Today Spike went back to the Kendall Animal clinic for a follow up. He saw Dr. Colker last time. She is our awesome new cat specializing vet. You may be able to see in this photo that Spike had a scraping done on the left side of his face (HIS right side) by his whiskers. It is healing up nicely though. We went back today and saw Dr. Rogoff because he is a dermatology specialist. He, like Dr. Colker, said spike is the best patient! Spike was very sweet and didn't complain or try to escape or anything like that. Both of these vets were shocked that Spike is 14 years old! His heart is beating strong, eyes clear and paws clean and healthy etc. Dr. Rogoff even insisted on checking out Spikes tummy before declaring him healthy. He only weighs 12 lbs now (used to weigh more like 15) which is better for his heart. He eats voraciously and loves to play. I love this kitty witty! I will bring him back in a month to check on the whisker situation and get his teeth cleaned for the first time. I'll probably cry over that one later. I'll have to leave him there all day. I guess I'll spend all day shopping at nearby Kohls while they clean the teeth.
Well, I'm off to nap now before church tonight (Good Friday). Thanks to INKY and my husband, I have not been sleeping much at night.

Long Paws

It has been a long long time since I have posted. I thought maybe y'all were getting tired of hearing about the same antics, shenanigans and tom foolery of my clowder. Here's the condensed update:
I thought Inky was getting a little better with CC...but he still chases her and they continue to hiss at each other and CC tries to avoid him. I guess that is a little better. Certainly better than when the problem started ONE YEAR AGO!!!
CC has become quite a chubber because all she does is eat, sleep and hide from INKY! I am considering removing free feeding for all cats.
Early on in January, at about 5 AM (the hour that INKY generally wakes up and wreaks havoc one way or another) INKY was smashing the wooden blinds on the bedroom windows and hyperventilating. I panicked, thinking he was seeing a cat in the yard...which would most likely result in INKY getting paranoid about his territory and recommencing the spraying of the home! Turns out it was Rocky Raccoon. I turned on the outside light to scare him away. Didn't work. I ran outside to chase him away...all the while INKY is on the windowsill hyperventilating and pacing. Rocky is not a skiddish raccoon. He just kept about his business in our backyard...nosing around and such. I tried spraying him with the squirter I use to deter bad kitty behavior. He just retreated into the shrubbery, but wouldnt leave the yard. I'm real glad my husband made friends with this critter earlier in the week when I specifically told him he was not to hang around with wildlife! Finally, I threw a small stone NEXT TO Rocky. NO, I wouldn't throw anything AT ANY ANIMAL!! And I ran screaming towards him. Finally he got out of the yard and INKY could breathe normally again. Luckily, I have not seen Rocky back in the yard since!
INKY and JP are both peeing/spraying around the house because (I think) they are not happy with all the renovations we have been doing. I try desperately to clean it up every day! Hopefully the Solar Panels and all that good stuff will be done soon and we will have extra money (from Federal rebate) to remove disgusting dirty carpet and put in pee-proof flooring!
Scooter is still quite...shy, but she loves to sit on my lap and purr and has even been hanging around the bedroom often. She still runs from INKY and caught a loud beating from him last week (no detectable injuries).
Spike lost most of the whiskers on the right side of his face and...as I feared, had a couple fleas which bit me up pretty good before I could get the flea meds on all the kitties. Hopefully, the fleas were the problem with his whiskers and sores on his head (too much scratching, I'm thinking).
I'll try to post again soon (no more long pauses in blogging) about the new bedding and toys etc. that the kitties got for Chranukkah. Please feel free to leave comments, questions, link to my blog etc! -Cathi

broken whiskers

Anyone know why suddenly my cat's whiskers are breaking, splitting and falling out? He's only got about 3 short whiskers left on one side of his face? I can't seem to find much info online except he may be sick and/0r losing weight too fast. I hope someone can answer this question fast. Maybe I'lll drag him to the cat vet in kendall tomorrow. I don't want to say which cat it is. I feel I should protect his identity at this time.
Can anyone help this poor dude on Premios Juventud sing in tune? Aiiiiy!