Ouch!!!

I was playing with Anya, kissing her belly and she got too riled up and rabbit kicked me in the face. She may be declawed in the front, but she has the back ones and now I have scratches on my face. Totally my fault, but owww!

Clicker Training

I got my cat clicker training kit from www.clickertraining.com today. I read the entire book (which is missing a chapter) and then tried to start acclimating the crew to the clicker. Many many treats were dispensed, and several noses touched the end of the wooden spoon target. Ironically Persephone, one of my scardey cats, seems to be catching on the fastest. Anya was too hungry to care about the clicker or the target, and Luna is grumpy. But I think this is going to be fun.

Declawing = Amputation

Two of the cats, Vincent and Anya, are declawed, very much not by my choice. Vincent was a stray in my backyard who came to us neutered, and declawed. Anya was a stray kitten who was used as a "practice kitten" by a new vet at my hospital. The hospital owners wanted the new vet to have experience with cat spays and declaws, so she had to do the surgeries on a non patient stray. I really didn't want the declaw even though I had already decided to adopt her regardless of what was done. I wasn't strong enough to demand that the declawing not be done. I will regret that forever, even though the surgery went well and she doesn't seem to be in pain, it is a mutilation.

What a lot of people don't seem to understand is that declawing is amputation of the last knuckle of the digit. The "thumb" is almost completely removed, the toe pad wears differently, the joints that are left feel completely wrong. Anecdotal accounts tell of declawed cats failing to cover their urine and feces in the litter box, or even using a litter box because their paws hurt, having limited mobility, or becoming obese because they can't exercise like a cat with claws.

It frustrates me to no end that our hospital declaws, and the cats of several of the doctors are declawed. Some people rationalize that these cats get or keep good homes that they wouldn't have otherwise. I feel that this is a failure of our society that we still view companion animals as things that can be mutilated to suit our needs.

Some people would argue that if I feel this way about declawing I must feel the same about spaying and neutering as that is also to support "our" needs, but that is not the case. The health benefits of spaying and neutering domestic animals is undeniable, not to mention the reduction of emotional stress and testosterone driven aggression, and unwanted litters. But that is another issue.

Obviously, I hate declawing, and my heart breaks for little Anya and handsome Vincent. I just hope that someday people change.

Big Steps

Anya Gray has spent most of her life with us under the ferret cage in the critter room. Penelope, and sometimes Calliope and Luna chase her back into the room if she ventures out. But lately, this brave little kitten has been coming out on her own to play with Stella or get food or just to see what mommy is doing in the bathroom. And every night I bring her to bed and she purrs me to sleep and when she leaves in the early morning she doesn't wake me up. I'm so proud of my sterling sweetie. She's making progress even though her attackers have claws and she doesn't.

Sleepy Sunday

When I work on Saturdays at the hospital, my Sundays tend to be a total loss. Either I'm cleaning most of the day, or so exhausted that I don't get much done. Today was a combination of the two. I managed to do my laundry, get the ferret cage cleaned, work a little on the blog and then I was done. A long bath while listening to Dean Koontz's "The Darkest Evening of the Year" on my nuvi 350 was very relaxing. Just because I love cats best doesn't mean I'm anti-dog.

That was followed by a nap with Anya purring and kneading next to me under the blankets. After a few hours I struggled awake and Penelope got Anya to leave so she could cuddle with the sleepy mommy. Now everyone is waiting for daddy to come home with Chinese food. He is probably going to be bad and get sesame beef (the hubby isn't yet vegetarian) while I'm more into Buddhist Delight and fried noodles. And since we are such a natural pair, our rice is brown.

I'd rather have veggie samosas and malai kofta. Oh well.

Rose, the ferret

The ferrets get play time while I'm cleaning their cage, and Rosie and Anya take the time to chase and play.


Rose has adrenal disease, so her tail is naked. She has had an injection of leupron to treat the disease, and it will hopefully last a long time, but the hair probably will not grow back on her tail. She has also has her spleen and two lymph nodes surgically removed.

An albino, Rosie's red eyes always glow pink in the flash. She cannot see very well, but she gets around just fine and can streak across a bed or a room with lightening speed, only bumping into a few things along the way.

