Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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Spot is off the medication, but stays on the CD for a full month. However, his litter box discipline is gone. Completely. In addition to peeing on the floor, he started spraying furniture. So we spray him with the water bottle...
He's peed on the bathroom floor so much that I ran out of Wee Cleaner and had to use regular cleaners, which don't work in the long run. The new shipment will be here tomorrow or Wednesday, along with a black light so I can finally locate all the dried pee in the house and Wee it. I've done so many bend and squats that I'm amazed I'm still standing...
Meanwhile, another Feliway atomizer is on the way, and the one we have is in the bathroom. The second will go in the great room, near the area he's peed in so often. If I could afford it, I'd put Feliway into a garden sprayer and completely cover the area rug and all the other places he's peed/sprayed. Right at the moment, he is NOT my favorite animal. To know he's not supposed to do it, and then do it right in front of me, shows that the contest for alpha cat is on again... Sigh.
About six male barn swallows are checking out or moving into our nests. The females should arrive any day now.
Ah, the hot tub has reached peak temperature and we really need to let the jets pummel our muscles. Later, y'all.
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." -- Mahatma Gandhi
Czarny, black cat
Rainbow Bridge: Spotacus, Alexander the Grrreat, and so very many more
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Code2High
One hour past Nowhere, CA
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Joined: 12/21/2004
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My experience has been that if the cat won't pee in the box, the problem isn't gone.
susan
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a wabbit, Fuzzy Wuzzy had a dandelion habit! RIP little Wuz... don't go far.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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Susan, Spot knows full well when he's done wrong. He hikes his tail in preparation to spray something, I yell, "NO!" and he immediately runs to his Litter Robot and uses it.
Got 4 gallons of Wee Cleaner, so I plan to go around the outside of the house and look for spray marks, then treat them. It might help calm him down. We also have Feliway atomizers in our bathroom and the great room, and as soon as the area rug dries, I'll spray it with Feliway spray.
It took more than a month last time for Spot to cut the nonsense; I expect it will take just as long this time. Sigh.
We've started mixing the SD with regular cat food, as he'd stopped eating it and was begging for treats every half hour. He's back to eating some of the wet SD. As picky as he is about food, I don't look forward to starting the transition to raw food.
MDL is still a couple months from dropping a fawn, but she's already getting fussy about who she allows in our meadow. I think she'd prefer we kept the gate closed. She rubbed her head on my pants leg the other day - I guess she had an itch. I checked myself for ticks later...
Well, it's much too nice to be inside on the computer. I'm headed back outside. Later, y'all.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Spot sprayed right in front of us several times today. The last time, WLToo trapped him in the bedroom and soaked him with the water sprayer. He's sitting at my feet bathing now.
I think I need Feliway atomizers in every outlet in the house -- more for me than him, at this point.
This afternoon Black Kitty showed up in our driveway. I walked outside, said go home, and he did. Quickly. But I wouldn't be at all surprised if he and Seal Point hadn't sprayed the outside the whole two weeks Spot and Alex were in lockup, and between the bladder problem and smelling them, it's totally screwed up his brain. Then he sprayed when he wanted treats and didn't get them...so he's really not gonna get them now.
MDL didn't show up today, probably because we had company. Luckily, they have cats and understand when one's house doesn't smell pristine...
We and company unloaded the trailer, then loaded my Jeep full of stuff from MIL's house to take to the local thrift store. That's one trip. Many, many more to go, as we sort through all the stuff she could never bear to toss. We even found things marked "does not work," and boxes of broken vases. Why would you store something that doesn't work or is busted into bitty pieces? I don't get that mentality at all. But this stuff was everywhere. Gives me a headache to even think about it.
WLToo's grandfather built a grandfather clock case and installed a 1928 electric clock in it. WLToo's parents stored that clock in the garage for 30 years. WLToo wanted to haul it to the dump. Yet the case was in pretty good shape, so I suggested we Freecycle it. Sure enough, a collector offered to restore the clock and the case, and put it in our recently restored courthouse, so at least one "does not work" thing is saved. I doubt the remaining such stuff will go that route.
The wind was blowing strong enough today that we didn't hear the barn swallows gossiping on the porches. Even though they've only been here a few days, I miss their sound. There's something so "homey" about them chitchatting away.
Well, it's been a very long day. Time to sleep. Later, y'all.
