On the big cushion

The cats took over the new dog bed in no time. Poor Mojo never even got a chance.

One year of cats...

• happy cats: 4
• happy human: 1
• days of smiling: 365
• lives changed: 5
• catflaps installed: 2
• clickers acquired: 7
• tricks learned: 10 (and 1/2)
• kgs of raw meat eaten: 153
• number of quail plucked: 162
• bites: 0
• fear scratches: 1
• play scratches: 14
• accidents: 3
• illnesses: 1
• vet visits: 16
• hospital days: 2
• flea bites (on me): 10
• ticks (on Oscar): 1
• critters caught (sorry!)
• mice: 11
• rats: 2
• birds: 9
• earth worms: 37
• flies/moths/bugs: countless

Miki in the weeds with flowers

Miki feeling better, but...

Five days of not eating, 48 hours on a drip, and £380 later, Miki is finally feeling better... thank God!
But I just can't get rid of this lingering feeling that there could have been a much better way of managing this attack of pancreatitis. Yes, he does feel better. But I feel terrible for allowing him to be shut in cage, drip in his leg, alone for two days, when, as I know now, there could have been a possible alternative... Its' a steep learning curve, and very stressful not to be able to just trust the vet.
Visiting Miki in the 'hospital' kennels was a really depressing experience - apathetic cats all around, hiding in the furthest cage corners, under newspaper sheets, their faces pressed flat against the wall. I found Miki hiding under some newspaper too... it took him a couple of minutes to realise it was me, and then he was just SOOO happy.
I took him back home yesterday, and he seems happy and perky, and he's eating a bit too. What a relief!! But he will jump and run away every time he thinks I could be moving towards the carry box. What else did I expect?

Miki feeling rough...

It is heartbreaking when one of my babies feels so poorly, especially when even the vet is not clear about what's wrong and what I can do to help.

Miki's tail

When Miki was about 4 months old he appreared one morning trailing his tail, with a very noticeable kink in it. It didn't seem to bother him much otherwise. But it worried me - especially as I just had my first disappointing vet experience with their rounds of shots. Should I take him back to the vet? What would/could they do except expensive x-rays to confirm what was obvious? Put his tail in a cast?? Give him drugs that possibly did more harm than they offered relief? And anyway, Miki didn't seem to have a problem with it.
I did some research on 'broken tail in cat', and, as always with the internet, I bumped into any number of opinions and treatments, some of them downright scary (including amputation and euthanasia...) It can be quite overwhelming to pick through seemingly endless opinions offered out there, and make your own informed decision.
To my relief I eventually found some excellent info here. With that advice, I observed his litter box use (no issues), pinched his tail tip to see if he had any feeling in it (he complained, good!), and decided that he was going to recover without problems.
Sure enough, a couple days later he carried his tail high again, and with every week that passed the kink got a bit less obvious. And, finally, as of this month, I can say that any trace of the kink is completely gone - he grew out of it!

Box games

Yes, I admit I have fallen for buying various cat toys... They come in various shapes and hanging on various devices, and some come highly praised. But it turns out that the toys that keep my babies really hooked and fascinated every day anew, are the good, old, fail-proof and obvious: piece of string, bit of crumpled paper, cardboard boxes. In fact my flat is now strewn with all of those. And I don't even mind.

Family dynamics

With the kittens now 9 months old, the dynamics within the gang are still constantly changing. Ex feral mama Psipsina is growing more content and affectionate every day - with me. But she mostly treats her kittens like annoying teenagers. Clumsy games or getting in her way is not on, neither is stealing her favourite place, and she prefers to sleep alone these days. And when a kitten interrupts a game or cuddle between me and her, she will immediately turn away sulking. Only Miki is being allowed to play mama's boy these days, sometimes.
And, she can see that Oscar is the one that may one day challenge her queen's crown, and she's already jealous. Oscar gets a lot more swatting and hissing than everybody else, and never a game. Sometimes she even tries to block him at the door. But he just behaves like the clever crown prince he undoubtedly is: gently but confidently keeping out of her way, without any sign of intimidation.

Arguing with the vet...

Back from the vets, and feeling exhausted... not so much because of Miki, he will be fine, I think, but because it seems such a struggle to do the right thing.
As usual, Miki was more upset about the trip than actually being at the surgery - once there he always seems so scared he forgets to struggle - he just hides in my arms... The vet soaked his paw and poked off all the crusty bits and underneath all that gunk it isn't looking as bad as I thought - there is even a tiny bit of nail left, so that's good news.

Torn claw

Things kittens get into... and it's always Miki it seems:
I noticed this morning that his paw looked unusually 'dirty'. Looking closer it turns out it's all crusted up with blood between the toes. Ouch!!!
He doesn't seem to be bothered by it much, he doesn't limp and runs around as usual. He must have gotten his claws stuck somewhere - I wonder if he has torn one out... It looks like a bloody mess and I don't have the guts to clean it out for fear of making it worse. I can see a trip to the vet coming... Hate that, and Miki hates it too.

Quail fest!

And yes, the whole quail are a BIG hit!
The first time around I just cut the whole bird up in half (yuk) and woohoo! A 'wild' reaction from the kittens: the two boys batted their bits around the kitchen for half an hour before eating them - huge fun to watch but I spent another hour cleaning blood from the floor and walls. 
Next time I tried pulling some of the feathers off with my fingers (they come off easily enough) and that seems to have calmed the situation - no more batting just munching (Miki even ate two halves in one sitting, and wanted more - maybe I should stop cutting them up?). Several quail meals later they are still really happy with it - every last bit gets munched up enthusiastically, feet, heads, beaks and all.

I tried mice too - not as huge a hit: the kittens will eat them happily, but Psipsina will not go near a mouse, not even a cut up one. Strange (but I obey and offer something else). Just like the feathers the fur seems to provoke real predator behaviour - the mice get batted around for ages before anybody will start eating. At least the mice are whole so no blood to wash off the walls!

Meet the gang: Miki

Miki (black & white boy) - he's used to be the smallest one, and he's still easily scared and somewhat suspicious of anything new. He developed a ravenous appetite a couple of months ago and has since grown a lot - he is really wiry now and the heavier than everyone else.
He also used also a bit of a 'problem child' with occasional but recurring litterbox accidents... but I'm glad to say some intuitive detective work and adjustments have solved the problem!

Snow in London!

Kitten action