The Good News

Despite the tone of yesterday's post, there is good news in Teeny Tiny Tabby Town:

*I am definitely feeling the love after the outpouring of support in yesterday's comments. Many thanks to each and every one of you.

Norm would offer you a chance to kick the pillow sock... if Simba hadn't already destroyed it.

*Norm must be feeling the love too because he had a very good day on Monday. Only one episode of diarrhea (and it was in the box!) and one small issue of inappropriate peeing (and how upset can I be when he puts 80% of his misplaced pee in the shower? Pretty near the drain too!). His eyes were alert and he was interested in attention, following me around the house while I worked. His body might be beginning to fail, but his heart sure isn't.

He is also demanding control of the remote. I think I'll let him have it, too.

*After being called for two job interviews on a single day, I was offered a part-time job that will fit nicely with the hours of The Whisker Watch. I also booked two more clients for pet sitting. I am very excited that the jigsaw puzzle pieces are starting to fit together.

*The school year is almost over... as soon as we survive three days of final exams.

Which brings me to the bad news:

*My brain, through a combination of a taxing interview day, Norm stress, exam stress, and storms, is shutting down and can't think of something good to bring you on the blog today.

*Ruby spent the day under the bed and would not cooperate for Ruby Tuesday.

*To my knowledge, Ruby Junior is still on the lam with her mama because of the storms.

*Ruby Junior Update: It stormed all day Monday in Detroit, pouring rain for hours and hours and hours. Last night, Mama Marmie came to the side door of the house begging for someone to follow her. She led my friend to the hole in the fence where the kittens come through from the yard next door. It was filled with water so Junior couldn't come through for dinner. After emptying the hole out with a coffee cup and returning to the house, my friend saw Mama and her kitten come over for dinner. She's fine, she's safe, she's with her mama and we're praying  she'll get trapped today before the storms come rolling back in. (PS--Her brother and sister are doing much better now that they've started medication!)

*EVEN BETTER RUBY JUNIOR UPDATE: WE'VE GOT HER!!!!!!!

*I'm going to take a couple days off from blogging while I figure out how to make the timing of it all work.... Unless we have kittens moving in. I'll be back if we have kittens moving in.

Good News Needed

Okay, I'll start the ball rolling with a piece of good news. Operation "Catch The Mayweathers" is underway and nearly complete. At the time that I'm writing, two out of the three munchkins have been snatched from the yard and are currently hissing and spitting at their captor (not me). Upon closer inspection, our little feral twosome are suffering from upper respiratory and goopy eyes (which is totally expected). A vet visit is in order and then we can talk about transferring them to Teeny Tiny Tabby Town.

The one who hasn't given in yet? The stinkpot who sits outside the trap and whines about wanting the food inside but won't go in because she's too stinking smart? Ruby Junior. Should that surprise anyone?

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And Now For The Not-So-Good News

His world turned upside-down starting on Friday. Norm's in bad shape and I'm feeling pretty helpless and at the end of my rope.

On Friday, he couldn't keep anything down. It was a vomiting and diarrhea extravaganza in every corner of my house.

On Saturday, he was desperate for food... crying, whining, begging. It's no wonder. He's hungry, but his body isn't getting the benefit of what he takes in.   

By Sunday, we had reached another debilitating phase. He's drooling slightly and peeing wherever he happens to be at the moment. He walks stiffly and when I weighed him? Well, he's lost weight from last week. He's sitting in a corner of the kitchen, not hiding but not seeking out attention either. He's eating, but not with the desperate gusto he usually employs.

The crazy thing is that we hadn't changed a thing completely yet, not to the meat diet and not to the enzymes. Neither are a factor, but I'm afraid to keep trying anything new. I'm at a loss. The only thing I know is that a trip to the vet will entail hundreds of dollars worth of further testing, and that we have agreed not to continue down that road. His body is shutting down and I'm afraid of what that means is coming next.

I'm doing what I can to make him feel comfortable and loved while he's still here. We haven't given up the fight, but I feel as if it's time to turn things over to a higher power. Prayers, purrs, and vibes of all kinds will be gratefully accepted.

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So, like I said... Good News Needed. Share your good kitty news in the comments. I could use it.

Phew! It's Friday!

As you can see, we're just slightly exhausted here.

"Sigh... I can't believe the Lady decorated me and posted it for everyone to see. Can't the Chuck just take a nap without being covered with multi-colored stars?"

