Cuteology

Zeez ees a lesson een Cuteology. Who bett-air to teech about Cuteology zan I?

Here ve vill share viths you some of zee cute zings ve haf seen in zee last few days.

Zees ees me, viths my snuggle buddee, Fu. Zees has become a habeet for us!

I am very comforbuhls. I cannot speak for Fu.

Zees are some ov our neighbors. She ees een love viths zee babee.

Zees eez A.J. She and He met heem viths hees Mom at Bed, Bath and Beyond. A.J. vas zere shopping for hees own house. You can zee he made hees choice!

Zee lesson to take from all zeez peectures eez zat to qualeefy for Cuteology, zee subject must pozezz cer-tain qualitees. Two ov zee most eemportant appareently are “sveet” and “fluvvy”.

Clazz deesmeesed.

Casanova
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Would You Like Some Cheese With That Whine?

Lately we’ve had a couple of beautiful early-spring-like days. That has prompted He and She and Gily to be outside a little more. They have all enjoyed getting their solar batteries recharged.

Now, Gily thinks everytime the truck door is opened, he should jump in. He loves to get in the truck and ride. His favorite route is down the driveway and back. He seems to be content with just that.

This past weekend, they decided they would take him to a neighboring town and let him enjoy the park.

Being new to the dog world, they weren’t even aware the park didn’t allow dogs. So, they decided to cut their losses and just come home where we have plenty of land where they can walk and picnic and do whatever they could have done at the park. We didn’t understand why they left to begin with!

While we all get along really well with Gily, he’s particularly fond of He and She, and is only really happy when they are both with him. If one of them leaves the room, he is never satisfied until they are back together again. Here’s a little video She took of Gily as they waited for He to come out of a store recently. *Warning: This video contains explicit dog whining and may be difficult for some viewers.

So, Gily, would you care to have some cheese with that whine? You can see he was not happy until they were together again. And, all that tail wagging. What a kiss up! I can see all of us cats are really going to have to step up our games to show He and She that we really appreciate them, too. Flirt already got a head start this morning by yaking on the rug. Maybe that will get the idea across!

Mister Fussy
*****
aka “Sweet Potato Fu Fu”

G-g-g-Gily and the Cats

That’s our new theme song around here. He and She sing it all the time to the tune of Benny and the Jets. It has been a real adjustment for all of us to have Gily as a part of the household, but He and She are very much crazy about him and have asked us all to try to be accepting.

When Gily went to Dr. M. for his checkup and surgery, it was not much of a shock to anyone that he tested positive for heartworms. Though this is now a treatable illness in most cases, He and She were still very disappointed this was the case. The thought that this sweet guy was suffering from this awful condition was a painful one. Here in the South in particular, a dog who is not on regular heartworm prevention is very likely to have contracted this debilitating disease and will definitely die from it if not treated. The treatment is hard for the dog and expensive too. Any dog who has not been taking heartworm prevention should be tested and started on prevention immediately, or get treatment to save its life.

During the treatment, the pup must be kept quiet and cool, this is to lessen the chance of a blood clot as the worms begin to break up and pass into the lungs. Because we really didn’t have a way to confine Gily, other than leaving him in a crate for 10+ hours a day, He and She chose to have him stay at the clinic until his treatment was done. That way, he would have more supervision and attention and be kept in comfort. They visited regularly, and even though they did not have much time to bond with him before taking him there, they knew each time they visited that he remembered them, and knew he would eventually be coming home. Though, to be honest, She was a little concerned that the ladies there were going to steal his heart away. They are the sweetest people and Gily was crazy about them all by the end of his stay.

His treatment went well, and he is now a healthy happy member of The House of 9 Lives. He has been back home for about two weeks now, and is pretty much settling into a routine.

(Bad red eye correction on the above picture). They were a little dismayed to find that he does like to roam. It seems that he puts his nose to the ground, picks up a scent and off he goes. Fortunately, there have been no accidents and they have discovered him before he got too far away from the house. Unfortunately for him, though, this has meant that he must be cabled whenever he is not being supervised. They don’t feel that makes for a very good life for a pupper, so they have been very busy working on a fence for our yard. They have approximately two acres to dedicate to a fenced area, so the project is taking some time. So far, they have finished about a third of it. We will keep you updated on that progress and hope to have some pictures to show before too long.

Gily has also discovered the cows. He loves to run to the fence and carry on with them. One of them actually enjoys his attention and will even try to play with him!

The biggest adjustment for the cats here in the household has been seeing Gily come in the house. He and She will only bring him in on a leash, because they realize how risky it could be if he decided to get rough. After all, he does weigh fifty-five pounds! He seems to be fairly tolerant of us and will usually just lay in front of the chair and mind his own business. Any quick moves on our part does peak his curiosity, though. So they keep a tight hold on that leash. I have probably been the kitty most personally affected by all this. After all, I was the only inside/outside kitty. Until now. Because they still don’t know how Gily would react, I’ve been kept inside. At first I didn’t mind too much. I don’t care a lot for the heat. But lately, I’m getting a little stir crazy and I’ve been somewhat grumpy with my housemates. I know that She really doesn’t want me to go outside anyway, and hopes that I will just adjust to being inside all the time. We are probably going to have to just see how this all goes.

