewhat normal / happy.
The heartworm meds were a bummer, but we toughed it all out. The rest of it was cake by comparison! I’ve seen poos that were 100% worms, so I don’t even want to imagine the poor kitty who had to PUKE UP a worm-ball. Grody.
Ewww. My Kiefer have gotten tapeworm every summer from eating fleas. It’s usually the first sign of fleas. He’s definitely very sensitive to tape worm. Luckily, I only see the first sign – ick – and I call the vet for the meds. Only problem is I have to treat all 3 kitties, but I give them two months of flea meds. It’s expensive at this point. Next year, I think I’ll try treating Kiefer with Frontline starting in June and hope the tapeworm does not make a return performance. (Kiefer is the only kitty who likes to go outside)
OH MY GOD, Princess Buttercup is pretty.
remember the worms, remember the worms, remember the worms….and the fact that I already have 3 cats…gah.
Thanks for NOT posting a pic of the worms!! I can sympathize with the kitties – metronidazole shreds your tastebuds with its nastiness.
I am so glad I was not eating or getting dinner ready when I read today. Eeewww, tapeworms. I’ve only seen them on the rear end. I could not imagine a whole pile of them OMG I hope the medicine works quickly! Poor cats.
Love LOVE Love the new logo! So appropriate. Good luck on the worms. Ick!