Ernie's vet visit

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I sent this email to Bob back in July when I first starting taking Ernie into the vet, it struck me as funny: OMG it was a CIRCUS. I got the carrier and brought it up. Ernie was under the bed, so I pushed him out with the bat but before I could run around and grab him he went back under. I finally got him and Hurley and Pippi were in the carrier. I put Ernie down and shook Hurley out, Pippi wouldn't come out. She was growling and holding on for dear life. I took the carrier and turned it upside down and she wouldn't come out. I finally dragged her out, she was biting me and growling. Now Ernie was back under the bed. This time I left the door unlocked but closed it so no one could get in it. Ernie was more clever this time and he just kept moving to the center, he wouldn't come out. I moved the bed, he moved too. Finally I shoved the bat so he had to come out the bottom of the bed. I grabbed him, now Jack was standing on the carrier and it spooked Ernie so he started clawing me. I got Jack off the carrier and tried to put Ernie in. He was all freaked out so he braced himself and wouldn't go in. Lucky came up on the bed to see what was going on and that distracted Ernie enough so I could shove him in the carrier. *sigh*

Vet visit

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When you have six cats you can’t just load them up and take them to the vet. Well, I guess you could but it would be a huge circus, especially if you have criers…and we do. We took Lucky and Herbie together a few years ago and I thought I was going to lose my mind. It’s a short drive but feels like hundreds of miles when two cats cry the entire time, they never shut up. I thought Herbie was going to hyperventilate. Anyway, we’re fortunate that our vet will make house calls. I managed to get everyone on the same schedule which makes it a little easier, I don’t have to keep everyone’s shots straight. But it also means that six cats have to get shots…each cat gets two shots…that’s TWELVE shots.

I figured Hurley and Lucky would be the worst. The last time we put Lucky in a carrier he turned into a different cat. He growled and when we finally got him in the carrier he made horrible wild animal sounds, it wasn’t good. Getting him out of the carrier once we got to the vets office was no fun. He did NOT do well. When everyone was sick Hurley bit us both, HARD. So naturally I assumed they would be the most difficult. Lucky wasn’t happy, he growled and hissed but he didn’t bite or claw anyone. Hurley was was great, he didn’t even cry. Ernie was actually did the best out of all of them, he just took everything in stride.

Jack and Pippi were trouble. Jack FREAKED out, he hissed, growled and made that sound that cats make when they’re about to get into a fight. He also clawed the crap out of the vet. She’s a pro, she’s used to cats fighting her and he still managed to draw blood. Pippi wasn’t nearly as bad, but she hissed, growled and knocked everything on the floor when she struggled. We ended up chasing them both around the house. Bob had to burrito Pippi in a blanket. The vet pinned Jack on the floor. It strikes me as funny that the two biggest punks were the biggest babies.

I had to trick Herbie with cat treats to get him out from under the bed. I think he knows the drill because he really didn’t complain much.

When we adopted Pippi I ordered a special collar for her, she’s the only girl so I kind of went nuts. You can order rhinestone letters that get threaded onto a collar. So she has a ladybug collar with Pippi spelled out in rhinestones. It IS a little extreme for a cat, but I never even think about it anymore. The vet cracked up when she saw it and gave me a look like “are you crazy?” But girls need bling!

Cat toys...

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It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything. Not much has changed, the cats are still in charge.

A few months ago we thought we’d cut back on their dry food. All Ernie eats is dry and it just can’t be good for his delicate digestive system. We devised a plan of feeding them unlimited dry for an hour twice a day. It didn’t really work out like we’d hoped. Around 2 AM I woke up to Herbie tapping me in the face, crying. Pippi was walking on me and Jack and Hurley were wrestling on the bed. I realized they were unhappy about the lack of food so I got up and put some out. They all acted as though they hadn’t eaten in weeks, so I ended up giving them six bowls of dry.

Bob bought them a bird cat toy. It’s a bird on the end of a spring, when you tap the bird it chirps. Ernie was petrified of it and every time it chirped he ran and hid. At first it seemed like a bomb, no one was terribly interested in it. One night after we’d gone to bed I heard it chirping over and over again. The next night we were watching tv and Hurley sat in front of it, batting at it repeatedly. I think he spent a good 10 minutes chewing on it and smacking it. He tends to wait until we’re watching a show or we’ve gone to bed and then he begins playing with it. I looked at it yesterday and he’s been chewing on it, eventually he’s going to take it apart.

There was no Christmas tree again this year. Jack just can’t be trusted, I put up a tiny little tree on the tv and he found it immediately and had to check it out and chew on the branches. He also figured out how to open the pantry door, so we come home and the pantry door is wide open. He’s mostly interested in digging out any toys that get shoved under the door, but I have caught him climbing the shelves. I figure it’s just a matter of time before he realizes that’s where the treats are kept.

They have a big basket of cat toys, which for the most part, go untouched. They like toy mice and things that don’t belong to them. When we buy mice for them we get the big bag of them and they always disappear. Turns out Jack and Pippi like to kick them under the oven. So about once a week we pull the drawer out and get the mice out. Lately there have been fewer mice under the oven. I convinced Bob to lift up the couch so I could check under there…I found over 20. It was like Christmas for them. I probably should have held some of them back because they’re all missing again. Hurley pulls the fur off the toy mouse and likes to kick the fur around; we call it the ‘sock’. Jack likes the inside of the mouse, we call it the ‘shoe’. I found several that were partially torn apart and that made them very happy.