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BarbiO
Michigan
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Joined: 05/03/2013
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We had an issue last fall with our 14 year old female, Buffy, and inappropriate elimination. We couldn't afford the full litany of tests they wanted to do, just the urinalysis, as I had surgery scheduled with three months off work with no pay. She had a possible mild infecion for which she had a course of antibiotics. Vet recommended giving her hip & joint tablets for cats to help with inflammation. I figured her her problem was her 7 year old feline housemate, Danny. They'd never gotten along. Her brother, Jesse, would join in and the boys would always gang up on her. Well, the stress finally got to her. I kept her in the sewing room and then in February the youngster succumbed to cardiomyopathy, may dear Danny RIP. She has been out with full run of the house since Danny's passing and no issues since November.
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CA POPPY
Santa Clarita, CA, USA
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Joined: 07/07/2003
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It's great the way the clock ended up, how fortuitous. A lot of the Freecycle recipients here just want the stuff for garage sales. I dealt with my mother's 70 year collection of "everything" by giving my brother her house and all the contents. I have no idea if he just hauled it all to the dump. I couldn't have done that, but sorting and dealing with it would've been killer. I think that generation hung onto "everything" because of the Depression. Mom never seemed to put any value on empty space on a shelf, in a closet or on any flat surface.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Well, the last few days have been interesting. WLToo was all set to head for his mom's place to close on the sale. Then early Thursday morning, I woke up in very serious pain. Since he'd been through something similar in 1999, I recognized the signs of appendicitis.
Went to the family doctor, just in case it wasn't. He poked me in the McBurney's point and said, yep, it is. Off we go to the ER. So we're sitting in the ER, which is totally empty except for a poor guy with awful kidney stones, while WLToo calls his mom and the realtor to let them know he will not be attending the closing, as his wife is about to get sliced and diced...
Not only is the ER empty, but all ORs are available, so in less than 30 minutes, I'm in surgery. Woke up a couple hours later with three little punctures. No complications, went home on Friday.
MIL got through the closing just fine, and now she's kind of grieving over it, so when WLToo heads over tomorrow to do her taxes, he'll catch an earful. Sigh.
I got the clearance today from the surgeon to swim, but still can't do any exercises at the gym for another week. I miss it dreadfully when I can't lift weights, but abdominal surgery is abdominal surgery, even with scopes and tiny incisions. The pool is a bit nippy yet; it needs to be 76 degrees before I'll go in, and it's only 71 today.
On the kitty front, last week we gave Spot a trial run with raw chicken. Instant success. Good. Wasn't looking forward to doing the transition thing. So today we ground up chicken thighs into "pâté," added various supplements, and packed it into quart jars for freezing.
Because I'm still recovering, what should have been an hour's work turned into a couple of hours, with a meal break. Partway into the second hour, Spot strolled by and begged for a taste. I looked down at him, and in my best Sean Connery voice said, "You're a great deal of bother, Mr. Spotacaris." (from The Wind and The Lion) He chirped back...
Alex really shouldn't have so much protein, but he loves the stuff, and he's old, so if that's what he wants, he can have it. It costs out so much cheaper than high quality commercial pet foods and contains only that which an obligate carnivore can process, which in turn will lessen our considerable vet bills.
Next up we'll be using beef (without bones, adding bone meal and calcium carbonate), then rabbit and turkey. From the number of them he caught in Virginia, I know Alex will be very happy with the rabbit. Don't know about Spot yet.
Once we get the full transition, we won't even have treats or dry kibble about. For emergencies (no refrigeration), I'll can meat and have it in the pantry. That does cook, but it's fine for short periods.
I've spent the last week keeping both cats off my belly, since they have a natural instinct for planting a foot firmly into a bruised area, and I can't pick up Spot at all, which has confused him a little. And definitely no sorting through MIL's stuff in the garage! So I've been working on the family tree and solving the occasional family mystery.
My sister had regularly scheduled surgery the same day, and her yellow furry nurse was much different. He lay beside her, fussed over her, got upset when she put the ice bags on her eyes and tried to take them off, and in general tried very hard to help her feel better. He finally decided to become a cat again today. Mine just wanted to stand on the bruises and incisions... ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/rolleyes.gif "rolleyes")
Wildlife wise, MDL is very preggers and looks forward to her daily bit of corn. The other does don't come up with her, thankfully.
The hummingbirds are passing through in large numbers, so the feeder needs daily replenishment. Several times a day, a bird of some sort smacks into the windows or doors. Birdie courtship can be rather intense, apparently... No broken necks or wings so far, thank goodness.
Last week, we heard the unmistakable sound of a great horned owl. Went outside and there he sat, up on the top of the power pole. Alex was inside, but Spot was nowhere to be found, which caused us some concern, since the owl was obviously hunting. When he flew off, WLToo got a couple of photos, but he's way up there, so it doesn't show him all that well. He went swooping down along the road and we've not heard or seen him since - not surprising, since the snakes get most of the rodents around this area. I guess he's moved on already.
