Monster Mash
Nice morning. Mothra woke me once with the nihgtly head boxing ritual. I pushed her off rudely and she did not come back to purr by my side. I prefer no purr sleep time to head boxing purring. Sleep deprivation is not my forte.
She is still on antibiotics from the vet visit on the morning of the 4th, when she woke me at 3 am by wheezing so hard in my face that I thought she was going to lose her breath. (Now Godzilla had eye boogers, too, and I am afraid he got it from her, although he's not sneezing or coughing as of yet.) We discovered that all we have to do to get her to swallow a pill is put butter on it. Don't even have to put it in her throat with the pill pusher. If we put butter on it, she thinks it's a treat. And he gets miffed if he doesn't also get a taste of butter. All the while, we feed them bonito flakes to create a snack frenzy. This morning's pill went down in no time.
Then we had the Squirrel Show. I got new unsalted peanuts yesterday at Costco and we fed the squirrels, who obliged by putting on a good show at the back steps. We've been down to bird seed mix for several days, so there are fewer than usual: only four this morning. They'll all be back tomorrow when the word gets out about the peanuts. The sqirrels have completely adjusted to the cats, displaying complete trust in the screen to protect them. The cats have not yet figured out that they could get thru the screen. I know it's a mere matter of time, and I don't leave them by the screen unattended. They enjoy the screen show much more than the glass door show, what with all the scents and sounds.
Then I put two feet of 1-1/4 inch clear pvc tube, slit along its length, around the trunk of one indoor tree. I am hoping this keeps them from clawing and attacking it. We've already moved all furniture as far away as possible from the pot and covered the soil in rocks in all the plants. For that, I bought two bags of river rock; 1/2 inch was all they had - I wanted one inch. Over the top of that, I put my life's rock collection. I've been a rock collector for 12 years. Now all my pretty rocks are at last on display, in the plant pots throughout the house. So far, it has really cut down on plant attacks. There's been no soil exposed (knock on wood), and only a few rocks have become temporary toys. Mostly when they go for plants, it is because a leaf has been moved and it looks tempting. I am curious how they will respond to the pvc. If they like clawing at it, I will cover it with sticky paws, which worked temporarily on the counters. However, the counters are their free range when we are not in the room. I just clean them daily with bleach. It's all I can do.
They look like cats now, instead of kittens, which would be a bummer if they weren't so freaking gorgeous. He's gotten lanky and long, appearing to grown an inch a day in length. She's not so long and has a round tummy that fluctuates in girth throughout the course of the day. The vet took one look at her teeth and informed me we'd been misiniformed about their age at adoption. Based on dental development, the vet said that on 12/4, Mothra was not more than 6 months old (where according to PAWS, she shouhld have been 7.5 months). The vet also said, given how large Mothra was already and how many baby teeth she still had, she was going to be HUGE. Well, she's really not getting bigger as much as she's just looking more grown up. Godzilla is gaining length by the hour, and his feet are huge, too.
They are exceptionally cute after the Spaz Attacks end. Last evening they both wanted to sit on my lap while I worked at the computer and they cannot both fit, so they spent 30 minutes trying to push each other off.
Still no cat care for Xmas, which is stressing me out. I can't imagine the state of the house after they've been unattended for 5 days. I think we will have to board them, which is stupid and expensive and stressful for them. Much more concerning is the coming Cabo trip (11 days) in January. It is my hope that after these two vacations, the cats will ahev attained independence sufficient to leave them alone when we go on trips of any length. It's been 22 years since I had a baby cat, so I might be deluding myself. I might end up with a relationship with a cat kennel. Ugh.
Today the traditional cat box goes away and it is 100% Robo Litter. They have adjusted to the Swheat Scoop no problemo. Godzilla figured out the robo box immediately. Mothra took a few days to get used to going inside it, but I think we have had enough transition. She will use it if there is nothing else. At least I know this means they will have clean little if they are home alone for a couple days.