Leaping in the chase after Anya across the bed. This bed is in the critter room and is unmade and covered with a vinyl cover when not in use by a critter friendly guest. This keeps hair and dust off the matress and doesn't inspire anyone to think it is a comfortable place to pee. But it sure is fun to run around on!

Here they are, Anya and Rosie, I just missed the contact between ferret skull and soft paw. No injuries are ever given or recieved when these two play. Anya has grown up with Rose and Sam and loves the ferrets more than any of the other cat in the house. She even lets herself into their cage, and eats their food.

I would have pictures of them playing with Sam too, but he was more interested in curling into Anya's sleep box, under her towel and snoozing away.

Clicker Training

Looks like I'm already supporting brands on this baby blog.

I just ordered a starter kit from www.clickertraining.com to start, well, clicker training my cats. After reading a few articles it appears that it could be fun and educational for me, the cats and my husband. From what I've read it could help us end undesirable behavior and give the cats exercise and mental stimulation. And maybe even get some tricks going on.

I will keep posted on our results once I get the kit. The biggest challenge will be training one at a time, since there are seven.

Luna Moth

A collection of portraits of the baby goddess, since she's been the main topic of this blog lately.


Luna on her favorite colour blanket. She sure does love red.

Luna is a sun beam addict.

She always gets the best window spots.

She is wearing a harness. This is in the backyard of our old house.

YAY for Normal!!!

All of Luna's tests came back perfectly fine. I could dance in the streets.

In the mean time I debating clicker training the cats to keep them from scratching the furniture, attacking Anya or peeing on the floor. Could be fun.

Luna at the Vet, an epic task

I brought Luna into work today to get blood and urine for a complete senior cat battery of tests; chemistry, complete blood count, thyroid, urinalysis, the works. In order for the chemistry part to be completely accurate Luna had to fast. She hadn't eaten since 8pm last night by the time we got into work at 7:45am. Because we needed to draw the urine sample directly from her bladder, she couldn't have a blanket or litterbox in her cage. She was put in a metal cage with a vinyl covered thick metal grate on the floor, in case she peed, and a bowl of water. One of the other cats in the room meowed all day. This is not Luna's idea of a good time and she did an excellent job of making me feel very guilty about it.

Luna's vet is on call tonight so he didn't get into the office until 11:15am. I decided to try and get the blood before he got in because the doctors are not as good as blood drawing as most of the techs and assistants.

First attempt was made by my manager, a great woman I respect a lot who is really wonderfull at getting blood. I was willing to hold and restrain Luna for the draws, but not to poke her. We tried for a jugular stick first because it is generally faster, hurts less and doesn't scar the vein. The plan was valid, but I forgot to run it by Luna Moth first. She most definatley did not think this was an appropriate idea and actually pulled herself off the needle after we had only gotten 1/3ml, not enough for any test. We tried two more times, even got another assistant to help hold her to no avail. Luna was now thoroughly "watered off" as my gram would say, and her heartrate was over 200. Time for a break.

After a little while I had our dental tech feel to see if she had a full bladder. No. Of course not. So I gave her 200ml of subcutaneous fluids to increase the chances she would fill her bladder. This was 11:30am.

After my lunch I managed to snag our very capable and talented morning medical technician to try again. We managed to get one tube of blood (about 3ml) from a back leg vein, which Luna absolutely hated. And the vein bruised. We tried for the little tube from the other leg and that was dismal failure. This fine person also felt for a full bladder. No. Of course not. It was now about 2:30pm.

I managed to snag the doc and see if I could give her more fluids subcutaneously. I worry because of her heart but knew I needed at least 5ml of urine for the test. And lucky for me, doc said okay to more fluid. So I got poor Luna out of her cage again, carried her down to surgery prep passed the scary dog wards, again, and stuck an 18 gauge needle in the skin of her back, again. No wonder Luna occassionally smacks my glasses off my face.

I continued to work for a bit and then managed to grab yet another very capable nurse, who's name is one letter different from mine, to try and get the lavender top tube for the cbc. She managed it on the first try from the same back leg above the bruise. Awesome. Then she felt the bladder. No, of course not... It is now 3:30pm, and my shift is over at 5:00pm. Her doc still hasn't seen her.