There's a reason for our exhaustion. My younger daughter turns 12-years-old today. The child who has always known exactly what she wants (to the point of planning her Halloween costumes 11 months and 30 days in advance) fell into a rather indecisive mood over the past couple of weeks. As she was telling me, "Never mind, I'll just have a regular round chocolate cake," her eyes fell onto a photo of her best friend's birthday cake (Note: Best friend turned 12 on Tuesday). An inspiration was born.

At 4:30 p.m. on the day before her birthday, my daughter decided that she wanted a dragon cake... a fire-breathing dragon cake... a purple fire-breathing dragon cake... and we had a school event at 5 to attend. From 7 until 11:30, I baked, cut, pieced, frosted, and decorated. Thank heavens for the Instructables website and this fabulous step-by-step tutorial. Otherwise, I would have been in the kitchen until the day after her birthday.

Since I worked in the kitchen through the evening, I don't have a regular blog-post full of kittens for you. But I do have dragon cake.

You get to see it before she does, since she was in bed long before it was finished.

Puff-the-Fruit-Roll-Up-Breathing-Dragon

(If I had received more than a few hours notice, I might have been able to acquire Fruit Roll-Ups without the tattoos. Oh well.)

Wings made out of more Fruit Roll-Ups and barbecue skewers and cookie scales.

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The Mayweathers have spent this busy week acquainting themselves with the traps. My friend had such a busy week that she hasn't been able to watch them in order to actually catch the kittens, but she has seen the kittens approaching the traps and playing nearby. She plans to spend the weekend monitoring and catching the munchkins. Just a few more days. I'll sound the alarm at Facebook when I hear they are caught.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Thankful Thursday

They Want to Draw a Cat For Us!

A Sample from "I Want to Draw a Cat For You"

If you haven't heard of Steve from "I Want to Draw a Cat For You", where have you BEEN? My string of good luck continues. I followed up after winning the box of goodies from Jeanne at Random Felines with scoring a free cat drawing too! I never, ever, ever win anything so, needless to say, I am very excited!

If I understand correctly, I'll get to give Steve ideas of what I would like in the picture. He draws all sorts of cartoons of different cats in different situations. I could even tell them what clothes to put them in or what colors to us. Let's come up with the most awesome, incredible idea EVER for a drawing together.

My basic idea is that I want the drawing to be of Ruby leading the foster kittens in some sort of mayhem or mischief. She could be a drum major leading the band or a circus performer of some sort... crossing the tightrope ala The Mayweathers on the fence? Ruby and a bunch of kittens spilling out a clown car? Being shot out of a cannon? Go crazy and let me know your ideas in the comments.

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So Thankful

That a cat who is THIS skinny is still with us and fighting to stick around. He's a bag of bones, but he's snuggly and affectionate and attentive and mostly "all there". He gives us a rough go of it from time to time, but he's still with us.

I am also thankful for the wonderful friends we have met through the blog who give us ideas and advice on how to deal with our old bag of bones and get him on the road to recovery.

Wednesday Wonderings

I walked into Mama's room to find everything but the chalk outline.

Okay... Who knocked out the Roo?

"I really have no idea what happened to her. She was upright one moment and splat on the floor in the next. It's a mystery."

**This is where I would insert the Wayne's World flashback prompt video if I had access to such a clip. But I don't, so just imagine me waving my arms and trilling "doodle-oodle-oo~doodle-oodle-oo~doodle-oodle-oo"**

WHACK!

**End Flashback**

"Just look this way and whistle. If you don't acknowledge what happened, then it really didn't happen at all.... Did I just say that out loud?"

"Carry on about your business, Lady. Nothing to see here."

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Nothing to see in the foster room as of yet, either. We'll still waiting. I'll sound the alarm on Facebook when it's time to come running. I wouldn't think it will be too much longer.

Quick Norman Update: Remember when I said that I would pay for 3 straight days of uneventful litter boxes. Well... well... well... let's just say it was an explosive day. Three steps forward. Three steps back. Still working on getting this thing figured out.

Ruby Tuesday

We got mail!

A box arrived on our doorstep yesterday. The human children were slightly let down that is was not for them (especially the human child with a birthday on Friday). The feline children were thrilled!

The box came from Jeanne at Random Felines. It's full of treats, toys, and other goodies that she got at the Blog Paws convention in Washington DC. I won it simply by knowing that Miller, Stella, Busch, and Killian (her current foster kittens) were named after beer. Considering that I have never partaken of any of them, I will consider this an achievement. :)

Thank you so much. Charlie thanks you for the treat. Norman, Simba, and Clarice thank you for the snacks. Ruby thanks you for the box. And, most importantly, the soon-to-come arrivals thank you for their brand new toys. TOYS!

