Category: All Posts

Sanity

There are days when I get super busy and feel bad for my pets that maybe they haven’t had enough attention that day, or a long enough walk, etc. For the most part, I think my pets are pretty spoiled, but there can be a day here and there when I’m busy. Right now, I’m thankful to have a houseful of pets!  I have to say with all the crazy going on in the world, I’m so super thankful for each and every one of them.

Taking care of all my pets brings me joy. I don’t see it as work or a chore, I love cleaning their cages, brushing and feeding them, making them comfortable. Having the routine of animal care has been super helpful to me in this time of no routines.

The pets are also amazing for stress relief. When I find something is getting to me, I take a deep breath and snuggle a kitty, or take the dog for a walk.

There have been so many stories in the news lately about shelters emptying as people are stepping up to foster and adopt. Not only am I happy for the animals that get to start a new chapter in their lives, but I’m happy for the humans that are adding animal companions, living stress relievers to their lives.

 

Cali

Cali is probably the least stress relieving pet these days, but we love her like crazy. She’s always been a bit anxious and nervous, and she knows our routine is off. While she is enjoying more walks and extra snuggles, she’s also barking more and being a bit extra nervous and jealous of the other pets. She had a nice bath yesterday, and within the next day or two, she’ll be getting a home hair cut! I miss seeing her eyes! I’ll post another picture of her once I get her all clipped.

I’m happy to report that Puck seems to be doing much better! He seems comfortable again and isn’t spending all his time in the litter box. I’ve got him on the prescription diet, and I’m trying to get as much water into him as possible. I’m feeding him canned food twice a day, and even adding some water to the canned food. I don’t want to take away his dry food totally, because I feel that will cause him more stress, but I’m definitely encouraging him to eat more canned. I also added another water bowl next to the dry food dish. I’m not sure it will help or not, but it can’t hurt.

While I was writing, Cali was curled up on the floor next to me, but she got nervous when someone pulled into the driveway and she started barking and pacing. Puck came over and snuggled up near her and she calmed right down. There’s something pretty special about that little cat.

Bean is Bean. He keeps growing like crazy. I’m curious, and slightly nervous about how big he might get. I’m pretty sure he weighs about the same as the dog now, probably 11+ pounds. He’s 7.5 months old!

I hope everyone is finding comfort somewhere, whether with family, pets, etc.  Find something to be thankful for today, whether it is a cup of coffee, food on the table, or extra time with children, and give all your pets an extra pat from me 😉

Extra Time to Write

Bean has been checking his crystal ball, but no news on when the Corona virus will clear up. We all hope everyone is staying safe and well. On a positive note, I’m hoping the extra time at home will give me more time to update this blog. Let me know if there is a topic you would like covered.

Before I get into an update on my own creature friends, just a note to spread the word that reliable sources say pets can not carry Corona virus. I’m seeing to many stories about pets being dumped at shelters because people are scared. Keep your pets close and let’s get through this together.

Hector is a bit tired of having people around all the time. While she likes attention and activity, she is a little upset that her routine has been messed with. She is dealing with our later breakfast time, but she would definitely like some more quiet time. I’m often finding her with her head curled up trying to nap on top of her cage.

Wena, the bearded dragon, is doing well.  She’s been shedding like crazy and eating a ton. Thankfully I can still get live insect shipments delivered for her. Her body has mostly shed, but her head, back legs, and tail still need to go,  lots of baths for her.

Bean AND Logan

Bean isn’t always nice to Logan, but Logan can also be the cranky old lady. I do still catch Bean chasing her at times, but the other day I caught the two of them snuggling. Logan didn’t seem to mind Bean using her as a pillow. Nice to see them getting along!

 

Cali and Bean love to greet me when I come in the house even if I’ve only been gone a few minutes to grab the mail or put out the trash. Both are VERY happy to have people around all the time.

 

Our sweet boy Puck isn’t doing very well right now.  I feel so bad for him. He still seems to be suffering the effects of the cystitis he was diagnosed with a couple of weeks ago. Maybe it is my fault. I’ve been trying some non-prescription urinary health cat foods, but not the prescription one, after yesterday when I had to call the vet again, I’ve got him on the prescription diet, and now he is also on pain killers again.

The problem is that we have three cats in the house, and the prescription food is super expensive. One tiny little 3oz can costs about $1.50. The other problem is that Puck doesn’t love canned food.  He will eat a bit, then leave. This morning I mixed his canned food with a little extra water, and he actually seemed to really like that, and the extra water is supposed to be good for him. I invested in the prescription dry food as well, but it really isn’t sustainable to keep all three cats on this prescription food. The dry food is $40 for a 7lb bag, vs. about $20 for the 7 pound bags I used to buy.

