Help Me with a Surprise for the Babies?

Hi Kitties!  It's the mom here, and I need your help!

I want to get my wonderful fur babies a cat tree.  I would like one with a ramp or little stairs or a little ladder so that Carmine can use it as he gets older and his arthritis progresses and so that Jewel can use it while she's here.  

I've been searching around on the Internet and found a couple I think the babies would like.  

My questions for you are: where did your human get your cat tree?  What do you like best about it (the scratching posts, the faux fur, the condo, the perches, the dangling toy...)?  

I figured if I can't find a good one with a ramp, I could find a separate ramp and make sure the height is right and put it right by the tree.  Does anyone know where I can find a free-standing ramp if I need one?  I saw that Target has a few on-line...  

Any helpful hints or suggestions are much appreciated!  The most important thing is for my beautiful babies to love it.  They've given so much to me.

Please don't tell the babies about their surprise.  They should have a new tree either next weekend or the weekend after, I'm hoping (depends on transportation and stuffs), but it will be soon! :)

Milita Has a Twin

When we went to get Carmine's pain medication last week, we visited with the kitties in Cat Care Society's adoption center.  D pointed out a kitty who looked exactly like Milita!!

See for yourself.

This is beautiful Milita.

This is Coltrane. 

You can view a better picture of him here on his Petfinder profile.

Don't they look like they could be twins?  

They even act similarly.  When I picked Coltrane up, he gave me a hug, just like Milita does!! Milita had been the only cat I knew who gives people hugs. Now I know two. :)

You can adopt Coltrane and his friend Crash (they go together) from Cat Care Society.  Please do visit them if you are looking for a great kitty companion.

Tabby Tuesday

We know it's been a little while since we last posted, and we apologize for that. We are trying to go around and catch up with everyone again. Please be patient with us. We promise we have not forgotten any of our wonderful friends!

The mom feels a lot better now. Her sinus infection cleared up, and hers is very happy about that.

Carmine ended up having to go on a second round of pain medication for his tongue to heal. He finished it up on Sunday. When he was eating today, he was eating out the side of his mouth a little, but D says that it has improved. So we will keep an eye on him and make sure he continues to improve. If he does not, obviously we will have to see if he needs to go back to the vet.

We haven't tried putting Jewel's pills in baby food yet, but we plan to.  Thankfully, D has been around pretty often to help mom pill her. Mom has some meat-only baby food to try out, though. We thank you all for the great suggestions! If the baby food doesn't work, we will ask the vet about getting her medicine in a different form.

We will post later this week, and continue to catch up with everyone!

Updates All Around

Hello friends!

I wanted to update you all on a couple of things.

First, Carmine ate a lot better when he was on his pain meds.  My friend D noticed, though, that once off the pain medication, Carmine was eating out the side of his mouth again, so we called the vet on Friday to ask her what we could do.  She suggested we put him on pain medication for a little bit longer.  Unfortunately, our vet is only open Tuesday through Friday.  However....he seems to be doing better now.  He's eating all of his dinner without any problem that I've noticed, so I'll ask the vet about it later today when I go over there.  I need to go over there anyway because Carmine only has about a week's worth of c/d kibbles left, and I always make sure to get more before he runs out.  Jewel also needs some more a/d, so it won't be a wasted trip in any case.  Plus, I get to visit the babies in the adoption center at Cat Care :)

Second, I need some suggestions, please.  Jewel refuses to eat her pills in Greenies pill pockets.  I've been trying to crush them up and put them in her wet food, but she often doesn't eat all of her dinner or breakfast, and I think if I put it in less food, she won't eat any of it at all because it will taste too medicine-y (I know, that's not a real word).  With my vision being so very limited, I'm not able to toss the pills down her throat myself, either.  When D is here, that's what he does.  Unfortunately, she's figured out how to get the pill with her tongue and spit it back out at us.  She's just too smart!!

What can I do to make sure she's getting her pills?  I thought about putting in tuna juice, but I know cats shouldn't have that very often at all, so that seems like it wouldn't be a good long-term solution.  Anyone have any ideas?

I've been fortunate that Carmine and Milita's medications and supplements have been in either powder form that I can sprinkle on their food or liquid that I can squirt in their mouths.

Sadly, I think little Jewel continues to lose weight, but I'm not completely sure.  She's so tiny that it's hard to tell these days.  I'm hoping to be able to get a baby scale soon to weigh her once a week at home between her vet visits.

So she's not left out...Milita is doing well!  She's happy as a clam right now, laying on the top of my office chair, watching me write :)

I've been sick with a sinus infection for the past three days.  Today's the first day I can breathe.  I know you all understand, but the kitties and I miss visiting all our great friends.  We'll try to come around in the next few days to say hello to everyone and get back in the swing of things again :)

Update on Jewel

Last week when we went to the vet with Carmine, I asked her about Jewel.  Jewel had been doing badly - she was acting like a very sick (or dying) kitty.  She was hiding a lot - under my bed and under my dresser - places she doesn't usually visit at all.  She had also been vomiting pretty frequently.  It was so sad; her whole body would lurch while she was getting sick, and it made me want to cry.

