Malachi has deserted me lol. Not really. Our 14 year old nephew Joey, willed us his Mickey Mouse blanket. Mali has claimed it as hers. We put it on the top bunk in the bedroom, she spends most of her time UP there now! She prefers a mouse to her Daddy LOL

Tuesday, November 10, 1998

First, about November 4. It was fun! NOT! LOL. Goliath was the best in the car going to the vet and comming back. Malachi and Skipper were the most vocal. When we got to the vet, we decided that Dr. Y should examine Malach first. No problem. A little growling at Sharon, the vet tech and groomer. JJ and Skipper were good also. Then it was Gilligans' turn. He did not want to get out of the carrier! No way, no how!

After Audrey tried without success, Dr Y gave it a shot. He turned the carrier so the top was facing the floor, and started shaking it. No dice. Finally, Gilligan came tumbling out of the carrier spitting, hissing and growling. Gilligan and Skipper had their shots, JJ had something wrong with the pad on the wrist of his paw. It is now better.

Malachi is spending the night at the vets after three procedures. She had the lump removed from her back, she had her teeth cleaned and she was shaved. She's not going to be a happy camper when we pick her up tommorow morning. Goliath had acupuncture for his asthma. As usual he slapped the vet's hand! Thank goodness he kept his claws in.

Sunday, November 1, 1998

BIG DAY!!! coming up on Wednesday. A trip to the Dr. Y, the vet. When I say BIG, I mean Big! We'll be taking 5 of them on this trip. I think that's a record even for us. On Wednesday we'll be rounding up 5 of the brood, Malachi, Goliath, Skipper, Gilligan and JJ for visits to Dr. Y. Mali has to have the bump checked on her back, Goliath checked for the asthma, JJ has something strange developing on his paw that we need checked and Skipper and Gilligan are going in for their yearly check and shots. This is not a day or a car ride that we are looking forward to. Anyone have any suggestions for a good brand of ear plugs? Out of the 5, only Goliath is usually a quiet cat passenger. Who knows how he will react when he has to listen to his brothers and sisters complain. It might even be too much for him, so that he will have to register his two cents also. I don't even want to think of the logistics of getting the 5 of them into the carriers. We have 3 of them, 2 small ones and one that will hold three of them. Thank goodness we got wheels for the big one. Otherwise, I would be making an appointment with a back specialist the next day. LOL

Poor Zachariah is going to think that he has been abandoned. Sure we've gone out and left them alone, but we've never gone out taken 5 out of the six and left one all by themself. Since the ones left home usually get hissed at on their return by the ones that didn't go, it will be really interesting to see how it works out this visit. Zachariah will be the only one that doesn't have the foreign scents on him. The big consolation, hopefully, is that we will be finished for the year as far as shots and checkups go. Let you know later on in the week how it goes.

Thursday, October 29,1998

Well, it's almost the last weekend of October, and it feels it. BRRRR. I'ts cold outside! All cats are doing well. Goliath still has asthma attacks even though we have been smoking outside. Gilligan hasn't had any accidents since we have been using old rags in two empty litter boxes. Skipper is Skipper. Play all day and night. lol. Malachi's hair is just about all grown back. Zachariah is still snoring. lol. JJ is as cute as ever!

Wednesday, October 14, 1998

Well, Audrey decided to paint the china cabinet. Guess who found the open doors, and got inside? JJ! lol. He refused to get out too! The china cabinet looks good. The inside is an almond color, oil based paint. Audrey is going to paint the outside hunter green, to go with the motif of the living room. All cats are doing well.

Friday, October 9, 1998

Hello again. Goliath has been walking around with his spider in his mouth, yammering. It has become a nightly routine. He put his spider to bed in Gilligan's pee pee box! He tried to feed it. Well last night he must have been trying to give it a drink, or maybe trying to drown it! We found it in the water dish. lol. Zacharia has been almost kittenish in his behaviour. When Audrey is playing fishing pole with Skipper, Zacho will run in from the bedroom, attack it and run back in to the bedroom. It is so cute! Malachi got all excited when a package of books arrived in the mail. She really enjoyed playing with the strapping tape! JJ has been running aroud like a little maniac! I think it has something to do with the change in weather. Gilligan seems to be doing better with the IBS. Skipper is still Skipper; play, play play. lol.

Thursday, August 20, 1998

Well Its been awhile. To bring you up to date...We have two outside feral cats whom we have named Benjamin and Franklin. Franklin or Frankie is a female black cat. We think she may be pregnant. She is only about 8 or nine months old. Cute as a button. Benjamin does not look well at all. Its amazing he has lasted as long as he has. Our inside guys are all doing well. Malachi had a date Tuesday with the vet. She was suppose to have a lump removed from her back, near her spine. Turns out it is just a fat pad. She didn't have the operation, thank goodness. All the other cats were relatively calm and quiet when we brought her home. No major hissing and spitting, as has occured in the past. Goliath really surprised us! He practically didn't even notice she was home!

Thursday, June 11, 1998

Chris is away for a week. Poor Mali. She's at loose ends and misses him so very much. I put one of his unwashed t-shirts up on her bunk. She has made that her spot for the time being. I have to go and get her down to get her to move. Last night I put the stuffed [size of a cat] mouse with cat-nip inside up with her. Well, she really got to working over that poor mouse -- grooming it and kicking at it for all she was worth. Tried to get her to sleep with me, but no dice, she wasn't having any of it. Found her this morning back on the top bunk. All the others are taking the change in stride.

