purrs

Well I had a fabulous week! We did not know about my special honor until Tuesday, but to celebrate I went outside, and even though it was kind of cold, it was still fun. We had some lake effect snow, and for those of you not in the Chicago lake area, it is the big ol fluffy flakes. I was standing in the yard (on my leash of course) and the flakes were fluttering down, Mom said "Tiggie you look like you are in a giant snowglobe!" and of course of all times, no camera...argh. But I also got a tiny lick of whipped cream from the spray can....ooooo heaven in a can I tell ya. I got a massage from mom.....yeah, that's the spot mom, and I got my canned rabbit food too. I had a very good week. Mom says that tomorrow we will try & catchup all the thank yous for the thoughtful comments & gifts. I am humbled to be a cat of the week. Thank you all my friends! purrs, and a little burp...Tiggie

oh meow!

imagine my suprise, when mom logged on to see what to do about a problem, and I see that I am COTW! We did not get a chance to log in yesterday, so holy cow what a suprise!!! Mom says for sure I will get a longer walkie today, even though it is cold. I kind of like to jump around outside when it is a little cold. Well thank you to everyone!!

The problem we have, gotta find out the best way to handle finding a piece of plastic/latex in a can of Friskies food for the outside gang.

IN the meantime, thank you my friends! I am so flattered!

magic kittens

Some good news! This morning, guess who was waiting for breakfast? REAPPEARING KITTENS!! ok little ones, I wish you could tell me where you were. Did you get stuck somewhere? No ears clipped, so I know there was no TNR. They were starving, and ate like piggies. That was why I was so worried, they have not missed a breakfast EVER. So at least it was a great start to a very cold day!!

disappearing kittens

Had a normal Turkey day round here. Even the strays got a few bites of turkey. Sunday morning, mom went out & fed the 3 kittens & 2 adults, all were waiting by the back door as usual. Yesterday morning, only Fluff & Rocky - the mom & dad were out there. All 3 kittens were not there. She went by the alley & called - no kits. By last nite they should have at least been in the yard looking for a snack - no kits. This morning, still no kittens. Looked in the garage, and shed just in case they ran in there when The Dad got the Christmas stuff out. Mom cannot figure out how all 3 of them (they area bout 6 months old) just disappeared. They kind of stuck together, but still....all 3? She hopes that maybe someone that TNR took them - as there is supposed to be someone in the area. Otherwise - how could 3 fast, not overy trusting to anyone but mom - kittens, just disappear? We have looked around, but not a sign. Mom is sad.....that will mean that she lost all 4 kittens within a month.

happy fall

Thank you my friends for the gotcha day gifties and the summer gifties. Mom also had an issue with the gift store on pirate day, so we could not send any. arrrr. She has been busy helping human sis to pack things for Washington. I managed to get hold of another mousie from the live trap, but mousie had already kicked it while in the trap, so I flipped it around a few times anyways. Now I am too bored to play with the furry toy mousies. We are soooo happy that Ingen was found!!!! yippee!

Ode to Summer

Well it surely has been a while since I have gotten Mom to write. In her defense, she has been busy with Nana's after-surgery care & trying to catch up work, and such. So let me tell you about my summer...
I have enjoyed countless walkies, and I also sat outside while on my leash. It gets hooked to this little pole, but a human is still outside keeping an eye on me. We have this metal live-mouse trap by the garage, and one afternoon, I was fussing by it, so Mom looked inside it, and there was a teeny toad in there. So she set it down & opened it, thinking I would maybe paw or sniff it. OOOOhhh nooo - I grabbed the thing & would not let go. Mom had to actually scruff me & kinda shake me to let it go, and just at that time, it must have spewed it's toadie juices, cause I started to gag & stick my tongue out & spit. Ahhh so then Mom got the bright idea of trying to wash my mouth out. Right - have YOU tried to wash a cat's mouth out...with water?...a cat that does NOT like water? Mom wore more of it than anything, and I was just fine.
A few days later, again, I was by that trap, & Mom saw nothing in there. When she opened it, well, there was a mouse & I got it so fast & ran. Unfortunately I played a little too hard with the mousie, and well, he went to mousie heaven before Mom could get it away from me (I had alot of fun though - Mom sighs)
One Saturday all of a sudden we started to get water seeping in our basement, after a very light rain. This never happens - only once when we had days of rain. It was coming from under the baseboard, and through some small cracks in the floor. Poor Mom shop vac'd every 2 hours round the clock & put towels down for a week until we found out that when the neighbors on the one side abandoned their home, they left the water on in the basement, and there was 6 feet of water in there, and it seeped over to us. It only stopped because some worker guys hooked a gas pump & pumped it out next door. After we have now had to rip out a bunch of tiles, and will have to replace some drywall. But Mom says it is nothing compared to those that have lost everything in the flooding, but it still is pretty crummy.
Right now, our human brother & sister are on a long-planned trip to London. They are very close & worked for this trip for a long time. Next week is our annual end of summer shrimp boil. mmmm perhaps we may get a teeny bite o shrimpies mom? This year it is in honor of our human sister - she is moving far away all the way to Seattle. Far from Chicago! She is hoping to hear on a job at the zoo there. She does environmental education & mammmal education. Momma is very sad, but happy for her too. I have been feeling great - no potty troubles. Except for my little spritzing incident. But Mom is ordering a calming collar & getting some feliway spray to try. I just do not like that feral cat that she is feeding. Well actually there are 2 that get fed, but only one is nervy enough to stroll around MY YARD. Well, I should leave some news for Maizy & Smitty to tell, so I will sign off for now.
A very big thank you for the well wishes & gifties on my gotcha day. Mom says the bestes day was when I ran to her so fast, I almost knocked her down! It was love at first sight!
purrs, a happy toad-licking, mousie-catching Tigger.