I got called into ultrasound to help with an unhappy pitbull for quite a while. That was pretty cool, there was a big ugly cyctic mass that we got a bunch of gross liquid out of. Very nifty. It was now 4:30pm. I brought cyst fluid to the lab to be sent to the University of Penn and as I was leaving, the last nurse to poke Luna told me they had already gotten her urine so it could get sent out. And she said they had put her back in her "regular cage, without the grate" which was odd. But having all the samples, awesome again. However, her doc still hasn't seen her.

In the next 25 minutes I brought visitors back to the dog hospital ward to wait for their doc to tell them their dog couldn't go home. Their doc, is my doc. And I discharged a fairly nasty dachshund who had been neutered. I managed to bump into Luna's doc at 5:00pm and he said to get Luna and meet him in our treatment room.

I ran to the ward Luna was in, and her cage was empty. Turns out there was another cat in the hospital with my last name. That cat was in recovery. My cat was in her cage. So I grabbed my baby goddess and ran to treatment.

Luna was seen by another doctor at the hospital last week for pain and it was suggested she might be arthritic, so I wanted her regular doctor to check it out too. And yeah, he felt bone on bone in her back legs. She has arthritis. Not major, but definately progressing. Great. And I will have her tests results tomorrow. I really hope I don't get horrible news.

In the mean time I have to find a joint supplement for Luna. The brand we sell at work I don't want to use. I don't approve of their company. The vet said I can get an over the counter supplement if I want but recommended that I find a company that has independant testing of their ingredients.

So that was Luna Moth's day at Mommy's work. You should have seen her scarfing cat food when she got home. Now she's crashed out on my lap.

I love this cat.

Luna's Urine Issue

I am bringing Luna Moth into work tomorrow to get bloodwork and a urinalysis. This will be the second time she's been in with me in a week and she's going to be pissed! I'm just hoping we can get a good urine sample from her. She always pees right before it is time to get the sample. For the most accurate testing urine is drawn directly from the bladder using a needle and syringe through the abdominal wall. It doesn't hurt too badly but she hates the restraint.

I'm really hoping she just has a urinary tract infection and antibiotics will solve the problem.

Slideshow Added

So I've tweaked my layout a bit, nothing fancy. I figure instead of using my energy on tweaking html code and putting my thumbprint on the makeup of the page, I would instead use the built-in aps and just focus on content.

On that note I've added a little slideshow that shows all of the critters whose paws I am wrapped around. I did get rid of the ugly orange colour the post titles were originally. I hate orange unless it is a pumpkin, an actual orange or cat fur.

The hubby is out playing poker tonight so it is just me and the critters. I did have a nice phone conversation with my Gram, mainly about the critters in our lives. Luna was very lovey earlier but I pissed her off by having to get up to make my dinner. Now she's laying on a pillow on the back of the loveseat I'm laying on, ignoring me. Luna is fairly intolerant. If she wants to do something, it is a good idea to let her or she might just lash out.

Critter Room Cleaning

I'm not working at the hospital today because I will work on Saturday. So... It was a good time to clean the critter room, and the litterboxes. There are eight litterboxes, two large chinchilla cages and a huge ferret cage. I scoop the litter boxes daily, sometimes twice a day and try to clean the ferret cage at least twice a week but I have to do a big clean every week.

Today I rolled out of bed at 10:45am and started the day by vacuuming and scraping our pellet stove. It is about 15 degrees in eastern PA today and housecleaning while frigid, well just sucks. Then I decided to start with the bedroom litterbox. It is one of two covered boxes and keeps our inappropriate eliminator Vincent from peeing in the corner. It is very exciting stuff, cleaning litterboxes. Okay maybe not, but you learn a lot about your kitties. I scrape them really well and then wash them in the tub with organic hydrogen peroxide, peppermint Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap and hot water. Scrubbing them weekly lessens the chances of litterbox avoidance and with seven cats, that is super important.

Unfortunately when I got to the second covered litterbox, which we keep in the hall closet, I found a huge amount of soaking litter. This is the box Luna Moth uses primarily. I'm afraid she may be having kidney problems. I talked to the hubby and we decided to put her in the guest room with her litterbox, just to make sure it was her. So I brought her into the room after setting up a box, a snack and water. She was playing with me on the bed and the suddenly squatted and started urinating on the comforter. I managed to grab her and put her in the box, but it confirmed my concerns. I'm very glad I work at a veterinary hospital because the fact that I can get her tests and help right away is the only thing keeping me from panicking.