This morning, Puck got his special prescription canned food, and the other two cats split a big can of the non-prescription urinary health food. Puck seemed to eat as much as he wanted before he left. Someone suggested a chip-reading feeder. I’m thinking about trying one, and setting it up so that Bean and Logan could eat from it, but not Puck, and then I can try to keep Puck eating only his prescription canned food. Of course the chip-reading feeders are also pretty expensive.  Maybe I can find a couple of them to review and check out.

If anyone has any other ideas on keeping Puck healthy without spending quite so much on prescription cat food, I’d love any new ideas.

Stay well everyone, and enjoy your pets!

Puck Update

Wednesday, poor Puck was still acting a little weird.  He was spending extra time in the litter box, although he didn’t seem to be uncomfortable. Other than extra time in the box, he was his normal, cuddly self, but I was worried about the extra time in the litter box.  The vet had said that the next step was a urine test, so I went ahead and did that.

I managed to collect a urine sample. That Breeze litter box I got a few weeks ago, made it super easy. I took the pad out of the bottom tray, cleaned everything well, and left Puck in a room with that box for a couple of hours. Then I was able to collect a sample from the tray and bring it to my vet.

The urinalysis showed no signs of infection, so the only thing to do is feed Urinary tract health food, and hope this settles down. As of today, he seems to be doing OK. I need to work out this whole food thing.  The urinary health food is fine to feed all three of our cats, probably even healthy for them, but it is crazy expensive! I normally pay about $20 for an 8 lb bag of dry food, this prescription food is about $75 for a 14 lb bag. The prescription canned food is also very pricey.

Purina makes a non-prescription urinary health formula that is just slightly more expensive than regular cat food, so I think I’m going to try that. My vet has been out of the office this week, so I plan to check in with him on Monday and see what his thoughts are on the non-prescription urinary health food. The other problem with the prescription formula is the cats don’t really seem to like it, and I’m not sure they will keep eating it long term.

 

 

 

Puck-Date

It’s been a busy cat week here! Tuesday evening, my son and I found Puck sitting in the litter box.  He looked miserable and was spending a lot of time in there. I noticed his urine was dark, almost a bit bloody looking.  I texted a friend who is a vet tech, and she suggested we get him to the emergency animal hospital in case he had a urinary blockage.

The Emergency vet rushed Puck back immediately to be checked for blockage, but thankfully there didn’t seem to be anything to worry about.  They checked him over, and decided it was probably Cystitis. He was sent home with a pain medicine, and a drug called Prazosin for urethral spams.

Yesterday morning he already seemed a bit better. I scheduled a follow up with our regular vet, and we just got back from that appointment. Our regular vet confirmed a diagnosis of Idiopathic Cystitis.  We did an X-ray to make sure there wasn’t a stone, or crystals, but everything looks perfect.

Cat Shelf 

We decided to take a conservative approach.  Basically, we know this will most likely happen to the poor cat again in the future.  It’s probably some how related to stress, and thankfully, studies show that it happens less frequently as cats age.  Our plan is to put him on a prescription canned food and see how he does.  If it happens again, we will do more testing if needed.  He may need to go on a prescription dry food along with the canned food. With three cats in the house, prescription food will be pricey, but we will deal with that if/when we have to. For now, Puck seems better, and we’ll be happy with that.

The Dragon

I’d like to type up a new post this morning, but while trying to type here, Bean is walking all over my keyboard.  I guessI have to take a pat-the-cat break before I can finish!

OK, Bean settled.  Back to what I wanted to say about Wena, our Bearded Dragon.

Yes, she’s covered her cage in her breakfast salad, but believe it or not, she’s kind of a neat-freak. She finds it OK to make a mess with her breakfast, but she does NOT like to poop in her tank.

One thing I can tell you about lizards is that they actually have a ton of personality. Wena knows when I’m around.  Her tank is next to my desk, and she watches me.  She runs back and forth and bangs on the glass of her tank when she wants out, but only if she can see me.  If she is running around and I leave the room, she settles right down and finds a spot to chill.

The other thing about Wena is that she hates to poop in her cage. Now, I don’t blame her at all, bearded dragon poop is one of the smelliest things on earth. Normally, she waits until I’m at my desk. She watches me, she paces, but she doesn’t scratch at the glass like she does when she wants to come out. Eventually she poops, THEN she scratches at the glass like crazy and expects me to clean her up immediately. She never walks through her own mess.  It really makes clean up easy.

The problem is that when I travel and have someone else caring for her, she often won’t poop. When I traveled last week, she pooped once in 5 days. Not sure how I can help her fix this problem. It’s probably not a big deal if I’m just away for a few days, but I worry when I travel longer. I guess if my son is watching the pets again, I’ll have to put in the instructions that he should sit at my desk for a couple of hours until Wena has a chance to poop! Then he can clean her up right away and do whatever else he needs to do.  I’m sure that would go over really well with him.

Tomorrow is a big day for Bean, time for him to get neutered.  I hope he has an easy surgery and a quick recovery.  I’ll keep you posted.

