Off to the Vet I Go!

Yep, it was off to the vet today for me. I guess I didn't do too badly, coz Mom sure cooed and aahed over me, telling me what a good boy I am. In fact, Dr. M turned me over on my back, with all four paws up in the air and blew all over my tummy. I let him do it, but didn't let on that it felt kinda good. (Besides, Mom played with my paws and told me that I was SUCH a good boy, so I was cool with all of it.) Guess he was looking for fleas. There ain't no bugs on me! There may be bugs on some of you mugs, but there ain't no bugs on me!

Ooh, Mom just said I borrowed heavily - OK, stole - from a commercial and that a puppy sang that song. Ack! Not a puppy - say it ain't so!

Anyway, I'm a big bruiser - 15.7 lbs. of pure, tuxedoed masculinity. My fur is showing signs of growing back, and all seems right with the world. I got de-wormed again. Mom has to keep a sharp eye out for signs of worms - if she sees any signs at all of worms after this Thursday, she needs to take me back to the vet for a third de-worming. But she'd have to wait 14 days from today before another vet visit.

Wish me luck!

MOL!

I Was A Diary Pick of the Day, and I Missed It!

Mom got behind on emails, and just read today that I was a Catster diary pick on the 10th! Gosh darn her! Just coz she's got 2 foster dogs, there's no excuse for this carelessness. Hopefully, it'll never happen again!

Yippee!

From Baxter's diary:

Mom just brought me home from my overnight stay at the vet. First, I'll tell you what Nikki wrote in her diary today:

I'm all healthy! Isn't that great news? No kidney problems at all. That means the recalled food I ate wasn't tainted. Whew! Oh, and Baxter's OK too.

The vet advised sticking to dry food for now, as the problem has been mainly with wet food. You can add low-fat cottage cheese to your dog's kibble to make it more palatable (but don't add it to your cats' food!) However, he believes, as does my mom, that more and more foods are going to be recalled as they work backwards to try to figure out what other companies, besides Menu Foods, received this wheat.

Oh, and checking labels to ensure that there's no wheat gluten in the ingredients probably couldn't hurt either, Mom figures.

Mom got an extra copy of her receipt and the part of our files that says, "ate tainted food" on it. She's sending it to Menu Foods - they better pay her back and quick!

- Nikki

Gee, Nikki, I like how you add as an aside that, oh yeah, and Baxter's OK too! Well, the great news is that I'm a healthy cat - no bad feline diseases - so my mom is so happy! She found out that I'm losing fur coz I'm allergic to fleas! I still had fleas even though Mom has had me on Frontline for months and months - just too many fleas outside, I guess. I got a flea bath and my claws were trimmed (they were like razors!) Mom will put Frontline on me on Wednesday (you have to wait 2 days after a bath before applying.)

From the tarter on my teeth, I'm between 3 - 4 years old. (Gee, Mom has to change my age on Catster, doesn't she?) And the reason I looked preggers is coz outdoor and feral cats store fat around their bellies, as they're never sure where their next meal is coming from.

Oh, and I got de-wormed and vaccinated too! I gotta go back for my second de-worming in 14 days. So now I'm back in the den, and soon Mom hopes to introduce me to Callie, Max and Joey Bear. In fact, Callie is trying to get at me under the door right now. She always knows when I'm around.

So even though Mom is broke, she says she's happy we're all healthy! MOL!

-Baxter

P.S. I weight over 15 pounds, too!

Extended Pet Food Recall

Mom is so upset right now. She just found out that the recall was extended, and that Nutro pouches that were not on the original list are now on the extended list! Our PetSmart trainer advised her to take Nikki and me to the vet as she has a client whose dog was acting fine and now has kidney failure!

Mom called the vet and the office advised her to bring us in for blood tests to check out our kidneys. Boy, is she upset.

Check out the extended list. If you find that your food made the list, and even if you seem fine, have your mom or dad take you to the vet for blood tests. It's much better to be safe than sorry, and this way, they can probably save your life coz they're taking you in for treatment even before clinical signs are showing up.

Pawmail me if you need help finding the list of recalled foods. Here's Nutro's list:
http://www.nutroproducts.com/mfproductlist.asp

Kee p your paws crossed for all of us!