"What do you mean the foster kittens thank Ms. Jeanne for the toys? The toys are not for Ruby?"

"No toys makes Ruby CRANKY!"

Everyone calm down. Ruby has plenty of toys... 

even a brand new one that I let her take out of the box.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

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The Munchkin Report

Unless they were captured overnight, the munchkins remain on the loose with their mother. The weather is just starting to dry out and Mama Marmie has been keeping her youngsters better tied to her apron strings since losing them in the storm the other day. The forecast is perfect for the remainder of the week. My friend anticipates catching them in the next few days and then I'll meet her at the vet to collect our lovelies soon afterward.

By the way, we're going with Mayweather for a last name since the May weather has played havoc with our fostering expectations. Their romping wresting match on the video last week also reminded of boxer Floyd Mayweather for toughness and ferocity. Thank you to Lisa and Noelle for the fabulous suggestion!

So kitten namers? You've got Mayweather to work with now. GO! (I'll post photos of them as soon as they arrive with numbers and genders on them. You can then pick your favorites and send me names by e-mail. We'll get it worked out who gets to name whom later.)

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The Norman Report

We continue to ride the roller coaster o' diarrhea with our boy, Norman. Interestingly enough, one of the tips I read about in my Google-a-thon of treatment research was to have him fast for a day or two before reintroducing the right kind of foods. Well, first of all, he is supposedly already on the right kind of food. And second? Could you imagine trying to deny Norman food????

This is what happens when you try to deny Norman food.

And this.

This too.

The one part of his diet that I knew could use an overhaul was his canned food selection. I have always fed him the same kind of food that came from the rescue. It was just easier for making sure there was adequate stock of everything in the house and in keeping everyone on a consistent diet. There's nothing wrong with the food provided. It works well for most felines, unless you're a feline with a wonky pancreas that is.

Crazy thing happened when I decided to make him (and the others too, because I *so* was not fighting that battle) fast from canned food. It's been three days since we've had a diarrhea episode. That is eons in Norman time. You have no idea how thrilled I am to have gone three straight days without smelling it, cleaning it, and washing it off his back feet (and off every surface he walked across between leaving the litter box and my finding him). Having said all of this, I am virtually guaranteed to clean rivers of it tomorrow but at least I had the weekend. TUESDAY MORNING EDIT... Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. Sigh.

Since his system appears to have reached a contented equilibrium. Now is the time to start the new diet from Gail that she calls chicken gravy. She fed it to picky eaters and underweight cats at the shelter and to her rescue ferrets as well. Many of you asked for me to share it so that you may try it with your own weight-challenged kitties. The recipe and comments about it below come from Gail:

4 chicken breasts: cook and save juices

Raw ground turkey (1 pack)

Raw chicken livers (1/2 tub)

Olive oil (1/4 cup)

Heavy cream (1/2 cup)

Nupro (1/3 cup)

I would also add rendered chicken fat if I could find it.

Soaked high quality kibble (1 cup)

Mix it all up. Then add a cup or so at a time to a heavy duty blender. Add water to make it blend. I killed blenders this way and bought a heavy duty one. But I made (literally) gallons at a time. Put it in tubs and freeze. A thawed tub is good for 4-5 days.

Gail warms it up before serving. Sounds like I'm going to have a happy and (hopefully) fat cat after this. 

I am starting Norm on this diet tomorrow. After a bit of evaluation to see how the diet works with his system, I will start adding the pancreas enzymes. I feel badly for withholding them from him just yet. But as this is an experimental treatment for him right now, I feel more strongly that we need to change things one piece at a time to make sure that we know which part causes which reaction.

Norman weighed in right around 7 pounds last night (I have ye-olde-fashioned rotary dial scale and that's the best I'm going to have for the conceivable future). It's not completely accurate, but I weighed him by holding him while I stood on the scale and then weighing myself alone. The good news is that I have lost weight since the last time I weighed myself. The bad news is that he has lost weight too.

Keeping my fingers crossed that one of us gains weight... and it's not me.

Crosspost Craziness

In case you missed it, our very own Mama Clarice was featured on Love & Hisses, The Cat Blogosphere, and got a shout out on The House of Bears Facebook feed... with more to come. Over the weekend I entered her in the Modern Cat photo contest. This is a photo of the week contest that starts on Mondays, so she didn't have a prayer of winning this week but she shall be there again and again and again. I'll put the new entry up later today, complete with a link to her profile here. She may never win, but that's not the point. Exposure, that is the point.

