Thunder Thursday snapshots

Oliver has to have his temperature taken to make sure his painkiller doesn’t cause a fever. One morning he was struggling more than usual. From the sound of his meow, I think the thermometer…um…went in further than usual.

He hasn’t had his temperature taken since. We’re both fine with that.

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The wind was blowing really hard yesterday so there was very little going on with OutTV. Obi was watching me work from the condo in the office. Then something thunked against the window. I looked over, and it was Obi doing the thunking. I got up to see what he was so excited about. I searched the driveway. I looked at the garage roof. Then Obi attacked the glass again and I saw the cause of his enthusiasm.

A leaf on the window sill.

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Obi has decided that the best place for belly rubs is under the dining room table. It proves that he is abused AND neglected that we won’t climb under the table to rub his belly for him. We walk to the original belly rubbing spot in the living room and wait for him to give in.

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Oliver wants me to stop blogging. It is interfering with snuggle time.

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Thunder Thursday! Here is Emerson and her person, Ashley. Ashley is a walking exclamation point. I’m thinking Emerson is the layer of calm in their household.

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Bonus Thunder Thursday! Returning to the blog, we have Fred and Benjy holding down my aunt’s fireplace. The lives of cats are so hard. Fred wanted to show the world his pretty belly. Such a pretty belly!

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Oh, how he suffers.

The Boy is gone on a trip right now. It has been 36 hours since Obi has had a proper belly rubbing. And, oh, how he suffers.

And thus, how we all suffer.

This morning Oliver and I were laying on the couch like we always do in the morning. About the time The Boy should have been making my coffee, Obi walked to the middle of the room and plopped down.

“ME!” He yelled.

You see, usually my coffee delivery is postponed because Obi convinces The Boy it is time for the belly rub. Obi runs out to the rug and gets into position, belly exposed, and The Boy comes in and works his magic. They pet and roll and brush and purr. Then I get my coffee.

This morning there was no Boy. There was also no coffee but you don’t see me throwing myself to the ground in a tizzy, now do you? Of course…how would you know if I had? But I DIDN’T.

I’ve done my best to fill in. The problem is that I am The Girl. And The Girl is good for playing and comforting. Those are my jobs. So when I rub the belly it turns into The Claw with biting and scratching and kicking (and kisses to assure me that we’re still playing).

We did manage to get one brush full of hair removed from his coat. We feel pretty good about that.

Tomorrow, though, The Boy will be coming home to three happy mammals. Obi will get his belly rubber back. I will no longer be in charge of the belly rubbing. And Oliver’s snuggles will not be interrupted again.

Zensai, as always, really couldn’t be convinced to care less.

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It’s Thunder Thursday! On Tuesday, Cousin Puck’s girl sent me a picture of her poor, miserable fuzzy. Puck is a prime example of Feline Heat Index: Too Hot.

"Set the A/C on frosty, please."

Hello, my name is The Girl…

…and I am a nip enabler. Both of my furry sons are nipheads.

That’s right. They are on The Nip.

And I get it for them.

Why? Because it is HIGH-larious.

In this video, an movie of epic length at four minutes 44 seconds, you’ll see it all. It is a classic tale of two brothers, torn apart by drugs and then brought back together when they lose it all. You decide if The Boy is a hero or a villain in his role.

You also get to hear my giggle my weird giggle because Kitten Thunder is fun to watch on The Nip. Obi gets silly. Er. And Oli become seriously lovey. Which is why a grey tail keeps passing by the camera. Oh, and all bad camera work can be attributed to a grey kitten hugging the videographer.

Enjoy this piece we call…NipHeads.

How to Build a Fort

Step 1: Survey the build site.

Step 2: Clear the build site - but the kitten can stay.

Step 3: Strategically angle support structure for maximum usable space.

Step 4: Set up walls. The kitten will take it from here.

Step 5a: Check to see if the fort is big enough for two.

Step 5b: Decide it is not and chase off brother who is only mildly interested anyway.

Step 6: Knock walls down close to support structure to keep The Girl from joining you in the fort.

Step 7: Check the roof. The Girl, after all, is in communications not contracting.

Side note: Your fort should always have two entrances to allow for escape during a Thunder or if The Girl decides she wants to take your picture.

And finally: Relax and enjoy!

Today’s Thunder Thursday guest is our second dog – my friend Michelle’s pooch, Hazel. People at Michelle’s job think she does a lot of hard work, but we all know who is behind her success.

"Who moved the stapler?!? "

We provide our own siren.

Just like parents, it is hard for a cat’s people to hear him/her in pain or discomfort. Poco had asthma for over 20 years, but every attack made me stop and listen. I hoped it would be short. I hoped it would pass without too much pain. I hoped it would be only one attack.

Oliver has inverted sneeze, which sounds even worse than asthma when an attack comes. And since he can go months between them you can tell that Oliver is unsure what is happening. They are horrible. But they pass quickly.

Usually, they pass quickly.

"This is the face of discomfort."

On Sunday, Oliver had an inverted sneeze. It didn’t last long. A while later he was in the condo and I went to take his picture. I noticed he was a little wheezy. Then, later that night, he started to cough.

The coughing came in spurts – one cough every 40 seconds or so for several minutes. Then he’s put his head back down and nap. By bedtime he was still coughing but between he was having trouble swallowing. Neither of us slept well.

I did the math and realized it’s been several months since we’ve been to the vet.

So we were due.

Oliver wanted to eat on Monday morning. This is a good sign. When he doesn’t want to eat we throw him in the carrier and call the vet on the way there. The grey kitten loves his food. Unfortunately, his throat hurt so bad that when I went back to the kitchen to check on him he was just licking the gravy off the food.

I dialed the phone. The vet had an appointment at 2:30 p.m., which I took and I thought in relief about how much cheaper that was going to be that squeezing him in on a “same day” visit.

I hung up.

I saw Oli gag.

I called back and told them we were on our way in. Oliver wasn’t so sick that he couldn’t scream his fool head off the entire way there.

They have another new doctor – he’s tall and seems to “get” cats. Oliver would have liked him had the new doctor not been trying to pry open his mouth to examine his throat. Next time, maybe.

And the verdict? Allergies.

Good grief, kid.

He’s on his way back to fine. Prednisone, our drug of choice, for the allergies. An antibiotic just in case because he had a mild fever.

"Beware the dragon, for you are tasty and about to disturb the kitten's nap."

Why this picture? Because no blog is complete without Obi, right?

Cleaning with Kitten Thunder

We have a second round of State hockey this weekend and this time Kitten Thunder’s grandpeople are coming to stay at the house. House guests means finding the spare beds. And this is why it takes me a week to get the house ready for company:

First, Obi was all sorts of excited to find out there was a bed in my office under all the stuff that used to be on the walls at the old house. Sure, it’s all under the bed – where he used to hang out – but this has potential.

"You've got to be a manly cat to look this good in pastels."

Oliver, never one to just sit back and let Obi get all the attention, realized very suddenly that there was a catnip ball under my desk and that he WANTED it. He pulled all the wires under my the desk out to get to the ball. Then Obi, too, realized he wanted the ball.

"I want the catnip ball THIS much."

Oliver won.

"No one comes between me and the nip."

And then my lunch hour was over and I hadn’t accomplished anything. The dishes weren’t done. The laundry wasn’t folded. This blog wasn’t up.

But we sure had a lot of fun.

FUO update! Oliver’s fever is gone! He has been off both antibiotics and steroids for two weeks and the limp has not returned. The fever has left as quickly and as mysteriously as it came in.