the journey

well, so far so good for me! My fur is getting shiny again, and I have been flipping and jumping like my old self. I am not sure how long I have to eat the stinky food, but Mom says she will ask the vet. It has been a while since we have been here - although we have grabbed a few sneak-peeks here & there. Our Nana got very sick, and ended up having open heart surgery a couple weeks ago. Mom was at the hospital every day. But Nana is home & doing very well. I even took a nap by her just to keep an eye on her for Mom. I know we have missed many friends special days, and we apologize....sometimes you can only do one thing at a time. Mom got a few awesome pics of me out in the yard, which she will put up soon. In the meantime, hope everyone is having a splendid summer

melting kitties

Boy it went from being so cold & having to put the heat on to a blast furnace around here! Mom & The Dad got a new furnace & air conditioner put in at the end of Dec so we could get the tax break, and the service co. had to add some stuff & calibrate it or something before the air could go on. Well, we had appt set a few times, but the rain caused them to be cancelled. They finally set the appt for Friday the 10th. Then THE HEAT WAVE. I swear I was watching Smitty actually melt yesterday. It was soooo hot in the house, the inside temp read 89. It made Nana not feel very good, and Mom kept giving her cold washcloths for her head. I was pretty blech too. At one point the three of us were all splayed out in the hallway where we could get the air from the fans on both sides. Mom felt so bad for me, she took me in the bathroom, and wet my paws cause she read that kitties sweat from their pawpads. She then wet her hand and wiped my face & head off. At first I was kinda squirmy, but then heeeeeyyyy, that felt pretty good! I sat & let her wipe my whole face again. I think it worked, because I was able to go to sleep then. Smitty got a facewipe too, and his fur on his head was all sticking up, it was pretty funny. Maizy actually likes water, so she didn't care. I even ate my food cold, and that helped. Mom called the company yesterday & told them that she had a senior in the house, and that her pets were geting sick, and they made a special appointment for this morning! So aahhhhh we are now nice & cool. I even jumped around tonite & played with my catnip cigar from Boxie. Have a good night! signed a very kewl kitteh!...

the endless search for food

Tiggie's Mom here - I just really need to vent. I did in the forums already. I certainly do not want to keep Tig on the prescription diet forever. I am afraid that the acid will cause him other problems down the line. I just put him on it, because he still blocked even being on 90% Natural Balance wet& 10% Blue Buffalo Wilderness dry. Had to get the PH down. I don't even know how long to keep him on that food. The vets say they can have it the rest of their life, but I am not happy with the ingredients, and boy do it stink! pew! But trying to find a wet food that is low minerals, has no fish except for salmon oil, and is not shredded. I looked online so much I got a headache. I don't even know how to figure out what the mineral % should be. It's like I just want to see a can, and it is exactly what I need. I realize there is no perfect food, but this really should not be this blasted hard. Every time I think I found something, I read that it is not so good. Or Smitty won't eat it. He is doing so good without any kibble - I am so proud of him. He takes all these meds with little complaint and eats his food like a good boy. ok now I feel better. The search continues tomorrow.....

guarded optimism

Well, my PH level is down to 6! yippeee!!! Culture shows NO INFECTION, NO CRYSTALS! Dr said that my bladder felt a little full, even though I had gone in the morning, so she had Mom give me a 2nd prednisolone yesterday, and stay on a whole one till Tues, before I drop to 1/2. Of course as soon as I got home, I emptied out. I even played with The Dad & Da Bird yesterday. Mom says that I am prob crabby cause I really have been through alot in the past few weeks, and so much meds jammed down my throat - she said she would be a little cranky too. I tried to go out this morning, but it started to drizzle. I did try to be a ManCat & stay in the mist for a while, but then I do not like wet feet, so sigh had to go in.
Mom wants to feel like this is all over, but it is still scary that maybe it could happen again. I think it should be ok with my PH down...but I know she loves me so much that is why she worries. Be safe everyone - hoping for no rain! Tig