Toy Killing Style

Here are some of our kitties showing off their various toy killing styles. Thanks Grandma Z for providing the toys! I think they like them!

Nothing-ness

So, it has been a week since I last posted and I've been feeling a bit itchy lately. I want to post something, sadly (or maybe fortunately) not much is going on that is post-worthy.

So how about a short kitty update?

Ashes
The Big Girl has been doing good and bad. Good because she's not getting worse, bad because she's not been eating much the past few days. But she seems to be in good spirits and is very lovey, so that's been good. She's still hanging out in the master bathroom - it's turned into her room that she so graciously allows us to use. We have at least two bowls of food down, water, a heating pad, a kitty cube, litter... And no other kitties are allowed in. Yep, she's a happy Big Girl.

Happy
Alrighty, Happy is finally over her ringworm turned bacterial infection turned little-spot-that-OCD-kitty-kept-licking thing. Finally! It only took almost two cycles of ringworm pills, topical treatments, two antibiotic shots, a steroid shot and lots of time in the cone of shame.

Sammy
Well, we've had Sammy for 3 months now and I think he's adapting really well. Dan and I wonder if his previous family was mean to him because he doesn't always trust hands and he flinches a good bit. He's still obsessively suckling his knuckle when he dances and cuddles, but a few times he's napped while laying on my stomach, so I hold out hope that he'll end up as a decent cuddle kitty - not always having to dance and suckle when cuddled. He and Chloe still don't seem to get along - Chloe stalks him a lot - but there have been no big problems. I've got some cute pictures of him that I need to post and share. Oh, and he's also 20 pounds. He's HUGE!

The Others
Chloe, Gidget, Bitty and Cocoa are all hunky-dory, not actively requiring attention or vet visits. Just getting lots of love and being the wonderful kitties that they are.

Maybe I can get my behind in gear and post some cute kitty pictures (is there any other kind?) up here. And I still need to get a Sammy page going. Ah, so many things to do, so little drive.

Okay, I feel less post-itchy now. Mission accomplished!

Bath Time at the Zimmermann Home (Post-Dated)

Guess what Dan and I got to do?

Bathe our kitties! Yes, all seven!

The good news is I only had blood drawn four times and Dan got away bloodletting-free (thought not unscratched).

What possessed us to do such an insane thing? What else? The vet. Apparently Happy and Ashes have ring worm. Yay. *sigh* So we got a topical spray and pills for the two of them, but were also told that we should be "aggressive" in our treatment to make sure the others didn't get it. Which includes twice weekly preventative baths.

Yeah, that's not happening. Happy and Ashes will get their two-times-a-week baths, but I think we did pretty good with everyone else just to get one bath each.

I bathed Ashes, Happy, Gidget and Cocoa while Dan got Sammy, Chloe and Bitty. There were no pictures of me bathing the kitties (1) because I'm the camera person in our family and 2) because I was not wearing protective gear like Dan was) but I did snap a couple of shots while Dan was bathing them.

An Unhappy Sammy Getting His Bath

Cocoa Wondering Why the Hidden Chloe is Screaming So

I also got video of a yowling Chloe which I'm going to have to edit and post because it's funny in a poor-pathetic-kitty way.

And while the bathing was not fun, the aftermath was sort of entertaining. All the kitties looked disgusted with the whole situation and proceeded to turn sulking while re-bathing themselves an Olympic sport.

Ashes: Must Get the Wet Off!

Chloe: I'm Not Talking To You

Chloe refused to look at me and kept her back to me the entire time I tried to take her post-bath pictures.

And Unladylike Happy

A Delicate but Disgruntled Gidgie

Bitty was especially cute and pathetic (though more annoyed than sulky - and more hiding that bathing).

Rat Bitty

I've also got a great video of her post-bath that I need to edit then will post later.

A Hedgehog-esque Cocoa

Spikey Post-Bath Sammy

Yep, so as you can imagine, everyone had so much fun.

And in theory, we need to do it again.

In theory. But in practice? Not so much.

Not Poof-ness

I mentioned a few days ago about the soft-sided fabric leopard print cube the kitties stole from their Uncle T and how much they loved it. Well, now I've got the pictures to prove it! Okay, mostly I wanted to play with my camera now that I have a tripod (swiped it from the yard sale last week) and don't have to worry about deciding between blurred pictures from the camera moving or evil glaring kitty eyes from the flash. Anyway, the pictures are still cute, regardless of the reason I took them.

Also, does anyone know what this thing is called? I keep calling it a "poof" but it so isn't. And one day I'm sure the kitties will get one of those little beanbag like poofs (Foster and Smith in particular have one I want) and then I'll have a real poof and a not-poof so I should really find out what this is called so I don't end up calling it a "not-poof".

Bitty in the Not-Poof

Cute Bitty (but isn't she always)

I promise, that's Happy, not just her eyes

Nibby isn't really a box man, but he loves the not-poof

Nibby was trying to chase off Bitty by harassing her but she refused to leave the poof. He gave up.

Chloe has the best method of not-poof takeover. She just steps on the top until whoever is in it races out and then she settles her little behind in the newly dented poof. (Nibby tried that with Bitty but she kicked his butt).

Cocoa and Gidget have both been in the not-poof, too (though neither on it when it gets collapsed) but I haven't been able to snap pics yet.

One of THOSE Days

Okay, I realize it is still early yet, but I'm about ready to write today off.

First off, I woke up late after having weird dreams (something about an organizational guru sending her little minions after a mechanic - I think I need to limit my caffeinated teas to before lunch) and I can barely stumble through making Dan's lunch. Thank goodness he realized I didn't put a spoon in and grabbed one because I really wouldn't want him to have to eat the casserole I made yesterday with his fingers.