In the meantime, the canine addition to the household has gone well. We hope everything is going well for you, too. From Gilly and the Cats (and He and She), have a wonderful July 4th weekend!

(She really hopes someday to make a faux boulder to cover that old well cap. You’ll be the first to know if that actually happens).

Mister Fussy (Fu)
*****

Specialists

So, I’ve settled in real well here at The House of 9 Lives. I’m in a great little routine of exploring outside all day, and when they are home, being inside stretched out on their bed with my brothers and sisters, or cuddled in one of their laps, preferably his! I think it was him that said they didn’t need any more cats. Well, in all fairness, that was before he met me!

She has been a little under the weather lately. She had to have some dental work done which consisted of getting two new crowns. Unfortunately one of the teeth that was fitted with a temporary crown is cracked and the only fix for it is a root canal. Now, it’s not her first trip to this rodeo, but it has been years since She has had one. She is scheduled for that very pleasant experience this Thursday and has opted to take the day off work for the occassion. It will be a morning appointment, so we hope She will come home and lay in bed with us the rest of the day.

She has been in a good bit of pain for the last few weeks – She put off calling the Dentist for a little while, then when She did, his office was closed for the week (and, She chose to wait it out because She didn’t want to see anyone else). Then, when She was able to get in, poor Dr. B. was very sick with a virus, so the excellent staff there took good care of her and referred her to an Endodontist who was able to see her the same day and recommended the root canal. At that point, She would have been happy to have it done that day, but unfortunately, they didn’t have an appointment available for several days. So, that brings us to now, and the appointment is just a few days away.

She has managed the pain well with over-the-counter extra strength pain releivers and every now and then, one of the PM variety for a good night’s sleep. Actually, in the last few days, the pain has really tapered off and She hasn’t had to take anything. Of course, She knows better than to put off the procedure, or things will surely get worse.

The thing that has bothered her the most is the addition of another “ist” to her contact list. Does it say something about her age that She has to see so many health professionals? If you add them up, it’s quite a list – She regularly sees the Dentist, the Periodontist, the Dermatologist, the Radiologist and the Gynecologist. She’s also had occasion to see an Orthopedist and a Physical Therapist. That’s not to mention her general physician, and a surgeon She is still following up with. All this for a person who is generally deemed healthy!

Well, speaking of health, they probably wouldn’t like that I’m sharing this, but you know, I’m still learning the rules of the house. He and She started early last summer to really be aware of their health. They began keeping track of what they were eating and how much they were moving and made adjustments where necessary, and as of now, they have lost a combined total of almost 100 pounds! They are both so pleased with their progress and now they are at their goals, they are feeling so much better, not to mention, looking really great!! Surely, there is some speical”ist” She has avoided seeing by making this healthy change!!

Mister Fussy

Baby it’s Cold Outside!

I suppose this is going on all over the nation, but on behalf of the ten of us at The House of 9 Lives…Brrrrr! Here we are, in Central Alabama, dealing with low temperatures in the teens and a mixture of snow and rain expected tomorrow. The chilly temps are to continue through the weekend.

He and She are new to this whole “outside cat” thing. So, Mister Fussy has been coming inside to sleep at night. At first, he was sequestered in a bathroom by himself, but as he got to know us, he had a little more freedom in the house, until he got full reign. They tried yesterday to leave him inside when they went to work, but he was having none of that. So, he was left with his little house being heated by a heating pad, and seemed to be content when they got back home.

However, once in the house again, he made himself quite at home!

He seems to have learned quickly just what the bed is used for! In this picture you can see in the background that Boomer has arranged the pillows to his liking and is not at all concerned about the new addition to the household.

While the temperatures remain sub-freezing, Mister Fussy will be subjected to the torture you see above, by having to come in the house. Somehow, we think he will learn to manage!

P.S. – these pictures were taken in awful lighting, but that is the new bed with the bedspread that she made just for us!

Blossom
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Ten Little Kitties

There’s a new addition to The House of 9 Lives, and it’s me! My name is Mister Fussy. “Fussy”, not because I’m hard to get along with at all, but because of my propensity to talk. I’m a very vocal kitty.

I’m not going to spend much time here talking about my past, because, actually, there isn’t that much to tell, but a few weeks ago, I showed up here and of course I was instantly given food and water and a warm place to sleep. I see in the windows that the other kitties are cozy and warm inside, but I’m a free spirit and don’t have any interest in joining them there. However, when He and She are out and about, I make up for lost time in showing my affection!

After a few weeks of my being here each morning and each afternoon, they finally got the message they had been adopted yet again. So, off to Dr. M’s they carted me. It was actually very nice. I had four-star treatment at their new facility and it was all pretty comfy cozy except for that little surgery they subjected me to. I stayed the entire weekend since He and She were busy planning not one, but two big family Christmas parties.

When they picked me up yesterday they were glad to find I was my same sweet, loving self, and I had plenty to tell them about my stay. They were so thrilled to find out that I was healthy and ready to be an official member of the household.

So, watch for more from me in the future here on the blog. We may be a house with ten cats now, but we’ll always be The House of 9 Lives!

In the meantime, can I get some service here?

Mister Fussy