10/23/09 – Friday

Vote for me! Please?

Good Mood Gig from SAM-e

(It’s to become a 6-month paid blogger for SAM-e. Details are here.)

Thank you all for your votes! 🙂

 

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The lamp in the guest bedroom has been dying a slow death over the past few weeks, probably because it’s gotten more use in the past month than since we bought this house. First the Wonkas were in there, and now the Cookies. Finally, a few days ago Fred tried to turn it on, and it wouldn’t turn on. He took it apart and peered at it, and declared it dead.

So I stopped by TJ Maxx to see what they had in stock, and they didn’t have the brushed bronze look that most of our lamps in the house have, but I saw a silver lamp that seemed like it would do. And $25 is a pretty good price for a brand new lamp.

I bought it and brought it home, and then finally got around to setting it up in the guest bedroom yesterday.

And it is hideous. It wasn’t until last night when we were feeding the babies and I glanced over to see the lamp sitting there that I realized just how hideous it is.

We’ll be getting a new lamp for that room soon, believe you me.

(Here’s where I’d put a picture as proof of its hideousness, but I forgot to snap a picture, and the babies just got put back down after a lengthy feeding-and-bathing session and I am NOT going in there and risking waking them up and setting off the howling. You’ll just have to take my word for it.)

 

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My goal this weekend is to get pictures chosen and uploaded, and calendars for 2010 created.

 

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By popular vote, the Comment! Answering! Extravaganza! lives on.

If you win the Sam-E blog contest, will you have to stop using the word Fuck? Will it have to be a nicey nice blog?

I don’t know if I would like that. It’s so funny when you say it. (I’m still voting for you everyday.)

HELL no – this site will still be up and running. I’d do a separate entry for SAM-e that was all sunshine and kittens. (Not that I honestly expect to win.

 

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After you are done bottlefeeding the new batch, do you give them back to the neighbor or you taking them to Challenger house? And how the heck does everyone know you foster kittens? Someone put up a sign?

They’re now officially Challenger’s House kittens (I had to check with the shelter manager to be sure it was okay), so we’ll foster them ’til they’re ready to be adopted.

I don’t know how everyone knows we foster, but I think that maybe Fred told this neighbor way back when we took Maxi’s kittens and fostered them for Challenger’s House, and she remembered. Or maybe she just knows that we’re crazy cat people and that I don’t work, and hoped we could help out!

 

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I’ve lost track…how many cats are in the house now? When I die I want to be reincarnated as an Anderson kitty…

and

If my math skills are correct, there are 22 kittehs now! 21-4=17 17+5=22 😀

::Sigh:: You are correct. Our previous high of 21 has now been bested. I’d really like it if we didn’t get any higher than that in the future, BUT I AM NOT SAYING NEVER (because that’ll just come back to bite me in the ass!)

 

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Since you are the kitteh whisperer I have some questions about transitioning an outdoor kitten (7 months) into an indoor kitten. My parents are about to attempt this. Litter training is the big question at hand. Do Newt and Maxi use the box, or do they go outside? Did you have to “teach” them about the litterbox, or did you put them in it and they just got it? I told my mom to go w/scoopable litter cuz I thought it would feel more like outside. Ugh, I’ve been out of vet med for 11 yrs. and my brain is empty! I’m afraid they’ll never be able to convince him that he’s inside only. Looking for any and all recommendations.

Maxi and Newt pretty much got the litterbox immediately – we put them in it, and they knew exactly what it was and what to do. I think it’s instinctual for most cats who are old enough (and at 7 months old, their cat is certainly old enough). I’d say put him in the litter box, and if he looks confused, take his front paws and show him how to scratch around in the litter. I bet he gets it pretty quickly, though.

 

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Do you have any idea what happened to that young woman Bonnie — formerly of Bontasia, then she had a blog that I think was called This Will Fall Away or something like that? There hasn’t been an entry there for a year or so and the last entry there was rather a disturbing one. I sincerely hope she’s okay.

I haven’t heard a thing from Bonnie, and I don’t know how to get in touch with her. I hope she’s okay, too! Anyone out there know anything??

 

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How exactly do you have to “stimulate” them to pee? Rub their lower abdomen?

You rub their hind end with a paper towel. Works like a charm!

 

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We had a darling cat hanging around my house and the more time she came back the fatter she looked. I let her in one day and sure enough she was pregnant Thank goodness she was okay with staying inside and she and my calico got along perfectly. She has now had the babies in my closet but now I don’t know what to do with them. She had three beautiful babies and I can’t keep them. I know they are not ready to go to homes until they are 10-12 weeks? just guessing on that but then what? My husband love cats but not four more and of course the momma isn’t spade and I don’t know what to do or who to call. If you have any readers in St. Louis that would like to adapt an adorable kitten in time for a Christmas present would you send them to me? I am in awe of you and all you do for the kitties but my babies are only three days old and I’m already attached. Anyways, any suggestions for me would be great and helpful Thanks and sorry for the rambling!

Robin, if you want to send me some pictures, I can put your whole story at the top of one of my posts so everyone will see it – and even if no readers in your area want to adopt, they may have suggestions for you! (And yes, 10 – 12 weeks sounds about right.)

 

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I was also at the doctor’s office yesterday. There was a poor woman who waited over FIVE HOURS to speak with a doctor. She didn’t have an appointment–they were trying to squeeze her in. She was FAR more patient and tolerant than I would have been. After a couple of hours, I would have made a huge stink!