 

 

 

Home Again

I always get a little stressed about leaving the pets behind when I head off on vacation.  I quickly let it go once I’m away from the house, but before I leave, I make lists and prep food, and make sure to leave emergency numbers, etc. This time, my son was taking care of all the babies, so I wanted to make it as simple for him as I could.

I left dog food in individual containers so an allergy pill could be added in the morning, and the containers could just be fed to the dog. No mixing of wet and dry food required, easy!

Hector D. Byrd’s food was made up and in the fridge, a scoop in her bowl, and she was all set.

The Dragon’s salad was ready to go, and the cats had a big dispenser of dry food.

Bean grew!

Cali decided not to eat while I was away. Well, she ate, but left enough food in her bowl to show my son she was displeased that I was away. Hector loves my son, so I’m pretty sure she didn’t even miss me.

Bean was naughty. He destroyed the new cover my husband and son made for the dragon tank. The one that was designed to keep him and Puck from hanging out on top of the tank. He also went into my son’s room at night and meowed at him to wake him up, then curled up on the bed and went to sleep. I guess he just wanted my son to know that he had arrived.

Cali and Puck were waiting for treats as usual, spoiled babies.

What else is new? I’m still trying to sort out Cali’s allergies.  Even though we increased her Apoquel, she is still itching, and it’s expensive.  She is due to see the vet in a couple of weeks, so I’ll go over the allergy thing with him then and see what new ideas we can come up with.

Logan the cat has been throwing up. It took me a little while to figure out which cat was throwing up.  With three in the house, it isn’t easy to narrow this stuff down. I’ve started added a bit of pumpkin to her diet to see if that helps fix the problem. The cats are currently getting a mix of dry food with half dental care formula, and half hairball remedy, then they get a little bit of canned food mixed with pumpkin once a day. Hopefully the pumpkin will help.

The Breeze litter box is still working out really well. I’m not convinced I would want all four of my boxes to be Breeze based on the cost of the pads and pellets, but the single one upstairs is working out really well. There is no odor at all, and really no work to it. The cats mostly use it to pee, so I just change the pad once a week and it is good to go. I still want to check out an automated litter box, but haven’t decided which one to invest in yet.

Hector is quiet today, the cats aren’t around at the moment, and Cali is napping. Time to get some work done.

Leave a comment and let me know what you do with your pets when you travel.

 

Hector blah, blah, blah

Life with a parrot is never dull. They aren’t quite pets, they aren’t clean pets, and they certainly aren’t pets you can ignore.

Today, I’m working from home, and Hector D. Byrd is in a super chatty mood. She’s been whistling and chatting at me for over half an hour now.

As usual, she’s quite entertaining: “Hi – eeeeeee, Pucky-boo, HELLO, Hello Bird, Hello Hector, Hector Bird, How do you do Hector? How ya doing? Hector the bird, Hello, HELLO, Wanna come up?” She is whistling, squeaking and making video game sounds in between calling me and the cats.

Here’s the crazy part about today… She has a small plastic fishbowl, truth be told, it was a fishbowl drink from bar years ago, but Hector loves it. She throws it around, I fill it with treats, and shredded paper for her to forage out of, and she loves to play fetch with it. Well, just now for the first time, she started sticking her head in the bowl and talking and whistling. I think she likes the different sound of her voice, because she keeps experimenting with different sounds, voices, and whistles.

I wish I could get it on video, but anytime I move from my desk, she stops and stares at me.  She’s really entertaining herself, going back and forth with words and sounds with her head in and out of the jar. She currently is saying “oooooooooo” in and out of the jar.  Then she laughs.  Nice she is entertaining herself!

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

Pet Allergies

Anyone have a pet that suffers from skin problems, itchiness, allergies? My little Morkie, Cali, has suffered from it all her life. She scratches, she gets hot spots, she even gets a little congested.  I can hear it in her nose. She has been on a medication called Apoquel for the last few years, and it definitely helps, but it isn’t a cure.

I worry about keeping her on this medication long-term, but don’t know that there are any other options. Even with the Apoquel, she has flare ups once a year or so that cause hot spots, itchy paws, etc. In December, she ended up at the vet because she was chewing on her feet so badly that they ended up getting infected.

After the infected paws, my vet suggested putting her on a higher dose of Apoquel. I agreed, but I’m regretting it. For one thing, cost! Apparently Apoquel comes in three pill sizes, 3.6 mg, 5.4 mg, and 16mg.  Cali was taking 1/2 of a 5.4mg pill once per day, and now she is taking one 3.6mg pill.  Apparently no matter which Apoquel dosage you use, the cost is the same per pill, so my cost has doubled.

Aside from not wanting to spend $75 a month on dog allergy medicine, I also have to wonder what the long term effects of the higher dosage might be on her system.

I plan to have yet another conversation with my vet about it, but wondering if anyone else has had any success in treating pet allergies in other ways? Let me know what you have tried, what worked and what didn’t work?