Anyway, I laid down on the couch to see if I couldn't wake my brain up (or get my body to fall back to sleep - neither happened) and Happy kept growling at me! Sigh. She's not feeling well at all because she had her rabies shot yesterday. Of course the whole vet thing freaked her out anyway, but the rabies shot always seems to knock them for a loop. So she's been camped out on the couch (hasn't moved from the afghan since yesterday evening as far as I can tell) and didn't want to share with me at all.

Puny Happy

Is there anything worse than have a puny kitty holding a grudge against you? Well, apparently yes, and that happened after my shower.

I took my shower and was feeling all clean, toasty warm and finally a little awake. I got dressed then went to open the living room blinds (yes, if you see my blinds closed during the day, you know I'm still in my pjs. I'll take the garbage to the curb in my robe but insist the blinds be closed until I'm dressed for the day). Anyway, I opened the first one blind and moved to open the second when I suddenly felt something cold and mushy squishing between my toes. UGH! I stepped right in cold kitty puke. Barefoot! UGH! Just thinking about it makes me want to wash my feet again. That right there kind of put the topper on my day. Sigh.

So to make myself feel better (after thoroughly washing my foot off), I decided to give myself a pedicure.

Pedicure for me!

Yeah, so I guess the day won't have been a total loss.

(ETA: I would also like to point out that I've posted at least once a day everyday since the 27th (if you include the no-post post). I guess I really am feeling better! I think I count myself fully healed (thought I wouldn't mind the scars going away now)).

Kill Me Now

Wow, almost 2 weeks since I have updated. Shame on me. Quite a change from updating a couple of times a week.

In my defense, I have felt like utter monkey pooh. But I figured it was time to post so people could be reassured that I have not, in fact, dropped off the face of the earth. So, without further ado, updates:

Hockey
Okay, it might say something about my priorities that are a bit off since I just got back from the cardiologist and yet the first topic on my blog update is hockey. But this is the playoffs, baby. All other things take a back seat.

So, the Ducks didn't sweep the Wild in the First Round like I thought they would - they let the Wild win 1 game. But I can totally deal with the series going to Game 5. It gave the Ducks a nice rest before Round 2, which started last night. They are playing Vancouver and, if last night's game was any indication, this will be a very one-sided series. Ducks won 5 to 1. Ouch. Poor Canucks, huh? But I don't feel bad enough for them to want any of the next games to be any different. I am interested to see what happens in the Red Wings/Sharks series since the Ducks will play the winners. Not sure if I am interested enough to watch it, though. That could cut into some serious nap time.

And speaking of nap time...

Cardiologist Stuff
Yeah, as expected, the results from my last heart monitor thing were normal. Woo freakin' hoo. So we still don't know what exactly is going on. But I maintain if it keeps getting worse, I will no longer be able to drive, much less hold down a job. Dan's even driven me to work a couple of times. It's nice because then I can nap on the way home.

Anyway, the cardiologist said that when people come in with the symptoms I am describing, they usually have coronary heart disease. But due to my age and lack of strong family history of early heart disease, he thinks not so much. But he wants me to take a stress test just to make sure.

That's right. A stress test. Yet again, woo freakin' hoo. So Monday, May 7th, I will be injected with radioactive material and made to run on a treadmill. I. Am. So. Not. Excited.

The cardiologist did say that he is more inclined to think it is asthma. So I guess if the freakin' stress test doesn't show anything, I'll have to go back that route. The pulmonary function test I took back when came out fine which would indicate it isn't asthma, but apparently it doesn't always show up on those. Back when, I was using Advair and that seemed to be helping, though after the PFT showed up okay, the doctor said it most likely helped just because it was clearing up some inflammation issues left over from my last bout of bronchitis.

Anyway, the cardiologist suggested that I get back on the Advair to see if it helps, so I picked some up today and took my first treatment this morning. It is hard to tell if it is helping. Pressure-wise I'm probably hanging out at a 7 now, with forays into 6-dom, but I had a lovely spike into the town of 9 that made me start yet again contemplating exactly when I needed to have someone take me to the emergency room (the only thing Dan and I can totally agree on is if I do manage to pass out, I'm going). And yes, I've been rating my "discomfort" the past 2 weeks. I'm trying to find a pattern - if the pressure relates to how much sleep I get, if I have sugar, caffeine, if I exercise. So far - no pattern.

Okay, where was I? I got sidetracked.... Oh yeah. Asthma. Basically, the cardiologist said we could play around with which medication I am on (breathing-related or heart-related) but it was "a crap shoot" so he decided to leave me on the heart stuff and add the Advair to see if it helped. Yeah.

Anyway, I guess we will know more after the freakin' stress test. Oh, and did I mention the true joy that will be for the freakin' stress test? I have to stop taking my heart medication for it. I take the test Monday and I can't take the meds Monday or Sunday. Yeah, no meds AND a treadmill. I'm so going to pass out.

Okay, enough of that junk. Fun stuff...

KITTIES!
The babies are doing wonderfully. Princess keeps trying to eat Chloe and has been thinking about making a Bitty-snack, but otherwise is good. Cocoa is doing great with no teeth. Ashes is sweet, as always and Nibby has been super-balancy. Gidget is one giant fluffer kitty and I'm thinking about shaving her for the summer (shh! don't tell her that!) and Happy is her insane but lovable self. Yay for healthy and happy kitties!

Smile for the Day
And now for something that makes me happy: Cuteness! On that site, you can find adorable little pictures and videos that will make you definitely go "aww".

And with that, I'll leave you some supercute for the day:

It'll fit - I swear!

Kitty Lesson

Today's kitty-related lesson is about feline hyperesthesia. This is the problem Happy has that caused her to attempt to chew her tail off. She's doing much better since her tail was amputated, but still has the skin ripples and general insanity related to hyperesthesia.

Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome