Of Cats and Cardstock

28 February 2020

Feline Friday

Well, on Monday of this week, we found ourselves back at the vet. I got home at around 4pm and shortly after heard Lily make that familiar "something is not right" meow, followed by some tell-tale (tell-tail?) scooting. Mind you, it had only been a couple of weeks since we were last at the vet with an anal gland problem.

I picked her up and checked her rear end, only to find a lima bean-sized squishy lump. It was definitely not hard like the lump she had last time.

BIG SIGH.

Lily was clearly uncomfortable. While I got on the phone to the vet, she climbed onto a shelf in the closet.

Poor sweet baby. This is the face of a kitty who doesn't feel well.

When I call the vet, I no longer even have to identify myself. We are now frequent fliers, but not in a good way! Amazingly, I got lucky again this time and her vet had a 5pm cancellation, so off we went.

Lily has to be sedated for the procedure. This time, the vet brought her back into the exam room while she was still out so that I could see the area in question. I was able to actually see the anal glands (they're very small and not easily visible). When the sac fills with fluid, the swelling forms to the side, as I had observed.

The vet has now expressed her glands so many times that he believes she has a physical malformation on one side which keeps the gland from emptying normally. This explains why it keeps clogging. If material dries up inside the sac, it blocks the opening. So it's best to keep on top of this situation. If she comes in next time when the lump is still squishy, he may even try to express her glands without sedation. Although she tolerates sedation well, it would be best if we could minimize it.

Our sweet Lily is now FELINE much better. You can see how relaxed she is when sleeping now -- not hunched up and looking sad.

So Lily's week ended much better than it started. We just hope to keep it going for a bit longer this time!

Happy Feline Friday!

21 February 2020

Feline Friday: Boogie Fever

Alas, another week has gone by with not a single blog post by the Meowmy. This makes me sad. I need to do a better job of time management so that I can get back to blogging because -- believe me! -- I have a lot to say! 😄

But of course, I would never miss a Feline Friday! For today's post, we shall take a brief trip down meow-mory lane.

When Lily was in her younger years, we somehow got the misguided idea that she could compete in cat shows. Lily is such a sweet and adorable kitty, and we fervently believed that those qualities would surely enable her to stand out in competition.

Alas, Lily turns into some kind of hissing, snarling MONSTER at cat shows. (Truthfully, it's the same naughty behavior she exhibits at the vet, so we shouldn't have been that surprised.)

Still, we held onto the belief that with a little practice, she'd somehow get better.

She didn't.

But we DID learn that cat shows sometimes have a cage decorating contest. Without even knowing there was such a thing, we won that category at our very first show. From then on, I knew how we could have a good cat show run -- we'd go just for the cage decorating contest! Lily could be as naughty as she wanted and we might still go home with a prize. LOL

At that same show (which was held in the pig barn at the Iowa State Fair...), Lily somehow came how with a ginormous ribbon for 10th Best Household Pet Cat. I still think that's rather remarkable considering how absolutely dreadfully she behaved. It was WAY more ribbon than she deserved, as sweet as we think she is!

For our efforts, we won quite a few goodies.

One of Lily's prizes was this "Boogie Board" mat which she absolutely loved. It unzips on the size to allow insertion of dry catnip. Kitty smells the catnip through the fabric and proceeds to BOOGIE!

So now -- if you're still reading 😀 -- comes the point of today's post. This week, Lily re-discovered her beloved Boogie Board. It has been sitting out since the day it came home with us, but I haven't been diligent about replacing the catnip. This week when I saw her show some interest in it, I refreshed it and BOY DID SHE BOOGIE!

Now she's sleeping on her Boogie Board and playing on it during the night. It's just like old times from her failed cat show circuit days! Time has washed away any unpleasant memories Lily may have had about the three cat shows she attended, leaving her with only happy thoughts.

Of course, the catnip may have had something to do with it... 😉

14 February 2020

Feline Friday

Sometime late last Friday afternoon, Lily went down to the basement and let out a loud MEOW. Spouse would tell you it was just an ordinary meow, but he's not a cat person. Anyone who loves a cat knows the very distinct differences between the "feed me" meow, the "thank goodness you're home" meow, and the "something's not right" meow.

This was a definite "something's not right" meow. For Lily, this means that there's a problem in her southern end. 😾

The last time Lily went to have her anal glands expressed (November!), the vet showed me that I could tell if they're impacted just by touching her back end.

Here's how he explained it to me: Think of her rear end as a clock face. The anal glands are located at the 4 and 8 positions. If they're normal, you won't feel any kind of bump there but if they're clogged, they can become as large as grapes.

I'd never tried to find her anal glands before but this time, I decided to give it a go. As soon as I touched her bottom, I noticed a hard, larger-than-pea-sized lump. Lily growled and tried to bite me so I knew it must be very painful.

So I called right away for an appointment and, by some stroke of luck, our vet had an opening in the last time slot of the day. I immediately loaded her up and off we went. She did very well with the procedure and even got a complementary nail trim!

Unfortunately, that pesky anal gland was impacted and on the verge of becoming infected. It took a lot of irrigation to clear the gland. Had the vet not been able to see her that day, I have no doubt that we would have ended up in the ER again over the weekend.