After Luna peed on the bed I stopped that experiment, let her out and continued my cleaning. The chinchilla cages are easy, I just empty and clean their bottom trays, refresh their dust bath, give them alfalfa and let them do their there thing. After I got the cages and the rest of the litterboxes cleaned I shut the door to the critter room and let Sam and Rose out so I could clean their cage. Anya absolutely loves the ferrets. In fact she basically lives in a cardboard box on a shelf under their cage. She chases them around the room and they chase her back and sometimes she gets into their cage and eats their food. Rosie is obsessed with shoes and always tries to steal my lime green Crocs off my feet while I'm cleaning the cage. She's a menace. Before we moved the cats' food into the kitchen Sam would steal tons of it and hide it in corners. Most of the time if I leave them in there with Anya for a while they will tire themselves out and put themselves back to bed.

It took about two hours but I finally got everything clean and tidy and cleaned the bathroom too since I had washed the litterboxes in the tub. Now I'm suffering with my allergies to dust bath, cat litter and alfalfa and watching "Regarding Henry." Calliope is playing with a jingle ball her daddy found while he was doing his cleaning, Penelope is stalking her sisters and the others are doing their things.

Introducing the Critter Crew

I'm Kirsten, willing slave to seven of the most wonderful cats in the world, as well as three slightly psychotic chinchillas and two elderly ferrets. This blog will hopefully serve as an outlet for my obsession with these furry fiends. I should mention that I work at an animal hospital, so I'm lucky in that I get discounted medical care for the critters and a wealth of information to draw from at almost all times.

Cats of Character:

Luna Moth: 10-year-old patched brown mackeral tabby/torbie, domestic short hair, has a pink left hind foot, a freckle in her right eye, hypertropic cardiomyopathy and an iron hold on this household.

Vincent Tiberius: 6(ish)-year-old brown tabby Maine Coon cat, molestor of unsuspecting humans, declawed by former owners, ex-stray, on mood stabilizing medication.

Stella Blue: 1 3/4-year-old silver and black mackeral tabby with white mittens, socks and muzzle smudges, domestic shorthair, exuberant practitioner of kitten karate, killer of beanie babies, and her daddy's peanut.

Penelope Jane: 1+year-old patched brown classic tabby/torbie, domestic short hair, Luna's protege, occassional bully, faucet fanatic, fuzzy mouse fetch fiend. (Sister to Persephone May and Calliope Anne.)

Persephone May: 1+year-old patched brown classic tabby/torbie with white mittens and socks and half red/half brown face, domestic short hair, polydactyl fraidy cat. (Sister to Penelope Jane and Calliope Anne.)

Calliope Anne: 1+year-old silver and black classic tabby with mittens, bib and boots, total love slave to Vincent Tiberius, untouchable fraidy cat. (Sister to Penelope Jane and Persephone May.)

(Collectively the three sisters are called "the Sorority Sisters." Get it? Greek names, "sorority"... Okay it may be lame but it works.)

Anya Gray: 9-month-old pewter gray domestic short hair, declawed and spayed for practice by a new veterinarian at my hospital, victim of Penelope's bullying, participant in Stella's karate matches, cuddle monster.

(Guess how long I've been working at the veterinary hospital.)

Crazy Chinchillas:

Selma: 6(ish)-year-old former breeder given to a veterinarian at my hospital instead of being culled, loves her wheel.

Patti: Her daughter born March 28, 2007, chews on knuckles and is addicted to dried cranberries.

Seymour: Patti's brother, a little "off" will eventually live with one of my coworkers who can give him individual attention.

Fiesty Ferrets:

Sam: White with black eyes and black splotch on his right hind leg, possibly has lymphoma, loves playing with cats and water.

Rose: Albino, Sam's life partner, has adrenal disease, no spleen, and a hairless tail, totally obsessed with shoes.

Ferrets were adopted from Semper Fi Ferrets outside of Philadelphia several years ago.