Kitty stories

Let's see, what new developments have happened since my last substantial update...

I took the babies in for their annual vet checkup last week. They're both perfectly healthy! Good weight, clean teeth, shiny coats, and reasonable temperament for being at their least-favorite place. They are remarkably quiet in the car, there is no howling or kitty-opera (as Sarah's family's cats always did, getting louder and higher in pitch with each scale they meowed!).

The one thing I asked the vet about was River's tendency to scarf down her food too fast and then toss it back up 10 minutes later (this was happening maybe once every other week, but that's a lot for an 8-pound cat). Normally I feed them side-by-side in the kitchen. Simon eats faster than she does, so he finishes his food and then butts in and steals the rest of hers. To counteract this, she was trying to gobble up her food too fast and then it wasn't staying down. The vet suggested feeding them separately so she doesn't feel the need to gobble. We started doing this, feeding them in separate parts of the kitchen. I sit and watch them with the spray bottle of water in my hand. The moment Simon finishes his food and starts to walk over to his sister, he gets squirted. Two days of that and he now looks at me and then walks away, doesn't even try to go for his sister. He learns! Of course, if I'm not sitting right there he knows he can get away with it, so for now I still need to babysit them while they eat. But it's been great, she hasn't thrown up since we started this new routine. Yay!

Other news items.... the cats have started being very sweetie and cuddly in the morning to wake me up for breakfast. I guess they've learned that I respond much more readily to rubbing, purring, and floomping next to me than I do to scratches, howling, and hair-pulling. They learn fast! Well, anything that results in them getting food or treats, that is.

Speaking of treats, they're getting more and more consistent with saying "mama" on command. I have some video that I need to splice together to show how they've gotten better over time. Of course, they won't do it when I have the camera rolling!

In general they're both continuously getting more lovey and lap-happy. Simon loves the glider rocking chair and is pretty consistently in my lap whenever I'm sitting in it. River loves the blanket on the back of Sarah's study chair and is also known to curl up ON Sarah when she's napping (like right now, for instance...). They always greet us at the door with brips that we can hear outside as we fumble with our keys, and they floomp on the floor for head scratches and ear rubs when we come inside. The cuteness continues!

We keep hearing about more wonderful cats from King Street Cats who have found their forever homes. Recently, several long-time resident cats who were there when we picked up Simon and River (almost 18 months ago!) finally got adopted, and we've been so excited to hear about it! There have also been more cute adoption updates from KSC "alumni" in their forever homes, which has inspired me to keep updating this blog for all the amazing volunteers who kept our babies safe and happy until we were able to come and find them. Thank you to everyone at KSC!!! We love you!!

February update (never mind that it's March...)

I'm back-dating this so there is at least ONE post in February. I guess some of the novelty of having the cats has worn off, hence the less frequent blog posts, but they are still adorable and still up to plenty of shenanigans!

River's newest nickname is "demandypants" because of the fervor with which she wakes me up in the morning. Both of them had already figured out that I don't get up until the clock radio goes off, so now they SIT ON THE RADIO and wait for it to make noises. Then both of them walk all over me, meowing and kneading my shoulders (starting gently, then adding more claws as their urgency increases). River sometimes resorts to pulling my hair with her mouth if I don't respond quickly enough, or if I reach over to hit snooze on the radio and go back to sleep. Now she has added a new trick: tearing up the kleenex from the box on my nightstand, because she knows it will annoy me into scolding her, so then she can give me the look that says "I knew you were awake! Come on now, no excuses, time to feed us!!"

At least they can't make as much noise as human children... :-)

Oh, you're home?

The cats were excited when I came home (I arrived a day before Sarah), but they were really most interested in their dinner, which was late....

You're back? That's nice. Feed us.

Are those treats? No? Okay, put down your suitcase and feed us.

You're in the kitchen! That means you're feeding us, right??

Is it bedtime now? Treeeeeats before bed?????

River liked the new crocheted toys from Auntie Erin!

Simon decided the cloth bag from one of my gifts was a fun toy too...

Housesitting adventures

So Sarah and I both went home for the holidays, and we were absolutely torn up with motherly guilt over what to do with the babies. Our usual housesitters were all out of town visiting their own families, and the thought of boarding the cats (especially at the vet, which was the only place with any space) nearly made us sick. Plus, boarding is ridiculously expensive.

Then we found Tails of the City Pet Care, which I very highly recommend! The owner of the branch that covers our area was absolutely wonderful. She came over to meet the babies, and they took to her right away. Then once we were on our trip she e-mailed us pictures and updates every few days. It was so perfect, because our minds were at ease (and it was affordable!) and the babies had their familiar home with normal meal times plus play time each morning and evening. From the pictures she sent, we could tell they were quite happy and comfortable with her!

Simon was a bit shy at first, but that soon changed...

I just heard a bird outside!!!  *huntress mode activated*

Okay, I like you now. I sit on your lap. Hope you didn't have plans for the rest of today...

I like your shoes, they smell like lots of interesting animals...

You are very nice, you feed us and play with us. I knead your back and purr loudly.

ONE YEAR!!