Spot had been locked in the garage, and was happy to be let out. He has a bad habit of going in there and not making any sound to let us know he's there. So does Alex. We have to be especially vigilant during the hot months, since the garage is not insulated.
Whoa, look at the time! Night, y'all.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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A couple of downright nippy nights, but now we're back to springtime temps. That's good for the cats; they can spend the day on the porch furniture, in between supervising our garage clean out.
Now that I can lift stuff again, we cleared out four more boxes of MIL stuff and hauled it to the thrift store. Also found MIL's crystal and china buried in one very heavy box, so it's clean and stored in our dining area cabinets. Contacted the nieces and nephew about transferring same to them, if they're interested, to keep it in the family. I really don't want the stuff myself, and don't need it taking up space in this tiny house.
We are now feeding two does. A doe who looks and acts remarkably like MDL snuck in there, and we didn't really notice until they both came up at the same time. Oh, well. I guess she'll have a name, soon.
Well, the refrigerator repairman is coming early in the morning, so I'll say good night, y'all.
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Dashonthedash
PA
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Joined: 06/03/2003
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Did you happen to watch the recent episode of Nature on PBS? It was about a naturalist in Wyoming who befriended a herd of wild mule deer. He wanted to study them, and he promised to "tread the fine line between science and sentiment" but, by the end of the endeavor, it was quite clear that he had not only crossed the line, he had left it far behind. He definitely became much more than an objective "observer".
Gary Shapiro
Shadow - 7-year-old Greyhound (aka Shadow Ninja)
Hannah - 4-year-old GSD rescue (aka the Canine Tornado)
Max, Dash (GSDs), Willow, Dot, Allan, Lily (Greyhounds), and Molly(GSD Mix), at the Bridge and in my heart forever
2011 G'town 280DS Class A
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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No, Gary, I missed that episode.
MDL is spending most of her time in our meadow now. We think there's a dominance issue going on with the doe herd. WLToo saw two does going at each other over by the neighbor's feeder, and MDL has some roughed up marks. As an older doe, we'd expect the younger ones to challenge for dominance. The result so far is she spends a lot more time near us, and we're ok with that. We hope her fawn or fawns this year survive, so she'll have something to herd around other than the cats and us...
Got six boxes loaded and ready to go to the thrift store today. We're down to eight boxes of stuff now.
Found a bone china coffee service for four buried in all that stuff, so it's clean and drying. At first I thought it was more of WLToo's grandmother's coffee service, but no, it's a different one. One great niece wants her great granny's china and crystal, so tomorrow I'll get a big box of bubble wrap and start boxing it up. Will ask about the two china coffee services later, once I've learned what brand and design they are -- I took photos of the china and crystal, uploaded them to Replacements.com, and within a day knew all about them.
Getting rid of stuff is becoming way too much fun...
Spotacus just got into trouble -- he jumped up on the island and was strolling about. At least he's stopped peeing all over the place, just about the time the Feliway instructions said would happen.
The raw diet has come to a crashing halt. The two of them are so accustomed to eating a wide variety of flavors that they simply stopped eating it. So WLToo is going to make some of it into chicken jerky and use it as treats. Meanwhile, we'll stick to commercial foods that contain no grains or meat byproducts, and figure out another transition to raw food. Stubborn cusses -- must be cats...
Our close friends who are more like family got early retirement as part of DoD's civilian downsizing and will be coming home from Germany by the end of May. Their plan is to buy a fifth wheel toy hauler and spend summers at their cabin on the pond in Maine, and "not summer" in our drive, at one of our four RV hookups. We are so looking forward to this. Now we'll have our little motorcycle riding group almost back together. My best friend is eligible to retire, but hasn't made the decision yet. When he does, he'll move down here, too, and the five intrepid motorcycling geezers will be out terrorizing the youngsters along the Hill Country back roads.
Now there's an RV trip to Alaska in the offing next year. Hope Spot and Alex enjoy being cooped up in the RV for several weeks, as we're not about to leave them in the kitty hoosgau that long...
I went back to the gym today. Felt great. The pool should be warm enough to swim tomorrow or Wednesday -- I am so looking forward to that. Late April is much later than usual for me to go swimming, and I really miss it. Hopefully, WLToo will sell enough books this year for us to install a solar pool heater/cooler, and then we can swim most of the year.
Thunderstorms coming in, so I'll shut down my computer. Later, y'all.
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