New neighbors moved in next door. He is a plant lover and has decorated his porch (balcony) with flower boxes and small bushes in pots. Now Benji comes over her to eat and then hangs over on the next porch lounging under the bushes. He's got the best of both worlds.

Wednesday, May 13, 1998

Today was "v day". Vet day. We took Goliath and Zachariah to see Dr Y. Zachariah never once shut up the entire time he was in the car! Goliath on the other hand, was quiet as a mouse. He usually is pretty good in the car. When we got into the examining room, both of them were very well behaved. The tech weighed them both. Goliath gained two pounds. Zachariah's weight was the same. Dr Y decided to do acupuncture on Goliath. Then, while he timed him, the tech came in and drew blood from Zachariah. We heard a little hissing and spitting, but not much else. When she brought Zachariah back, she said he was "talking to her". Then it was goliath's turn. As usual Goliath was well behaved. They both had their booster shots, and we came home. Of course Zachariah is presently under the bed snoring away. lol. They both had such a rough day!

Friday, May 8, 1998

Report on Becca/Benji: We are almost certain that Becca/Benji is Benji. However, the little black one that I mentioned last time turns out to be Becca. Yes, Becca is large with child. We don't know for sure, but it's a good chance that Benji is the Proud Papa. Benji still shares his food, but where Becca beds down for the night, we don't know. We have seen her running across the street in front of our apartment toward the condos on the other side. We're hoping she is owned. It's so funny how all our inside guys seem well adjusted to watching both Benji and Becca through the window.

Becca for her part has gotten a bit braver. She use to tear off of the porch if she as much saw us looking at her. Now she even will watch us looking at her and than when she has determined we are not moving, she will continue to eat. She is all black and a tiny little thing except at the present time she has a growing belly. And eat-poor Benji stands there for the longest time waiting for her to finish so he can take his turn. It's so funny and precious to see this interaction.

Friday, March 6, 1998

She doesn't like SARDINES! I guess the winter weather has been just too nice for her to be tempted into a trap and sardines were obiviously not tempting enough to her. She has spent the whole winter in the igloo we put out there for her. It's amazing watching the interaction between Becca/Benji and our cats. They will sit on their side of the door and she is right next to them on the outside. It's all very peaceful unless another outside cat comes along and invades Becca/Benji's space. Then our inside cats will approach the door and start staring as if to be on-alert if Becca/Benji needs help. If another outside cat [except the little black one with whom she willingly shares her food], goes for the food dish they will start scratching at the door. I have even seen Goliath sound asleep on the rug next to the door and Becca/Benji sedately sitting right next to him on the outside. I was really hoping this would be a good sign that it would be fairly easy to intergrate her with our cats. However, since she seems to have a different agenda, we might never know.

In the beginning of March, we took JJ for his yearly visit to Dr. Y's. He has always seemed the calmest and most laid-back of all our cats. Suprise, suprise -- he was one very unhappy kitty. Took him and Gilligan at the same time. First off, Vaska, the office cat had to come an inspect the carriers. He has never done this before. Well, this got Gilligan and JJ a hissing. Actually, JJ's was more a cross between a hiss and a growl. JJ is three and up to this point I had never heard him hiss. Anyway, it sure was a strange sound coming out of JJ. Then it was time for us to go into the exam room. I took JJ out of the carrier. HE SHOOK! We've gone through this with 11 cats and this is the first time that I ever had one so upset that he was shaking. Had to leave Gilligan over night and brought him home the next day. JJ greeted him with loud hissing. I guess he remembered the scent of the vets from the day before. These were JJ's first true hisses.

Saturday, February 7, 1998

Well, still no luck trying to trap Becca/Benji. Smart cat. Most ferals are. We went to Petsmart today to stock up on cat food and litter for the month. 8 cases of canned food and 80 pounds of litter! We saw some adorable cats that people had put up for adoption. Any way, we met one of the ASPCA workers, and she suggested we buy some sardines and try that. So we went and bought a can of sardines. We will try again to trap Becca/Benji on Tuesday. Let you know how we make out.

Thursday, January 22, 1998

Man its been busy around here since we last wrote. We have had the apartment painted. Antique white. Looks great! Today was a very interesting one. We have this gray tiger who's been hanging on our porch and under it. Well, we tried a couple of days ago to trap it using one of our cat carriers. Did not work. So today we borrowed a trap from a person who is a animal lover. This was about 12:00 noon. We got home about 12:30. We told them at the vets office we would be back soon with this feral cat! Yeah right! We set up the trap, put a can of food in it as per this persons instructions, and waited, and waited. About 4:00 pm, Audrey remembered that we had had ham the other night. So she put one large piece in. I suggested she should cut them into smaller pieces and have it trail up the steps into the trap. I guess she/he dont like ham! lol Then Audrey went in the kitchen and starts to cook this frozen chicken. While this was going on, two other cats came by. We could have trapped them, but I dont think that their owners would have been too happy! Then I had the perfect idea. Watching her/him eat before, I noticed she/he pushes the can as she is eating. Not just a little, but all over the porch! So I tell Audrey to put the can at the entrance to the trap. That way she/he would push it until it reaches the release and bingo! No way! She/he took maybe two bites and ran under the porch. At 6:15 we packed the trap back into the car. We put two cans of food out on the porch and went out for dinner ourselves. Wouldnt you know it, this darn cat finished both cans clean! Sheesh! Well tommorow is another day! We will let you know how we make out with Becca/Benji! Still not sure what sex it is! LOL