good asking

The voting is in from the previous post - Buddy was indeed asking for bedtime cuddles, which actually involves another dinner and tummy rubs, so technically everyone is right! When we go upstairs to bed, he gets a snack before climbing into bed and cuddling in for tummy rubs. He likes the same routine every night - no deviations are permitted!

Buddy - Aug 23, 2015 5:51pm

In this more recent picture, taken tonight, Buddy is clearly asking for early dinner. Dinner time is 6pm and they always petition for dinner to be early! Buddy is not shy about getting in my face and making sure his request is received.

Buddy - Aug 23, 2015 7:00pm

And here he is asking for second dinner, only an hour after first dinner! It never stops!

I'm very happy to report that the steroid treatment he's getting for IBS seems to be helping. He's gone from horking nearly daily to now maybe once a week. And he actually looks like he's gaining some weight, even though the scale doesn't seem to indicate any gain. His middle feels more solid. Yea for Buddy!!

watchful gaze

This is how Buddy asks for what he wants:

Can you tell what he is asking for? I'll give you a hint, this picture was taken at 10:11pm. 

He only asks for three things: tummy rubs, second (and third, fourth, fifth...) dinners, and to go to bed (nightly cuddles). 

What is Buddy asking for?

I'll post the answer after the voting closes.

Mr. Marvins

Mr. Marvin is doing amazing! He's graduated to Oliver's room in the house. He's super curious and explored the space in no time. I love watching cats explore and map their new territory! These first few pictures are from Saturday, Aug 8th.

After he felt comfy in his new space, I gave him his first nip nanner...

I think he likes it!

One big drool fest! Wow!! 

These next pictures are from a week later, Aug 16th.

As you can see, Marvin is looking GREAT!

Now that his teeth are all healed up, he'll be vaccinated and chipped this week and then he'll be posted on PetFinder in hopes of finding his perfect new home!

The more comfortable Marvin gets, the more lovey he gets. He's even settled in my lap a few times and cuddled up to me on the bed. He's a very social boy who loves having his cheeks rubbed - although doing so gets his drool factory running in overdrive which is fine until he shakes his head and covers everything with drool!

Marvin update

What better way to celebrate World Cat Day than celebrating this guy's progress! Just look at how much better he looks after having his ouchy tooth removed.

Marvin's looking awesome! He's one good looking dude!

The food has really done him some good, he's filled in nicely. 

I love his rich chocolatey color!

Now that he's not in pain, he's much more interested in activity! The plan is to move him inside the house on Saturday. He'll go into what I call Oliver's room, which is the small room Oliver gets lock in when we travel. Once he's inside, he'll have a lot more room to move about and I'll get a better sense of his personality. One thing I know about him is that he is very vocal! He's got a booming voice that he's not afraid to use it! 

Beautiful Marvin

double vet visit fun

Marvin did great yesterday! He talked (very loudly) to me the entire way to the office, I think he was sharing his last will and testament. I didn't need to announce our arrival at the office as he did that for us! That boy has some Siamese pipes, wow!

He went in to have his remaining teeth extracted, because the rescue vet said they were rough shape. But the vet at the surgery place only pulled the really loose one and cleaned up the remainder. So, now he's back in factory specs and ready to roll! Go Marvin!!

Meanwhile, Buddy went to the our regular vet.

Pre-vet visit tummy rubs!

His trip wasn't pre-planned, as he had stopped eating sometime over the weekend but his vomiting continued, so we wanted to get him checked out, particularly his kidney and thyroid values.

During the physical exam the vet felt something odd in his innards, somewhere near the intestines and wanted to check it out, so a few x-rays later she saw something that looked a little odd. The blood work showed that his kidneys are a little better than last time and thyroid is right where it should be. I was very happy to hear about those kidney values! Thyroid is responding well to the methimazole.