The vet reminded me about the Pepcid.  So, I made a special trip out to get it for her.  I've been trying to get 1/4 a 10mg pill (the dose the vet told us to give her) down her everyday.  This is easier when my friend D visits.  He's very good about pilling kitties :)



Since then, she's been vomiting less often.  She stopped hiding all the time.  All good news!

But.....she still isn't eating enough. :(  I'm feeding her her favorite foods.  When D is over and we have dinner together, he spoils her with whatever meat we're eating.  I don't mind :)  Jewel has been begging for the meat at dinner, so I say if she eats it, let her have a little.  Last night, we had tilapia, and she was quite pleased with that!

The vet told me to feed her about half a/d and half Fancy Feast because the a/d contains a lot of phosphorus, and Jewel's phosphorus is already high.

I know a lot of you have already been through this terrible, heart-wrenching roller coaster ride with CRF kitties.  What comes next?  Should I be asking the vet about an appetite stimulant?  I can tell that Jewel is still losing weight.

We have some of those Fancy Feast appetizers, so I think I'll try and put that on top of her food next.  When she refused to eat a few days ago, I put some of the chicken one on her food and she ate a little at least.

I find myself wanting to cry a lot lately.  It's painful to talk about her status to me.  Now that I'm her primary caregiver, I find myself struggling with questions I thought I wouldn't have to face for another five years or more when Lita gets older.

I know I've been bad lately about getting the babies to visit all of your blogs as much as I usually do.  I'm sorry for that.  We're doing our best.  Please know that we love and appreciate all of you, our wonderful friends, and we are always thinking of you, even when we don't get a chance to visit and comment on your blogs.

Help Our Tech Stupid Mom?

So mom got an iPod for hers birthday.  But hers can't figure it out to save hers life.  I'm sitting here in her lap right now trying to get her to calm down as technology frustrates hers to no end, MOL!

iTunes doesn't like mom's music for some reason and refuses to convert at least half of her music files.  So hers looked for an alternative way to get music onto her iPod.  Hers ran across MediaMonkey, which appeared to get good ratings.  Once downloaded, though, it proved to be a pain, too.

Mom wants something where hers can connect her iPod to the computer, click on the device in the music player, and drag and drop the music to sync it -- or something else relatively easy.  The easier, the better for the tech-stupid mom!

We know there are some tech savvy kitties and humans out there, so help mommy out and give her a suggestion for a program that's easier to use, please?

Mom wanted to update about Jewel, but hers spent too much time trying to figure out the iPod.  Hers will update about Jewel soon, though.  We will make sure of that!!

Purrs,
Milita

Carmine's Vet Visit

Thank you everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday!  I appreciate all the wonderful wishes, purrs, and hugs :)

I ended up going downtown with a friend.  I bought a wonderful book I had been wanting - His Princess Bride: Love Letters from Your Prince.  It's a book written from God to women in letter format.  I've not seen a book like this before, and I really think it will help me understand God's love for me better.

When I came home, my fur babies were upset because we were late feeding them!  Carmine was especially anxious to get his foods.  I think they forgave us, though, when we shared some ice cream with them.

Vet Visit

I took Carmine to the vet on Tuesday for his regular three-month anal gland expression.  As usual, it was perfect timing.  I always feel bad that he has to go to the vet 4 times a year, but I know I'm taking good care of him -- even if he doesn't understand why it's necessary to go to the doctor so often.

I had noticed Carmine wasn't really that interested in his food a few days before we went to the vet, and I was trying to figure out why.

I told the vet about this, and she asked me all sorts of questions.  We couldn't seem to figure it out...but then she looked in his mouth and saw that he has a sore on his tongue.  We have no idea how he got it as we haven't seen him get into anything around here.

The vet said it's healing, but suggested Carmine might not be eating well because it's painful.  So, we decided it was best to put him on pain medication for a few days while it heals up.

It seems to make a difference as he's eating much better again! :)

Here's a picture of my little baby on his pain medication.

He decided it would be fun to sleep on my junk mail.  Do you think he was dreaming about having DISH network? ;)

I also have some news about Jewel, which I'll share tomorrow.

We hope you are all well!

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

Today is our Mommy's birthday!

Mom takes such good care of us.  Thank you, Mommy for all that you do for us.  We loves you very very much and feel lucky to have you as our mommy!

Happy Birthday, Mommy!!!

We love you!

Carmine, Milita, and Jewel 

Mancat Monday

Carmine: Mommy doesn't leave the closets open very often, but today she left it open for a minute, and I decided to make a little bed in the towels!!  I love being in closets!  

Jewel Update

The past few days have been a little rough around here.  Jewel eats her breakfasts, snacks, and dinners sometimes, and sometimes she eats very little of them.  She's been hiding a lot the past few days, which isn't her normal behavior around here.  She also vomited twice last week (I know, gross, I'm sorry).

I'm going to call the vet on Tuesday before we leave for Carmine's appointment (please don't tell him where we're going) to see if she wants to see Jewel as well.

Her behavior worries me.

I know so many of you have been purring and praying for Jewel for a long time already.  I really appreciate your purrs, prayers, and support.  Do you think you could purr and pray for her extra hard for a little while?

Thank you, everyone.  Hugs, purrs, and love to you all.