Cats aren't totally aloof....

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My mom had to put her dog down yesterday. She was 13 which is pretty good for a big dog, but it was still very sad. She was a really good girl. We went with my mom to the vet to put April (the dog) down. I couldn’t be in the room when they did it; it was just too much for me. Bob stayed with my mom and April, he said it was very sad and April was such a good girl. She went quickly and quietly, she was very tired.

We were both pretty subdued last night and the cats knew something wasn’t right. Lucky is particularly intuitive. He knows when the other cats aren’t feeling well, he knows when we’re sad or not feeling well. When Jack was a tiny little baby he had an upset stomach one night. Lucky was so sweet, he curled up with Jack and comforted him. Jack had Lucky’s tail in between his front paws like a little blanket. I wish I had taken a picture of them. When Ernie first got sick Lucky did the same thing, I have pictures of Lucky with his arm around Ernie.

After I fed everyone this morning I went back to bed in the spare room because Bob was snoring so loudly. When I woke up Lucky, Ernie, Jack, Hurley and Pippi were on the bed with me and Herbie was laying in the door way on the floor. I can count the number of times they’ve all been on the bed like that on one hand.

Packing for vacation

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We just got back from a few days in Vegas. I brought my suitcase up and everyone swarmed it. I can’t decide if Hurley thought he was preventing me from packing by getting in it or if he thought it was a new bed. As soon as I opened it he climbed in and made himself at home. He looked very comfortable and wasn’t happy when I pulled him out so I could put my clothes in, he tried to get in after I’d filled it.

I started putting food out for the neighbor cat and now we’re feeding some strays. One of them is fairly tame and appears to have been fixed. I’m assuming that’s why his ear is tipped. He’s awfully friendly for a feral cat though so I almost wonder if he didn’t belong to someone that left him behind when they moved. In any case I know I can’t leave him out there when it gets cold so I’m trying to figure out what to do with him. I could take him to the shelter or possibly my vet could take him. He’s a big orange cat with a sweet face. I would love to keep him but we’re at the limit now and I don’t know how an adult cat would do here, Pippi already growls at Ernie from time to time.

6 Sick cats....

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One of the hazards of having six cats is the possibility of having six sick cats at once. Right now five of the six are sick. Actually Ernie just finished his antibiotics. Herbie has remained healthy; I think he was exposed to everything when he was living with my mom’s cat.

A week ago if you had asked me who would be the toughest to get a pill in I would have said Pippi or Lucky…turns out Hurley is The Worst. He bit me, he bit Bob twice and he sunk a claw into me that went so deep he couldn’t retract it himself, I had to manually do it. To say he doesn’t want to take a pill is an understatement. The next most difficult is Jack, he starts drooling and frothing so he can spit the pill out. It’s a huge production that always results in scratches and bites. Bob wraps them up in throw blanket creating a straight jacket. I have some water ready and we tilt their heads back and jam the pill in and follow it up with water. This technique works great on Ernie, not so good on the rest of them. Sometimes they swallow, more often than not they spit the pill out and we start over again. Lucky was crying and screaming before I even handed him off to Bob. If it wasn’t so stressful it’d be funny. He sounds like someone is torturing him and I haven’t even picked him up yet.

Hurley figured out what was going on and he hid in this soft cube we have. It’s soft sided, it’s got two holes in it. He wouldn’t come out, I tried shaking him out and he wasn’t budging. I tried to pull him out and he tried to bite me. So we turned it into his straight jacket. I really wish I could have gotten a picture of the face, he was SO mad. His pupils were fully dilated and he was squinting at us. He pouts all day afterwards, he won’t let us near him. Jack seems to forget and move on pretty fast. Pippi is actually pretty good about it, go figure.

This is the first time we both said six cats was insane. When they’re healthy and low maintenance it’s not that big of a deal, they’re manageable. But right now it’s just really, really stressful. They look pathetic because they don’t feel well and then we have to force a pill in them. It’s just horrible.

I want to know why someone hasn’t invented a nasal spray for cats. With all the new technology you’d think someone would have manufactured SOMETHING to make giving cats medication easier. I tried sneaking a pill in wet food, they sniffed it and turned their noses up. I stuck it in cream cheese, they licked all the cream cheese off and spit the pill out. I tried Cool Whip, same deal. It makes sense though, what cat is going to eat something that’s bitter? You can’t even bribe them like you could a kid.

They're kind of like kids...

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Ernie picked up an upper respiratory infection at the vet's. Jack has it and now Lucky is sneezing, it's like when kids pick something up at day care. Ernie has been on antibiotics since last week and we're almost done. Now Jack needs them, which means Lucky probably will also. And of course it can't just be liquid antibiotics, it has to be a pill. I'm learning though, when this is done I'll be able to medicate them all.

I knew Jack wasn't feeling well when I heard him in the back of my closet sneezing. He has shown no interest in picking at the tape on the screen door. I cleaned out the refrigerator the other day and normally Jack would have been all over that. Today I did the pantry, Jack was nowhere to be seen. I feel so bad for him, he looks SO pathetic. Usually when I make Bob's lunch Jack cries for lunch meat and tries to get up on the counter, he slept through everything yesterday. I can't believe I'm saying this but I miss his antics.