The next diagnostic option was ultrasound, so I went ahead and opted for that (I love my cat insurance!) The ultrasound revealed no tumor, so that's good, but it showed what she believes might be irritable bowel syndrome, something she thinks may have been there awhile. The other possible option is some form of lymphoma. So, for now we treat with basic steroid and hope for the best.

Of course right when he got back home, he made us a big liar, he started eating up again just fine! Buddy! Even with a shaved tummy, he's still very much Buddy and wants his tummy rubbed on demand. It's good to have him home and eating again.

Marvin

Camping with Oliver was such a fun time, I decided to go it again on Saturday night!

This time he didn't come around until much later, so that gave me some time to play with the camera. Managed to get one picture of the stars that was somewhat decent.

Once inside and full from his snacks, he settled right in for some serious cuddles and sleep!

I don't think the bonding time had the desired effect I was hoping for. Come Sunday night, Oliver once again disobeyed curfew, he was no where to be found. Dang! Now, I've taken to pulling all the feral food except for what's on the back porch. That way, if he wants to eat, he has to come in.

Meanwhile, have you met Marvin? He's my latest rescue. I got an email from someone that they had been seeing him come around for about a week. He was (is) super skinny. So, I went over a week ago last Friday and trapped him (you can read more about him here).

He's an older non-microchipped, neutered boy and thankfully he tested negative for FIV and FeLV (yah!) and appears generally healthy except for being way too thin and for having a mouth full of rotten teeth. The vet wiggled his right top canine and it was quite loose. Poor guy.

I LOVE his coloring, he's such a good looking boy and he seems to have a sweet temperament.

You can see his right upper canine sticks out more than the other.

Marvin will be going in for surgery this morning to have all of his remaining teeth extracted. He'll be feeling so much better when this is all done. He must be in so much pain with all those rotten teeth. I can't wait to get to know his personality when he's healed up and able to fully relax! Meanwhile, I'll be doing some research on lost cats to see if someone could be looking for him.

bonding time

There's been some tension in my relationship with Oliver lately. It concerns his new disdain for curfew. A few weeks ago, he decided he's not interested in being locked up on the back porch for the night anymore, so he stopped coming in. I would go find him and haul him in, but then he started hiding and running from me. He was clearly communicating that he wanted to stay out all night and protect the territory.

I can't sleep when I hear the sound of cats fighting, especially when I know it's my Oliver. There have been a number nights over these weeks where I've not been able to haul him in, and he fights, fights, and fights... I wore ear plugs to bed those nights, so I didn't hear it, but come morning, his body had many cuts and scratches from the battling.

So, with this tension between us, I thought maybe a father-cat bonding experience might help. With it being a beautiful evening and a full moon, I thought what better than a camping trip with my Oliver!

The tent is setup in Oliver's yard.

After setting up the tent, I looked all over for Oliver but he was no where to be found! Brat!

Pierre comes by and checks out the setup

Then not long after Pierre's visit, Oliver stopped in

Everyone knows that camping is not camping without special yummies! 

We started with the yummy snacks

When camping with a cat, it's important to pack the litter box, which he used in the night

The moment when I told him I had forgotten to pack the toys

Oliver was a little confused if this counted as inside-kitty time,

 when technically it was taking place in his yard

I think Oliver purred all night! He so LOVES to cuddle, we cuddled nearly the entire night. 

However, cuddling with an outdoor cat with razor sharp claws poses a few challenges! Ouch!

He occasionally got up to look out the window

I opened the door at 5:30am and he slowly worked his way out

I think Oliver likes camping!

Later in the morning, Pierre came by to verify Oliver's story
about spending the night in the big blue fort

I love that Oliver purred the entire time in the tent. He didn't view the tent as a prison, but a fun place to cuddle and be with his human. I adore this boy and so wish he could be an inside cat and give up his tough, territorial nature, but his non-stop urine marking makes that undoable. Thankfully, he didn't spray in the tent! We'll have to try this again, but next time I need to remember to pack the kitty toys!