I received a fabulous e-mail from Sonia chock full of great ideas for showcasing our Mama and getting her exposed to a wider audience. One of the ideas is to get her exposed through all of the cat friendly groups on Facebook and across the internet.

"The internet likes cats, you say? Who knew?"

Our goal is simple: Get her photo, short story, and link out there to as many people as we can. Here's where I admit something weird for a blogger who blogs about cats... I don't regularly read too many other blogs or websites about cats. I read what I have time for while my kids are getting ready in the morning and then the whirlwind of my day begins. So I don't really know where to put her or who would be receptive to such a thing. I could use your help here. Use the comments or my e-mail (teenytinytabbies AT gmail DOT com) to send them on over. OR... you could help a girl out by doing it yourself (Gee, I don't ask too much... Do I?)

You are welcome anytime and at any place to use my photos of Clarice. Right click and save her. Unless she shows up in advertising or some off the wall place, I really won't care. My vanity in receiving photo credit comes in WAY behind my need to see her find a home. Link her photo back here or even here if you want to include pictures of her babies. My gratitude for your suggestions and other sorts of help is immense. Thank you.

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Some of you have sensed that I'm getting a bit more worried about finding Mama's home (I am). The reason is three-fold:

1. She's been here too long (almost five months now) and she deserves more of an effort to get her to her very own home. I'd worry about any kitten who hung around this long, and did when it was Stinkin' Lincoln Quincy Adams. I don't want this to come to a point where it is traumatic for either her or my kids to send her away. And no... we're not keeping here. Where do you think this is? Crooked Acres ;)

2. The cat dynamics are just not working to keep her here much longer. It's either her or Simba (and since he's been here for 10 years, he's the one that gets to stay). Don't get me wrong. It's not bedlam and complete nastiness. But she reacts to him and his presence in a way that invites conflict. She's been victimized by him in the past, so she plays victim and gets him riled up again. Could we work through it? Probably. In the meantime, though, she deserves better than being "Upstairs Mama" and a ghost in this house.

3. It's been quiet here in Teeny Tiny Tabby Town for a reason. I've kept this quiet and deflected with a million other perfectly valid reasons, but the truth is that I am leaving the rescue though whom I fostered Clarice and moving on. Details as to why are completely unnecessary. But Clarice isn't mine and there will come a time where she either has to find her forever home or be returned to the rescue. I don't know about you, but I would like to know what happens to her in the forever after. I need to see her through to the end, wherever that might be.  

For anyone who has considered adopting Clarice, but has stopped because of logistics: Transport is available. I will get her to wherever she needs to go (and Jeanne at Random Felines has offered to help as well). Also? There are a few lovely people who have offered to help pay the adoption fee if it moves Clarice on her way. No pressure. Just an offer of assistance if it helps find her home.

And Connie says it's Adopt-a-Cat Month! So come on, Clarice... get adopted already!

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The Munchkin Report

Michigan (and much of the rest of the midwest) has been plagued by pretty severe thunderstorms for the past week. Our trapping plans have been turned around and upside down while Marmie and her babies hide out and ride out the storm. All three babies have been sighted during the nastiness, so they are all well. But part of the sighting leads me to believe that this little family definitely needs a circus name:

On Thursday, in some of the craziest thundering and lightning that I've seen in a while, Marmie lost track of her babies. They hadn't been separated by the storm. The babies had wandered out to play and fallen asleep in the bushes where she couldn't see them. Once the storm began, they stayed put. Smart kittens.

She howled and howled for them as the storm intensified, watching from atop a chain link fence to get a better vantage point of her surroundings. One-by-one, the kittens appeared... climbed the chain link fence... and haltingly walked the "tightrope" of the top rail in order to reach their mama. All they needed were parasols and sequins.

Wallenda? Or Mayweather, as Lisa suggested for this strange weather pattern that keeps our kittens from us? Or a completely different circus name? Let me have it in the comments.

Trapping is underway and, if they haven't already been caught by the time this posts, it's just a matter of a day or so. They're coming! They're coming!

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I intended for a Norman update and a copy of the weight-gain recipe to accompany this post, but as it is already long and late the information will get added to Ruby Tuesday. She's a bit cranky about sharing the spotlight, but she will have to deal with it.