Baxter Update

I'm still too traumatized to write in my diary, so Mom is helping out:

Thanks Baxter! Well, I found out a little more information. I asked a friend, who is staying at the house to help care for Milo, if he saw Baxter yesterday morning and he said yes that he had. I asked if anything had happened and he said yes. He saw a cream colored dog about the same size as my goldens, sniffing around the plants by the driveway. There was a woman delivering fliers at the time, so he asked if the dog belonged to her. She said yes. He told her to put the dog on leash coz the dog scared the cat. (Baxter was nowhere to be found at that moment.) She said she'd leash her dog. But did she?

I'm going to call the number on that pamphlet she left behind and see if I can talk to this woman. Obviously, it was her dog that freaked out poor Baxter. He must have really chased him under the house. Baxter has had to get away from dogs before but he was never terrified like this. Baxter was the most confident cat you ever saw. To see him like this broke my heart.

These people letting their dogs off leash, when it's illegal and unsafe-! Makes me see red.

But Baxter is safe inside my house right now. He's in the den. I opened the front door to get the mail today because I wanted to see if he wanted to go outside or not, and he walked away from the door! So Baxter is bound and determined never to go outside again, I think!

I was going to take him to my vet today, but found out that he's on vacation. There are 2 other vets there that are perfectly competent, but I'll wait until Dr. Mark returns on Wednesday. I've talked to him about Baxter quite often, so he knows I want his visit to the vet to be a good experience.

I'm Too Scared To Write In my Diary ...

... so Mom will. Thanks Mom.

I couldn't find Baxter today, which is so unusual. I called and called. I thought something awful happened. I left the house, and came back, and still no Baxter. Crows were eating his food, those awful things.

I had to leave again and feared the worst. I finally came home and he poked his head out from under the next door neighbor's house. I was so relieved! He likes to sleep there, plus it's an escape route for him, but I thought it was odd that he hadn't responded earlier today.

I called to him but he wouldn't come out. Well, Baxter is a very confident cat but he sure wasn't then. He was scared stiff! At first, he wouldn't come out. He finally came out and then ran back inside. I really had to coax him to come out. I picked him up and put him in the house.

Obviously, someone or some animal tried to hurt him and he hid under there.

He's still very spooked; I can't put him outside again. I have to keep him separate from my cats and the dogs (and I have to keep them separate from each other.) I have to go out again so the dogs are in the kitchen right now, but I have no idea where to put him when I come back. Bedtime is no problem, but the evening will be. He's in the living/dining room/den area now, which is normally the dogs' area. The dogs will not want to be cooped up in the kitchen!

I'm out of rooms!

Walkin' With My Mommy Back Home

When Mom walks the dogs, I walk with them. Mommy says that it's very cute, but that she's a little worried coz I cross the street and she wishes I wouldn't do that. But heck, I'm just trying to be with her. I could care less about those darn dogs, but I always want to be with Mom.

Mom is taking care of another dog named Milo. His dad can't take him to his place right now, so she's helping out. But one of Mom's dogs doesn't get along with other dogs, so it's been interesting, to say the least.

Anyway, Milo doesn't mind if I follow them, but Nikki and Parker wig out. They're SO excitable. Goldens, you know.

Milo has a page on Dogster but his dad hasn't updated it in ages, which is too bad coz Mom has a bunch of new Milo photos and videos. Gee, should I put one photo of Milo on my page? A dog on my page? Hmm ...?

Maybe not.

I Was A Diary Pick AGAIN!

"I can't believe it. I was a diary pick again and I was so busy yesterday - well, Mom was so busy yesterday, that she missed it! She doesn't even know what position I was in. Does anyone out there remember? But thank you, Catster, for honoring me!"

"How weird - Callie and I keep getting picked lately for our diaries. Well, I'm not going to be like that Shakespeare-quoting Callie ... showoff that she is. I won't let this fame go to MY head!"

A lone spotlight shines down on Baxter as he faces his audience, his head bowed. Silence settles over the crowd. Baxter raises his head and begins.

"By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
Dark behind it rose the forest,
Rose the black and gloomy ..."

CURTAIN COMES DOWN WITH A THUD.

I'm a Catster Diary Pick!

Wow! How cool is THAT?? I almost feel like I should make a speech. You know, holding the Oscar in one paw and thanking all the little folk ... *shakes himself out of reverie*

Who-ha! This is almost as good as catnip (nuttin' is as good as catnip, man.)

Thought for the day ...

That Callie is pretty funny. She finally realized that I sleep on the patio chair at night, right by the window, so she rattles the plantation shutters at me. Mom has to bring her into the back of the house and close the hall door; otherwise, she makes quite a racket! Gee, how would she react if Mom brought me into the house!!