It's official! Today we have known our babies for exactly one year!

365 days ago they picked us, curled up in our laps, and said "take us home! We're adorable and we will meow you awake and demand treats and make you laugh with pouncing games and get the crazies at 9:47 pm every night!!"

Well, they didn't actually say all of that, but we now know that's what they were thinking. It's still about a month before the anniversary of us actually bringing them home, but it's still fun to think back on this wonderful day.

Now here they are today, lounging about like they own the place (and they totally do).

Here's to Simon and River, our beautiful little cats and the year of love, laughter and joy they've brought into our lives!!

October updates

It's been quite a while since my last round of updates! I just added a metric ton of pictures, the posts are all back-dated through September and begin on August 21. If you want to be sure you didn't miss anything, start back at the Bug-hunting and Late August cuteness posts. Almost everything since then (most of September and all of October) is new today.

Let's see, funny stories... River's newest way of waking me up for breakfast, after she's tried meowing and pawing at me, is to take a small chunk of my hair in her teeth and pull!!! I can only imagine how ridiculous it must look. We haven't been coordinated enough to get it on video yet, but I really want to see it!!  It doesn't hurt, it's just funny. Hungry kitties really will do anything!

Simon has taken to peeing on my clothes if I leave them all over the bedroom floor for too long (but only if I've also forgotten to scoop the cat box for a couple days). I suppose it's good motivation not to do either of those things!

The cats now really enjoy playing "catch" when they get in their crazy moods of racing around the house; I'll sit in the living room and toss a ball or toy down the hallway, and they'll scamper like mad to chase after it.  When they've rolled around and "killed" that toy, they'll wander back into the living room and I'll throw another one.  This can last quite a while, since between the two sets of grandparents and us hippie mommies, the cats have a LOT of toys!! I'm working on editing the video of them playing this game.

Speaking of toys, I was fishing around under the fridge yesterday to get a toy they had kicked under there, and I found the other earphone from when this happened in May. That explains why we only saw wires on the X-rays and not the earpiece itself! Whew. Apparently Simon is not as doofy as we thought he was. :-)

(TMI warning!) Also health-related, we did the 6-month follow-up test on Simon's fecal sample, and he has no signs of intestinal parasites or giardia! This is excellent news. They only found the antibodies last time, so it's good to have checked back again to confirm.

Thursday we will have had the babies 9 months, which is about the length of time they were at King Street Cats! Lots of milestones and happies. :-)

Kitty yoga

I recently learned that I have a stress fracture in my left foot. It doesn't really hurt, but I can't put weight on that foot for 6-8 weeks while it heals, so no dance classes for me. :-( That means I'm doing yoga and stretches on the floor at home to maintain my sanity.

Today River decided to come do some kitty yoga with me!

Simon didn't want to look like a deadbeat, so he curled up at my feet to use his healing powers on my metatarsals.

Guard cat....

This is what Simon does when the maintenance guy comes in. Some guard kitty he is!
"...is he gone? I hide here til the scary man goes away..."

Another blast from the past

Jumping off of the last post... I was going through my hard drive and found this photo of the picture that was on the wall at King Street Cats the day we were chosen by our babies.

KSC keeps photos with basic information about all the kitties in the cat room at any given time. Simon and River (AKA Scamp and Midnight) look a bit scared in their cage upon arrival, but Simon is being the protective older brother he always was. :-)

Now that we have them at home, I would definitely classify Simon as a "lap cat". :-)

DJ Scratch Cats!

So Sarah found this on the SPCA website... it's a cardboard scratching pad meant to look like a record turntable. There are even fake stickers on it that say things like "RUN DOG" and "I Heart Tuna". And it comes with organic catnip.

We're officially obsessive hippie cat moms. :-)

These pictures just show River, but Simon likes it too. :-)

Simon the lap kitty

Simon is such a lap boy!  He does this most mornings now that I'm not going to class every day.  The moment I plop into the rocking chair to job-search, he sniffs at me until I move my laptop and then jumps up and does this (forgive the sideways iPad-video):

His other favorite time to jump in my lap is... when I'm sitting on the toilet.  There are no pictures of that for obvious reasons (though we might have to stage one just to show how cute it is!)

Bug-hunting

Today a ladybug got into the house and was creeping around on the wall, making River go into huntress mode. Then there were moths at the window teasing Simon, and everybody was in a bug-hunting stupor.
 This is the Instragram photo of Simon staring at the ladybug:

Here's both of them trying to telepathically make the ladybug fall off the wall so they could play with it:

And here's some video of the cuteness:

Updates

Eeeeeek, I haven't posted in a month!  But I was finishing my master's degree, so you'll have to forgive me. :-)

The week after I finished school, Sarah's mom and sister came to stay with us so the cats got to meet their other auntie and see grandma Kay again.  Then the week after that MY mom finally made it here, so now the kitties have been patted by all of their aunties and grandparents!  Cute pictures from both visits will be posted promptly.

