Fuzzy Butt

I had a lot in my plate Friday. After a busy morning, I decided I needed to run home and eat something. And that’s when the productivity ended.

You see, as I was blending my smoothie I looked down and noticed Oliver licking his backside. And I noticed the bright magenta patch of glowing ouchiness at the base of his tail. And the world came to a screeching halt.

If you’ve ever had a male cat you’ve been warned about the dangers of urinary tract infections. How they can become serious very quickly. How they can be deadly if complications arise.

This is why I was on the floor, wrestling with my 14 pound cat so I could look at his butt.

Oddly, he was less than cooperative.

Since it was Friday afternoon, I decided to call Doctor Tiffany and have her check him out just in case. If nothing else he could get a shot for his allergies. And I could avoid a possible emergency visit over the weekend.

And it turned out fine. He got a shot for his allergies which is a probable cause for his itchy bottom (not anything near his boy bits). He got a shot for the infection he’d licked his way into. And he got his annual exam that was coming due anyway – two more shots. All of that he tolerated while sitting in my lap, doing his best imitation of a mean cat.

But, just to make sure there was no hidden issue, Doctor T wanted to probe his anal glands. She told me that even though this was all going to happen in the outside – unlike in dogs – Oliver was not going to be happy.

Indeed, unhappy is what Oli was.

I held him close and ignored the toe nails digging into my side – I guess he felt he needed traction. Oliver yelled out his objections. And Obi came to lick his brother’s face in comfort.

Then it was done.

Doctor Tiffany got out treats to reward Obi for being such a good brother. She tossed one to Oliver where he was bathing himself angrily. He ate it.

“That’s the closest you’ll ever get to him on his free will,” I said.

“Challenge accepted,” she said.

It took five treats to lure the grey kitten back into the living room and close enough that she could pet him while he ate. Glad I didn’t lose any money on that bet.

After Tiffany left, I got some work done and Kitten Thunder took a nap. By Saturday morning there was no sign of any infection, except that I can’t really call Oli Fuzzy Butt – one of his nicknames – until the five inch bald spot he created starts to grow back in.

We watched Reign and didn’t talk about how long MY wounds (five or six long scratches in my side) will take to heal.

Oliver loves Reign.

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Battle: Ear Wax

As I have mentioned before, Oliver has allergies. Allergies that do gross things to my handsome grey kitten like give him goopy eyes, chin zits and icky ears. If the symptoms don’t bother him I usually don’t put him through a veterinary visit. But after cleaning his ears on Monday? His ears were bothering him. I called in my favorite people at Cottonwood Veterinary Clinic.

Obi and I met Tiffany and Laura at the door, because that’s what we do. They came in and set up while we small talked. What they didn’t notice, while unpacking and rubbing Obi’s belly, was Oliver coming in, checking them out, then going upstairs with hopes that they were there to see Obi. So I had to go upstairs to fetch the grey kitten.

Still holding Oli, I presented his ears to the doctor. She was appropriately concerned by the caverns of black crusty mess. And a little bit suspicious that it might be ear mites. I agreed with her that it certainly LOOKED like ear mites. But Oliver is an indoor cat. And he and Obi lay ear to ear all the time but Obi’s ears are clear. And, until Monday, there was no itching or head shaking. I hadn’t ruled it out, but ear mites seemed so unlikely.

And then the ear cleaning began.

There was hissing and screaming and growling. There was not enough cotton ready. It. Was. Gross.

During the whole process, I held Obi. Obi cried. He was very concerned about what they were doing to his brother. When I wasn’t holding him, he would run up and try to help free the brother. 

Finally, it was over. 

Oliver stomped off. Then he came back, ears pressed down to show they were broken, and fixed Tiffany with a mighty glare. He left again with a flick of his tail. “I think he just flipped me off!” she said. Then she played with Obi for a minute. The brown kitten forgave everyone as soon as the growling and hissing stopped.

After a quick trip to look at gunk under a microscope, the ears are officially full of bacteria, NOT bugs. After nine hours I was forgiven, even though Oli’s ears were still bright red inside. Poor kitten. And after I poured medicine in his ears this morning, Oliver was perfectly okay with me leaving town for a while.

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I am in Rock Springs right now for business. Cousin Spade is standing in for my usual IT team.

Here he is, looking for some more accessories for my laptop. Or the notebook that I need but left on the coffee table in Cheyenne.

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So! As you may know, Kitten Thunder has a Zazzle store. Our top seller is our Meowy Christmas ornament. Personally, I would buy the 2-sided ornament that says Meowy Christmas and a Happy Mew Year, but whatever. My point is this: if one option is good, many options is better! Instead of just Cousin Spade, who is super handsome, I would like to offer many faces on this ornament. A Meowy Christmas ornament with a calico. One with a grey tabby. An orange tabby. Long hair, short hair, no hair! If you have a gorgeous feline that would like to be featured on an ornament, please send me a photo of your furry friend at angelharp64@hotmail.com.

 

Battle of the Super Cruds

That’s right, cruds. I’ve been fighting off a cold for a week and last night my body gave up the fight. So I blog from the couch with two kittens administering purr therapy.

In kitten crud news, it turns out that it isn’t okay for Oliver to have the sniffles while on antibiotics. We have upgraded him to bigger, badder antibiotics and a month of steroids.

We are a pathetic pair.

The upside? Quality time on the evil couch all day long. Well, until I had the audacity to sneeze at 2:45 this afternoon. At that point I lost both kittens to the upstairs for their afternoon nap.

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It’s Thunder Thursday! Since I am blogging from the couch with a grey kitten on my arm and a brown kitten on my feet, I bring you Chip. Chip is the baby neon tree dragon that I did NOT buy last week.

Have a great weekend!

Cats are gross.

I warned you.

I got home tonight and took a deep breath. Ooh, did I miss a litter box cleaning? Why yes, yes I did forget to clean the litter box on Tuesday while I was sick and having to sit at my desk fighting Adobe over software. Stinky. And someone left me a gift outside the box to indicate their displeasure about my tardiness.

So I cleaned it.

Oliver came up to great me with goopy allergy eyes. He feels better but his eyes still get runny.

So I cleaned them.

I plunked down on the couch just in time to look into the dining room and see Obi vomiting. And walking. And vomiting. And walking. And vomiting. Then, to mix things up, he walked backward while vomiting.

So I cleaned it up.

Oliver, my poor put-down upon grey kitten, also has chin acne. He thinks it feels wonderful to have me scratch it with my fingernails. But then I have kitten zits under my fingernails.

So I cleaned them.

Finally, I sat down on the couch again. A grey kitten snuggled into my lap and looked up at me with the ultimate purr face. A brown kitten started kneading the couch behind my head. Then he bent low enough to give me a kitty-kiss on the temple before settling in for a nap. One brown paw rested gently on my shoulder.

Cats are awesome. And so worth it.

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It’s Thunder Thursday! Today we bring you a kitten from across the pond. Kitalpha belongs to Holly of The Aluminium Foiled My Plans. Don’t worry about the mouse in the video. He wins.