This reminds me of a few years ago – I think it was my six-month follow-up appointment with my weight loss surgeon, so it would have been August 2006. I waited for over an hour to see the doctor, and when it had been an hour and ten minutes and the doctor was nowhere to be seen, I went to the front desk and asked to reschedule, because I wanted to get the fuck out of there (though I told them I had an appointment). That lit a fire under the doctor’s ass, and he came in and was a condescending douchebag, and ultimately declared that I needed to have my gallbladder out.

(I still don’t honestly believe I needed to have it out, but that’s neither here nor there. And speaking of my weight loss surgeon, if anyone asked if I’d recommend him, I absolutely would. He does good work. But I’d be sure to caveat the recommendation with “But he has less personality than Jon ‘Douchebag’ Gosselin.”)

 

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How do you tell Jake and Elwood apart?

I tried to get some good pictures of Jake and Elwood so I could really show the differences, but the little brats wouldn’t cooperate, so here – here’s the very first picture I ever took of them.

Elwood’s on the left, Jake’s on the right. Elwood’s eyes are just the slightest bit darker than Jake’s, though to be honest I can’t tell unless they’re right next to each other. Jake’s cheeks are rounder, and as a result, when he looks at you a certain way, he looks like he’s mentally unhinged.

Elwood’s tail is shorter and thicker; Jake’s tail is long and thin.

Fred says Elwood is heavier than Jake, but I can’t say that I’ve noticed that at all.

If you see a gray cat and touch him, and he immediately starts purring, that’s Elwood. (Jake purrs, but he takes some convincing.) If you’re minding your own business and a gray cat comes along, purring, and rubs up against you and tries to herd you in a certain direction, or climbs into your lap and rubs his face against you, that’s Elwood. If he looks at you and tells you to go fuck yourself, that’s Jake.

Half the time when I label a picture as being either Jake or Elwood, it’s just a guess on my part.

And on another note, Jake and Elwood are the least finicky eaters I have ever seen in my entire life. They will eat ANYTHING. I’ve never seen them refuse any kind of food at all.

Last week I was sitting at my desk eating dinner, and Elwood came along to lick my plate when I was done (yes, I let him do that, and yes, it’s not a great habit, but it’s not like I let him eat off the plate WITH me. Yet.) I just happened to realize, as he leaned down to take a bite of leftover squash casserole that it had onion in it, and I gasped loudly and said “Oh buddy, no, you can’t have that!”, and my gasp and exclamation startled him so badly that it scared a fart out of him, and then he ran off, leaving the stench behind.

 

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By the way, have you (or any of your readers) read The Gargoyle? I’d like to get someone else’s feedback on that one. I had a serious love/hate thing with both the author and the main character, and I still can’t decide how I felt about it overall.

I haven’t read it – but I went and read the summary on Amazon, and it looks kind of interesting!

Anyone else out there read it and have an opinion?

 

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Holy crap. Meezer mixes and a tuxie. I could just plotz.

Embarrassing confession time: it was literally IN THE LAST WEEK that I realized “meezer” = “siamese.” Before that, I’d seen the word, but just thought it was a bastardization of “mouser.”

::blush::

 

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Dear God:

Why, when I say “I’d like to not have any more bottle babies” do you laugh and immediately send me more of them, BUT when I say “I’d like to see more poop”, you grant my request? Could we have some CONSISTENCY, please?

Sincerely,

Robyn

There’s poop. There’s plenty of poop. These kittens? Champions of the pooping. Which would be great if they only pooped when I was stimulating them before or after mealtime, but they specialize in ninja pooping. I’ll walk through the room, and all will be clean in the cage, and then I’ll get to the door of the room and turn around to look at the sweet sleeping babies, to find that in the three seconds my back was turned, two of them pooped in opposite corners of the cage, and the other three tromped through it.

I’m getting somewhat decent at giving wee babies baths. They don’t like the bathing, but they enjoy the cuddling afterward – and they forgive pretty quickly.

I love how well this batch of kittens eats – most of the time, they latch on immediately, and eat until they’re full. It’s nice to not have to dribble formula into their mouths and wait for them to swallow, or squeeze the bottle slowly while they swallow.

My favorite thing in the world is when they latch onto the bottle and their ears start wiggling. I’ve got to get a movie of that, because it’s so cute, and I know these guys will be eating on their own before I know it!

Please note that the sides of the bottle are sucked in because he’s got such suction going on. We have to occasionally pull the bottle out of his mouth to break the suction so he can get more food in his mouth. Hydrox is the super-champion eater.

Orange (I think she’s going to be Lorna Doone. I’ll be assigning names this weekend.) I adore that thousand-yard stare they get when they’re really eating well.

Orange WILL NOT eat while laying on her belly. She MUST be standing up, this is the position she prefers, and don’t you try to convince her otherwise!

 

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Mike’s sweet little face just KILLS ME DEAD.

I don’t remember what he was looking at, but it must have been quite something!

 

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Previously
2008: He’ll tell you that he “let” me get Kara, but the truth is that he always loves the female cats with the intense eyes and I’d say that he probably wanted her even more than I did.
2007: Bless his fluffy little head, he’s not the brains of the outfit, for sure.
2006: “I don’t know, babe,” I said finally, hoping he wouldn’t go through another four or five possibilities. “It’s a fascinating mystery.”
2005: No entry.
2004: No entry.
2003: I believe that might be a personal record, right there.
2002: My poor baby.
2001: it’s MY journal and I’ll exaggerate if I want to.
2000: No entry.
1999: Why we don’t need another cat, by Fred