During the family visits, our moms helped us figure out that feeding the cats only a quarter-can of cat food each in the morning and evening (one can total per day between the two of them) was not enough food.  That might explain why they were constantly badgering us for treats and meals!  Now we've doubled it so they get a half-can each in the morning and another half-can each in the evening.  They've filled out a little bit and seem much more content.  They weren't crazy skinny before, no ribs were showing or anything.  But now they still have waists (the vet said that indicates a healthy weight) without acting famished all the time.  I feel so bad that they've been hungry for so long!  But they were certainly getting a lot of crunchy treats too, and they were never bony, so I think they're ok.

We've started making the cats sit and be quiet for a few seconds before they get their food, so as to discourage the constant yowling that often precedes their meals.  River has figured it out pretty quickly, Simon is still getting the idea.  It's hard with two cats though, because if I'm standing here holding the two bowls of food waiting for quiet, and one of them is quiet then the other one meows, I can't time it quite right to put the food down while everybody is silent.  But it's getting better, they're quieting right down once I'm holding the bowls.  Progress continues!  Whoever said you can't train a cat didn't have much patience.

New nicknames include Squeaklet and Squeakaletta (for River) and Derp Man (for Simon). 

We've written a few parody songs for the cats, many of which are improvised but there's one that's pretty consistent.  I should record and post it since we sing it pretty often.... (oh my lord, we're so obsessed with our babies!!)

Magical pumice stone

The cats are really, really intrigued by the pumice stone in the shower.  Once Sarah made it move at them from over the rim of the bathtub, and since then they have been fascinated!

The did this for a good half-hour, these are just a few of the highlights.

Grandparents and auntie!

My dad and sister, and Sarah's mom and dad, were in town at the end of May for my graduation from grad school.  They brought lots of presents and goodies for the babies, and much cuteness ensued!

Don't worry, we did not feed them treats the whole time, even though this video would have you think otherwise.  The babies did very well with having that many people in the apartment at once.

Six months!

As of July 11 (never mind that I'm posting this almost a week late...) we have had the babies for six months!! That's a third of their lives!  Wow...

They make us so happy! They come curl up beside us while we're studying or working on the computers.  They snuggle under the covers with us and wake us up promptly for breakfast...

Six months of cute and we still can't get enough!!

Precious creatures

Last week I got a letter from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), which talked about things going on in China involving domestic animals and the fur trade.  I couldn't even read it, I can't handle those things; just glancing at it made me upset.  I'm one of those people that can watch violent movies about humans, but the moment anybody lays a finger on an animal I flip out.  It just affects me so viscerally.  I will never understand how any person can inflict pain or cruelty on an animal.  All creatures are precious, and all deserve kindness.

I sent PETA a check for their current campaign.  And then I went and held my babies so close they were wriggling to be free.  I've been particularly clingy with them this week, patting them every chance I get.  We're so lucky to have them, so lucky that they rescued us.  We know we can't adopt every animal that needs a home (that wouldn't be suitable for us or them), but we're so glad that places like King Street Cats are doing the loving, tireless work to make a difference, one furry life at a time.

Tales from housesitting

Two weekends ago, we were in Rochester for a wedding.  Our lovely friends Erika and Steve took care of the babies while we were away, and Erika texted me this picture on Saturday night with the caption "we're still alive!"

This past weekend we were in Vermont for another wedding, and this time my classmate Claire looked in on the kittehs.  She texted me these two pictures of Simon playing with the fake bird:

Yay for housesitters who spontaneously send us pictures of our babies when we miss them!!

Trick for your treat

This has been an ongoing project since March, and I just now finally got the videos together.  We've taught the babies to stand up in order to earn their daily treats! 

It really wasn't hard, they quickly figured out that we wanted them to get up on their hind paws to reach the treats/  The tough part was teaching them to NOT swipe at our hands with their claws!

Simon ate WHAT?!

Is it motherhood when you simultaneously love your baby and want to strangle them?!

So two weeks ago Tuesday morning (May 22nd), my dad and sister were heading home so we were all getting ready to drive to the airport.  I noticed this white, string-looking thing on the floor of the hallway:

Upon closer inspection, I notice it's made of plastic and has silver and copper wires in it.  Wires?  This looks like part of an iPod earphone cord...

OH NO.

I go to the den, where the day before I had emptied my purse onto the floor. The pile of stuff includes my earphones, except now they look like this:

GAAAAAAAAAH!!

Simon ATE the left earphone, plus about six inches of the cord (some of which was the remnant I found in the hallway).  I couldn't believe it!! 

I called the vet, and they recommended getting an x-ray just to be sure nothing was blocking his gut (and to be sure it was really him!).  So we hauled both cats in, and $300 later we got confirmation that yes, Simon was the culprit, and the wires had already moved through his intestines pretty well.  The vet said to just watch him, don't feed him dinner that night, and "if you see wires sticking out of his butt, don't pull them."   !!!!!!

He didn't show any signs of feeling strange, both cats were playing and doing their usual thing.  For the next few days, I kept an extra-close eye on the litter box to be sure everything passed through (which it eventually did).

The other fun new thing I discovered, while inspecting the litter box, was that Simon has also been eating our hair elastics (and apparently passing them without issue).

GAH.  Nothing in this apartment is safe from the Jaws of Simon!