The lesson for me is this: As SOON as I see her scooting, I need check her bottom and get her in for an appointment. This time, I had caught her scooting just a couple of days before but I put off making the call. In retrospect, there is no point in waiting to see if it clears up. It won't. It can take just a day or two for the situation to escalate, and that can result in additional problems for her.

Meowmy learned her lesson! Now that I know how to inspect the back end, I'll keep a closer eye on things!

07 February 2020

Feline Friday

Last Sunday, Lily was briefly captivated by the Puppy Bowl. I pulled up a chair so she could get a closer view.

She especially enjoyed the presentation of the MVP Award, honoring the Most Valuable Puppy of the game.

Perhaps she was imagining herself as MVK, Most Valuable Kitty.

She would win that award any day, at least around here!

31 January 2020

Feline Friday with Rory

It's time for an update on Cousin Rory in Texas! She is doing well and has turned into a real cuddle bug...most of the time!

Rory loves her boxes. She gets very excited whenever a box arrives from Chewy or Amazon. She also has an affinity for tissue paper. In fact, Santa brought her some tissue paper of her very own so she would never run out!

She has also taken a liking to Kleenexes. Her meowmy has to keep the Kleenex boxes flipped over, which usually does the trick. But not this this time! KLEENEX PARTY!

We think she's very photogenic! Look at the size of those mitts!

Who could resist this sweet face?

Happy Feline Friday, friends!

P.S. You may have noticed that other than Feline Friday, my blog posts have been lacking. Many things have taken precedence over my blogging. I hope to be back in the saddle again soon!

24 January 2020

Feline Friday

I really have to watch Lily anytime I'm cooking, especially if one of her favorite foods is involved. (And let's face it, EVERYTHING is her favorite food.)

Here I've just started to set the table for dinner, only to find her sitting squarely in the middle of it! She knows she's not supposed to be on the table but nevertheless she persists! 😸

Lily has a particular affinity for sour cream. She can detect sour cream from anywhere in the house and she'll leap across counters to get to it.

At the risk of appearing to run an unsanitary kitchen operation (HA!), I will share with you this recent photo.

I had left the room briefly, returning to find Lily had perched herself on the island from which she had an excellent view of the open sour cream container. In addition to that delectable treat, she also detected a bowl of avocado right next to it, something she adores but is not allowed to eat as it is not good for kitties.

Although Lily didn't say a word, I could see that she was clearly calculating the distance to make the jump. Thankfully, she thought better of it, remembering that she's good at many things but jumping isn't one of them. I gently lifted her to the floor and wiped off the island where I'd found her.

Truthfully, making dangerous leaps isn't necessary when you have a mama who will probably give you a taste of that delicious sour cream anyway!

17 January 2020

Feline Friday: Have Blankie, Will Travel (to Kitchen)

Every so often, Lily wakes up from her nap, hears me in the kitchen, and slowly walks over to me without realizing she's carrying her blankie with her. Mind you, she travels all the way across the family room and into the kitchen like this.

Believe it or not, this is a regular occurrence around here...

so much that Spouse has "forbid" me to take any more pictures of it.

Still, when he's not around, I sneak in a few. I'm the one with 10,000 cat pictures on my phone. I shall not be deterred!
😍

Because seriously, how cute is this?

This sight never fails to make me smile!

Happy Feline Friday!

10 January 2020

Feline Friday: On the Brink!

Lily, no!

Those were my words this week when I saw Lily running wildly upstairs, jumping up the walls, and finally thrusting her head through the second floor railing over the entryway.

She poked her head so far through the rungs that I was concerned she'd try to leap to the floor below. Of course, it would have been a very tight squeeze!

My mind kept flashing back to 2006 when Lily either fell or jumped from this catwalk, landing near the door. You can read all about it HERE. Fortunately she was unharmed, but Lily and I BOTH lost one of our nine lives that day!

Luckily this time, instead of continuing through the rails, she sat down and just peered intently. Looking over her head, I could see one of her new furry mice on the tile below. Could the mouse be the subject of her keen, nearly death-defying interest?

Happily she soon lost interest, pulled her head back through the railings, and headed off to a blankie for an afternoon nap.

WHEW!

Stay safe, kitties! 😅

03 January 2020

Feline Friday: Home Alone!

While Bailey and her boyfriend were traveling over Christmas, little Rory stayed in Texas at his house.

Normally Rory stays at her own apartment when her meowmy leaves, but this time she vacationed at the big house -- all by herself! Maybe it's because I had just watched the original Home Alone movie, but I couldn't help but think of Rory on her own for almost a full week!

I envisioned her sliding down the banister, leaping from the ledge, and doing all sorts of crazy things -- none of which actually occurred, of course!

Naturally, Daughter had made sure that the house was totally cat-proofed and set up for Rory's complete comfort. The nanny cam provided occasional updates on her activities. Still, we anxiously awaited the daily dispatches from the cat sitter, who reported that Rory was eating and using the litter box just fine, but would hide under the couch or in the bathtub every time the she visited. As you can see, even a trail of treats wouldn't entice sweet Rory to leave her safe space!