Right now each has claimed her own Costco banana box by the french doors here in the basement. All is right in their world. Most is right in mine.
She is still on antibiotics from the vet visit on the morning of the 4th, when she woke me at 3 am by wheezing so hard in my face that I thought she was going to lose her breath. (Now Godzilla had eye boogers, too, and I am afraid he got it from her, although he's not sneezing or coughing as of yet.) We discovered that all we have to do to get her to swallow a pill is put butter on it. Don't even have to put it in her throat with the pill pusher. If we put butter on it, she thinks it's a treat. And he gets miffed if he doesn't also get a taste of butter. All the while, we feed them bonito flakes to create a snack frenzy. This morning's pill went down in no time.
Then we had the Squirrel Show. I got new unsalted peanuts yesterday at Costco and we fed the squirrels, who obliged by putting on a good show at the back steps. We've been down to bird seed mix for several days, so there are fewer than usual: only four this morning. They'll all be back tomorrow when the word gets out about the peanuts. The sqirrels have completely adjusted to the cats, displaying complete trust in the screen to protect them. The cats have not yet figured out that they could get thru the screen. I know it's a mere matter of time, and I don't leave them by the screen unattended. They enjoy the screen show much more than the glass door show, what with all the scents and sounds.
Then I put two feet of 1-1/4 inch clear pvc tube, slit along its length, around the trunk of one indoor tree. I am hoping this keeps them from clawing and attacking it. We've already moved all furniture as far away as possible from the pot and covered the soil in rocks in all the plants. For that, I bought two bags of river rock; 1/2 inch was all they had - I wanted one inch. Over the top of that, I put my life's rock collection. I've been a rock collector for 12 years. Now all my pretty rocks are at last on display, in the plant pots throughout the house. So far, it has really cut down on plant attacks. There's been no soil exposed (knock on wood), and only a few rocks have become temporary toys. Mostly when they go for plants, it is because a leaf has been moved and it looks tempting. I am curious how they will respond to the pvc. If they like clawing at it, I will cover it with sticky paws, which worked temporarily on the counters. However, the counters are their free range when we are not in the room. I just clean them daily with bleach. It's all I can do.
They look like cats now, instead of kittens, which would be a bummer if they weren't so freaking gorgeous. He's gotten lanky and long, appearing to grown an inch a day in length. She's not so long and has a round tummy that fluctuates in girth throughout the course of the day. The vet took one look at her teeth and informed me we'd been misiniformed about their age at adoption. Based on dental development, the vet said that on 12/4, Mothra was not more than 6 months old (where according to PAWS, she shouhld have been 7.5 months). The vet also said, given how large Mothra was already and how many baby teeth she still had, she was going to be HUGE. Well, she's really not getting bigger as much as she's just looking more grown up. Godzilla is gaining length by the hour, and his feet are huge, too.
They are exceptionally cute after the Spaz Attacks end. Last evening they both wanted to sit on my lap while I worked at the computer and they cannot both fit, so they spent 30 minutes trying to push each other off.
Still no cat care for Xmas, which is stressing me out. I can't imagine the state of the house after they've been unattended for 5 days. I think we will have to board them, which is stupid and expensive and stressful for them. Much more concerning is the coming Cabo trip (11 days) in January. It is my hope that after these two vacations, the cats will ahev attained independence sufficient to leave them alone when we go on trips of any length. It's been 22 years since I had a baby cat, so I might be deluding myself. I might end up with a relationship with a cat kennel. Ugh.
Today the traditional cat box goes away and it is 100% Robo Litter. They have adjusted to the Swheat Scoop no problemo. Godzilla figured out the robo box immediately. Mothra took a few days to get used to going inside it, but I think we have had enough transition. She will use it if there is nothing else. At least I know this means they will have clean little if they are home alone for a couple days.
Right now each has claimed her own Costco banana box by the french doors here in the basement. All is right in their world. Most is right in mine.