Cat report
Life is good for the kitties of Sector 7.
Cally
Cally is feeling the cold a bit and is thus a bit creaky, but hey, she's now pushing 20 1/2. I had to defer her Metacam for a couple of days after a bad vom, but she's in reasonable condition if a little bit wobbly on her pins from time to time. More positively I think she's responding to the Feliway installed as a calmative for Princess, and is playing with Buffy and Boris Giles more and more. Buffy can (sometimes) play with Cally's tail with no retaliation, and they often poke at each other when one is on the floor and another on a coffee table or chair. Cally even runs back and forth a bit at speed if not with great endurance, so she's getting more exercise than before which no doubt helps her arthritis. She shares her prime coffee table spot with no evidence of hostility, but is easily able to make the kittens back down with no more than a single look, even though Boris Giles is bigger than her now, and in prime physical condition. She is still Queen Cally.
Princess Twinkle Toes
Not long ago Princess was in a bad way - she was losing a lot of weight, seemed dispirited, and often broke her skin quite badly by scratching at herself and over-grooming. She's always been a nervous highly-strung sort of cat, so it wasn't entirely the kittens' fault, but she was clearly not happy. The vet suggested Feliway as a plug-in diffuser which seemed to help a little. It was enough to give it a try for a second month and to invest in a second diffuser for better coverage. The second one was the charm, and Princess is now very much improved. She's putting on weight and hasn't broken her skin lately. She looks generally happier, purrs more easily, makes more chatty noise as she used to, and no longer hisses viciously at any feline that comes remotely within her orbit. I've even see her wave her paw at Buffy in a less-than-lethal manner ("playful" would be pushing it a bit, but her ears weren't flattened) which is a significant improvement. I'm really pleased.
(I'm also pleased to have found much cheaper Feliway refills on eBay - at full retail the two diffusers would cost $120 per month to maintain. $40-$50 per month is not peanuts, but it's a significant improvement.)
Buffy
Buffy continues to grow in all directions and is fluffy and gorgeous and fun and trouble. She loves to run up the curtains in the bedroom and perch on the padded pelmet near the ceiling. Fortunately I used heavy upholstery fabric for these curtains as I was trying to block out as much light as possible, so they haven't dissolved quite yet under the assault of many claws. She has earned herself the nickname Monkey Kitten due to her gravity-defying efforts up there, which often include hanging upside down and casually swinging back and forth while clinging with all four sets of claws. She also looks a lot like a raccoon but we are grateful she lacks their manual dexterity. Recently she managed to tip a nearly full tumbler of water on the kitchen counter, and then the glass came down and shattered rather spectacularly on the kitchen floor. At 2 am, naturally.
A few weeks ago Buffy lost her milk fangs and is now busy growing her adult fangs. The shaved patch on her flank where she had her op is growing in, but it will be a while yet before it disappears completely. Her eyes still get a tiny bit crusty with black tears but she's more than happy to let me clean them for her. Pumpkin had a similar issue his entire life and never had any further complications.
She purrs. Oh my, how she purrs. Last night Husband could hear her from a couple of metres away, even though he was wearing a running CPAP machine. That's an air pump strapped to his face and he could still hear her. It's a glorious sound, and Boris Giles keeps up pretty well too.
Boris Giles
Beautiful black Boris Giles also continues to grow in all directions. He's now taller and longer than Cally and Princess, and is filling out and growing lots of muscles. He's My Little Panther. Still a bit skittish by nature, but I think that's more to do with energy rather than nerves as he is very friendly. Fortunately treating his Salmonella infection sorted out his litter tray issues, and we've had no accidents since. He and Buffy play and play and play and play... Now the weather is colder they'll also snuggle up a bit to sleep, and mutual grooming can be much more relaxed than the slightly combative experience it was at first. He's very gentle and has never once scratched or bitten me. I suppose he might if I ignored his requests to stop stroking or playing, but he communicates his wishes very clearly and politely. He has the most gorgeously soft velvety paws.
He really is a lovely cat and I'm so glad we found each other.
So, everyone is doing well, and it's a happy and harmonious cat family. They even organise themselves at mealtimes into the correct one of three feeding stations, so I don't need to chase and catch anyone. I couldn't be more proud of my babies.