Foucault gains a year

 

Foucault turns 4 years old today! My little kitty sure is growing up. He was a skittish little kitten of 5 months when we got him and now he's evolved into a lovable lap cat. Who still gets frisky now and then.

 

 He has a penchant for napping in odd places...

 like boxes or bags.

 

 Or his favorite, the laundry basket turned cat bed.

 Jumping onto tiny spaces.

 And just looking adorable and handsome.

   

Happy Birthday to our little buddy.

Sienna Bunny

Happy Easter from Sienna Bunny! The only way she'd play along today was getting a real carrot. She loves her veggies. 

 

 Since I couldn't find my store-bought bunny ears, I made some out of felt, marker, ribbon, pipe cleaner and at first tape then needle and thread. Not too shabby. Ok, a little shabby...shabby chic.

Here's a video of some munching. Hope it works, I just used blogger instead of going through Youtube.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and a Happy Earth Day as well.

6 months of mange in pictures

Poor Ellie. It's been a rough ordeal for her with her mange. Even though her itching has been better since January, which is a huge relief for her, her fur has been falling out much past that. We think this is the last of it, because it's hit almost every part of her body. Looking back at old photos of when we first adopted her, I realized how fluffy she was! That's how her coat is supposed to be. We'd forgotten just how fluffy she used to be. And after the our recent trip, she looked really thin when we saw her, but she hasn't lost weight, just fur.

I didn't take these pictures specifically to document her mange, and she doesn't really like the camera, so when she was itchy, the last thing I wanted to do was torture her more. When she was at her most bald with raw red wounds, I was pretty emotional about it. In fact there are large blocks of time with no picture of her. Me trying to protect her pride. By showing this, I'm not trying to embarass her, I think she's gorgeous in all ways. I just want to document her recovery and tell others that it takes time to heal from this vicious stuff.

September 2010
Full coat, with a few itchy patches which we thought were from flea bites.

 Full coated in October, more camera friendly. Still itchy, but no fur loss.

October 2010: one big ball of fluff!

Christmas 2010: she was miserable. Look at that raw red elbow.

 

January 2011: finally getting treated with anti-mange meds, although she had been on prednizone for the itch before.

Itch caught on camera. Sienna is perplexed.

 Fur falls off in droves. Baldy chest.

February 2011
She's lost a lot of the lower fur, but her "mane" neck hair remains

Later in February
Her hock fur falls off in patches.

 Neck fur still think, hind area looks skinny because the fur is falling off.

Febraury 2011
Leg fur growing back, elbow wounds healing, still patchy in other areas. Still got that big mane!

Early March 2011
Chest fur grows back, yippee!

Most recently, end of March 2011
Body fur thinner, neck hair falling out and thinner.

 We can actually see her collar, that neck/mane is so thin! Belly fur coming in thick.

 

Her ears are still shedding a bit. We use a furminator (which she hates) to get the fur off.

I hope to post many many pictures this summer...let's hope her full coat is back in full glory!

paws from the trip

While we were gone, we had an opportunity not just to visit our human loved ones, but their four-legged companions as well.

First up, Lily, we we arranged for adoption with my husband's dad. He was uncertain about getting a cat, but we knew he'd be a great home for a cat. Lily wasn't getting along with other cats and was in a rescue where she didn't have a lot of space to call her own because of her need to be isolated.

When she first came to live with my father-in-law, she was a shy girl. Now, about 10 years later, she's as friendly as can be! She comes to cozy up to new people and doesn't even mind being chased by a one-year-old tyke.

 Gonna get that kitty!

Almost got ya!

I see her!

Can't reach....kitty too high!

Smart kitty! Just out of reach. Lily loves being queen of the house.

Little Baby A loves animals, although her petting is more like a grab at this point. She has a dog "brother" but I didn't get a pic this time, and going back through my old pics causes too much heartache because there's dozens of my now fur angels Zuki and Heather.

  

 Zoe, pictured here with Baby A is my aunt-in-law's dog, a dachshund. She followed baby A around while we visited. Baby A loves the dog crate and puts her toys in them. She also has been known to be found napping in the dog bed. I foresee this in my future if we ever have human kids.

 

Another cousin's dog is Zeus, a dog whose breed we aren't sure. Love his underbite. 

Here's Baby A petting Zeus. Zeus is a barker, but it helps protect Chris's great aunt who is home alone sometimes. It's sometimes a nice warning to have a bark and feel a little protected by that woof. (I'm starting to appreciate it from Ellie.)

The theme of this post is beginning to be babies and critters. This is my sister's cat, Sid Vicious, who is mostly sweet but does have a little mean streak in him. He's a bird hunter, leg crawler, and lap cuddler. Now he also has a baby in his family. I'm not sure he's too thrilled about that.

This dog isn't taken care of by anyone I know, but was spotted outside a vegan ice cream shop and I couldn't resist his cute face. The woman he was with just adopted him from the shelter and wasn't sure his breed and was going to get him DNA tested because he's so interesting looking. I almost wish I had gotten her info to know the results. Any guesses?

And finally, Layla. She seems sweet from across the room, but watch out, she's a hisser! She actually attacked my leg as I walked by. I want to love her and rehabilitate her, but she's just the kind of cat that does the best with just one person. She loves her human, my cousin, but isn't too fond of anyone else. She's a tiny kitty and was found on the streets of Brooklyn, malnourished.

 I'll love you from afar, Layla.

Many of my and Chris's family members have rescued cats and dogs. I appreciate that their hearts are big enough to take in an animal that has had a troubled past or isn't "purebred." Rescued animals are the best!